Android-based BlackBerry Priv (ex-Venice) officially confirmed by John Chen

BlackBerry today officially confirmed that it's getting ready to launch an Android-based smartphone. Initially known as BlackBerry Venice, the new device is now called BlackBerry Priv (just as expected).

While announcing BlackBerry's fiscal 2016 second quarter results, the company's CEO John Chen confirmed the Priv name, also mentioning that the handset "combines the best of BlackBerry security and productivity with the expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform." Moreover, the Priv is built upon BlackBerry's mission of protecting users' privacy - hence the new name.

In BlackBerry's words, the Priv will be a "flagship slider device" targeted not just a regular users, but also at enterprise customers, for which it should be able to offer "best in class security." BlackBerry plans to launch the Priv before the end of the year in major markets around the world. More details about the handset will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

The BlackBerry Priv will offer a large touchscreen display (possibly a 5.4-inch one with 1440 x 2560 pixels), and a sliding QWERTY keyboard. Other rumored features include an 18 MP rear camera, 5 MP front-facing camera, Qualcomm's six-core Snapdragon 808 processor, and 3 GB of RAM.

In the meantime, BlackBerry OS 10 isn't going anywhere, and it looks like, pretty soon, we'll see a new smartphone based on it.


source: BlackBerry