BlackBerry

If there has been one thing missing from the Android smartphone market over the past few years, it’s a great device with a physical keyboard. In fact, ever since the T-Mobile G2 (HTC Desire Z) hit the market in 2010, there’s been nothing worth paying attention to. That’s why — to me — the rumored BlackBerry Venice is the most exciting phone of the year so far. At least, the most exciting unreleased phone of the year. As each week goes by, the chances of it becoming a real product get stronger. For the first time, the Android-powered BlackBerry has been shown of in real, leaked hands-on photos.

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Evan Blass — otherwise known as Evleaks — shared with us an image last week showing what looks to be some silver variant of the much-rumored BlackBerry Passport running Android Lollipop. Tech blog 4GNews then went on just before the weekend to share images of what it called Passport Silver Edition. It turns out those images were from Dudu Rocha Tec., an Android-related Brazilian YouTube channel, and now we have a look at what is likely the much-rumored BlackBerry device in its full glory…
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After sharing this morning a render of the slide-out keyboard on what is ostensibly an Android-powered BlackBerry Venice, a device which the Ontario-based company has teased but made no mention of what OS its powered by, respected leaker Evan Blass is back with more goodies for the BB faithful. This time he has tweeted out a short video that shows off a render of the smartphone from all angles, with dramatic transitions and animations in tow.

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BlackBerry has been rumored to be working on an Android phone for quite some time. In fact, almost as soon as its CEO John Chen teased the portrait slider dubbed ‘Venice’, it was predicted it might run Google’s operating. We’ve seen a leaked render showing the front of the device with what looks like stock Android. We’ve even seen slides showing off some of the BlackBerry-inspired user interface elements. What we haven’t seen yet is that ever-elusive keyboard.

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We’ve been hearing a lot about BlackBerry’s long-rumored Android smartphone over the past few months. In fact, almost as soon as BlackBerry teased the ‘Venice’ slider back at MWC in Barcelona, it was rumored that the upcoming device would ship with Google’s OS onboard. A previous render showed a pretty clear image of Android running on the BlackBerry slider, and now some more official-looking images appear via CrackBerry to hint at a Google-powered system.

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BlackBerry has snapped up a couple of Android-y domain names very recently. Logs show that BlackBerry Limited bought AndroidSecured.com and AndroidSecured.net on July 7th. This move, of course, adds more fuel to the rumors that the company is planning to launch a Google-powered smartphone in the near future.

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Evan came out last night to post an image of what looks to be a BlackBerry Passport running Android, and many were confused thinking it was the rumored slider phone coming to AT&T. Well, that picture was “just a Passport” according to Blass, and now he has posted a press render he says is indeed Venice, the phone that Reuters told us about in a report early last month…

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Update: As I thought, this isn’t the slider. It’s just a Passport.

There seems to be some confusion — sorry for being obtuse. This is no slider, it's just a Passport: https://t.co/0AExZulvMy

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) July 3, 2015

Evan Blass just can’t stop. Earlier today he came out on Twitter to say that BlackBerry’s Android-powered “Venice” smartphone is on its way to AT&T, and now he has shared an image of what looks to be some kind of BlackBerry device running Google’s mobile operating system.
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A report from Reuters earlier this month said that BlackBerry has plans to build an Android smartphone, and now the company’s CEO, John Chen, has come out with a statement that is far from being a denial. According to Chen, BlackBerry only builds and sells phones that are what he believes to be the most secure on the market. If the company can do the same with Android — find a way to make it secure — it sounds like Chen is open to the idea…
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According to a new report from Reuters, BlackBerry is considering releasing a smartphone with Android installed, as opposed to its own BlackBerry 10 operating system. The reasoning for the switch to Android is to allow BlackBerry to focus on software and device management. When asked about the report, BlackBerry said that it does not comment on “rumors and speculation” and is still committed to BlackBerry 10.

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BlackBerry today has revealed a major software update for all of its BlackBerry 10 devices. Most notably, the update adds the ability for all BB10 devices to access Android applications. Bumping the build number to version 10.3.1, this update is rolling out to all BlackBerry 10-powered devices, including the Z10, Q10, and Z30. The company announced announced its intentions to add this feature in June of last year.

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While rumors that Samsung was in talks to acquire BlackBerry for as much as $7.5 billion ultimately proved to be untrue, the two smartphone makers remain interested in working with one another. “We want to work with BlackBerry and develop this partnership, not acquire the company,” J.K. Shin, head of Samsung’s mobile phone business, told The Wall Street Journal.
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BlackBerry might have pioneered the smartphone industry, but the iPhone and Android-based devices have since captured the market and left the Canadian company in the dust. Looking to remain relevant with modern smartphone users, the company ultimately caved in and released its popular messaging app BBM for Android and iOS. Today, users checking the Play Store will find a major new update for the app in their queue.
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BlackBerry and Samsung announced a partnership today that will help the Korean electronics manufacturer improve its Knox mobile enterprise security software. Starting next year, the Canadian tech giant will bring its BES12 platform to Samsung Galaxy devices equipped with Knox.

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The latest numbers from Strategy Analytics reveal that Android was installed on over 8 of 10 smartphones worldwide in the third quarter, as the mobile operating system captured 84% global market share for the three-month period ending September. That figure arrives just one day after the research firm reported that Chinese company Xiaomi has become the third-largest smartphone maker in the world.

Android continued to be a dominant player in global smartphone operating system market share, increasing its lead over iOS by three percentage points compared to the year-ago quarter. Apple’s mobile operating system held 12.3% market share during the third quarter, trailed by Windows Phone (3.3%) and BlackBerry (0.7%). Other mobile platforms accounted for less than 0.1% market share.
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The latest enterprise market share data from Good Technology shows that Android gained five points from iOS, hitting almost a third of the market at 32 percent while iOS fell from 72 to 67 percent. Windows Phone remains flat (and irrelevant) at just 1 percent. (BlackBerry data is not included as the company uses its own servers and activations are invisible to Good Technology.)

What’s particularly impressive about the numbers is that Good’s technology mostly connects mobile devices to Exchange servers and organizations that use Google services for enterprise, which are more likely to Android, aren’t being counted here…

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