It may be late in the day but BlackBerry have gone with fully Android with the Priv and features a slide out keyboard and runs 5.1.1 Lollipop.


http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/1349...u-need-to-know
http://www.neowin.net/news/blackberr...rder-in-the-uk

"Late in the day".... yes, never has there been a more true phrase typed!
It looks good though. I kind of miss the old sliders in their various guises.
I can always remember watching the Matrix and then my mate turned up at the pub with the Nokia Banana phone (8110).

Interesting to see how this new Blackberry does.

£580 for a Blackberry? I don't think they will be selling many of them.

Does seem a little steep doesn't it.
Considering the OS is essentially free, why so expensive?

That is on par with other Android flagship phones' launch price no?

BB has a good reputation for hardware quality, it's the only Android phone with a keyboard, and it's fairly close to stock Android - no bloatware e.g. Samsung.

If they can convince people that it's not like the Blackberries they're used to it might do well. The price might have to come down a touch though.

Blackberry has a reputation for cheap and nasty phones with terrible software (even their higher end offerings like the Storm were awful). You don't bring out a phone at flagship prices when you are trying to enter the market again, you undercut the opposition to get customers interested.

Motorola showed the way to get market share back, it wasn't by trying to sell at the top end when your reputation is low rent.

was quite interested in this when it was announced. I like android and always liked a phone with a sliding physical keypad as well. My worry now though is i read something about Blackberry unsure whether to pull out of the hardware market which would leave me worrying about any potential repair issues if the phone developed a fault.

As others have pointed out the problem is the price .

The end is nigh

The phone actually seems very good on paper, Blackberry actually seems to have made quite an effort with this device.

Unfortunately, a high end Android smartphone is not something they should have attempted at this stage.

They should have copied Motorola and gone for a mid range device like the Moto G, but with a sliding keyboard of some sort and a candy bar variant.

I also think the PRIV is a bit on the large side for some of their core market who will be used to smaller devices than this.

I could be interested in this as a work phone. I use a BB Classic as it's great for replying to long emails, but there are some things I'm less keen on about the rest of the OS. A BB-keyboarded Android phone would be an excellent alternative, but I agree the price is a bit steep.

I'll give it a few months and then see how the price drops. It's interesting to note, however, that the email they sent me had a big box at the bottom asking if I'd be interested in buying 25+ units for my company. A firm target of the enterprise market there.

If you have a Facebook account, link your Twitter up to it. So when make a tweet it'll be posted on your Facebook page.
Here's how
-Log in to the Twitter account you want to associate with your Facebook profile.
-Go to your Settings menu's Apps tab.
-Click Connect to Facebook.
-If you are not already logged in to Facebook, then you will be prompted to enter your Facebook login credentials.

It should also link up to your friends who are also on Twitter.

I think you've got the wrong thread. And why would you want to bother people on Facebook with your Twitter posts?

Yes the Priv is expensive (and soooo not for me) but it isn't aimed at the consumer market it's aimed a companies who equip their staff with current BB devices but want something a little more ..... modern.

It does look nice, but I am not sure if there is still a market for a physical keyboard. Everybody managed for a while without it. But it would be funny if they pissed all over MS plan to push Windows phones for businesses

Looks like a very good phone and the first with androidhttp://shop.blackberry.com/store/bbrryus/en_GB/pd/productID.328096000/categoryID.70448700?gclid=Cj0KEQiA0-GxBRDWsePx0pPtp4sBEiQACuTLNmF0DfgA90m5fw9vPHeDGRYNiUuHiV7126B6bjb9qeYaAj-q8P8HAQ

Why couldn't you have just posted in the existing thread?

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2112047

I don't think this is going to appeal to the average consumer, Blackberry does still carry a lot of clout in the business and enterprise market. They are in effect offering one of the most secure Android based phones on the market, they already have suites available that run inside Android anyway, this is a logical step.

I get the impression a lot of people miss the productivity from Blackberry, granted everyone may feel differently. Hard keyboards tend to offer accuracy and speed over a touch screen based alternative. Blackberry has done this before with the Torch models and they were mildly successful, I suspect this will be a small hit relative to the iPhone and S6 range, if they target it at the business productivity end they could have that segment all to themselves.

BlackBerry to bypass Networks to deliver Android security fixes

BlackBerry are determined to issue security fixes and bypass the Networks who usually take ages to approve any sort of security fixes. This is a huge problem with Android. Not only do networks delay updates but manufacturers usually cant be bothered to issue them. Flagship handset might get an update after a few months if they are lucky where as the rest of the range tend not to get any updates what so ever. So well done BlackBerry for doing it the way other Android manufacturers should be doing.

http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/05/b...urity-updates/

I always use to think that until I got use to Swype type keyboards and find them a lot better and I think there is a less chance of getting repetitive strain injury with them as well?

With all the people going in for the world records it looks like they never use a "hard" keyboard (sometimes normal touch keyboard and sometimes Swype etc).

When I just checked Flesky looks like it held the record.

I'm guessing where the "hard" keyboards have the advantage is inserting things like numbers and characters (although I can manage this quite well by dropping down the setting for the amount of time I have to hold a key down to get a number/character on Swiftkey to nearly the bare minimum).

I would struggle to challenge you on that one. My preferred keyboard is the stock one supplied with my phone or Swiftkey. I genuinely believe if it asn't for Swype or Swiftkey current touchscreen keyboards would be a lump of crap.

When I had my Blackberry Torch, I didn't get RSI and I used my phone for work. I do miss Blackberry purely because of the keyboard, replying to emails was twice as fast compared to now on my S6 Edge.

Whoops sorry.