April 5, 2023
BlackBerry’s keyboards are now available for PCs courtesy of The Solder Party, a company based in Sweden, recently acquired a large stack of keyboards from the BlackBerry Q20 model.
The Q20 model was one of the sleekest handsets ever released by the company. They paired each board with a Raspberry Pi RP2040 to detect and translate key presses and then placed them in a custom injection-molded clear plastic case to keep everything organized and functional.
The BlackBerry phones were a popular choice among executives and high school students before the touchscreen revolution began. Although BlackBerry failed to keep up with the competition, its legacy remains. There are still lots of BlackBerry parts available in the market, including keyboards.
The BB Q20 Keyboard With Trackpad is a great addition to anyone who wants to build a handheld cyberdeck. It comes with easy access to all the pin connections needed for interfacing with it. Moreover, Solder Party added a standard USB-C port and native USB HID support to the BB Q20, allowing it to be connected to Mac, Windows, or Linux PCs, as well as Apple and Android mobile devices, and function as a standard QWERTY keyboard.
The BB Q20 Keyboard also features a tiny touchpad that works like a standard computer mouse, complete with left and right mouse buttons clicks. Sliding your finger across the pad while holding the ALT key will make it function like cursor keys.
The BB Q20 Keyboard is compact and fully assembled, and it’s available for purchase on Solder Party’s Tindie store for $30. Don’t miss the chance to experience the legendary BlackBerry typing experience on your device.
The sources for this piece include an article in Gizmodo.
