If you thought that the BlackBerry Priv and its standout slide-out keyboard was going to be a solo experiment then think again. As had already been widely rumoured long before the Priv’s bungled reveal, BlackBerry has been working on not just one but several devices that it plans to introduce to the market running Google’s mobile operating system, Android.
A new BlackBerry smartphone running Android has just hit the interwebs in the last couple of hours thanks to the folks at CrackBerry. Unlike the Priv, the device, only being referred to as ‘Vienna’ at the moment, ditches the slide-out keyboard for a permanent physical keyboard, genuinely staying true to BlackBerry’s history and tradition. It’s a classic device in a modern shell. The sort meant to rekindle old memories. Old-school but with ambitions to stay relevant. Something it can easily do since from the leaked renders the design is likeable and if what reviewers of the Priv have to say about it is anything to go by, it might be exactly what BlackBerry needs as a follow-up to a device that captured the attention of even the most pessimistic of folks.
There are no fine details on the Vienna at the moment but since the secret is out, it is only a matter of time before we get to see it showing up left, right and centre in exhaustive leaks. Unless, of course, Waterloo learnt something from the mess that was the Priv’s reveal.
Source: CrackBerry
