During the Q2 2016 fiscal year announcement today BlackBerry officially confirmed the existence and name of the rumoured Blackberry Priv Android powered phone. In the associated announcement the Priv was featured on the Q2 financial highlights.
Today, the company also confirmed plans to launch a flagship handheld device that will run on the Android operating system with BlackBerry security
It’s important to differentiate the confirmation of a project and the confirmation of the rumoured hardware as the embodiment of that project. And while the smart money would be on the previously leaked Android-powered slider pictured above being the Priv this wasn’t actually confirmed. It is not unexpected that Blackberry would stand on its security features as a way to differentiate themselves sin the Android market, especially to the enterprise sector.
With the recent crop of Android devices feeling a little heterogeneous it will be very interesting to see what Blackberry brings to the table with the Priv, even if it is only a new take on Android hardware and UI.
Are you excited for a Blackberry build Android-powered security phone? Let us know below.
Will any carriers be interested is the real question and can BB afford to buy their way into stores. Something tells me it wont be a wallet friendly phone
I miss my BlackBerry particularly the keyboard so I’m looking forward to this one, the hub & quicksearch is great on BB10 so hopefully they work just as well on Android.
They are really dragging their feet with launching this product. By the time it’s available, there won’t be much of a market left.