Source: CrackBerry
Hello from 35,000 feet!
I’m 30 minutes into a 13 hour flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong as I’m typing this, excited for a week of QWERTY Keyboard adventure ahead.
It’s going to be a whirlwind with 2 nights in Hong Kong, 2 nights in Shenzhen, 1 night in Shanghai and a final night in Hong Kong before flying back to Canada.
While the primary reason of my trip is factory and supplier visits for Clicks Technology (I need to review samples of the recently-announced iPhone 17 Clicks and some other things we’ve got cooking in the Clicks Labs), I’ve also been lining up visits so I can get my hands on other keyboard products slated to ship in Q4.
In case you missed Retro Jake’s Keyboard Phone Buyer’s Guide 2025 roundup, there are a few new QWERTY devices coming to market soon from Chinese companies, including Unihertz, Ikko and Zinwa.
Source: CrackBerry
I wouldn’t be CrackBerry Kevin if I just waited for these devices to ship, so I’m showing up in person to meet the people behind the products and get my hands on the goods right at the source.
My interest in these products is as much as a customer as it is a curious old BlackBerry addict. I backed the Titan 2 and Mind One as soon as their Kickstarter Campaigns went live, and I was fairly early in backing the BlackBerry Classic / “Q25” resto-mod project (where Zinwa Lin is taking a 10 year old phone and updating it with more modern Android internals… as of now I still think of what he’s doing as more of a project than a scalable company but we’ll see if my thinking changes after this trip).
As much as I’m excited to get my twitching thumbs on shiny new QWERTY phone keyboards, I’m equally pumped to meet the people building these products.
Honestly, it’s a bit of a test for them all… I want to get a sense of just how much passion and care they have for what they are building and how they think about all of us crazy keyboard people.
Hopefully they read this before we meet and bring the energy! (Funny, it could be the Jack and Coke but I just had a flashback to the first time I met BlackBerry’s Co-Founder/Co-CEO Jim Balsillie).
As I work to Bring Back BlackBerry, I really view everybody in this QWERTY keyboard phone universe as validating that it needs to happen. I see their efforts as proving my point. And I think there’s room for everyone to win, and ultimately customers will vote with their hard-earned $ so the best products will rise to the top.
That being the case, old habits die hard and I always want to make sure that whatever I’m helping promote here on CrackBerry passes my CBK sniff test.
I’ll report back here after the trip, and if you want to follow along as I go I suggest following @crackberykevin on instagram where I’ll keep the content flowing in real time.
Source: Bring Back BlackBerry
As I posted in the first Bring Back BlackBerry update, the BBBB movement is just getting started, and October is the month we start to moving from a lot of plotting and scheming and into action!
A few things you can expect to see beginning next month:
A revamped BringBackBlackBerry.com website – we’ll turn what is now just a simple landing page into a full microsite so you’ll understand the Who, What, Why of it all and how you can support the cause. This will also be a hub where the latest updates live.
The launch of the Bring Back BlackBerry Podcast – we’re planning to record the first two episodes in person in Brooklyn on October 7th.
A steady cadence of CBK BBBB content – my apologies in advance to BlackBerry’s execs, but I have a lot of things to say and I’m going to start saying them. Every other CEO and leadership team at the helm of BlackBerry has lost some sleep over my posts, and it’s time for the new guy to experience it as well. 🙂
It might sound silly, but the #BBBB movement has brought me a sense of purpose and clarity beyond anything I’ve experienced before. I’m here for it. I’m going to give it my all. So I hope you come along for the ride and find your ways to support it too.
与此同时，不要停止相信,
CrackBerry Kevin
Still typing. Still clicking. Still BBelieving.
Read more
Buttons Really Are Back
Keyboard Phone Buyer’s Guide 2025
Do you love pushing buttons on a phone? While we haven’t had a new BlackBerry since 2018, 2025 is showing a surge in popularity for QWERTY phones with more options available or coming to market than we have seen in years. Let’s bring you up to speed with the state of QWERTY.
PUSHING ALL THE RIGHT BUTTONS
The iPhone 17 Just Went Full CrackBerry!
The Clicks Keyboard Case for the iPhone 17 Series is lighter, thinner, and more refined — raising the bar for REAL TYPING on iPhone.