While the Nexus event is only around the corner, today is quickly becoming BlackBerry day. In the run up to today, the notion of an Android powered BlackBerry device was one which had only been rumored on with next to no actual confirmation coming from the company at all. That all changed though ,as two days ago a report came out detailing that what had previously been known as the BlackBerry Venice will actually be known as the BlackBerry PRIV. Following this leak and within the last few hours, everything barring a fully fledged launch event has taken place.
This morning Blackberry came out and confirmed that they are making a BlackBerry Android device and also confirmed that it will be known as the BlackBerry PRIV. This was then followed by a blog posting from the CEO of BlackBerry, John Chen, detailing why they are calling the device the BlackBerry PRIV, why they are making an Android smartphone and how this will impact on their current user base, as well as their soon to be Android user base. Now, another report has emerged from BNN and this one highlights an interview with the CEO himself.
The interview sees Chen once again talk about the BlackBerry PRIV. However, what is a little different about this one is that he is also showing off the actual device. Now, this is not the first time the PRIV has been seen in a hands-on scenario, as it was leaked in a hands on video not too long ago. However, this one sees the hands-on in a more official capacity. Chen does explain that the software running on the PRIV is a demo version, but it does again show the device clearly running on Android. Although, Chen doesn’t reveal anything too much about the specs, he does note it comes with all the latest specs including “latest Qualcomm specs”. In terms of why the move to Android, Chen notes that the problem with BlackBerry devices is the availability of apps. If he could provide all the apps, he would and without being able to combine the availability of apps and BlackBerry phones, the move to Android was the “best thing we could do.” You can check out the video in full below.