BlackBerry equips upcoming QWERTY device with 3.5″ touchscreen

BlackBerry has a new smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard in prospect. However, the Q20 will not appear until the second half of this year.

The Q20 is optimized for e-mail and gets buttons for the menu, back, send and ‘end’. The device also gets the BlackBerry characteristic keyboard and trackpad. In addition, the Q20 will have a 3.5″ touchscreen. Never before has the Canadian manufacturer added such a large touchscreen to a smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard. However, BlackBerry has not yet announced further details.

The company also introduced the Z3. This is a model with a 5″ touchscreen and BlackBerry OS 10.2.1, but this device will only appear in Indonesia, for less than 145 euros.

Finally, rumors surfaced over the weekend that Ford will be using BlackBerry’s QNX operating system in its cars. So far, Ford has partnered with Microsoft. However, the automaker could make the switch to BlackBerry’s operating system this year or maybe next year for Sync, which allows users to make voice calls and switch radio stations, Detroit News reported.