Take a closer look at the BlackBerry Leap (pictures)

Meet the BlackBerry Leap. You'll probably notice the distinct lack of a physical keyboard. That's the norm for modern smartphones, and BlackBerry is hoping the fresh look and productivity-driven platform will lure young professionals to the brand.

The Leap is running BlackBerry OS 10.3.1. The latest version of BlackBerry's operating system tweaks many of the visual elements, and bundles in a few new tricks.

The BlackBerry Hub is your command center: all of your messages and notifications live here, ready and waiting to be tackled.

The Hub will roll up your calls, BBM messages, texts and notifications in one place.

The phone's plain, no-frills design is arguably rather professional; a textured rear-end makes things easy to grip.

There's a speaker on the rear.

At 0.37 inch thick (9.4 millimeters) it's not exactly svelte, but certainly not cumbersome.

There's an 8-megapixel shooter on the rear.

The design might not be as distinct as the BlackBerry Passport or BlackBerry Classic, but there's no mistaking that BlackBerry badge.

The volume controls sit on the right side. That button in the middle calls up the BlackBerry Assistant -- just press and hold it to start issuing text or voice commands.

The phone charges and transfers files through a standard Micro-USB port.