After years of trying to make it work with its BlackBerry OS, the once-dominant Canadian smartphone maker is giving Android a shot. The company acknowledged the existence of the Priv (previously codenamed Venice) with an awkward video demo by the company’s CEO, but now there’s a more professional intro video out.
The video shows off some of the typical Android stuff, but focuses on the BlackBerry Hub and the keyboard. Note how the touchpad functionality of the keyboard allows you to auto-complete words with a swipe, just like the BlackBerry OS software keyboard. There’s not much to the demo, but you can see a little more in the Carphone Warehouse video below. Carphone Warehouse also has a pre-order page up for the Priv. It expects deliveries to happen early next month.
The BlackBerry Priv will have a 5.4-inch QHD screen with curved edges, a 3,410mAh battery, Snapdragon 808 processor, 18MP camera, and will run Android 5.1.1. BlackBerry is going to great pains to point out that it’s not just Lollipop. The company sees privacy and security as its differentiator, so there are some under-the-hood improvements. The phone will come with a suite of high-security BlackBerry communication apps, the DTEK security warning system, and a promise of future support. There are still no solid US release details available, though.
- Source:
- BlackBerry