Back in Black... Berry: Canadians send out invites to launch China-made phone

Here’s a refreshing new take on a press invite - just show the phone, rather than cramming marketing doublespeak down our throats. Other than a simple hashtag, there are no words in this invite because there’s no need for BlackBerry to say anything - it’s better to just show it.

It’s a Bold move that didn’t throw us for a Curve, this new phone could be a real Pearl. Did the subliminal messaging work? Because seeing this image of the BlackBerry Mercury/DTEK70 brought back a lot of fond memories of the time when BB was awesome. Bolds, Curves, Pearls, they were the workhorses of the business world and, surprisingly, even students were all over them - BlackBerry Messenger being the Snapchat of its day.

Consider yourself invited to virtually attend BlackBerry Mercury/DTEK70's launch

Anyway, the company didn’t go as far as putting the specifications on the invite, but we know enough from rumors. A relatively small 4.5” screen will sit above the old school QWERTY, inside a modern Snapdragon 821 will provide the number crunching power.

As the DTEK name suggests, the Mercury is a TCL-made phone - the manufacturer already makes two models, but this is the first one with a QWERTY. Check back with us at the end of the month to find out if it carries the BlackBerry spirit or if it has gone the way of Alcatel.