The Canadian handset maker has dumped their physical QWERTY keyboards to attract new users.
While other smartphones from the Canadian manufacturer will continue to have the distinctive physical QWERTY keyboards, the latest device to be launched, the BlackBerry Leap, is losing this feature in favor of touch screen typing.
The goal is to be able to help the brand to appeal to younger professionals who are used to this mobile experience.
The BlackBerry Leap has been designed with younger professionals in mind. While the company is still focused on the business world as opposed to the consumer market, it has recognized that people under a certain age are comfortable functioning with a touch screen keyboard. Therefore, they have dropped the keypad for this device, in order to help them to compete with the Samsung Galaxy 6, the Apple iPhone 6, and other popular premium devices within the business community.
The BlackBerry Leap has also had a much more attractive price tag associated with it, to improve its appeal.
Unlike its notably more expensive competition, the retail price for the new Leap smartphone is set at $275. That is about half the price of the Galaxy S6 and the iPhone 6. The device, itself, had previously been launched, but more information was revealed in order to help to boost the hype surrounding its release, which will be in April.
That said, there is still some mystery surrounding the device. While it is known that the Leap mobile device will still include the enterprise management and security tools and features that have become synonymous with BlackBerry smartphones, the nature of the keyboard for this device has not yet been made completely clear.
These smartphones will still have built in protection against malware, backup features, as well as wipe and restore capabilities. Owners of the BlackBerry Leap can also expect to take advantage of some of the company’s apps, such as the Blend, which gives users the ability to access their smartphone content with their tablets and laptop computers. The company has been taking a number of new tacks to work its way back into relevance within the business market.
The patent pointed out that the smartphone keyboard element can move freely from a position where it is, to where it is not deployed. It explained that “A cover pivotally couples to the housing and is configured to at least partially cover the keyboard portion when the keyboard portion is in the non-deployed position and to reveal the keyboard portion when the keyboard portion is in the deployed position.”