BlackBerry teased back in June that it had a new BlackBerry 7-powered smartphone in its pipeline, and today the company finally unveiled the device for all to see. Known as the BlackBerry 9720, the QWERTY-clad smartphone runs the BlackBerry 7.1 OS, which BlackBerry says includes an updated UI with features like swipe-to-unlock and the ability to access the camera from the lock screen.
On the hardware side of things, we're looking at a 2.8-inch 480x360 touchscreen, 806MHz Tavor MG1 processor, 512MB RAM/ROM, microSD card slot, 1,450mAh battery and a 5-megapixel rear camera. The 9720 supports quad-band EDGE (850/900/1800/1900MHz) and HSPA (850/900/1900/2100MHz) with speeds of up to 7.2Mbps. BlackBerry also saw fit to include support for FM radio in the 9720. Finally, this new BlackBerry's got an array of things to click, including a physical keyboard, dedicated BBM key and an optical trackpad.
BlackBerry says that the 9720 will launch in select markets in Asia, EMEA and Latin America in the coming weeks. There's no word yet on pricing, but BlackBerry does intend to offer its new handset in multiple colors, including black, white, blue, purple and magenta.
It may seem kind of strange to see BlackBerry launch a new BB7.1 device while its also got BlackBerry 10 hardware to push, but with the 9720, the company is targeting entry-level consumers that want a new smartphone that'll go easy on their wallets. Given that and the 9720's lower-end spec sheet, it'll be interesting to see exactly how BlackBerry ends up pricing this thing. While we wait to hear more, you can check out a promo video introducing the BlackBerry 9720 down below.
Via BlackBerry
