TCL's BlackBerry KEYone Goes On Sale May 31

TCL has announced that the BlackBerry KEYone, a smartphone TCL developed with BlackBerry Mobile will be available unlocked starting May 31. 

The handset includes a 4.5-inch touch display and full QWERTY keyboard, Snapdragon 625 processor, 12 megapixel camera, and Android 7.1 Nougat with BlackBerry Hub and BlackBerry Messenger. 

TCL plans to sell unlocked GSM and CDMA variants of the phone directly to consumers online for $549. TCL noted a carrier version will be available later this summer.


Source: BlackBerry

Meet The Android Powered BlackBerry DTEK50

BlackBerry officially announces the mid-range BlackBerry DTEK50, offering solid performance and power, but with a price of just $299 USD. The DTEK50 packs a 5.2-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 617 processor, 3GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

The DTEK50 comes pre loaded with BlackBerry features such as BlackBerry Messenger, BlackBerry Hub, and BlackBerry's DTEK software. BlackBerry claims the DTEK50 is the “most secure Android smartphone” with enhancements to the OS as well as a secure boot process. The device is also said to get Google's monthly security patches.

Source: ShopBlackBerry.com

TCL Communications To Revive Palm Under Alcatel OneTouch Brand

TCL Communications, the parent company of Alcatel OneTouch confirmed to Phone Scoop that it has acquired the Palm brand and plans to revive the failed tech company. 

In a statement to Phone Scoop TCL CEO George Guo stated "We are interested in the brand because we believe the brand has value," "It was once a very strong brand and there are many fans of this brand around the world, including people at TCL." TCL intends to resurrect Palm with new hardware, software, and services but not on its own. 

TCL has asked the developers community to contribute ideas for potential new devices, operating systems, and apps. It will commit engineers and its manufacturing resources to the project, but hopes much of the research development will come from the developers community at large. 

TCL said it hasn't worked out the details of how this community driven revival will function, but it is confident it can restore luster to the brand. "Palm was an original pioneer and we want to keep it that way. We want to attract the people who have ideas on how to revive the Palm brand in a meaningful way." Guo shot down the idea of using webOS, which is owned by LG, and ran on the Palm Pre, Pixi, and other phones. "We are open to all ideas, but probably not webOS," said Guo. "Palm built by Palm fans is the intent." TCL expects to eventually offer both Alcatel and Palm branded products in the US. 

TCL said it couldn't comment on the terms of the acquisition. It will provide more details as they are developed.