BlackBerry Launches Android Smartphone

wiredmikey writes: In an attempt to come back from the dead, BlackBerry announced plans to sell an Android-powered smartphone. The struggling Canadian smartphone maker said it would begin selling "Priv," described as "a flagship handheld device that will run on the Android operating system with BlackBerry security," expected to be available later this year. The company isn't giving up on its own operating system, and will continue to develop and enhance its BlackBerry 10 platform, which currently represents less than one percent of smartphone users.

Comments

Re:6 years

[narcc]

On the contrary, Android and iOS were well-behind BB for years in terms of features, with few exceptions.

No matter how great QNX is for a nuclear power plant, it failed in the smartphone market, partly because it failed to attract developers.

Which is odd, as developing for BB has always been easier than developing for Android. Of course, in those days, people still thought Android was "open" and that Google had their best interests in mind.

When is it the last time you have seen someone using a Blackberry?

A few minutes ago. My wife was debating between the Note and BB Classic, but ultimately found the Classic to be the phone she preferred. As it's for work, she wanted a solid productivity tool, so that's what she opted to buy. Not that she hasn't tried alternatives. Her last Android lasted about 6 months before she tossed it. I'm still running a Z10 and feel no compelling reason to upgrade, though that keyboard sure would make life easier...