BlackBerry’s first ever Android phone, the Priv, was released just over a month ago to widespread acclaim.
But it seems that the firm isn’t about to rest on its laurels, and is already hard at work on its next Android-based device.
BlackBerry chief executive John Chen kicked off the rumour mill when he said in an interview that the company has a “range of products” in the pipeline. Shortly thereafter, CrackBerry received a set of renders of the alleged new device.
What will the new BlackBerry smartphone look like?
In keeping with tradition, the new smartphone is code-named Vienna.
The renders show a device that sports a brushed metal finish and is available in black and four other colours: silver, blue, green and red. Volume and power controls are on the phone’s right side, whilst the SIM slot is on the left.
Unlike the Priv, it seems that the BlackBerry Vienna will ditch the sliding keyboard in favour of an ever present keyboard of a roughly similar size.
The renders also show three physical buttons. If these are the Android control buttons, they’ll have replaced the Priv’s software buttons.
Possible Specs
To date, no information is available about the Vienna’s possible technical specs, and speculation is rife.
It’s likely that the Priv will remain BlackBerry’s flagship smartphone, whilst the Vienna will be a mid-range alternative. If this is the case, users can expect less processing power as well as a cheaper retail price.
Based on the leaked renders, the Vienna’s camera looks smaller that the Priv’s, which could mean that the Vienna will also have a less powerful camera.