BBC News:

Blackberry has launched what it calls a “no-nonsense” smartphone, the Blackberry Classic.

The device has a full “Qwerty” keyboard, resembling the design which made Blackberry a market leader before it was overtaken by competitors.

Analysts said the firm was going “back to its roots” in order to appeal to business customers.

If I was a Blackberry fan, I would no doubt like this phone. It does a nice job of packaging the stuff I like (touch screen, QWERTY keyboard) in a phone that looks somewhat like an iPhone 4 or 5. This is full on retro.

The key part of the review:

“This is more about avoiding more people leaving than necessarily winning many over,” said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst for Kantar Worldpanel.

“I have a hard time thinking that people who grew up on touch[screens] will see this as an exciting ‘retro’ trend and embrace it.”

Ouch.