After all the rumors, BlackBerry has made it official today that the BlackBerry Priv (initially called BlackBerry Venice) will be their first Android-based smartphone.
Blackberry’s CEO John Chen, while announcing the financial results of the second quarter, he also confirmed the Priv name and also that the handset “combines the best of BlackBerry security and productivity with expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform.” The name Priv refers to BlackBerry’s mission to protects users privacy.
According to BlackBerry, this smartphone isn’t targeted only to regular users but also for enterprise customers by being capable of providing the “Best in class security.” BlackBerry Priv is scheduled to be launched before the end of the year in major markets, meanwhile further details about this device will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
Based on previous rumors and leaks, BlackBerry Priv will have a large 5.4-inch display with 1440x2560p resolution and a sliding QWERTY keyboard. This handset will allegedly feature a 18 MP rear camera, and 5 MP front-facing camera. It will be powered with Qualcomm’s six-core Snapdragon 808 SoC and 3 GB of RAM inside.
Launching an Android-based smartphone, doesn’t mean BlackBerry will give up from its OS 10 because soon we’re going to see a new flagship based on it. It is also worth noting that recently an analyst suggested that BlackBerry should replace its BlackBerry 10 with Android.