Courting its core customers, BlackBerry today launched its newest creation, BlackBerry Classic, in India at a price point of Rs 31,990.
BlackBerry Classic smartphone is available exclusively on online marketplace Snapdeal and at all BlackBerry Exclusive stores beginning today. The first 1,000 customers to purchase the device stand to benefit from an exclusive offer, which entitles existing BlackBerry Bold smartphones to a buyback offer of up to Rs 4,500 and also receive benefits from yatra.com of up to Rs 10,000.
The new BlackBerry Classic with traditional keyboard comes at a time when rival Apple Inc and Android phones and most smartphone customers have embraced touch screens.
In Pics: BlackBerry Classic comes to India
BlackBerry emphasises battery life and security with Classic and claims the device has a three times faster browser, 60 per cent more screen space and 50 per cent longer battery life than the BlackBerry Bold 9900, which it will replace.
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“With the launch of Blackberry Classic we bring back QWERTY experience that made the BlackBerry smartphone a user’s go-go productivity tool,” said Sunil Lalvani, MD, BlackBerry India.
BlackBerry has been expanding its efforts to sell mobile-security software on its rivals’ smartphones and tablets to help counter the waning popularity of its own devices.
The #BBClassic is available in India at Rs 31,990. pic.twitter.com/3thwLTNQNw
— Nandagopal Rajan (@nandu79) January 15, 2015
For BlackBerry loyalists, the phone brings back the trackpad and classic navigation keys. Plus, the new BlackBerry 10 web browser, the company claims, is among the fastest around. The phone will feature a 3.5-inch touch screen display with 294 dpi HD resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for greater durability. The 2515 mAh battery can offer up to 22 hours of life. The phone comes with 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 2 GB RAM, 16 GB of device storage (expandable by up to 128 GB via microSD). The Classic features BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.3.1 with BlackBerry Blend and BlackBerry Assistant, the two software enhancements the company is looking at as differentiators from the rest of the pack.
#BBClassic offers the best QWERTY experience out there! pic.twitter.com/UiEcAd5tJy — BlackBerry India (@BlackBerryIN) January 15, 2015
