CrackBerry Kevin talks KEYone, the BlackBerry brand and more with Cheddar! By CrackBerry

Welcome back to cheddar everyone, the company is sometimes called Crack Berry camp, seem to kick the smartphone habit. That's sometimes what happens. I guess we're doing crack a year. After saying, it was some making devices in-house BlackBerry's teaming up with Chinese manufacturer TCL to release a new all touchscreen phone due out next month in October, it's the second device. The companies are putting out together, having launched a key one. Earlier this year.

Joining us now is Kevin McCulloch founder of crackberry. com Kevin, also known as Crack Berry Kevin. You know it's funny. I just got CB kale I love it. You brought the BlackBerry key one, but now they're companies.

You know with this new manufacturer with TCL. Well the company. This is the million-dollar question. Probably the billion-dollar question dollars based on the industry. Well, the company be able to compete against Apple and Samsung.

It's a good question, I think what we've seen this year with TCL, taking over really the production, marketing support of the phones and pretty much all regions around the world. It's not about going back to like a number one status right away right. Furthermore, it's about finding that niche of BlackBerry owners and giving them a product that represents what they've always loved over the years. So it's its things like you know: communication, efficiency, security, reliability, huge battery life and, of course, physical keyboards. So you know this is a phone.

That's immediately recognizable! You can see it across the room. You know it's a blackberry and there's still millions upon millions people in the world who that's what they want and actually coming in here today, for you know going through the security right away. Security guards like is that the new key one I bought one for my wife online on Amazon a couple of week like weeks ago. She loves it. She won't give up her keyboard, and you know this one's on Android now.

So it's got all the apps, so you know what kind of really hurt them for years. There's no longer an issue. It's its Android! It's running, you know nougat right now. Furthermore, it's got everything, and then they're putting their blackberry flavor to it, which gives it a good position to be running yeah. The announced support for you is coming so the key you want to get upgraded to RED and, and now it's in the U.

S. you know they first showed phone off in Barcelona at the end of February, that's kind of when they know they officially announced it. They said it would come to five markets, only I think at the time it was you know, US Canada, France, Germany and the UK was where it was going to go, and now it's 30 markets and rolling out. So it's really TCL, you know, took a huge gamble. I mean they're they're, saying like we'll.

Take the risk financially to build these phones again, not really knowing. If it's gonna work- and you know all the indications I've seen, is it's going better that better than expected, and they're now rolling out broader? You know, there are some rumours are more phones coming, which is good. You know when you call it key one, you have to expect, there's going to be a key to so it's been a fun year and one that I just didn't expect I mean I. Was you know, I kind of killed off Crack Berry Kevin a few years back as well? Is alive and well yeah, many more, you know I've done, and he can come to the phone there we go. Have you held it, though this is those personal stuff, I don't know? No I cannot so while she's showing that off to let's talk about the target audience that you're really going after because businessmen businesswomen used to be that the primaries that you were going after and the way that a lot of businesses have shifted.

It might be a bring-your-own-device culture that they've got internally, or they might just be shifting towards the touchscreen all the way, and, of course this has that it's still got the keyboard and love back when I had my blackberry and everything. So who are you really going after with this next one, so I think there's probably segments over time. They'll change right like step, one for I, think blackberry, mobile TTL to be successful. It's good all the existing owners upgrade. You know, there's still again millions of people rocking the old BlackBerry, OS or blackberry 10 phones.

They don't have the app support. They don't have that just the software support, to the same extent, that this is getting right. If you get all those existing owners to upgrade that's already a huge win for the company, and so that's a lot of volume, but I think, secondly, we're seeing a lot of people there, they're kind of like the BlackBerry abandoned coming back now that there's finally a phone that has all the apps, and it's got. It's got those key things that you know BlackBerry's always had liked you pick it up, and you know it's a black feels like it. It's got crazy good battery life like this is a phone built for New York, where you can get it I mean I, do take it off the charger, 6:00 a.

m. it can be, 3:00 a. m. and you're still going, and almost no phones in New York. You know do that.

That's like a two-day battery life type of thing, right, I, love that you brought that up, because beyond this full touchscreen that Blackberry is bringing back they're, also planning on making it water and dust proofing. Also, the battery life supposed to last more than 22 hours, rumors on you know, what's coming next and I, think it's going to be interesting, because I think a lot of people are just like you know just do keyboard BlackBerry's, because that's, that's like a huge amount of people, love that, but I think if they ever do another touchscreen and there are some rumors saying they'll do it. You know I, think that, like the success lies in the opposite of, what's a Samsung is doing with the Galaxy S8 or no date, it's like don't stretch the screen to the edge, make it sort of fragile, make it small most this work of art, it's about utility for blackberry people. It is the get-it-done phone. You know it's for people who hustle, and they need a phone, that's reliable.

It can take drops without you know, breaking it's just gone free utility over fashion up front I know it's Fashion Week in New York. That was kind of my excuse to come visit. You guys, you know, I'm produced I can work anywhere with this thing. So I don't, and so you know, there's so much. Customer feedback that gets thrown in to new product design, with every phone court and being able to have the keyboard was that a part of the customer feedback that a lot of your users just don't wanted to keep within the phone.

