At the start of this year, the smartphone market was abuzz as OnwardMobility announced that it would be working on launching a 5G enabled BlackBerry smartphone. However, just a few weeks after, it was reported that the company lost the rights to the latter’s name. Now, this unfortunate news has officially been confirmed.

As per an official announcement, the company stated that “We want to thank you all for the tremendous amount of support that you have given us since we first launched OnwardMobility. However, it is with great sadness that we announce that OnwardMobility will be shutting down, and we will no longer be proceeding with the development of an ultra secure smartphone with a physical keyboard.” Simply put, the 5G BlackBerry phone project is officially dead.

The announcement arrives a mere six weeks after it first revealed its plans. So this arrives as unfortunate news for those looking forward to the promised BlackBerry experience. In our previous report, we had stated that BB has been working on distancing itself from its past. Meaning, there probably won’t be another BB phone for a long while, or maybe never at all. BlackBerry CEO John Chen had also changed his decision of having another OEM try and revive the brand by acquiring the license to its name. So this might really be the final nail to the coffin.

RELATED:

• OnwardMobility kills the 5G BlackBerry project after losing rights to BlackBerry’s name
• Patent troll acquires $600 million worth of patents from BlackBerry
• BlackBerry to power Baidu’s mapping technology used in Chinese EVs
• BlackBerry has officially ended support for all of its classic smartphones
• Realme to launch world’s fastest smartphone charging technology on Feb 28

The post 5G BlackBerry phone project officially dead as OnwardMobility shuts down appeared first on Gizmochina.

Just last month, it was confirmed that a new BlackBerry 5G phone with a keyboard would launch this year. This was set to be the first BlackBerry smartphone in years, but now, it seems like this device is cancelled after OnwardMobility lost rights to the BlackBerry’s name.

Back in August 2020, it was revealed that OnwardMobility is the latest licensee for the BB brand for smartphones. While the BlackBerry 5G phone suffered from delays, OnwardMobility insisted that the device is on its way. But according to an AndroidPolice report, the 5G BB project is apparently dead. The news arrives from Kevin Michaluk, founder of CrackBerry, and other sources have revealed that OnwardMobility is not planning on working on the project any longer.

Reportedly, the company has cancelled the project despite acquiring the license to use the American phone maker’s name. Furthermore, even BlackBerry is looking to distance itself from its past identity as a smartphone vendor as it sold the rest of its mobile patents earlier this month for 600 million US Dollars. While we have not seen any leaks related to OnwardMobility’s 5G BlackBerry phone, it was believed to feature a design similar to the previously launched BB Priv, which was an Android slider phone.

For those unaware, the new 5G BB phone was planned to release in mid 2021, but faced delays due to issues with the supply chain followed by BlackBerry CEO John Chen changing his decision of having another OEM try and revive the brand on another smartphone. So, with OnwardMobility losing the license to its name, we might not see another BlackBerry phone for a long time.

RELATED:

• Onward Mobility announces “Pre-commitment Program” ahead of its first BlackBerry phone
• Patent troll acquires $600 million worth of patents from BlackBerry
• BlackBerry to power Baidu’s mapping technology used in Chinese EVs

The post OnwardMobility kills the 5G BlackBerry project after losing rights to BlackBerry’s name appeared first on Gizmochina.

Last year, a new BlackBerry licensee called OnwardMobility announced that it will release new BlackBerry phones this year that will have 5G support. A new report says the American company has plans to bring the new BlackBerry phones to the Asian market too.

The press release from OnwardMobility last year said that their first BlackBerry phone will be announced in Europe and North America. Asian fans of the brand must have been saddened seeing as they were left out. However, that is not the case as Nikkei Asia reports that the new BlackBerry phones from the company will also be announced in Asia.

Peter Franklin who heads OnwardMobility is reported to have said that Asia is also a very important market. The manufacturer doesn’t have a defined timeframe for when the phones will launch in Asia but the CEO said they are in the “process of speaking to customers and mobile carriers on a global scale to develop our distribution plan”.

The first BlackBerry phone from the company will have a physical keyboard, a flagship camera, and 5G connectivity, and it is being jointly developed with Foxconn’s FIH Mobile. Franklin has said that their long term goal is to have their phones assembled in the USA.

He believes that there is still a market for BlackBerry phones and that their smartphones which will have a physical keyboard “can help boost productivity”. It appears the company has no intention of making a touchscreen-only model like the Optiemus-made BlackBerry Evolve and BlackBerry Evolve X or the TCL-made BlackBerry Motion.

The much-loved form factor is not the only thing the company is bringing. The phones will also provide protection against data leaks and online threats. OnwardMobility says they will partner with an external cybersecurity company for this.

The smartphone market is a highly competitive one. OnwardMobility will have to offer products that can compete with phones from Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, and OnePlus. It does have the advantage as none of these other players make phones with a physical keyboard but it remains to be seen if that and the better security it promises will be able to woo customers.

RELATED:

• BlackBerry to power Baidu’s mapping technology used in Chinese EVs
• Blackview Tab 8E comes bundled with a removable keyboard, starts at $135.99
• Foxconn receives license in Vietnam for its $270 million plant that will produce MacBooks and iPads

The post OnwardMobility, the new BlackBerry licensee, plans to bring BlackBerry phones to Asia appeared first on Gizmochina.

Earlier this year, TCL and BlackBerry Mobile announced that the latter will no longer design, manufacture, and sell BlackBerry-branded mobile devices anymore. There has not been a new BlackBerry phone in almost two years but that will change next year.

Apparently, there is a new BlackBerry licensee called OnwardMobility and they have announced they will launch the first BlackBerry 5G mobile phone next year. OnwardMobility is a security solutions company that is headed by Peter Franklin.

According to a video released by the CEO, the company has gone into an agreement with FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Foxconn Technology Group, to launch a new 5G BlackBerry smartphone that will be powered by Android.

This image above from OnwardMobility’s website says new BlackBerry 5G smartphones are coming in 2021. This means there will be more than one device next year.

The company executive has also given us a heads-up with respect to the design of the first phone. In the video, he revealed that the new phone will have a physical keyboard. So we expect it to have a form factor similar to the BlackBerry KEY2.

With respect to specs, there are no details yet other than it having support for 5G. However, we presume it will not be a flagship phone.

OnwardMobility is promising a feature-rich Android smartphone that delivers on security and productivity which are the main strengths of BlackBerry smartphones. Information on the manufacturer’s website says that the phone will launch in the first half of 2021 in North America and Europe.

It definitely is good news to know that BlackBerry Mobile is not dead. We also hope OnwardMobility will have more success with the brand.

UP NEXT: TCL Electronics to acquire TCL Communications as a major part of its AIoT strategy

The post OnwardMobility to announce new BlackBerry 5G phones next year appeared first on Gizmochina.