BlackBerry commits to keyboards for future phones

BlackBerry may have ditched Alicia Keys, but keys are very much part of the company's future. The new boss of the struggling manufacturer has confirmed BlackBerry phones will predominantly boast physical keyboards.

“I personally love the keyboards,” interim CEO John Chen said in an interview yesterday with Bloomberg.

In the past year, former boss Thorsten Heins attempted to usher BlackBerry into the touchscreen age with phones like the Z10, although the company did hedge its bets with the clicky key-equipped Q5 and Q10.

Sadly, the move to touchscreens couldn't turn around BlackBerry's disastrous year. After failing to find a buyer, the Canadian company is attempting to staunch disastrous losses with a renewed focus on business devices.

Earlier this year BlackBerry parted ways with celebrity creative director Alicia Keys. I'm sure she won't have any problems sleeping with her broken heart.

Meanwhile BlackBerry is so committed to the other kind of keys that it's suing the makers of the Typo iPhone Keyboard Case, a BlackBerry-alike qwerty keyboard that bolts on to your Apple phone.

Should BlackBerry commit to keys, or is that a step backwards? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on Facebook.