Photos probably show unannounced BlackBerry with physical keyboard

Photos have surfaced of what is believed to be the BlackBerry Mercury. It would be the latest design from BlackBerry itself. The Canadian company is outsourcing the design and manufacture of smartphones and focuses only on software.

The photos are on the Chinese social network Weibo, but the user in question has deleted them. While the images look believable, BlackBerry fan site Crackberry says they aren’t sure of the photos’ authenticity because they can’t determine if the device will indeed look like that. BlackBerry has already confirmed that it will work on a latest device with a physical keyboard.

The device in the photos seems to have a screen with a regular aspect ratio, unlike the Passport from two years ago with a square display. The home screen shows an Android release and not a BlackBerry 10. Below the screen is a four-line physical keyboard. Above the screen is a strip with the front camera, speaker and sensors. Its exterior looks unfinished, making it look like it is a prototype.

According to previous rumors, the phone has a 4.5″ screen with an aspect ratio of 3:2 and a full HD resolution. The soc is a Snapdragon 625, which is accompanied by 3GB of ram and 32GB of storage. The battery is supposed to be 3400mAh. are large and the front and rear cameras have 8- and 18-megapixel sensors respectively.

In September, BlackBerry announced that the company would stop producing smartphones. The company continues to license its brand name and Android skin so that third parties can continue to make branded devices. The DTEK50 and DTEK60 released this year are examples of this new strategy. The devices are based on existing models from Alcatel.