BlackBerry Priv, Passport, Classic and other models no longer available from BlackBerry in the U.S.

It was back in September of 2015 that many of us heard the phone name BlackBerry Priv for the first time. Prior to a tweet from reliable tipster Evan Blass, BlackBerry's Android powered QWERTY slider was known by its code name, the Venice. Shortly thereafter, BlackBerry CEO John Chen confirmed the Priv name (it's short for Privacy of course), and the Android era was officially kicked off in Waterloo.

It's clear that the Priv, as hard as it tried, could not deliver the usual BlackBerry physical keyboard experience to BlackBerry users. Because of the slider, the Priv was unable to use the fretted keyboard style that made the physical QWERTY on the BlackBerry Bold 9000 one of the best of all time. And while not quite as outstanding, the QWERTYs on the BlackBerry Bold 9930 and Bold 9900  both receive Honorable Mention.

Besides the QWERTY slider, the Priv garnered plenty of attention for being the first Berry to run totally on Android. This meant that all of those popular apps in the Google Play Store would work perfectly on the Priv, not with the myriad problems that took place when Android Runtime was added to BlackBerry 10.

Now that BlackBerry is about to launch its best Android powered smartphone ever in the BlackBerry KEYone,, there doesn't seem to be a reason to continue to sell the Priv. The KEYone not only features a drool producing PKB, it also offers the kind of battery life that phone users would dream about if they dreamed about such things. So with the Priv no longer needed, the model has been removed from the Shop BlackBerry website in the U.S. and Canada. 

BlackBerry has its May Sale going on at the moment, and in the U.S. the BlackBerry DTEK50 is priced at $229. That is a $70 or 23% haircut from the usual $299 price. The BlackBerry DTEK60 will cost you $460, a $39 or 7.8% price cut from the usual $499 cost of the device. Those are the only phones listed on the site. Click on the BlackBerry Priv, BlackBerry Passport, BlackBerry Classic and BlackBerry Leap and the only listings are for accessories that go with these phones. Speaking of accessories, several are available at a price of up to 50% off.

So let's reiterate. BlackBerry's own Shop BlackBerry website is no longer selling any BlackBerry 10 powered phones anywhere. The Priv is available with huge discounts in the U.K. and Germany only. And the DTEK50 and DTEK60 are on sale, being offered in all regions covered by the manufacturer's online stores.

If you have a Priv, Passport, Classic or Leap and you need accessories, or you want to take advantage of the discounts on the DTEK50 or DTEK60, click on the slideshow below.

source:ShopBlackBerry (U.S), (Canada), (U.K.), (Germany), (France)