BlackBerry Priv/Venice Confirmed? CEO John Chen Showcased A Working Demo Handset To BNN

The upcoming “BlackBerry Priv,” also known as “BlackBerry Venice,” has apparently been confirmed by the company. The first Android handset from BlackBerry was likely showcased by none other than the CEO John Chen himself during an interview.

The Canadian tech giant’s move to Android from the traditional BlackBerry 10 OS has been garnering quite a lot of attention online. Many rumors and leaks have showed photos of the BlackBerry Priv, along with the configuration details. But this time, the news has come straight from the horse's mouth.

BlackBerry CEO John Chen apparently showed off a working handset to BNN anchor Amber Kanwar. However, it is worth noting that the device in hand is a prototype/demo unit and the BlackBerry Priv release date has reportedly been set only in November. When Chen tried to show the device in action, the OS apparently showed the Priv running “Google" instead of “Android,” GSM Arena reported.

In addition to the trouble with recalling the OS name, the device also encountered some issues when running Google’s Chrome browser on the demo unit. Apart from the unexpected issues, one of the design features has also been confirmed. For instance, the upcoming handset’s sliding QWERTY keyboard will come with capacitive sensors as well. Priv owners are also expected to be able to use hand gestures to trigger action without tapping the keys.

Moving on to the rumored BlackBerry Priv specifications, the phone will reportedly feature a microSD card slot for expansion. Display-wise, there will be a 5.4-inch screen, complemented by the now-famous 1,440 x 2,560 pixels resolution.

According to Phone Arena, the Priv is believed to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 chip, which is expected to work with a hexa-core CPU and Adreno 418 GPU for graphics. The device will come backed with 3 GB of RAM and a phenomenal 18-megapixel rear-facing camera unit. Readers, however, should note that the tech giant has not confirmed the BlackBerry Priv specifications so far.