BlackBerry Unveils Priv Emulator To Help Android Developers

It’s too early to talk of these phones saving BlackBerry from oblivion – and the company is certainly unlikely to ever regain its position as a mobile phone colossus – but perhaps the move to Android has stopped the ship from sinking. Whereas once upon a time, BlackBerry was a household name in the smartphone market, today this niche is dominated by devices from the likes of Apple and Samsung.

Several months back when reports about BlackBerry’s own Android smartphones were just mere rumors, the news about what is now known as the BlackBerry PRIV was accompanied by news of yet another Android phone, which is said to have retained BlackBerry’s classic look by foregoing the addition of a sliding keyboard. The latest snippet of news about this BlackBerry Android is that BlackBerry Priv will be sold exclusively by Carphone Warehouse in the UK. This is the first element in the integration of the Good Technology product portfolio.

Not having a full touchscreen device at this point when nearly every smartphone maker is creating one is also another strategy. Voice and text messages are encrypted with 128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) on the individual device level, so that even when, for example, the other party can not be reached, the message is stored on the receiver´s smartphone and only sent to the recipient when they are available.

In terms of specs, the BlackBerry Priv features a 5.4-inch display with a 1,440 x 2,560 pixel resolution, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, 3GB of RAM, an 18-megapixel rear camera and a 3,410 mAh battery. BlackBerry did not respond to our request for a comment on either Priv sales or future Android phones. Using Android on the handset is overwhelmingly accepted by fans, thanks in part to the extra privacy and security features that BlackBerry added into the mix. “In other words, no compromises”.

· WatchDox® by BlackBerry® is the most secure enterprise file-sync-and-share (EFSS) solution that allows users to protect, share and work with their files on any device.

In a blog post, director of BlackBerry Security Alex Manea explained what makes the Priv so secure.

When assessing the visage of these forthcoming smartphone, it is evident that the BlackBerry Vienna will be somewhat longer than many competitors in the smartphone marketplace.