After appearing in several leaks, BlackBerry’s first Android device with a slider keyboard now has a name. Codenamed internally as the “Venice”, serial leakster @evleaks has revealed BlackBerry Priv as the official commercial name.
The name “Priv” sounds more edgier than the current models that sounded more regular like the Passport, Classic and Leap. Probably sounds fitting since this is BlackBerry’s first diversion into a competing OS. After all it has been a while since BlackBerry makes a QWERTY slider device like the BlackBerry Torch.
To recap on the specs, the BlackBerry Priv is said to be running on a Snapdragon 808 Hexa-Core processor with 3GB of RAM. The front display is a 5.4″ unit that’s expected to push a Quad HD resolution. The back camera is a 18MP unit with dual-LED flash while selfies are handled by its front 5MP shooter.
Out of the box, it runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop but it gets BlackBerry’s own proprietary apps including BlackBerry Hub. Based on earlier rumours, this should be launched sometime in November and hopefully it arrives in Malaysia in time for Christmas.
If you haven’t seen it yet, you can also check out some hands-on photos here.