BlackBerry hasn’t been doing that well as far as finances are concerned for quite some time now. Various rumors and reports surfaced saying that BlackBerry is going to be acquired by an another company, and a number of other OEMs were mentioned, including Microsoft, Asus, Xiaomi, and many others. That being said, a while back, a BlackBerry-branded Android-powered device surfaced, the BlackBerry Priv (previously called Venice). We’ve seen a ton of BlackBerry Priv leaks thus far, but didn’t get an official confirmation from BlackBerry, well, until now.
The company’s CEO, John Chen, has confirmed the BlackBerry Priv naming and the device itself. The company’s CEO said that the device will be “available late in the calendar year in major markets in-store and online,” while the official press release contained the following quote as well: ”The company will launch a flagship slider device, Priv, which will run on the Android operating system, bringing together the best of BlackBerry security and productivity with the expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform. In combination with BlackBerry’s efforts to support Android for Work on the BES12 platform, the new device will offer best in class security for enterprise customers”.
BlackBerry’s CEO has also explained why did they choose the ‘Priv’ naming. The phone is called that name because of BlackBerry’s heritage, said John Chen, it’s supposed to symbolize privacy, something the company has been putting a huge focus on. BlackBerry, or their CEO, didn’t confirm this device’s specifications just yet, but according to previously leaked info the device will feature a 5.4-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) display, 3GB of RAM and will ship with Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with a number of BlackBerry’s software additions. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 808 64-bit hexa-core processor is expected to fuel this smartphone, and an 18-megapixel shooter will be available on its back. The phone will also sport a 5-megapixel camera, and it will be available up front.
That’s more or less everything that was said regarding the upcoming BlackBerry Priv. The device was finally officially confirmed by the company, which more or less confirms the real life leaks of the phone we’ve seen thus far. Stay tuned for more info, we’ll keep you in the loop.