Going by the current standards of the Indian domestic market with respect to the smartphone section of it, customers now have a host of devices to choose from with more and more manufacturers for the same arriving almost everyday.
And while a number of smartphone companies, apart from the big boys in the race - Samsung and Apple, like Micromax and Karbonn already starting to make a name for themselves, it seems like others not-so-fortunate will have to put in extra effort just to stay in the race and look to find a way back into customers' pockets.
One such smartphone brand is BlackBerry.
There was a time not long ago when a BlackBerry used to rule on top of the charts with more and more customers worldwide opting for that brand of device. The reason, of course, was pretty simple. A BlackBerry device was considered to be the epitome of coolness among all others in the market, with the device's corporate look also helping the brand get as much exposure as possible.
However, times have changed since those days, and so has the brand's fate - in terms of financial numbers and overall popularity. With the quick rise of both Google-based Android operating system and Apple's iOS, the BlackBerry brand seemed like it was struggling to stay in the market (let alone a dash to the top).
However, while nothing can be said about what the future holds, the BlackBerry brand, as it seems, is looking to get back into the market with a brand new introduction in the form of BlackBerry Jakarta.
As far as this new BlackBerry device is concerned, your guess is as good as ours since nothing concrete is available about the device, as of now. However, that hasn't stopped the device from making regular rounds on the web with rumored features and specifications for the same.
And with more and more rumors making way for the Jakarta, it seems like some of them might eventually turn out to be real. So what are the top rumors surrounding the next big thing from BlackBerry? Let's take a look at the top 5 among them.
In-device Specifications
If rumors are to be believed, the upcoming Jakarta handset from BlackBerry will be a BlackBerry 10-based low-cost entry into the market. And while there's no evidence as to how the device will look on release, it has been heavily rumored that the device will not feature a physical keyboard - a feature reminiscent to the BlackBerry devices of the past.
Price
When we mentioned earlier that the device will look to arrive without a physical keyboard, it was also suggested that the device, if indeed real, will shift from the low-cost QWERTY devices (such as Q5 and 9720) from last year.
However, although we don't have a real price tag to go with the device, it is expected to be an entry level device that won't look to burn a hole in your pocket if you choose to go for it. Nonetheless, the all important numbers are not available as of now.
Operating System
We are not sure as to what the device's OS will be. Will it be running on the recent BlackBerry 10 OS? Or will it feature something new? Rumors around the web claim that the device could be arriving with the already available BlackBerry OS v10.2. However, what's important here is the fact that even if the device arrives on the BlackBerry OS v10.2, will it sport any added feature that we are yet to see in a traditional BB device? Only time will tell.
Camera
Since BlackBerry isn't the way it used to be in the recent past, the company could look to spice up a few in-device features - notably, the built-in camera. A smartphone nowadays, as it seems, is also judged by the camera it carries, and in order to match up against its opponents in the market, we are guessing that the company could offer a better in-device camera to attract more customers.
Release Date
Recently, BlackBerry CEO John Chen announced a 5-year partnership with Foxconn to develop and manufacture new BlackBerry 10 devices. Mr. Chen also took the opportunity to state that the devices will be heading to "Indonesia and other fast-growing markets targeting early 2014."
And although that's not really a potential release date material, while some rumors claim that the device will get its first official reveal at next month Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014, others state that the the device will be officially released in March or April. However, as always, everything here has to be taken with a pinch of salt.
