BlackBerry news and update: Last BlackBerry 'in-house phone' with physical keyboard coming soon

Jessica Ferrera Monday, November 14, 2016

BlackBerry Classic smartphone is shown during a display at the launch event in New York, December 17, 2014. | Reuters/Brendan Mcdermid

Recently, CEO John Chen reiterated that a new BlackBerry smartphone with the well-loved physical keyboard is due for release before this year ends.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Chen corrected earlier reports that the DTEK60, which was made available last month, would be their last "in-house phone." The CEO reiterated that BlackBerry still has one more "in-house phone" in the pipeline. Chen clarified, "There will be another one coming. Maybe we'll call that the last in-house phone."

When asked about the upcoming phone, Chen said, "We have one keyboard phone I promised people." And about the schedule of when this sought-after keyboard phone is coming, Chen simply answered, "It's coming." The BlackBerry CEO refused to go into details about the release date, but he teased, "It will not be that long."

Meanwhile, in the same Bloomberg interview, Chen revealed that the Canada-based company is currently in talks with a lot of mobile companies around the world to discuss BlackBerry licensing to which he commented, "People like to build phones. It's great. And I think we could offer a lot."

In late September, BlackBerry reportedly had started to focus on software licensing over creating their own smartphone devices. Chen said on another occasion, "You have to evolve to what your strength is and our strength is actually in the software and enterprise and security." He added, "This is the way for me to ensure the BlackBerry brand is still on a device."

This is, generally, good news for smartphone-loving people. In its early days, there is a known hype over BlackBerry phones for introducing smartphone features that allow people to access their emails while on the go. Probably the more popular reason for its fame is its physical QWERTY keyboard.

In fact, there have been some very popular people who expressed their love for BlackBerry amid the rise of iPhone and full-touchscreen Android phones and one of them is U.S. president Barack Obama who remained using his BlackBerry after he assumed office in 2009; however, his phone reportedly had to go through tweaks for security purposes. It is only this year that Obama reportedly let go of his BlackBerry.