The BlackBerry Key2 price is £579 SIM-free in the UK, and you can purchase the handset from today.

However, the BlackBerry Key2 release is only June 27 for those able to purchase the handset in-store at Selfridges in London, Manchester or Birmingham.

The good news for prospective Key2 owners is the handset will become more widely availabe on June 29, with the phone showing up at Carphone Warehouse, Unlocked Mobiles, BuyItDirect, Mobile Phones Direct and Clove Technologies.

Vodafone will also be selling the BlackBerry Key2, but not until late July.

BlackBerry's 'board is back

The BlackBerry Key2 features a 4.5-inch full HD display, Snapdragon 660 chipset, 6GB of RAM, dual 12MP + 12MP rear cameras, 8MP front snapper, Android 8.1, 64GB of storage, microSD slot and a 3500mAh battery.

However, its real attraction is the full physical keyboard which will undoubtedly be the big pull for those still loyal to the brand.

The new keyboard is clearly an improvement over the one found on the BlackBerry KeyOne. Not only are the keys now matte-finish, rather than the slick gloss of the KeyOne, but they’re also slightly raised to make them easier to find.

According to BlackBerry Mobile, the brand spent time working out the ‘clickability’ of the Bold 9900, one of the most popular BlackBerry devices of all time, to transport that feel to the new Key2.

The Key2 may not have a wide appeal, but for those still committed to keys it's really the only option there is.

• Read our hands on: BlackBerry Key2 review

Taiwanese smartphone maker Asus has announced that it will launch its latest flagship device, the Zenfone 5z in India on July 4. The device was teased on Flipkart earlier and it will be launched in India as a Flipkart exclusive.

The Zenfone 5z was announced during MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2018 in Barcelona earlier this year and it is currently available in Europe. In Taiwan, the 4GB RAM variant of the device has been priced at TWD 14,990 (Rs. 33,700) and the 6GB RAM variant has been priced at TWD 16,990 (38,200). It is expected to be launched in India at similar prices and will compete with the OnePlus 6 in India.

Asus Zenfone 5z Specifications

The Asus Zenfone 5z runs on Android 8.0 Oreo with ZenUI 5.0 skinned on top and features a 6.2-inch full HD+ Super IPS display with a resolution of 2246 x 1080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 19:9. It comes with Glove Touch support and has Corning Gorilla glass protection.

In terms of performance, the Asus Zenfone 5z is powered by an octa core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC coupled with Adreno 630 GPU. In terms of memory, the device will be available in three variants – 4GB RAM + 64GB storage, 6GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage.

Coming to the camera department, the Asus Zenfone 5z features a dual camera setup at the back consisting of a 12MP Sony IMX363 sensor with 1.4μm pixel size, f/1.8 aperture, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS, and a secondary 8MP OV8856 sensor with a 120-degree wide-angle lens and f/2.0 aperture. On the front, it sports an 8MP OV8856 sensor with f/2.0 aperture.

The Asus Zenfone 5z is powered by 3,300mAh battery and has ASUS BoostMaster fast charging support. Other features of the device include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth 5.0, 3.5mm audio jack, GPS, USB Type-C port and Dual speakers with NXP 9874 Smart AMP.

After initially previewing the update at its I/O developer conference, Google has begun to roll out some of its new features for Google Maps, including an array of settings that revolve around personalized recommendations.

Two new tabs can be found on the Google Maps homescreen – “Explore” and “For You” – which give you a rundown of places such as restaurants, venues and landmarks based on your location and previous activity.

While the Explore tab takes into account your current location and time of day in order to offer up personalized suggestions, the For You tab takes a look at the areas you frequent. This latter tab also keeps you in the loop about restaurants opening up and other popular, trending places in the area.

Where should we eat?

Under the Explore tab, you’ll be able to filter through curated lists with categories such as coffee and attractions, while Google is making use of its vast swathes of user data to compile recommendations of “healthy takeout”, “cheap eats”, “where the locals eat”, and more.

If you’re chasing down the top 10 burger joints in an area, Google Maps will now keep track of your progress and let you know you’ve been to four of them already, showing you which ones you still need to visit.

If you already have location history enabled, the app will now be able to give you a percentage score (or “Your Match”) on just how likely you are to enjoy a place based on your previously visited places.

Google Maps’ latest feature-set has already begun to roll out to users around the globe and will continue to do so over the coming weeks, but the For You tab is currently only for users in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Japan.

• The most exciting thing at Google IO 2018 was also the most practical

Mid-range and budget handsets launched in the second half of the year will be boasting better AI capabilities, longer battery life, greater graphics and enhanced performance.

That's according to Qualcomm, as these are the claims it's making about a trio of new chipsets it's just announced.

The Snapdragon 632, Snapdragon 439 and Snapdragon 429 won't be powering the likes of the Google Pixel 3 or Samsung Galaxy Note 9 later this year, but for entry-level and low-to-mid-range devices they could well make a marked difference.

Coming this year

The Snapdragon 632 looks to cascade flagship features further down the smartphone pecking order, introducing 4K video recording and mainstream gaming capabilities to a new handset price point.

Meanwhile the Snapdragon 439 and 429 look to provide AI camera, voice and security smarts to budget devices, as well as faster downloads and video streams - although they can only support HD+ (720p) displays.

Qualcomm says that it expects the first devices to pack the new chips to arrive in the second half of 2018, and seeing as that's just days away now we could see them in action very soon.

• On a budget? Check out our best cheap smartphones round-up

We know, the LG V35 just came out, but the world of mobile phones moves quickly, and we’re starting to see a heap of LG V40 rumors. 

Specifically, the forthcoming LG V30 successor is due to get five cameras, according to a report from Android Police.

Now, while we still have no idea what the cameras will be, or where they’ll be – we’re going to go ahead and assume that two of them will be in the front, with one of them being an IR camera – allowing for facial unlock. The other three however, will likely be on the back, as a triple lens camera like we’ve seen on the Huawei P20 Pro. 

This triple lens camera seems to be a trend when it comes to smartphone rumors in 2018. And, while we’ve only seen a triple-lens camera on the Huawei P20 Pro, that camera was so good, we can see why it’s popular. We just can’t wait to see more phones adopt this triple-camera design – it’s already been rumored that the Samsung Galaxy S10 will feature such a camera array. 

 Return of the notch 

The LG V40 will feature a notch that you can turn off, much like the LG G7, according to today’s report. With the inclusion of this notch, it would give even more credence to the idea of a Face ID-esque biometric login system. 

However, that same source reported that the LG V40 will still include the fingerprint sensor on the back, much like the LG V35 and G7, so will it include 2 forms of biometric login? Or, will the two lenses in the front of the phone instead be used for a high-end front facing selfie camera?

This will all apparently be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, which shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s been paying attention to mobile phones in 2018. Just about every flagship Android phone has this chipset. Everything points to the LG V40 releasing in late 2018, which makes sense because the company’s V-series phones tend to get announced in late September.