The Blackberry Priv which is set to be available in the markets this week could be the flagship's last attempt to save its company.
When CEO John Chen took charge of the Canadian mobile phone company two years ago, BlackBerry has released a number of mobile phone models but none of them has improved the plummeting sales of the brand. According to Mobile Strategies 360, the CEO was even quoted as saying he would resign from post if he cannot revive Blackberry's earnings.
BlackBerry Priv, short for privacy, is the company's first mobile phone model that is run by Google's Android. In a CNET report, Ron Louks, BlackBerry's President of Devices and Emerging Solutions were spotted on a trip to Vegas in January 2014 for a meeting with Google.
Louks said at an interview that the partnership with Android "was a long time coming."
Since Chen's takeover in 2013, BlackBerry has been in talks with Google with regards to improving the company's mobile phones through the inclusion of the most popular operating system, Android, in its products.
The once-popular cellular phone brand has continued to lose valued customers who shifted to using the IOS operated Apple iPhones and Android-operated Samsung Galaxy Phones. That is why in the yet-to-be-released BlackBerry Priv, the manufacturer is letting go of its own operating system in favor of Android.
A concern which BlackBerry faced in the past is the limited number of applications that can be used in its devices. However, with Android, more applications are made available to cellphone users. The Canadian company is hoping that this move would gain back the customers it lost.
Besides Priv running on Android system, the mobile phone model is also backing up the new feature with a strict privacy element which polices how much other applications gain access on location and personal data. Although Priv is primarily a touchscreen phone, the QWERTY keypad, which the brand is known for, still exists in this model.
Experts say that if the team up still does not increase the sales of the company, it could be the end for BlackBerry.
