Blackberry has been rumored to be making an Android-based smartphone for some time now, and there have recently been some very official looking leaks of the phone. Well, we can officially stop wondering if and when the device will launch, with the company confirming today that it will indeed ship its first Android smartphone, known as the Priv, before the end of the year.
It was only this week that Evleaks claimed that Blackberry's Android handset would officially be called Priv (it was previously codenamed Venice), and now that moniker has been confirmed in a company earnings report.
So, what do we know about the Priv so far? Well, CEO John Chen has revealed that the name refers to the company's "heritage and core mission of protecting our customers' privacy," and that the handset will combine "the best of BlackBerry security and productivity with the expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform."
It was also confirmed that the handset will feature a sliding QWERTY keyboard, though we don't yet know whether the rumored Samsung Galaxy S6 edge-like curved display will make an appearance.
Interestingly, Blackberry's move to Android won't be at the expense of Blackberry 10 OS, with the company confirming that it is continuing to develop the platform, with version 10.3.3 set for launch in March 2016.
Source: Blackberry