The first is the BlackBerry Phoenix HD, sent in by CrackBerry member Shad. This design looks similar to the current BlackBerry Dev Alpha device, with a few notable exceptions like the trackpad with the BlackBerry logo. I like the whole concept, with the name of the device being tied into the slogan "The rebirth begins with BlackBerry 10". Nicely done Shad!
The next two designs might not sit well with everyone, but keep in mind they're simply artist renderings having a bit of fun with some 'what if' questions.
BlackBerry Windows Phone
This BlackBerry concept runs Windows Phone 8 and get a full touch smartphone with some elegant capacitive buttons at the bottom and a very interesting camera integration at the back. The texture at the back of the phone is very good for grip and the phone is crazy thin, as shown by some of the pics below. If I were to guess some specs, I’d say this model has a 5 megapixel camera, a 1.2 GHz dual core processor and a qHD screen, at least.
There’s a camera button in here and probably some typical BlackBerry business and communication apps. LTE is also on board and I expect the Xbox gaming and BBM action to fit together brilliantly.
BlackBerry Elegance
Various widgets resembling BB OS are included and a couple of UI modifications to make BlackBerry users feel right at home. The handset comes with a 3 inch screen with a 480 x 640 pixel resolution and 266 ppi density. Also on board there’s a dual core Snapdragon S4 processor and an 8 megapixel camera with 1080p video capture ability. Under the display there’s a BlackBerry button and a QWERTY keyboard, that I first though it was a virtual one, but it turned out to be physical.
So what do you think of these designs? Any of them look like something you'd be interested in buying? Any particular elements jump out as something you'd love to see incorporated into the real BlackBerry 10 devices? Let us know in the comments below, and for more information and pictures of the last 2 devices you can hit the source links below.
Source: BlackBerry Elegance and BlackBerry Windows Phone at Concept Phones
Reader comments
New BlackBerry 10 concept designs show off artist hybrid interpretations
I think the first one looks a little too much like the iphone. And i don't think the trackpad should be the blackberry logo (i think thats why it reminded me of an iphone. at first i thought it was a home button) but other than that it looks nice. maybe reduce the length a tiny bit
The second one looks good, but there's something about it..... I feel that if i were holding it, it'd feel awkward to be pressing the soft keys. So maybe the device needs to be longer or something, i just cant have the soft keys on hte edge like that. SO maybe you can take a little screen off the bottom part and then move the soft keys up and black a logo at the bottom
The third one is too long, plus i feel the keyboard it a little cramped. But then again what do i know about designing or creating dreamsberries lol :-p
Good job to everyone who made these!
Looks real nice, but I doubt the android or windows phone will ever be on blackberry hardware. We've got blackberry 10. We don't need other platforms on it. ;)
Maybe some hackers will make some form of a way to get it on the blackberry hardware via dingleberry. :D
why not just a Torch 2 like design?
Looks a samsung galaxy s 2
I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to share the "BlackBerry Phoenix HD" concept with the Crackberry community. Thank you for posting this article Michelle. As an AVID BlackBerry user I was inspired to create my first conceptual BlackBerry 10 device. My inspiration came from a review of a design on Crackberry created by Digitalhomeboy near the end of last week. As a BlackBerry enthusiast, I wanted to share a design with other Blackberry lovers out of my own affinity and loyalty to the brand. I wanted this design to feel more like a promotional advertisement for a RIM commercial centered around the theme of a phoenix. Let your imagination fill in the gaps concerning product specifications. Thank you for all of your feedback and positive comments. I cannot wait to see what RIM comes up with in Q1 2013!!! It is with great humility that I say THANK YOU once more to the entire Crackberry team.
Unfortunately some people don't appreciate the creative thought processes of people like yourself or DHB. Keep pushing the envelope of possibilities.
@Shadberry Job well done and I'm glad I could be of inspiration. I too saw the commercial aspect of your design...Phoenix - Reborn from the Ashes or Rising up from the Ashes, though both would entail that RIM was burnt down to zero, lol...I think you know where I'm going with it anyhow and I hear you are a singer so you could even provide the music while I do my Carlton dance (Fresh Prince) in the background! (Maybe not).
