Video: this is how the BlackBerry Priv is put together
The BlackBerry Priv’s design has many an Android fan going nuts, but so far its construction has been a mystery. Build quality is still questionable, but the company managed to accomplish a sleek design despite building in a plethora of extra hardware keys (something they are very good at). But how exactly is the Priv built?
BlackBerry has released a video to show us just how they put together their Priv handsets. Let’s take a look at it.
Sales of the new handset haven’t been as expected, with numbers well below the estimated quantities, but CEO John Chen stays optimistic about the company’s future. There’s even a possibility that they will release other mid-tier Android handsets at more affordable prices.
More BlackBerry Priv content:
- BlackBerry Priv review
- BlackBerry Priv – second opinion
- BlackBerry Prib – 5 things I like and 5 things I don’t
We still have plenty of time to decide whether the BlackBerry Priv is a success or not, though. Verizon still needs to release the BlackBerry Priv. The launch on the USA’s largest carrier is expected to be a big push for BlackBerry. And if they continue to offer good deals, things should definitely slide into the good side in 2016.
Until then, all we can do is wait and see how much BlackBerry can grow. Their Android handset is great, but it didn’t come without its faults. What we are hoping is that the Priv gives BlackBerry enough traction to keep pushing for more Android handsets. With time, they will get even better at making Google-powered smartphones.
What do you guys think of the BlackBerry Priv? Are any of you proud owners of this handset? Hit the comments and share your thoughts/experiences with us!
New video shows off the ‘quality and durability’ of the BlackBerry Priv
BlackBerry clearly built its Priv handset from the ground up and wants to show users the care that went into the making. A new video does just that.
A new video was uploaded just yesterday that uses animation to show how the BlackBerry Priv was assembled. In the video, you’ll notice that bits and parts were put close together in a certain way for an added layer of protection from drops and abrasion. Clearly, BlackBerry wants to show us how much care and effort it put into the Priv hopefully making it as durable as possible. Heck, maybe next year we’ll see a BlackBerry with water resistance!
Things are looking good for the company and are only going to get better from here on out. We highly suggest you watch the video embedded down below, it was quite interesting to see what BlackBerry did here.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Come comment on this article: New video shows off the ‘quality and durability’ of the BlackBerry Priv
BlackBerry to consider a mid-tier Android phone if the Priv is a success
The BlackBerry Priv, the company’s first Android smartphone, marked a new page in BlackBerry’s history and the handset could just be the start of a longer chapter. In a recent interview, BlackBerry CEO John Chen stated that the company will consider moving into the mid-range Android market as well, providing that the Priv is seen as a success.
Chen stated that the Priv’s results over the next three to four months are going to be key when determining what the company does next. Chen mentioned that he’s looking at results for the Priv in terms of margin and not necessarily just in terms of sales volume.
If the Priv is well received, and Chen seems rather optimistic that the phone is on the right track, BlackBerry will consider developing a new mid to high end smartphone that could launch sometime in the 2016 calendar year. We are probably looking at a launch in the later half. A low cost smartphone from BlackBerry seems rather unlikely, but its next handset could take the form of the reasonably priced “super-mid” tier of products that have become increasingly popular in Asia and Europe.
See also: BlackBerry Priv review
When questioned about a further hardware partnership with Samsung, which manufactures the AMOLED display for the Priv, Chen insisted that the two companies continue to work together but don’t have any confirmed long running deals for physical product development. However, the two continue to run joint products in the security space and with Samsung’s Knox products for mobile.
BlackBerry looks to be taking its mobile strategy just one quarter at a time and isn’t making any long term commitments. Given the competitive nature of today’s mobile market, this strategy may pay off.
A second Android-powered BlackBerry smartphone could be on the cards in 2016
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If BlackBerry is to survive in the smartphone hardware space, it’s clear some things have to change and the release of the BlackBerry Priv was a good first step. While we still don’t really know how well it’s done for the Canadian manufacturer, BlackBerry CEO John Chen has hinted in an interview with Bloomberg that if the Priv does well, that could mean a second Android-powered BlackBerry smartphone would be released in 2016. This device is said to carry the codename “Vienna”, following the theme set by the Priv which was codenamed “Venice”.
http://www.bloomberg.com/api/embed/iframe?id=IzWxAdmjQxqi~4u~S5uSqQNaturally, Chen is still keeping his cards close to his chest so didn’t give us any more detail. A second Android-powered BlackBerry smartphone does seem pretty likely, however, as the Priv is yet to complete its global release, and presumably this will result in even more sales. Of course, only time will tell whether BlackBerry’s gamble to join the Android mainstream has paid off, especially with its claims of privacy and premium pricing – perhaps a lower cost model would be able to help it break into the other sectors of the market.
