News

BlackBerry KEY2 goes official and it’s definitely a phone for keyboard fans

Ain’t it nice to type on an actual keyboard?

Published

June 8, 2018

Daniel Morial

TCL, the current owner of BlackBerry, just announced their latest phone and unless you’ve been living under a rock, you already know what it is — the BlackBerry KEY2. The early leaks and rumors about the new BlackBerry phone are true; from pricing to specs, they are correct.

Unsurprisingly, they KEY2 continues the KEYone legacy. It still has a squarish form factor (but not as square as the BlackBerry Passport) with a 4.5-inch IPS display (1080 x 1620 pixels, 3:2 ratio) and iconic physical keyboard, which has become a rarity in today’s smartphone market. It also has a first for a BlackBerry — dual rear cameras.

BlackBerry is finally on board the dual camera wagon with two 12-megapixel rear sensors: one with a regular f/1.8 lens and another with a telephoto f/2.6 lens. Obviously, the secondary sensor is used for optical zooming as well as portrait shots and bokeh features. An 8-megapixel shooter takes care of the selfies.

The body of the phone is made from 7000 Series aluminum with a textured rubber back. Overall, the phone looks sleeker and more refined than the KEYone. Perhaps the removal of the metal forehead gives the KEY2 much-needed elegance as a modern business phone.

Going back to the keyboard, it’s now 20 percent taller for more comfortable and accurate typing. It also has a matte finish and more spacious layout. The spacebar still doubles as a fingerprint reader and the whole keyboard acts as a trackpad which has always been neat. In addition, there’s a new Speed key that enables shortcut commands to open apps, contact info, or access certain functions. Just imagine how productive you can be without even touching the screen.

Inside the phone is a Snapdragon 660 processor with a generous 6GB of memory and up to 128GB of expandable storage. Software-wise, the KEY2 boots Android Oreo out of the box with a promised update to Android P. Of course, monthly security updates are also expected.

The BlackBerry KEY2 will go on sale this June starting at US$ 649 in the US, GBP 579 in the UK, and EUR 649 for the rest of Europe.

Related Topics:BlackBerry BlackBerry KEY2

Finance

HONOR, Fidesmo partner for contactless payments across Europe, Middle East

Enabling contactless payments on the HONOR Watch 6

Published

September 16, 2026

GadgetMatch

HONOR and Fidesmo have partnered to launch contactless payments across Europe and the Middle East on the HONOR Watch 6.

Powered by Fidesmo Pay, the integration enables users to connect an existing Mastercard or Visa card to their watch and complete contactless transactions directly from the wearable device.

This brings Fidesmo’s network of over 900 banks and financial institutions to HONOR’s customers. Users can connect an existing card to the HONOR Watch 6 instantly through the HONOR Health App, which installs a unique token directly onto the watch.

Acting as a secure reference to the payment method, this token allows customers to pay without storing their actual payment details on the device. Once installed, users can tap the watch at any
contactless terminal to pay, just as they would with a card or phone.

HONOR joins a group of device partners that already includes Swatch, Polar, and Mondaine as Fidesmo continues to build momentum across categories.

Entertainment

Max vs 100 will feature Max Verstappen race against 100 go-karters

The live event will stream at midnight on September 17.

Published

September 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

As a child, one of my favorite thought experiments is to imagine who would win in a fight between my favorite characters at the time and a number of other random beings. For example, will Superman prevail against 100 Magnetos? Those are the ways I kept my young mind occupied. Now, as a former child, I still do the same thing but with more realistic people, like imagining if Steph Curry can win against 100 high schoolers. This week, ESPN and Disney+ are making one of those imaginary fights real: Formula 1 legend Max Verstappen versus 100 go-karters.

In an upcoming live event streaming exclusively on Disney+, Max vs 100 will pit the four-time world champion against 100 go-karters from everywhere in pop culture. This gaggle of 100 will include popular content creators such as Twitch streamer ExtraEmily, car photographer Larry Chen, and NBA shooting coach Chris Matthews.

All 101 drivers will race around one of the most iconic tracks in Formula 1 history, Silverstone in England. The track will be reconfigured to match the special race.

Of course, this is more than just a parade of go-karts. Max Verstappen will start at the back of the grid, meaning he has to overtake all 100 racers to win. Now, the Dutch driver is no stranger to winning from the back. In 2024, he won the Sao Paulo Grand Prix despite starting from P17 (out of 20 racers). Max vs 100, though familiar for the driver, presents a different challenge. Can he overtake 100 times to win the race?

Max vs 100 will stream live through Disney+ on September 17, 12:00am PHT.

Apps

Apple’s best feature to cure motion sickness is finally on Android

Google copies a good page from Apple’s playbook.

Published

September 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

As an Android user, I’ve been jealous of iPhone users for a while now, but it’s not for the reason you might think. See, I’m ridiculously prone to motion sickness when I’m not driving. So, when I discovered that Apple has a software-based cure called Vehicle Motion Cues, I wanted it immediately. Now, Android does have third-party apps that do the same thing, but they’re not as good as a fully native version. Well, those dark, nauseating days are about to come to an end. Android 17 is finally getting a similar tool called Motion assist.

Before that, let’s rewind for a bit. What do these features do? How can they cure motion sickness?

Whenever you open Vehicle Motion Cues or Motion assist, the interface spawns a series of dots on the screen. These dots respond to movement. For example, if the vehicle turns to the left, the dots also go to the left, mimicking the movement. Without cues like this, the stationary nature of the screen clashes with our brain’s perception of movement. The disparity creates that feeling of nausea. Basically, our eyes are desperately trying to focus on the static screen, but our brains are telling us that we should be seeing motion. Having moving dots reorients our brain and places the phone inside our perception of movement.

Now, you can enable the same feature on your Android 17 device through Settings > All services > Motion assist under Personal & device safety. You can also set it so that the feature turns on automatically when the phone detects that you’re in a moving vehicle. Finally, you can also tweak the shape, color, and opacity of these dots.

Android 17’s Motion assist is rolling out now to compatible devices.