BlackBerry CEO John Chen Sets Aside BB 10, Says 'Only Android Phones This Year'
After the BlackBerry PRIV made a successful breakthrough using the Android OS, BlackBerry CEO John Chen said that the company will only release Android-based devices this year.
According to CNET, the announcement came after three major network carriers in the U.S., particularly Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint, said that they will be selling the BlackBerry soon after it ends its 60-day time exclusive to AT&T.
This news may come as a bit shocking to die-hard BlackBerry fans, but looking on the bright side, BlackBerry is not leaving. They just found a way to improve their system on the Android OS.
If BlackBerry's transition to Android brings more profit to the company compared to their homegrown BlackBerry 10 OS, then yes, this might be a little disconcerting on BlackBerry's fan base. Operating system wise, BlackBerry is not letting go of the much loved BlackBerry 10 OS, but rather announced that they won't be making any new devices that will carry the BlackBerry 10 in the near future. The company also confirmed that they will continue to market their classic devices and try to have the BlackBerry 10 OS certified by the National Security in order to make it useful to some government agencies.
Meanwhile, Crack Berry revealed that the company mentioned the Android Marshmallow 6.0 update at the CES event. Although they did not specify when they will start implementing it on the BlackBerry PRIV, the announcement said that details about it will come on the first quarter of 2016. Consumers who already have the BlackBerry PRIV on Android will have to wait a little more before they can update to Android's latest.
The BlackBerry PRIV was first introduced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where they also revealed the meaning of PRIV, which stands for "Privacy and Privilege." It is also the first from the BlackBerry line to use Google's Android OS and was introduced while carrying the Android Lollipop 5.1.1 version.
The BlackBerry PRIV's basic specifications include a 5.4-inch curved 2,560 x 1,440 touchscreen, a slider-style keyboard and an 18-megapixel camera. It also has a SnapDragon 808 processor, 32GB of internal storage and 3GB of RAM.
BlackBerry's debut on the Android system made it a bit similar to what Nexus has to offer, but still carrying the BlackBerry brand. They also had some trademark apps that were quite obvious on the new device. BlackBerry is also known for their strict compliance on mobile security specifications.
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