BlackBerry is betting on touchscreens again with its new BlackBerry Leap, a mid-range handset unveiled at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2015.
The BlackBerry Leap aims to replace last year's BlackBerry Z3 handset, targeting smartphone shoppers in select emerging markets. While more recently the company returned to its QWERTY roots with the BlackBerry Classic, its latest handset now sports an all-touch display.
"The BlackBerry Leap is an affordable all-touch smartphone in a modern and powerful design that is built for career builders and companies who value security and privacy when pushing their productivity to the next level," the company touts in a new press release on Tuesday, March 3.
"In today's mobile world - influenced by trends like BYOD - where personal and corporate data are frequently under attack from hackers, companies and everyday consumers are finding out the hard way that mobile security is paramount," said Ron Louks, President, Devices and Emerging Solutions. "BlackBerry Leap was built specifically for mobile professionals who see their smartphone device as a powerful and durable productivity tool that also safeguards sensitive communications at all times."
"With BlackBerry Leap complementing the latest BlackBerry portfolio, including BlackBerry Passport and BlackBerry Classic, we continue to provide products and services that meet the needs of our consumer and enterprise customers," added Louks.
The new BlackBerry Leap sports a 5-inch HD display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels at 294 ppi, packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1.5GHz, 16GB of internal storage capacity, microSD support for additional memory of up to 128GB, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and a 2-megapixel front shooter. The handset runs BlackBerry 10 OS, and packs a 2,800 mAh battery that promises to deliver up to 25 hours of heavy use, according to BlackBerry. The BlackBerry Leap is also 4G LTE-enabled.
On the software side, the latest BlackBerry 10.3 OS means the BlackBerry Leap will come with neat features on board, including the BlackBerry Keyboard, BlackBerry Blend, BlackBerry Assistant, and dual app storefronts (BlackBerry World and Amazon Appstore).
BlackBerry has yet to offer exact launch and pricing details for its new BlackBerry Leap, but is expected to provide more information shortly. For more information about the smartphone, check out the product page at this link.
