Clicks Expertise, an organization recognized for making bodily keyboards for smartphones, is launching two new units forward of the Client Electronics Present in Las Vegas subsequent week. Along with a brand new, $79 slide-out keyboard for sensible units, the corporate can also be unveiling its first smartphone: the Communicator, a smartphone with a bodily keyboard, designed to be carried as your second machine.
Sure, it appears lots like a BlackBerry. (Fast, somebody inform Kim Kardashian, well-known BlackBerry hoarder.)
The $499 smartphone is described as being “purpose-built” for individuals who carry two telephones — one for work and one for private use. That’s, the corporate believes its market might be individuals who do plenty of precise work on their units — that means messaging, emailing, working with paperwork, or different issues the place utilizing a bodily keyboard might be a bonus.
Whereas it provides a display for viewing and responding to messages, the Communicator doesn’t present entry to addictive social media apps or video games. As a substitute, the corporate partnered with the maker of an Android launcher, Niagara Launcher, to supply entry to messaging apps and productiveness instruments like Gmail, Telegram, WhatsApp, and Slack.
The telephone’s standout characteristic is its Sign Mild, a light-up button on the facet of the machine that may be personalized with totally different colours and lightweight patterns to point whenever you’ve obtained messages from sure folks, teams, or apps. For example, you possibly can make messages from VIPs glow purple whereas chats from WhatsApp are inexperienced.
You’ll be able to press on this button, generally known as the Immediate Key, to dictate messages whenever you’re in a textual content area, or in any other case take a fast voice word, if not. The corporate is teasing the opportunity of integrating AI purposes with this button — like word takers, voice recordings, or AI brokers — however nothing like that’s but obtainable.
Like Clicks’ different merchandise, the Communicator includes a tactile keyboard with ergonomic keys designed for quicker typing. The keyboard is touch-sensitive, too, permitting customers to scroll via messages, lists, and net pages with no need to make use of the touchscreen.
The machine additionally contains different old-school options, like a 3.5 mm headphone jack, bodily SIM card tray (along with an eSIM), expandable microSD storage (as much as 2TB), and a tactile change for turning on or off airplane mode. This change may also be configured to work with the Sign gentle or keyboard contact enter, the corporate says.
The again cowl may be popped off so you may change the machine’s fashion by swapping to a distinct shade. The telephone itself is available in Smoke, Clover (darkish inexperienced), and Onyx.
The machine might be supplied at $399 for early-bird prospects who place a $199 deposit earlier than February 27. Prospects who pay the complete early-bird value of $399 up entrance will obtain two further again covers. The telephone is anticipated to ship someday later this yr.
The telephone’s full tech specs embrace:
- Android 16 with 5 years of safety updates
- 131.5 mm tall; weighing 170 grams
- International 5G, 4G LTE, and 3G/2G assist, unlocked
- 4,000 mAh silicon-carbon battery
- 256GB onboard storage plus expandable microSD
- 50MP important digital camera with OIS and 24MP entrance digital camera
- NFC with Google Pay, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 6
- USB-C and wi-fi charging
- Interchangeable again covers in numerous colours to personalize the machine
Clicks CEO Adrian Li famous in an announcement that the corporate has shipped greater than 100,000 of its earlier keyboards to prospects in over 100 international locations.
“That response validated one thing we strongly believed: There’s rising demand for purpose-built merchandise that assist folks talk with confidence and take motion. Clicks Communicator is a pure evolution of that concept,” he said.
The corporate’s different new product is a slide-out keyboard that may be hooked up to smartphones, tablets, and even used with sensible TVs, to avoid wasting you from the tedious on-screen typing along with your distant management.
The keyboard is powered by a built-in 2,150 mAh battery and attaches to telephones by way of MagSafe or Qi2 magnetic connections. It may also be used with current telephone circumstances, the corporate claims. A number of slider positions permit the keyboard to accommodate totally different telephone sizes, and it may be hooked up when the telephone is held in both portrait or panorama mode.
When used with tablets, TVs, or different sensible units, like AR/VR headsets, the keyboard is used independently from the machine it’s paired with.
Much like different Clicks keyboards, the Energy Keyboard provides tactile buttons, and its settings may be personalized utilizing the Clicks cell app for iOS and Android
The Energy Keyboard is priced at $79 for early-bird prospects and can later retail for $109. Preorders begin on January 2; the machine ought to ship within the spring, the corporate says.
