The BlackBerry range of phones is about to undergo a major change in design direction that will see the typically bland slab design convert to a flip design. Research in Motion, the company that is responsible for the design and development of the Blackberry range is expected to make the announcement on Wednesday that the new design will be available in the US later this year going global next year.
The new phone is expected to be an updated version of the Blackberry Pearl that was first released around two years ago and while the biggest difference is obviously going to be the hinged, flip design, there’s relatively little known about any other features that the phone will offer. More news is likely to be forthcoming as the release date looms.
A new touch screen only Blackberry is also expected to be announced, although when this announcement will come nobody really knows for certain. The keyboardless mobile phone will be released to attempt to compete with the ridiculously popular iPhone.
Both the touch screen and the flip phones will be quite a diversion from the Blackberry range that, while offering excellent smartphone features, have been somewhat linear in their design progression up until now.