Following yesterday’s news that BlackBerry will cut 4,500 jobs and focus on offering only four devices – 2 high-end and 2 entry-level devices – going forward, images of one of those devices have now surfaced. Part of a new C-Series, the device is identified as the Americano.
Allegedly already undergoing testing, the Americano is described as a “lower-tier model” that blends the BlackBerry Z30’s design with lower-end specifications closer to those of the BlackBerry Q5. It reportedly sports a 4.2-inch HD (720×1280) display and LTE connectivity.
Some of the images show Verizon branding, indicating that despite dismal BlackBerry 10 sales in the U.S., BlackBerry is not quite done there and ready to try again. It has also showed up next to an iPhone 4S.
The Americano is part of BlackBerry’s ‘Cafe’ series, a codename that surfaced earlier this week, along with the ‘Cappuccino’ and ‘Latte.’ One of those could be a QWERTY variant.
It would appear that we now have our BlackBerry Z10 successor. The BlackBerry Q5 is likely to be replaced by the QWERTY variant of this model.
The BlackBerry C-Series is expected to launch sometime in Q1 2014. Could there be an announcement at CES 2014?
Sources : BBIn // N4BB // CrackBerry