BlackBerry-Android smartphone plans leaked

PC Tech July 6, 2015

1 minute read

The rumoured BlackBerry Venice will run Android OS. Photo Credit: Techno Buffalo

Noted internet tipster Evan Blass has revealed two details about BlackBerry’s upcoming smartphone plans, and the focus on increased Android support.

The photo shows a device that appears to have curves on both halves of its display — not unlike Samsung’s Galaxy S6 Edge. It’s said to be called the BlackBerry “Venice”, though that’s likely a codename.

.@akrnsv Not at all — Venice is actually quite the looker. pic.twitter.com/ToFgYNOuLw

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) July 3, 2015

For the past month or so, the general thinking around the rumor mill has been that BlackBerry is working on an Android phone. Blass went on to reveal a new rendering that echoes the current BlackBerry Passport in size and style. The point of interest here is the extra ‘soft’ keys above the three rows of physical qwerty keys. These echo the look of the Android Lollipop interface. While it’s possible that the next generation BlackBerry Passport will run full-blown Android, it is more likely an update of the Android Runtime that ships as part of the BB10 OS. Currently the runtime is equivalent to Android 4.4. An update to provide compatibility with 5.0 Lollipop would increase the number of modern apps that all BlackBerry handsets would be able to run.

Also, /this/ pic.twitter.com/DL9BzAMEC4

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) July 3, 2015

A device like this would appeal to an underserved niche and help coax some of the folks clinging onto their aging BlackBerry devices into the brave, new Android-powered BlackBerry world. It won’t let BlackBerry take over the Android market overnight, but it’ll help them get a foot in the door.

Credit TechCrunch, Forbes