@BruvvaPete - With these limited-thinking comments we all see on fan-based concepts - I bet they still won't be happy with the final product!
Michelle, I say you should be unofficially appointed to writing on submitted concepts as you no doubt always do a bang up job! Great work!
Thanks for the positive feedback. Your designs are absolutely incredible!!!! I do play piano and just picked up guitar 3 months ago but I have no affiliation to the Canadian rapper Shad K. We coincidentally have the same intials. lol
Great designs and interpretations of what some that have gone the stretch (myself included) want. I applaud the extra effort for going forth and showing your passion. I wish there were more from the community showcasing their passion or that some attempt to at least try their hand at a wanted design rather than be friggin' jerks on here and call people's work garbage.
Plus One! If people can't produce better they should be quiet. The mind is limited by its creativeness. Push the realm of possibility. By the way. Doubters: Can we make a computer smaller than an office space? Hmm. Seems we can because someone thought "what if I tried to design/engineer something smaller?" again. Oh. So much for putting man on the moon. It's a stupid thought and shouldn't be attempted.
Is that a trackpad or home button on the phoenix? Sorry but I keep seeing an Iphone!
When you smoke crack you see what you want to see. Sorry
This Palm Pre looking thing is just bad and spells the doom for RIM...RIP RIM for not paying attention to the consumer.
Just close your CB account and stop being a moron.
Trackpad, please.
The Phoenix is the best...the other two...well we already have enough windows phones, and the last one is kinda skinny...ugh. Seriously though, how cool would it be to have a Blackberry Phoenix?
Just the name spews awesomeness.
Ok this one is official... I love that berry key and hope RIM sticks with it
The greatest mock-up I've seen is the one from a few months ago. It had the full QWERTY design and it was amazing! Hard to explain what I'm thinking about.
Loving Jesus!
That would be the TK Victory! Yeah it rocks :)
I do like the name BlackBerry Phoenix. Has a nice ring to it. Not sure if HD is necessary.
I vote for naming the BlackBerry 10 flagship; Phoenix. What does everyone else say?
When I look at the Phoenix, I see a strong BlackBerry brand, capable of satisfying the most demanding business user; a workhorse that lasts 3 days without charging and is as smooth as silk in transitions.
The titles explain they are concepts. These concepts are from BlackBerry enthusiasts just showing off their ideas and skills.
All are interesting and show talented people. But WOW, to post and complain "harshly" about their designs is a little over the top in my opinion.
Some post and give good constructive criticism on each design like issues with size and shape, but some are blasting them like its a waste of their time.
Ummm, that's all we have is time. We're all stressed out waiting for BB10, but give them a break and take a chill pill.
That qwerty version would be way off balance and top heavy. I can't imagine why anyone would emulate the droid pro keyboard for a concept blackberry when the blackberry keyboard is the only feature keeping rim enthusiasts like me even around. That phone gets my vote for the most uninventive, thrown together quick concept device ever.
These posts on concept phones are childish.
I second that. And they have nothing to do with RIM or reality. They're just fictitious nonsense and might very well set a lot of people up for disappointment if they're cooler and sleeker than the actual devices.
Where is either of your designs or concepts? Stfu if you can't produce not only anything better, but anything at all.
Man, you sure told me...and what a lame response to what I said
So you're complaining about and quick to put down an artist's rendition of what the next BB10 phone might look like. Again. Where is your design?
I'm not putting anything down. Some of these designs are very cool. And I'm not about to try and create one. My point is that while they're cool, they don't represent anything. They're just "cool drawings" that are completely independent and removed from anything RIM is doing. So it can all seem like BB10 is close and here's what it kind of looks like...I'd rather see real stuff on Crackberry instead of make believe.
I agree and I'd rather see real stuff too, but until January(?) we can dream.
Unfortunately, I also agree. Anyone who knows anything about design would tell you these designs (and past ones) are total garbage. Sorry for being so blunt but the designs are not futuristic, usable, elegant, ergonomic, or realistic.
