It seems like BlackBerry Ltd. is busy proving that it still has what it takes to be one of the leading mobile phone manufacturers worldwide. After the release of the BlackBerry Passport back in September and the BlackBerry Classic a few days back, reports have emerged about an upcoming product called BlackBerry Rio.
The rumors about the alleged BlackBerry Rio, also known as BlackBerry Z20, has been going around in various websites. Based on earlier reports, the said 9.55 mm thick device will come with a 5-inch 720 pixel HD screen, Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 dual-core chip clocked at 1.5 GHz, 2 GB of RAM with 16 GB internal memory and a microSD card slot that can be used for expansion, an 8-megapixel main shooter with 2-megapixel front-facing camera, LTE, WI-Fi, Bluetooth connectivity, DLNA and Miracast, plus a non-removable 2800 mAh battery.
The said device, which will reportedly be the successor of the BlackBerry Z10 and Z30, is aimed to be marketed as a more cost-efficient smartphone alternative for businessmen and professionals who do not want to spend too much on a new handset. It is said to be priced at $300.
Some of the reports mentioned that the so-called BlackBerry Rio from the Canadian mobile manufacturer will come out in February 2015. There are no confirmations about it yet, but it is also said that the device will have black and white variants.
BlackBerry was once the industry leader in smartphone manufacturing, but the sales of the company dwindled down after the emergence of other smartphone devices, including those from Samsung and Apple. The company, known for releasing full QWERTY keyboards, tried to come up with full touchscreen mobile products in the past. However, these only had dismal sales and the move did not achieve the reception that the company expected.
