BlackBerry unveils the Leap - a low-cost five-inch all-touch smartphone

BlackBerry chases corporate market with low-cost, long-battery life Leap smartphone

BlackBerry has unveiled its latest device after the Classic and the Passport - an all-touch five-inch smartphone called the BlackBerry Leap, which BlackBerry claims offers 25 hours of heavy usage from its 2,800mAh battery.

Other features include 16GB of storage, an 8 MP rear camera and a five-inch high-definition display.

However, unlike the ultra high-end €1,049 Galaxy S6 Edge, unveiled by Samsung on Sunday at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, the new BlackBerry should retail at around £200 in the UK - or $275 in the US.

The device is one of three new launches that BlackBerry is planning this year as CEO John Chen provides a firmer direction for the troubled company, and opens up its mobile device management and security software to other platforms. It also follows the launch of the BlackBerry Passport, a phablet with a large square screen; and the BlackBerry Classic, which is based on the traditional BlackBerry design with a physical keyboard.

A second device, demonstrated at MWC, includes a slide-out physical keyboard, while the company has also promised another new device designed by Porsche Design, codenamed Keian.

The aim of the BlackBerry Leap is to provide a device at an attractive price for consumers as good-quality Android devices continue to fall in price. It may also find service as a corporate workhorse: the device comes in at half the price of a Samsung Galaxy or Apple iPhone, which will appeal to CFOs looking to cut the cost of replacing lost, stolen or damaged devices.

"The BlackBerry Leap fits nicely into the BlackBerry portfolio, offering an affordable device for those out there who prefer an all-touch option," wrote BlackBerry senior product marketing manager Donny Halliwell on his BlackBerry blog.

BlackBerry believes many corporate users need phones that are cheaper, given the cost of replacing carelessly looked after business devices. While the older BlackBerry 7 devices fill that niche, the cost of supporting two disparate operating systems is one that Chen is no doubt looking to eliminate.