What do you think about a second Android-powered BlackBerry smartphone? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Bloomberg via TalkAndroid
The post A second Android-powered BlackBerry smartphone could be on the cards in 2016 appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
BlackBerry may launch a second Android-powered smartphone in 2016
During a recent interview with Bloomberg, BlackBerry CEO John Chen hinted that the Canadian company may well launch a second Android-powered smartphone in 2016. Like the Priv, the upcoming device, which has been codenamed Vienna, is expected to a be a mid-range to high-end handset featuring the firm’s iconic hardware keyboard.
Unfortunately, Chen didn’t elaborate on a specific time frame for the device. He merely stated that its release will depend on how the Priv performs on the open market in the coming months. At present, the handset is only available in four countries, but will touch down in an additional thirty-one within the next three months.
Source: Bloomberg
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BlackBerry Priv might get permanently discounted in February of 2016
BlackBerry’s $699 price tag for the Priv handset is a bit steep for some, however, that may change time come this February.
According to John Chen, the CEO of BlackBerry, the price for the Priv handset will be cut down early next year. The handset is expected to get permanently discounted near the upcoming Mobile World Congress expo taking place in Barcelona. The expo is already set to take place between February 22 and the 25. A number of manufacturers will be introducing new handsets there so it only makes sense for BlackBerry to lower its prices. At this point in time, there’s been no indication on how much the handset’s cost will be reduced, however it’ll likely be a good amount. So if you’re hesitant on buying BlackBerry’s new Android-powered Priv handset, you might want to consider waiting.
Thanks to Seeking Alpha we were able to obtain Chen’s statement regarding the price of the BlackBerry Priv. The following statement took place in a conference call following the release of the company’s third quarter earnings report:
Good question. So we have a model obviously, of pricing. I think the pricing will hold pretty strong for the next quarter in Q4. We already have seen some of the POs coming in. Especially in new introductions, margin is usually pretty strong. But I’m not — but you all know the market very well.
In about Mobile World Congress time, we will see introduction of new technology from our competitors. We have maybe a midlife kicker coming in around that time, but I expect ourselves to have to reduce our price to be competitive.
We do have some unique features at PRIV, as being well-received especially in the security world, in the privacy world. But we obviously won’t fool ourselves to expect that they will continue to maintain the high prices that we could get today. So we have our natural trend and a model that goes through 12 months out and then after 12 months, we’re going to have to reexamine that.
Source: Seeking Alpha
Come comment on this article: BlackBerry Priv might get permanently discounted in February of 2016
Living with the BlackBerry Priv hooked me on its keyboard
When my colleague Dan reviewed the BlackBerry Priv, he was understandably cool about it. You’re paying a steeper-than-average price ($699-plus in the US) for a phone whose selling point is its slide-out keyboard. That’s a big gamble when there are more affordable touch-only phones that are also more powerful. But what’s it like if you take that plunge? I’ve spent two months living with a Priv to find out. All its stand-out features and quirks are still there, but I’ve found myself gradually drawn in by that keyboard — enough so that my opinion of the phone has changed for good. Slideshow-349703
Yes, a lot of the issues with the keyboard remain. It’s narrow, tightly spaced and otherwise not the best keyboard BlackBerry has ever made. (To me, that honor goes to the Bold 9900.) Also, a slider design on a large 5.4-inch phone creates a unique problem: It’s so tall in its extended mode that I occasionally had to hold it close to me to avoid banging against nearby objects. For that matter, the software autocorrect would sometimes fail to kick in while I was using the physical keyboard, leaving me to correct typos like it was 2006 all over again.
But when everything works, it works. It’s not so much the speed — it’s not that much faster than using a touchscreen keyboard — as the feel and how it frees up screen space. There’s something satisfying about flicking out the keyboard to wake the phone and dash off a message. And hiding the software keyboard is just perfect for chat apps like Hangouts, where all that newly freed-up real estate lets me track more of the conversation without scrolling. Although the on-screen keyboard is well-done, I found myself leaning toward the old-school buttons when I had the chance.
Part of the appeal comes when I do have to scroll, mind you. The keyboard’s gesture support is inconsistent, even within apps (Flickr reverses scrolling directions in different sections, for instance), but on the whole it’s very useful. I can read an article without obscuring the page, or follow the strands of a long Twitter conversation without lifting my hands off the keys. While I didn’t use the other features much (such as selecting text or erasing whole words), they were nice to have now and then. These gestures were also present on the Passport, of course, but it’s still great to have them here too, especially when there’s a rich app ecosystem that can take advantage of those keyboard swipes.
