Clicks Technology, an organization recognized for making physical keyboards for smartphones, is launching two new units forward of the Shopper Electronics Present in Las Vegas subsequent week. Along with a brand new, $79 slide-out keyboard for good units, the corporate can be unveiling its first smartphone: the Communicator, a smartphone with a bodily keyboard, designed to be carried as your second gadget.
Sure, it seems to be loads like a BlackBerry. (Fast, somebody inform Kim Kardashian, famous 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 will likely be individuals who do quite a lot of precise work on their units — which means messaging, emailing, working with paperwork, or different issues the place utilizing a bodily keyboard may very well be a bonus.
Whereas it provides a display screen 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 cellphone’s standout function is its Sign Gentle, a light-up button on the aspect of the gadget that may be personalized with totally different colours and lightweight patterns to point once you’ve acquired messages from sure folks, teams, or apps. As an illustration, you could possibly make messages from VIPs glow purple whereas chats from WhatsApp are inexperienced.
You’ll be able to press on this button, referred to as the Immediate Key, to dictate messages once you’re in a textual content area, or in any other case take a fast voice be aware, if not. The corporate is teasing the opportunity of integrating AI purposes with this button — like be aware 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 sooner typing. The keyboard is touch-sensitive too, permitting customers to scroll by means of messages, lists, and webpages with no need to make use of the touchscreen.
The gadget additionally contains different old-school options, like a 3.5mm 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 can be configured to work with the Sign gentle or keyboard contact enter, the corporate says.
The again cowl might be popped off so you may change the gadget’s model by swapping to a special colour. The cellphone itself is available in Smoke, Clover (darkish inexperienced), and Onyx.
The gadget will likely be provided at $399 for early hen clients who place a $199 deposit earlier than February 27. Prospects who pay the total early hen worth of $399 upfront will obtain two extra again covers. The cellphone is anticipated to ship someday later this yr.
The cellphone’s full tech specs embody:
- 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 principal digicam with OIS and 24MP entrance digicam
- NFC with Google Pay, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 6
- USB-C and wi-fi charging
- Interchangeable again covers in several colours to personalize the gadget
Clicks CEO Adrian Li famous in an announcement that the corporate has shipped greater than 100,000 of its earlier keyboards to clients 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 good TVs, to save lots of you from the tedious on-screen typing together 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 can be used with present cellphone circumstances, the corporate claims. A number of slider positions enable the keyboard to accommodate totally different cellphone sizes, and it may be hooked up when the cellphone is held in both portrait or panorama mode.
When used with tablets, TVs, or different good units, like AR/VR headsets, the keyboard is used independently from the gadget it’s paired with.
Just like different Clicks keyboards, the Energy Keyboard provides tactile buttons, and its settings might be personalized utilizing the Clicks cellular app for iOS and Android
The Energy Keyboard is priced at $79 for early-bird clients and can later retail for $109. Pre-orders begin on Jan. 2; the gadget ought to ship within the spring, the corporate says.
