BlackBerry’s first ever Android smartphone, the Priv, is here with us. It is expected to go on sale early next month. We already know quite a lot about it but new details keep emerging every passing day. Like we now know that the device has a screen that curves slightly on the sides like the Galaxy S6 Edge. The device is already up for pre-order in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada where it will be selling for an equivalent of US $700.
As part of preparations before the Priv is made official, BlackBerry is doing what Android OEMs have been reluctantly warming up to: unbundling core applications and availing them on the Google Play Store. BlackBerry has already published a couple of the applications that will be preloaded on the Priv. They include key applications like the launcher, the browser, the keyboard, the camera, BlackBerry Services and others that are unique to the Priv’s core mission: ensuring user’s privacy, like Password Keeper and DTEK.
The biggest advantage to having some core applications on the Play Store is that updates can be easily pushed directly to users without having to wait for an update to be made available which can at times be a process depending on the third parties involved (e.g. carriers) and other factors.
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