Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd has launched the BlackBerry 9720, the new phone will take a reverse mode as far as its operating system is concerned. Instead of the latest BlackBerry 10 platform, the new phone will run OS 7.1 version which last saw action in 2011.

However plenty of BlackBerry’s punters can’t afford that: those expecting low-cost handsets in emerging markets. While BlackBerry promised that BB OS 10 would be available across all price points in 2013, it hasn’t been able to come up with the goods. Even the cheapest of the three BB OS 10 devices released to date -the Q5 - is still far too expensive to appeal to the $150 segment: it costs about ₦61,500 in Nigeria.



Design and Looks: Blackberry 9720 is the successor of the Blackberry 9220. The phone comes with 2.8 inches IPS capacitive with 480 x 360 pixels resolution with ~214ppi pixel density. The device has multitouch support. The phone read dimensions are 114 x 66 x 12 mm and the device weighs 120 g. The phone will be available in Black, White, Purple, Blue, Pure Pink colors


Hardware and Software: Blackberry 9720 comes with low-end hardware and outdated OS. This device is expected to be priced cheaper. The phone runs on poor 806 MHz Single-core Tavor MG1 Processor and the RAM is 512MB which is quite low and may affect the performance of the phone. The smartphone performs on Blackberry OS 7.1.


Camera, Music and Multimedia: The phone comes with 5 MP rear camera and has no front camera for video calling. The device can play supported media formats like MP3, WAV, WMA, eAAC+ (audio) and MP4, H.264, H.263, WMV (video).


Internal and External Storage: Blackberry 9720 comes with only 512MB built-in storage and the external storage is expandable upto 32GB via microSD card slot.


Connectivity Options: The device can connect to 2G via Quad Band and 3G. 3G data transfer speeds utpo 7.2Mbps HSDPA, 5.76Mbps HSUPA. Connectivity options like Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP, microUSB v2.0, Wi-Fi 802 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct options are available in the phone.


Battery and Talk Time: The phone is powered by Standard Li-on 1450 mAh battery which could cover a talktime of upto only 7 hours and standby time upto 450 hours.
BB OS 10 turned out to be too much for BlackBerry’s PlayBook, too. Having promised owners of the tablet a new version of the operating system, BB CEO Thorsten Heins announced the slab was being discontinued, in part owing to the poor performance of the OS.

The company, which has watched its market share nosedive in just five years, announced it was up for grabs recently.

The BB 9720 is available on Parktelonline Store: http://www./BlackBerry-9720-Black