I know that we, as a community, should promote new ideas to this dying company who have one last shot at getting back into the game but this is definitely not the ones we should be promoting. All the fan made design concepts I've seen on CrackBerry for the last several months are total embarrassment and makes our community look like bunch of high school kids.
I kept in my frustrations towards these hideous designs over the past several months until I saw the BlackBerry "Elegance" (seriously, I really wonder whether the "designer" have had ANY education about industrial design).
Let me tell you, the ONLY design that was worthy to be mentioned and promoted was the BlackBerry Blade from a while back. Even that is on the borderline because it is ergonomically nonsense.
Sorry to ramble on, hope you read every word.
If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.
I doubt you have any credentials in design, so your comments are useless until you show some authority on the subject other than your comments. Perhaps these are designs with some good ideas that need some polish. But you might not understand what design is and how much effort it takes.
I doubt you know much about industrial design either, if so you might have had some constructive criticism rather than blunt rudeness. I have seen many excellent designs come from scary beginnings, and have heard many critiques of true designers speaking to weak designs but being able to use the spoken word to coax out the best design from a humble beginning. If you have never been through the blender of design critiques, I don't think you appreciate the effort it takes to put a design out for public review. And yes I have had plenty of design critiques in my day; Architecture school, Architecture Thesis, city councils, property owner associations, and the like, not to mention the building officials having their say to interpretations of code, so I am delighted to see people put forth their ideas or suggestions of the future devices. I suggest that since your rarefied air position makes these prognostications a hideous experience for you, perhaps you should skip these posts and keep your thoughts to yourself.
These designs are rather significantly better than your designs you have shared with us. Oh you have not shared any designs......hmmmm. Put up or shut up is a phrase that comes to mind.
I personally thought the Blade was a great design in all aspects except the slider concept, if RIM's solution for sliders in the 9800. If the blade is as bad in function as the 9800, then the Blade is a huge failure, however if they get it right, it is a great design. These designs are all quite good and fun to work with and do a little dreaming about the next BB. How is the Blade ergonomic nonsense?
What would make a telephone futuristic, useable, or elegant? There are certain ergonomics that MUST be met for the device to be a phone and to work comfortable for nearly all the range of hand sizes.
First of all, RELAX. I think you're missing the point. Whatever anyone thinks of these concepts is irrelevant. They have nothing to do with RIM. They're not RIM concepts or prototypes or some kind of contest. But many are commenting as if they're RIM related, or that somehow RIM might see them and adopt the design. I'm not trying to knock them, but at the end of the day, they're nonsense.
Pretty sure the designers at RIM are coming up with quite a few concepts that are "nonsense" too. Doesn't mean they shouldn't be considered.
+1. We'll said. Some people seem to limit their imagination to what currently exist. They don't understand that creating an idea/concept leads to more forward thinking and exploration of what 'might' be possible. Sure. The designs we've seen so far don't belong to RIM, but to dismiss them, like some others have, purely misses the mark. Naysayers say "It can't happen". Forward thinkers say "why can't it happen?".
.
Imagine. Maybe we should still be using "brick" phones because you can't ever get anything small enough to fit into the palm of your hand. At least that might have been what the naysayers said a couple decades ago.
I normally don't respond (or comment online at all) but man you're provoking me. You're right, you're a man with big words with education in architecture related fields oppose to me, a simple engineer with passion for product design. For that reason, I know that the BlackBerry 9900 is far attractive than the iPhone 4S but not in terms of use-ability (for one, look at the position of the lock button in each device). However, it does not take an expert in design to see the hideousness (to say the least) of the concept designs CrackBerry have been promoting lately.
As I mentioned in my first post, I agree that we, as a community of fanboys, should support new ideas but to promote amateur work on the front page of the most popular BlackBerry fan site is a HUGE risk. CrackBerry is part of Mobile Nations and these sketches/renderings makes us look incredibly childish our "rivals". I have absolutely no idea how so many people can like the Phoenix design...
Let's get into specifics, shall we?
