In a conversation with Engadget, Franklin was eager to address some of these questions. And even when he declined to provide specifics, he laid out an ambitious — and in some ways surprising — vision for the BlackBerry of the near future.

The original plan, according to Franklin, was to build the “the most secure phone out there.” That’s the sort of angle that opens doors, but doesn’t usually translate to mass-market success. Over time, however, the team’s priorities came to include productivity, as evidenced by the number of times the word plastered on the OnwardMobility website. For now, the specifics are still shrouded in secrecy; Franklin wouldn’t elaborate on the new BlackBerry’s  features apart from noting that the phone will pack “tons of unique experiences” and “security propositions.” Still, that newfound focus on getting things done helped widen the project’s scope considerably. 

While OnwardMobility is eager to push new hardware at business and government customers, Franklin has committed to building this new phone with normal consumers in mind. “The only way to be successful with government and enterprise is if consumers want to use it too,” he said. “If your company makes you use this phone and you don’t like it, that’s not where we want to be.” 

OnwardMobility

But here’s the thing: OnwardMobility’s definition of a phone consumers want to use seems totally different from TCL’s, or any of BlackBerry’s earlier licensing partners. Franklin describes the device the company plans to ship in the first half of 2021 as a consumer-first “global flagship” (his words, not mine) with a “world-class camera” and support for both sub-6 and mmWave 5G networks. And then there’s the keyboard. OnwardMobility confirmed in its press release that the new BlackBerry would indeed have a physical keyboard, but Franklin — a fan of the classic Bold 9900 — wouldn’t elaborate much on the phone’s design. 

Of course, that might be because the design isn’t set in stone. According to Franklin, the team is collaborating closely with its partner FIH Mobile and has strong opinions about the device it wants to make, but still craves feedback. “We want to hear from the users,” he said. 

With all that said, there is at least one aspect of BlackBerry production that Franklin seems especially adamant about. Security remains the biggest priority for OnwardMobility, and a big part of fully securing a smartphone in 2020 is securing its supply chain. That’s an exceptionally tough feat when you consider the lion’s share of the world’s hardware production happens within Chinese borders. FIH Mobile, Onward’s manufacturing partner, knows that all too well. While its parent company Foxconn is headquartered in Taiwan, most of its smartphone production happens across multiple factories in Shenzhen. 

Not so for the BlackBerry: Franklin insists that the company’s forthcoming phone will be manufactured completely outside of mainland China. If that pans out, the likeliest candidates would be FIH’s facilities in Vietnam or India; the company has been boosting production capacity there as trade friction between the US and China continues to build. Producing a phone outside of China is one thing, but Franklin seems to be chasing an even more ambitious goal. “We want to be the most American-made phone out there,” he said. “The specifics of that and how we’re enabling that are to come.”

Despite the end of the partnership, current users don’t have to worry about being completely abandoned — TCL will continue to support current models until August 31, 2022. The company — which is partially owned by the Chinese government — will likely continue to make its own smartphones, but it faces competition from other Chinese companies like Xiaomi and Huawei.

TCL’s BlackBerry-branded phones feature physical QWERTY keyboards — a big part of what made BlackBerry so popular among business users back in the day. Combined with the modern features of Android, the handsets were worth considering for those who still have one foot firmly planted in the Y2K era. But with the partnership ending, it may be better to look elsewhere, even considering the extended support offered by TCL.

It seems that BlackBerry, the former smartphone leader, will focus exclusively on software and security from now on. With that, the company may completely fade from the minds of consumers. It had a good run, but simply couldn’t compete in the era of full touchscreen smartphones.

The Hypersport Pro Electric Superbike, unveiled at CES, will use BlackBerry’s QNX operating system as the basis for its CoPilot warning system. The system uses radar, cameras and other sensors to track the speed and direction of objects which are moving near to the bike, in order to warn riders when an object is approaching which could be a safety concern.

BlackBerry promises that the advanced collision warning system is highly secure, and that it delivers “enhanced situational awareness” and “increased peace of mind” for riders.

The Hypersport Pro will be a limited edition bike, and if you’re at CES you can try it out for yourself at the BlackBerry booth where there will be a rideable, stationary bike with VR features to simulate the on-road experience.

Part of Emtek’s statement reads:

“We poured our hearts into making this a reality, and we are proud of what we have built to date.

The technology industry however, is very fluid, and in spite of our substantial efforts, users have moved on to other platforms, while new users proved difficult to sign on.”

According to CrackBerry, one of the reasons why Emtek’s BBM failed was because it became a bit too bloated with games, channels and ads — extra features the enterprise version doesn’t have. Now, to make up for the consumer version’s shutdown, BlackBerry is making its enterprise-grade encrypted Messenger (BBMe) available for personal use.

BBMe is now available for Android devices, including the BlackBerry KEY2 Red Edition, through the Google Play Store. It will also land on Apple’s App Store “soon.” The application is free for the first year and will set users back $2.49 for a six-month subscription afterward — it remains to be seen whether people will find it good enough to pay for when they have a plethora of messaging apps to choose from.

Other than that, you’re looking at identical specs to the OG KEY2: 6GB RAM, a mid-range Snapdragon 660 chipset, a 4.5-inch 3:2 LCD screen, and a 3,500 mAh battery. But, at $699, it will still cost you almost $100 more than its nine-month-old predecessor, which seemed overpriced in the first place. We first saw the Android phone at MWC in February, and it launched in China last month. As for a proper follow-up, BlackBerry Mobile brand licensee TCL is moving away from an annual upgrade cycle, so you’re looking at an ETA much later in the year.