14 DAY TRIAL // File this under rumors, as we don’t have anything that could support the idea of another big reveal during BlackBerry Passport’s launch from later today.
Apparently, the Canadian company plans to announce another important device along with the BlackBerry Passport. According to BlackBerryOS, the surprise announcement “isn’t Passport or Classic related,” so what could it be?
Well, rumors claim BlackBerry may introduce a non-Playbook name tablet, a wearable watch, or the Blackberry Manitoba. We would also like to add the BlackBerry Victoria slider to the list of possible devices to be unveiled today along with the Passport.
We reported on the strange 5.5-inch BlackBerry smartphone, internally known as Victoria or Visa, which is supposed to come with a physical keyboard that features a pivoting cover.
But this device is said to arrive on the market in early Q2 2015, so it wouldn’t make sense for BlackBerry to announce it today, which is why the Manitoba is a much more valid choice.
BlackBerry Manitoba is the spiritual successor of the Z30, which means it will be a full-touch smartphone that will lack a physical QWERTY keyboard.
The smartphone is expected to be launched on the market as BlackBerry Z3 LTE (not to be mistaken for the BlackBerry Z3 that’s already available), and the Canadian company is supposed to make it available for purchase by the end of this year.
BlackBerry Manitoba will have Z30's specs, but Z3's design
According to the latest hearsay, the Manitoba will have the same specs as the Z30, but it will have Z3’s design and form factor.
This means BlackBerry Manitoba could be equipped with a 1.7GHz dual-core Qualcomm Pro Snapdragon processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory.
It will also sport a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen display of unknown resolution and microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 64GB). No other details on the BlackBerry Manitoba have been leaked yet, but if this is the smartphone the Canadian company plans to announce along with the Passport, it doesn’t seem to be such a big deal.
It’s also worth mentioning that the LTE version of BlackBerry Z3, known as Manitoba, should go on sale by the end of the year for around $400 (€300) off contract.
Obviously, there’s a high chance that the Passport may be the only new smartphone announced by BlackBerry today, which is why we recommend our readers to take this piece of news with a tint of salt.
Stay tuned for more updates on BlackBerry’s conference that will start at 6am PDT / 9am EDT / 1pm GMT / 5pm GST.