Now, BlackBerry Fans Can Experience 5G Phone As The Iconic Brand Is Set To Return In 2021

Texas-based startup OnwardMobility to release a new Android-based BlackBerry smartphone with a physical QWERTY keyboard and 5G support in the first half of 2021

(FILES) In this file photo a Blackberry Bold 9900 4G smartphone sits on display for sale at T-Mobile store on June 28, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. - The BlackBerry keyboard dethroned by touchscreens will live on in a new 5G smartphone planned for release next year, according to a deal announced on August 18, 2020. Texas-based OnwardMobility will work with a Foxconn Technology Group subsidiary on a BlackBerry smartphone powered by Android software and tailored for 5G networks, the companies said in a joint release. (Photo by KEVORK DJANSEZIAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

New Delhi: The iconic brand which evokes a sense of nostalgia, BlackBerry is once again betting in the smartphone market and set to return with 5G in 2021. The smartphone brand that left its impression in the corporate circles because of the government-level security will once again join the fray of smartphone brands. The Texas security startup OnwardMobility and FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Chinese device manufacturing giant Foxconn aims to launch a new 5G BlackBerry Android, according to CNET report. Also Read: #TwitterDown Trends As Users Report Inability To See Photos, Videos; Memers Have Their Fun Once More

Under the terms of the agreement, BlackBerry has given the nod to OnwardMobility to develop, engineer, and bring to market a BlackBerry 5G mobile device. As per the IANS report, the new Android-based BlackBerry smartphone will have a physical QWERTY keyboard and 5G support.

"BlackBerry is thrilled OnwardMobility will deliver a BlackBerry 5G smartphone device with a physical keyboard leveraging our high standards of trust and security synonymous with our brand," John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO, BlackBerry, said in a statement on Wednesday.

It is not the first time that the iconic brand has licensed its dotted logo to another smartphone maker. In 2016, after the parent company Research in Motion discontinued the BlackBerry line in 2016, Chinese manufacturer TCL managed to take up the licence and started making BlackBerry phones in 2017.

As per the report, the contract will end by August, and TCL does not aim to continue with the brand thereafter after it witnessed moderate success from the launch of TCL-branded phone.

Those who are possessive about the brand can still purchase TCL's BlackBerry Key2 until Aug 31, which the company will continue to support for at least another two years.