Definitely so I mean it's funny. This year, I've had I think I've had like 17 Crack Berry meetups last time. I was here in March, you know, I did I've been like traveling the world this year, and the thing is this is the thing this is a phone that, despite everything, is time to blackberry over the past years. The fans are super passionate, and you know if I roll into a city, and I'm like hey guys. You know we're gonna, be here tonight.

Let's, let's get together blackberry, you pull out yeah people who yeah it's funny. It is this very you know. What's even not a thing you know, I didn't know how it would go back when they announced this phone I'm, like you know, maybe it's too little too late. All that and it's been this kind of grassroots movement, and now I'm. Getting these weird awesome phone calls from you know: celebrities or the agents it's like two weeks ago.

I get this call and I won't give out names, but you know, let's say it's an NBA winning. You know championship team, and it's like trying to get the key wand. They wanted on Verizon it's only in sprints and ETT right now, but they were selling them on Amazon, and they're like we know, you got the hookups like get us the phones and a lot yesterday, I had a meeting here, and it's crazy. No major record label is a blackberry team, and they're just like what can we do to help you guys, because there's so much support for this brand over the years it's been built, and now it's almost like the fans are helping bring it back. I was one of the last holdouts and actually Tim.

Yesterday and I were talking about my like heightened sensitivity, around phone security and like the touch screen, and I'm, like not a huge fan of that, but I was one of the last holdouts on the blackberry. I guy wasn't someone who was all in on touch screens because I like the Diva so with blackberries, to make it researchers and have a respectable operating system. Because I had definitely been across and why I couldn't go back. We all in on that yeah and if you care about deeper I, have a see I, think you're going to see a lot of software features. Come that that talk, that I want to show you one really cool.

So this is I'd open, get this on camera, but this is they call it privacy shade, so I'm at this button here is program. Ok, so you can see the screen. You see all the icons right now right, I hit this button. Everything goes black, it's like if you're on a train or whatever and there's people snooping okay, but I can tap there and drag what I want to see. So I could like to read like an email line-by-line, be like Secret Service over your shoulder, New York, City subway.

You can like black it out and just privacy shade, and they have a lot more stuff coming like that. That speaks throwing all the shade. All right, you don't need, like that's. You know sticky screen protector. That makes it unreadable you go into an app, though in the privacy shake.

Can you also like privacy, shade like within my I, don't know within your text messages like what you're watching like a know and whatever in a video, an appropriate one or inappropriate one? It could be like dude. This was tested at the crack, very something we do test these out. The crack blackberry good, like I'm, sure it's not gonna, take much convincing for this happening. So the price point then, first points really to me. It's super reasonable it'll vary a little depending on where you're buying it like when they first announced that one it was 550 us out right.

You know, AT&T launched it in space black, so this color same specs, it's actually 500 out right, but I think on contract, it's as low as like 16 or 18 dollars a month like it's, a very affordable phone and the thing that blows my mind is like before this size you gonna using an iPhone 7 plus I, using a Google Pixel. Those are phones that are hundreds of dollars more and never in using this. Do you feel like it's a know anything, but free I will feel very? Very this phone feels a lot heavier than my iPhone. Yes, oh yeah, which is what you want. That's the battery in there.

It's telling you it's a tool, not a toy. This is not a media centric. So what about the durability? It's actually plate lock, because when we think about how all of these companies are making sure that they're, adjusting and tweaking all the components so that it's durable yeah and that really appeals to the consumer. How has blackberry made sure that this next model really goes with the lifestyle of everybody? Who, like me, is a klutz and drops their phone about 15 times a day, so this one, you know, isn't rated waterproof with the keyboard hard to do. Maybe the key to they'll.

Do it super durable I have a video up on YouTube. It's like Crack Berry, Kevin's, real world durability, test and I step on it, I walk on it, I drop, it I, throw it up in the air I. Actually put two key ones and phone seven plus and Samsung Galaxy S8, on the top of my test, left: okay, put it into launch mode, but what launch mode you floor it all the phones go tumbling to the ground, yeah which to don't break two key ones which to break iPhone, 7 plus and sis, and that's real world. Like the number of times my wife has broken her phone right because she, you know wakes up the morning, goes to the car, puts her purse and everything on top gets in and drives away forgets up there right now, just happens. It's like real-world terrible.

Oh, it's a built, tough phone, and you'll, see that continue. It's just it's a priority for BlackBerry users and I. Think I. Think blackberry knows that, so I expected just to them to lean into that. More and more, you know, and it was a mistake to meet a few years back.

They started putting less battery life into their phones like the just walked away from what really mattered, and I see right now, with this phone this year and the reaction to it. It's its got all that right, mistake, was, okay, I do want to point out never in the history of cheddar, and we had a segment with two guys with two of the coolest set of eyeglasses I've. Ever seen in my life cry: Barry Kevin rocking, the blue. We got Brett Smith over you're rocking, the clear I mean it's a walk off turn left I'm, not an OFNI Turner. Also know if you don't know I'm by Crack Berry, Kevin Mitchell UK.

No, you got it right. That's thank you! So much fun. Thanks now come.

Source : CrackBerry