How does the rest of the Priv stack up, you ask? Pretty well, actually. The quad HD display and 18-megapixel camera remain good but not great, and the battery life with heavy use (e.g., social networking and music streaming) is merely average despite the big 3,410mAh battery. However, the phone could almost always keep up with what I wanted to do. The Snapdragon 808 chip and 3GB of RAM aren’t as powerful as you’ll get in some phones in this class, but they’re still up to the job of driving a flagship device. About the only let-down was the low-light photography, which was reasonably bright but also noisy and colorless (though it did get better, as you’ll see below). You could never touch the Priv’s keyboard and still get a pretty solid smartphone.
And yes, moving to Android has done wonders for the BlackBerry experience. As good as a few elements of BlackBerry 10 were — multitasking in particular — it’s refreshing to have an ample supply of native apps, instead of repackaged titles or, more often, nothing at all. Instagram? Flickr? Swarm? Yes to all of them. BlackBerry’s custom touches are generally welcome, too, like pop-up widgets and stars to indicate apps with notifications. Some of the software is superfluous outside of certain business users; I didn’t really need DTEK’s security audits, for instance. All the same, I’d say BlackBerry struck a fine balance between maintaining Android’s strong points and catering to faithful users.
I’d add that BlackBerry has been good about supporting the Priv in the time I’ve used it. A major December update improved performance across the board, including the camera’s low-light quality. On top of that, there have been numerous app updates to tweak the functionality and fix bugs. It’s still not flawless: One recent crash forced me to reboot the phone. However, this is the kind of tremendous post-launch support that I wish other phone manufacturers would offer. That extra level of care stems partly from make-or-break necessity (BlackBerry may quit hardware entirely if sales remain poor), but it’s greatly appreciated.
My main concern is that the Priv isn’t quite as transformative an experience as BlackBerry arguably needs it to be. I did get hooked on typing on that hardware keyboard, but I felt back at home the moment I went back to typing on glass with other phones. The physical keys weren’t so addictive that I found myself missing them dearly, and that’s a problem when rivals like the Galaxy Note 5 and Nexus 6P are faster, take better photos and otherwise sport more bells and whistles. Even so, I’m going to miss the Priv — and that’s something I haven’t said about a BlackBerry in a long time.
BlackBerry Priv sales hit 700,000 units: CEO John Chen sees corporate recovery ahead
For the better part of 2015, the BlackBerry Priv has been in Android news headlines. Originally known by the working name “Venice” the device – before it was even confirmed – was already the stuff of mobile marvel and mystery. It was the first Android handset by one of the industry’s most prolific companies. It was a curved AMOLED device from a company other than Samsung or LG. And it was a slider with a full physical keyboard in a time when time itself had seemingly forgotten the form factor still existed. The latest news? It’s also a potential panacea.
Speaking with investors earlier today, CEO John Chen not only highlighted the praise reviewers have showered on his company’s new product, but also explained that – due to its success – the Priv is now on the verge of reversing the very hardware-related losses that once sought to spell doom for the company’s future.
The optimistic news came amid BlackBerry’s Q3 earnings call, with the CEO stating that:
My first goal is to get us into a break-even position with the device business, because you really couldn’t do anything strategically with a business that continues to lose money…We’re in that ballpark now.
Thanks in part to revenue from the acquisition of a software company announced back in September, BlackBerry was able to cut non-GAAP losses to $15 million during the company’s third fiscal quarter. This in turn, resulted in a loss of 3 cents per share, as opposed to the estimate Wall Street had been predicting: 14 cents per share. Revenue was up at $557 million, well beyond the $489 million analysts had anticipated.
With respect to the Priv itself, while BlackBerry reported sales of approximately 700,000 units, it is noticeably less than the 900,000 units that some analysts had been expecting. It should be noted that at launch, AT&T was the sole carrier offering the device in the USA, and it has yet to be released in many markets around the world.
Mr. Chen explained that in switching to Android, a cost-savings break has been added to the equation of Priv production, “because we don’t have to do everything ourselves in the operating system world.”
At the time of publication, BlackBerry stock was up 10.38%, to $8.61 per share.
The story of success
While sales shy of even one million units might seem small to some in light of Huawei’s recent announcement of 100 million devices shipped in 2015, or any random Samsung quarterly earnings call, it actually means a great deal to BlackBerry. Last quarter the Canadian OEM indicated it had only managed to sell around 800,000 units of its BB10-based handsets. That the Android-based Priv could sell 700,000 units despite limited availability is actually quite an impressive accomplishment when put into perspective.
The Priv is also a very expensive phone, typically retailing for around $700, whereas the average sale price of hardware last quarter was just $240. BlackBerry therefore stands to make much more on each Priv sold than it would have in the recent past.
