The company confirmed on Friday that the Priv, will become available in the fourth quarter, and guess the catch... It is going to run on Google's Android mobile software.
The Priv will be the first device from the Blackberry smartphone manufacturer to run Android -- the world's most popular operating system for smartphones and tablets -- as the company makes the move to abandon BlackBerry 10 software.
According to IDC, smartphones running the Blackberry software in the second quarter accounted for a meagre 0.3 percent of the market, while Android's market share was 83 percent.
"If our plan of doing the BlackBerry-Android implementation works well and the security is accepted, of course we could replace or merge" the BlackBerry software, CEO John Chen said on Friday, adding that BlackBerry is working with Google on the project.
Chen however assured in a commentary piece that ran on CNBC.com that the company doesn't plan to do away with BB10 right away, saying there would be continued support for the software.
"Fans of BlackBerry's workhorse BlackBerry 10 smartphones can continue to depend on us, and we appreciate their commitment"
The Priv, which takes its name from "privacy" and "privilege," according to Chen, is "the most secure Android device in the market,"
Hopefully, this time, those who miss their Blackberry apps and those concerned about security in Android devices and the absence of a traditional keypad will find a common ground.
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