BlackBerry Live: CEO expected to announce ‘budget phone’ at company event

BlackBerry is holding its annual conference in Orlando, Florida this week, kicking off with a keynote address from CEO Thorsten Heins at 9 a.m. EST. We'll have live coverage from the event, courtesy of Fone Arena.

Many are expecting today's big announcement to be a new handset in the BlackBerry 10 line, aimed at the 'budget' consumer. Photos of the rumoured R10 have been surfacing over the last few weeks, showing a plastic exterior and physical keyboard, but we'll have to wait until later this morning to find out what BlackBerry plans to do with the BB10 line going forward. While less likely, we may even see another unexpected handset, as CMO Frank Boulben said at the beginning of 2013 to expect six BB10 handsets by the end of the year, BGR reported.

BlackBerry watchers will also be avidly waiting to find out if the company will be staying in the tablet market, in light of comments Heins made earlier this month that the tablet craze would be largely over in five years, and they would no longer be a profitable product.

Join us at 9 a.m. EST to find out all the latest on BlackBerry's future live.

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