BlackBerry to go 'back to basics' with hardware keyboards in future phones

As the world moves to a touch-based and touch-free interface, BlackBerry CEO John Chen has reportedly pointed to the company moving back to basics with hardware keyboards in future smartphones.

The full-fledged keyboard made BlackBerry a success, but after focusing on software keyboards which failed to make a hit with customers, Chen said that the company's next phones would mostly feature the good old hardware keyboards.

According to The Verge, the chief said that he personally loves the keyboards, adding that BlackBerry would predominantly stick to physical keyboards in future.

The company recently announced to file a lawsuit against Ryan Seacrest's mobile keyboard startup Typo, which aimed to replicate the Blackberry typing experience on an iPhone by offering a keyboard-case hybrid accessory.