According to latest rumors, Canadian phone maker BlackBerry is developing an Android smartphone for release this November. Codenamed the BlackBerry Venice, the device will be a touchscreen slider phone and also the company’s first smartphone to not run on proprietary BlackBerry software.
The name BlackBerry Venice was first heard in April, which was followed by a rendered image of the device last month by reliable leaker Evan Blass. He again managed a detailed image of the Venice on Wednesday.
Venice is a slider phone that slides to expose a physical QWERTY keyboard bringing back the most popular option for smartphones in 2009. The physical keyboard that appears beneath the slider display is provided to be used in case of heavy usage, for example while sending mails.
The Canadian phone maker has been struggling for the past few years, and despite launching several hyped up handsets, the company hasn’t been able to reclaim its former glory.
As far as the specs of the BlackBerry Venice are concerned, the device is expected to sport a 5.4-inch 2560×1440 pixel QHD LCD screen. The handset will be flanked with curved glass on both sides and is powered by a 1.8GHz hexa-core 64 bit Snapdragon 808 SoC along with 3 GB of RAM. Other specifications which are expected of the phone include the rear camera, which shows at 6-lens elements in addition to a staggered dual-LED flash and optical image stabilisation and phase detection auto focus. The resolution of the rear camera will be a cool 18-megapixel along with a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The device also incorporate a textured back panel, which could be a glass weave design as found in BlackBerry Z30.
While the BlackBerry Venice is said to run on Android OS, the exact version of Android is not known yet. Evan Blass has revealed through his Twitter account that the BlackBerry Venice release date is pegged for November, however the exact date has not been revealed.
Blass has also revealed that the Venice smartphone will be available through the four major carriers in the U.S. namely Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobiles and Sprint. The tweet also includes some BlackBerry Venice renders showing Android features onboard, such as Google Play Store, Google+, Google Maps, Hangouts and Android for Work. Blass also posted a teaser video of the device on Twitter.
