Having now pulled out of the smartphone market, the new device isn’t actually built by BlackBerry. As Nokia has licensed its brand to Chinese company HMD Global, BlackBerry is also pursuing new partnerships with third-party handset creators. Unlike Nokia, the company isn’t granting an exclusive license to a single firm, instead working individually with regional manufacturers.
In the case of the new BlackBerry Aurora, Indonesian firm BB Merah Putih has created, developed and manufactured the phone specifically for the Indonesian market. It has a 5.5-inch 720p display, 1.4GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 13-megapixel rear camera. There’s also 32GB of storage, an 8-megapixel front camera and a 3,000mAh battery. The phone will retail at IDR 3,499,000, around $260.
The Aurora runs a close-to-stock version of Android 7.0 Nougat, augmented by Blackberry’s Hub productivity apps and DTEK privacy system. BlackBerry is relying on its strong security suite and focus on professional use to sell new phones, emphasising software above raw hardware capabilities. Rounding out the business-oriented feature set is dual-SIM support, popular in Indonesia. It makes the Aurora suitable as a combined personal and work phone.
In a blog post, BlackBerry said the Aurora demonstrates that “Blackberry-branded devices are here to stay,” even though it’s no longer directly involved in their creation. It described its partnership with BB Merah Putih as a “critical step” in its evolution to a services-based company.
BlackBerry has already granted extensive licensing rights to TCL to sell BlackBerry phones in many regions worldwide. Opteimus Infracom holds a license to use the BlackBerry name in India. BlackBerry Senior-Vice President and General Manager of Mobility Solutions Alex Thurber congratulated Merah Putih on the Indonesian launch of the Aurora, stating that both companies are committed to their partnership.
“We’re confident that Indonesian consumers will absolutely love BlackBerry Aurora,” said Thurber. “Built on the world’s most secure Android software platform, the Nougat 7.0-based BlackBerry Aurora is made in Indonesia, and will deliver a wealth of features favored by Indonesian users.”
BlackBerry is concentrating on the Indonesian market because it hosts the largest population of existing BlackBerry users anywhere in the world. The company has also handed over day-to-day operations of its BBM messaging network to Emtek, another Indonesian technology firm.
BlackBerry’s partners are expected to unveil more phones bearing the iconic handset maker’s name over the next year. At CES 2017, TCL launched the KEYone, a 4.5-inch Android device with a physical QWERTY keyboard harking back to BlackBerry’s phones of old. It will be available globally in April priced at $549.
