BlackBerry A10 new all-touch flagship reportedly coming this year

As BlackBerry is busy rolling out its first QWERTY smartphone running on BlackBerry 10 operating system, BlackBerry Q10, there are news reports emerging that suggest the company is working on a new all-touch flagship model.

As per a report by CNET, this smartphone will be called BlackBerry A10. The report also claims that BlackBerry will be looking at launching the A10 around November in time for the holiday season. The BlackBerry A10 is likely to be the successor of BlackBerry Z10 and will "occupy the highest tier". Post the launch of BlackBerry A10, BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 will be become "midtier" smartphones.

BlackBerry had recently showcased its lower-end QWERTY smartphone, Q5. This smartphone is expected to start retailing in select markets from July. After the debut of BlackBerry A10, this smartphone will continue to be one of the most affordable offerings by the Canadian smartphone maker.

CNET also hints that BlackBerry A10 will debut in the United States with the telecom operator Sprint Nextel. Interestingly at the time of Z10 launch, Sprint was the only major telecom operator that did not offer this BlackBerry flagship. The website claims that Sprint's reason to skip BlackBerry Z10 was based on the understanding that the BlackBerry A10 is worth the wait.

The report also mentions that the Canadian smartphone maker was pressurised to launch the BlackBerry A10 at the BlackBerry Live conference held in May 2013. However, the company could not do so, as the product was not ready.

BlackBerry A10 is said to be the same smartphone which was code-named Aristo. As per past rumours, this smartphone is expected to come with a premium build. This smartphone is also touted to come with a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED display and 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor.