14 DAY TRIAL // BlackBerry is expected to announce at least two new Android-running smartphones this year, after it released the DTEK50 this summer. A BlackBerry patent spotted by CrackBerry shows that the company could implement a new authentication system on its upcoming phones.
Seeing how this is just a patent application, it’s unclear if BlackBerry will actually equip its upcoming phones with this feature. The application was filed on October 13 and shows a new authentication system based on a touch-sensitive keyboard.
Images that accompany the application show as BlackBerry smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard and some details on the authentication method. Apparently, the system “may involve illustrating, to the electronic device, knowledge of a stored secret though providing input, at least in part, via the touch-sensitive keyboard.”
It seems that the input could involve swipes or a combination of keys. In addition, the swipes and key actions could be associated with a certain region of the keyboard.
BlackBerry Mercury could potentially come with this authentication method
The authentication method is highly unlikely to be featured on the DTEK60, since the smartphone won’t come with a physical keyboard. However, the BlackBerry Mercury is said to have a QWERTY keyboard, which means that it could potentially incorporate the authentication method.
There’s not much information on the BlackBerry Mercury, but the smartphone is said to arrive later this year. BlackBerry Mercury carries the code name BBB100-1 and it was recently spotted on Geekbench. The smartphone appeared to run Android 7.0 Nougat and had 3GB of RAM.
It also incorporated a 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, possibly the Snapdragon 6252 clocked at 2.02GHz. The smartphone could also come with a 4.5-inch Full HD display, while internal storage could reach 32GB. Additionally, the device might draw power from a 3,400mAh battery, and rear camera capacity might be 18MP, with 8MP in the front for selfies and video calls.