Indeed the company’s fortunes seem to be looking up, a dramatic change compared with the somewhat sullen story the company was suggesting just months ago: Just prior to the Priv’s release, Mr. Chen had indicated it might be his company’s last hardware offering were it not to have performed well in the market. Now there is ample opportunity for more to come.
Common sense or logical lag?
While many the world over had been incredulous at BlackBerry’s insistence on remaining true to its origins instead of embracing Android years ago, the switch to Android itself was not necessarily the “common sense” impulse it was often labeled as. The OEM employees individuals who are specifically tasked with creating BB10 hardware and software. CEO Chen has indicated future development of BB10 is essentially finished, with the company now having switched gears to Android. This means not only potential job losses, but – for some – a betrayal of the very values and origins of the company itself.
In many ways, BlackBerry’s slow transition is a North American parallel to that which Europe’s OEM darling, Nokia, has also had to deal with. With its Symbian OS having severely declined over the years due to falling sales, Nokia opted to align itself with Microsoft, a decision many felt was a poor one. When it was later announced that Microsoft planned to purchase Nokia’s device division entirely, many claimed its then-CEO, Steven Elop, was a planted trojan horse.
Since his appointment in November 2013, BlackBerry’s CEO has made it a priority to reduce costs and get the company in a favorable market position. He took the reigns after the company’s co-founders were frequently criticized as running it into the ground.
Wrap Up
With solid sales of the Priv, it looks as if BlackBerry’s immediate situation is safe. The question becomes what will happen next. Future success largely depends on the release of dynamic hardware that sets the company apart from its competitors. Samsung, for example, has won approval for government-related contracts. Privacy and security in and of themselves are now larger priorities for many OEMs, not just BlackBerry.
There is also equal concern in the hardware itself. Some have already asked just how relevant a narrow physical keyboard (as opposed to that of the BlackBerry Passport) is on a smartphone in this day and age. Likewise, Android users have – arguably – long since grown accustomed to virtual keyboards. While BlackBerry could rest solely on its existing user base, in order to make a genuine recovery and move beyond, it will be necessary to win more people over.
For a device all about security and protection, the Priv is not privy to a fingerprint sensor, unlike the Nexus 6P (pictured).
That the Priv lacks a fingerprint sensor, that it opted for a Snapdragon 808 SoC instead of the 810, that it won’t get Marshmallow until next year, and that it has released just months before next year’s heavy hitting flagships are gearing up for launch are all valid criticisms of the hardware handset. The high price is also a debatable, resistant factor.
We are eager to hear your thoughts on this story. Does 700,000 units sold make the Priv a success? Were you expecting more? Less? How do you think it will perform next quarter? Leave us your comments below!
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BlackBerry’s quarterly earnings are in
BlackBerry’s quarterly earnings report is finally in, and the Blackberry Priv played a role in the charge.
BlackBerry reported a revenues total of $557 million, which is far above the $488.8 million predicted. In the third quarter, BlackBerry launched the long-anticipated BlackBerry Priv, which was the first Android-powered handset in the company’s history. BlackBerry’s report indicated that 700,000 was the number of total Priv sales for the quarter.
The total hardware sales was down year-over-year, however saw a minor increase from the second quarter which increased from $201 million to $222.8 million. BlackBerry’s largest growth came in the area of software and services which rose 183% when comparing to last year’s total revenues. Revenue in this category totaled up to $162 million. This incremental increase led to a surge in the company’s share price which rose roughly 11% today. It looks like BlackBerry won’t have to ditch hardware anytime soon.
Source: BlackBerry
Come comment on this article: BlackBerry’s quarterly earnings are in
BlackBerry compares the Priv display next to devices that aren’t Samsung or LG
All manufacturers intentionally try to make their devices look good, and BlackBerry is no exception. Their latest blog post pits the Priv up against other high-end phones, specifically in the screen category. And for what it’s worth, BlackBerry put a pretty fantastic screen on the Priv. It’s high resolution, has a high PPI, and that curved display offers some features that other phones simply can’t match.
Next to Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, the Priv has a noticeably higher PPI. When compared with other Android flagships, like HTC’s One M9, the OnePlus 2, and Motorola’s meek, 720p Moto G, the Priv also comes out on top. But that shouldn’t surprise you, since none of those phones are known for their uber high resolution displays.
Next to something like an LG or Samsung flagship? The Galaxy S6 Edge has 577 PPI thanks to its slightly smaller screen, and LG’s G4 has 438, which is just 2 PPI less than the Priv.
None of this is to say the Priv has a bad display. It’s extremely high resolution, very crisp, and its curved display is one of the only screens like that on the market. But it’s a little disingenuous of BB to boast about its great screen without comparing it to the actual heavy hitters in the screen category.
source: BlackBerry
Come comment on this article: BlackBerry compares the Priv display next to devices that aren’t Samsung or LG
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