Is this it? BlackBerry might create their first Android phone

bb-android-1

After many months of never-ending rumors, a first image of the supposed first BlackBerry phone running Android has surfaced. Interestingly, this seems like it would be a “fusion” – is this plausible, or even possible?

 

Some ten years ago, BlackBerry was a household name when it came to smartphones. It was the company everyone looked at when it came to tendencies, both as a corporation and as a leader. None the less, even the great can fall, and after Apple and Android joined and evolved the game, the Canadian company started to lose its ground. Even worse, with the appearance of the Windows Phone, the ex RIM are in a hard place fighting tooth and nail for their right to exist in one of the most competitive markets in the world. Yet, it seems they do kind of have a plan to be reborn from its ashes, like a phoenix: to use Android on their own Blackberry branded devices.

The company’s idea seems to be to retake some of the lost ground with an Android device sporting a curve screen not unlike the Galaxy S6 Edge. Its codename, although it might change before release, is Blackberry Venice.

The few hardcore Blackberry users that remain stay because of their unique QWERTY style keyboard, yet it is unknown as of now whether this new Android phone would include one, if it would slide like in the pastm or be displayed upfront like in the Bold models. Regardless, it would be wise of the company to keep them, as to not alienate the group that still supports them.

We will likely learn more about this device in the near future – as of now, we only have this one image and a thousand and one questions, but this might be the best possible step the canadian group can take to find themselves regaining some ground.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories at BlackBerry introduces new retro designs for their flagships and BlackBerry Leap Smartphone Announced, Will Cost $275.

BlackBerry 10 hands-on (video)

BlackBerry 10 handson video

Like any good show pony, BlackBerry 10's been trotting around the world, strutting the fairly limited elements of its known UI in an effort to court developers. The platform, without question the nail upon which RIM's fate and fortune hangs, had its big coming out party this past May at the company's showcase in Orlando, an event at which we also got to meet the Dev Alpha -- a glimpse into future hardware design -- and espy three main features of this new OS: camera, keyboard and app switching. What we didn't get, however, was any actual hands-on time with the software, leaving most members of the tech press to take Waterloo for its word.

Cut to the present and on this segment of RIM's dev-focused Jam tour, nearly two months later, we finally got a chance to cut through the smoke and mirrors of the company's polished powerpoint presentations to get some honest-to-goodness, up-close and personal time testing the software. So join us, won't you, after the break, where we'll delve into our first impressions of this Hail Mary in Motion.

Continue reading BlackBerry 10 hands-on (video)

BlackBerry 10 hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments