BlackBerry’s annual developer conference kicked off this morning with CEO Thorsten Heins unveiling the company’s latest BB10 smartphone for emerging markets, the Q5.
The BlackBerry Live conference, taking place only a few months after the reveal of BlackBerry 10 and the new Z10 and Q10 smartphones, sent a clear message that the company is interested in staying in the mobile ecosystem. Blackberry’s focus on business and government environments proved unsuccessful as Android and iOS have dominated the personal market, but now the company will turn to the average consumer with an all new experience. In keeping with the decision to focus on consumers, BlackBerry has announced the Q5 smartphones for budget buyers and emerging markets.
The BlackBerry Q5 is a smaller, more colorful Q10 designed for younger users who are more interested in a colorful smartphone. The phone relies on a 3.1-inch touch screen and the all too familiar BlackBerry keyboard in a thinner profile than the current flagship BlackBerry. The focus for the phone is BlackBerry’s camera software and the full keyboard. There’s no mention of specs or price yet, but it’s been made clear that the phone is expected to be available in Europe and Asia starting in July.
Outside of the brightly colored package and thinner profile, the Q5 is described by BlackBerry as being the same as any other BB10 device. This means that BlackBerry could be planning to start advertising BlackBerry Messenger and BBM Video to a younger audience, perhaps in competition with FaceTime and Google Talk. While BB10 is certainly enjoyable to use and the app ecosystem is filled with most of the latest smartphone games, it seems unlikely that this will be enough to attract the younger audience.
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