Blackberry Leap release date, price, specs and features: Touch-screen handset returns this April

Blackberry Global website

In what seems like a return of sorts, Blackberry has unveiled the Blackberry Leap. The new device will mark the company's return to the touch-screen segment after relying on the physical keyboard phones that they had released last year.

Among the features of the BlackBerry Leap include a 5-inch 720p HD touch display (1280x720 HD resolution; 16:0 aspect ratio), a Qualcomm MSM 8960 1.5 GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage (expandable up to 128GB) and a 2800 mAh Li-Ion battery.

It will also have a rear 8MP auto-focus camera and a 2MP front-facing camera. The BlackBerry Leap will run on the Blackberry 10 OS.

With the trend of most phone designs today apparently shifting to the touch-screen era, Blackberry is pinning its hopes on the Leap in what the company deems as targeting a segment of the market.

Apparently, BlackBerry has not fully abandoned its keyboard-based products and maintain that they will still be in focus as far as the company is concerned.

While the smartphone segment is apparently the bread and butter of BlackBerry, the company is also trying to penetrate other areas as well. This includes providing business aids and solutions to companies through their apps that can be integrated with mobile devices used in businesses.

The planned move should be something interesting, particularly for the business sector but the thing is that BlackBerry gets a large chunk of its revenue from smartphone sales. Three quarters of its revenue is derived from smartphone sales.

The Blackberry Leap is scheduled to be out by April in Europe which will reportedly retail for about $275. Aside from the Leap, BlackBerry is set to unveil a second Porsche edition and another keyboard smartphone soon.