BlackBerry on Thursday has officially announced a new mid-range smartphone in Indonesia, called the Aurora. The smartphone, Aurora is the first handset developed and manufactured by BB Merah Putih, the company that currently holds the license of making, marketing, and selling BlackBerry-branded smartphones in Indonesia. BlackBerry signed an exclusive deal (Brand licensing agreement) with BB Merah Putih back in September 2016.
This new mid-range Android smartphone, Aurora offers some decent specifications with the great software and security features from BlackBerry’s other devices. Aurora is the first Blackberry smartphone developed in Indonesia and is claimed to be the first BlackBerry smartphone with dual-SIM capabilities. BlackBerry claims that its Aurora smartphone is specifically designed keeping in the mind the needs of local customers. It is also the first BlackBerry device packing with dual-SIM card slots, which is a feature that’s apparently in high value in the country.
”The phone is not only the first BlackBerry-branded device to ever be produced in Indonesia, but it is the first BlackBerry device in the world to be equipped with dual-SIM functionality,” says Stanly Widjaja, Vice President BB Merah Putih.
BlackBerry has closed its hardware business but that doesn’t mean that it is out of it. The company now has TCL, the Chinese hardware maker company which has a global agreement with BlackBerry in Canada to produce handsets, that it recently launched the BlackBerry KEYOne (aka Mercury). TCL’s agreement holds the right to manufacture and sell BlackBerry smartphones in most of the world with the exception of a few countries in Asia.
The smartphone has already been made and is currently available for pre-order through various online e-commerce platforms. It will remain available until March 12 with local retailers at IDR 3,499,000 or about $260 USD (roughly Rs. 17,246). The BlackBerry Aurora has been made available in Black, Silver, and Gold colour variants. The BlackBerry Aurora running Android 7.0 Nougat with BlackBerry’s DTEK security suite, as well as BlackBerry features like the Hub productivity suite (an app that brings all messages, texts and emails into one place). Nothing much has changed from the stock version of the Android apart from the inclusion of a few BlackBerry apps and wallpapers.
BlackBerry Aurora Specifications:-
In terms of specifications, the BlackBerry Aurora runs Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box and sports a 5.5-inch HD (1280 x 720 resolution) IPS display. But it is not yet clear whether it comes with Asahi Dragontrail Glass or Corning Gorilla Glass as protection.
The smartphone is powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor with Adreno 308 GPU. The Aurora comes with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, which is further expandable up to 2TB via a microSD card.
In terms of optics, the BlackBerry Aurora packs a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with phase detection autofocus (PDAF), dual-tone CMS sensor, LED Flash and a 1080p Full HD video recording. On the front, it comes with an 8-megapixel front shooter for taking selfies.
In terms of connectivity options, the smartphone offers 4G LTE connectivity, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS, Bluetooth v4.0, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microUSB v2.0 for data transfer. The BlackBerry Aurora houses a 3000mAh battery, it should keep the device up and running for a day. The Phone measures 152 x 76.8 x 8.5mm and weighs 178 grams.
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“We sincerely congratulate BB Merah Putih on the new BlackBerry Aurora, the latest device launched under our software licensing strategy and new model for delivering the “smart” in the smartphone. Our customers in Indonesia are very important to BlackBerry, and as we focus on software innovation, we are very excited about our partnership with BB Merah Putih to deliver high-quality devices with the BlackBerry security DNA our customers are so familiar with,” Alex Thurber, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Mobility Solutions for BlackBerry, said in a statement.
