The much-touted BlackBerry Classic smartphone has officially made its debut on Wednesday, Dec. 17, marking a return to the company's iconic smartphone design.

BlackBerry handsets were insanely popular at one point, before the company lost ground to rivals on the smartphone market, and the sleek QWERTY design has always been seen as a sort of emblem for the lineup.

The BlackBerry Bold range, for instance, enjoyed great success, but the company switched to touchscreens in recent years and BlackBerry 10 smartphones haven't sold that well so far.

After launching a square BlackBerry Passport handset not too long ago, the Canadian smartphone maker is now back to its roots with a QWERTY BlackBerry Classic, rocking the old form factor that proved so popular for the company.

The new BlackBerry Classic was designed with the business market in mind, but is not restricted to corporate users in any way. All BlackBerry fans can get the new handset and enjoy what it has to offer, and pre-order sales suggest that it may be a top seller for the company.

The smartphone sees the return of BlackBerry's popular touch-sensitive trackpad, as well as navigation bar, which has disappeared after the Bold 9900 and Bold 9790. According to the company, the trackpad has been the most-requested feature among its fans ever since BB10 OS launched with the new lineup of smartphones. At the same time, the BlackBerry Classic also revives the keys for back, menu, call, and end.

"We listened closely to our customers' feedback to ensure we are delivering the technologies to power them through their day - and that feedback led directly to the development of BlackBerry Classic," the company explains in a new blog post. "BlackBerry Classic is the powerful communication tool that many BlackBerry Bold and Curve users have been waiting for. It's the secure device that feels familiar in their hands, with the added performance and agility they need to be competitive in today's busy world."

When it comes to specifications, the BlackBerry Classic sports a 3.5-inch display with a resolution of 720 x 720 pixels, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage capacity, a microSD card slot for additional memory, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and a 2-megapixel front shooter. On the software side, the handset rocks BlackBerry 10.31. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and 4G LTE.

"The design language of the BlackBerry Classic is that of the familiar BlackBerry Bold 9900. As we've explained over the past few weeks this proven, trusted form factor that is built for productivity has been upgraded. With the BlackBerry Classic you get a screen that is 60 percent larger. It's perfect for reading messages, browsing the web three times faster than Bold 9900, or enjoying apps via BlackBerry World or the Amazon Appstore," adds the blog post.

Furthermore, this upgraded experience also comes with an improved battery life, lasting 50 percent longer, according to the company.

Considering that it's a business-focused smartphone, BlackBerry has also packed its highly-regarded BES 12 management system, as well as Gold level security to put more control in users' hands.

The new BlackBerry Classic is already available for purchase in the U.S. and Canada for US$449 and CA$499, respectively. The company has yet to announce other details for a wider rollout, but should provide more information shortly.