- BlackBerry Blade
1. BlackBerry logo at the back: are you serious? why is it inside a circle.
a. RIM never used their logo in such a way
b. There's a reason why they didn't
To ignore the above two facts say everything about the rest of the design.
2. Front plate smaller than the back: so you're telling me that there is two separate parts and they're seem..ly? In a world where seemlessness is prevailing, you can tell that the designer doesn't know a thing about industrial design. However, I give points for best presentation, this designer presented their idea in the most visually attractive way.
3. Is that a USB plug hole I see on the front plate?: come on now, you're f$%*ing with me if you tell me that it's not a problem.
- BlackBerry Phoenix HD
1. BlackBerry logo inside a trackpad.
2. Non existent bezel with expectation of bezel gesture.
I wont go further.
- BlackBerry Windows Phone
1. Short: at first, I thought the image was squished but the text seems to be in proportion :facepalm: Why's the phone so short. There's a reason why phones are long - hint: virtual keyboard
2. The phone is "Crazy" thin: don't care, wont ask but give the man a dictionary.
3. Bonus: by looking at the size of the BlackBerry branding logo on the design, we can see that the design is actually of a tablet, not a phone. I'd guess around 10 inches. That also explains why the buttons at the bottom is so small. If that's the case, the BlackBerry logo at the back is WAY too big to please the eye.
- BlackBerry Elegance
1. Dimension: it's like they put an entire touch phone inside a speaker/keyboard adapter. There's no way a person would want to be seen in public with such contraption
2. Keyboard: the designer suggest that RIM would ditch their flag ship keyboard design upon riding on Android. No way a device branded "BlackBerry" will ever use shitty Motorola droid pro -like keyboard.
3. BlackBerry logo inside a trackpad
4. The phone doesn't have a f$%&ing speaker.
5. Naming: Again, dictionary.
I only pointed out 3 or 4 flaws/design but there are at least 10 flaws/design. All of them are obvious flaws and don't you think the designers would want to hear them? How can their designs get more mature if all you guys do is praise it? Anyway, if you can look past all the flaws of each design and still think its cool, I have mad respect for you but I'm so glad you don't work for RIM.
I like the Phoenix HD but the screen shouldn't extend to the edge and there shouldn't be a trackpad
Pheonix HD: I dont see anything unique to this concept, other then the orange background on screen. It's just your typical slab and looks pretty ugly imo.
Windows 8 BB: I like the soft design on the hardware, and screen looks a decent size, although a bit stunted. I would like to see that in a slider form factor. That would make the idea slider phone.
Elegance: I dont know why they named that monstrosity "elegance". It's anything but. Other then the over all design being horrendously ugly, that keyboard looks damn near unusable. You can tell it's from a droid fan, cuz they know nothing about keyboards. I wouldn't buy that phone if i was doing a good ol' fashioned phone burning (like book burning, but with phones)
The second one looks the best but come on, windows?!
Why rehash the last two when they've been mentioned here before? Are there no other images of the Phoenix HD concept?
That was all the designer sent in, sorry!
waitwait.. designed by Shad K.?! The Canadian rapper who has a song named 'A Good Name'?! THAT GUYS DOPE!
that's the only reason I clicked this. don't care for concepts normally.
can't wait for any new music from him. TSOL was dope!
Sorry I don't have any affiliation with the Canadian rapper Shad K. Although I hear he is a good rapper. :)
The last one looks like a typical garbage android.
I would never buy the Phoenix design. I just can't have a fire like that in my pocket. It would hurt way too much!
I like the 2nd phone's design... But what the hell is up with it running Windows Phone 8?!!
No thank you to these designs. I am looking forward to the unique and spectacular work of professionals at RIM/BlackBerry/TAT/QNX. They understand mobile hardware and are sure to release something that doesn't look like an iPhone or plastic and cheap droid.
Professional work please.
I'm not a fan of these ones either, I think RIM can do better than those
Well ... the last 2 are definitely "unique"
Yeah good word use. Last look just a little to long and I've got big hands. So torn on if I'm gonna get keyboard blackberry just wanna see what it look like, love my 9900 but miss screen from 9800 although keyboard on that was way to narrow IMO.