BlackBerry CEO John Chen's gamble on BlackBerry Priv as the first Android-run smartphone of the Canadian phonemaker appears to have paid off. Analysts' warning that the $700 price tag on a phone with a physical keyboard would turn off buyers appears to be a dud.
Techtimes reports that demand for the new flagship pushed shipping dates as far back as the third week of November. But a spokesman of the Ontario-based company says the company has started fulfilling shipments as of Nov. 6 as promised, however, BlackBerry phased shipments for the next wave of delivery.
Priv sold out within hours on Amazon. Those who pre-ordered has their units shipped on time, but new buyers would have to wait longer because of the delayed delivery for the next batches as BlackBerry copes with the unexpected high demand for the phone which could save the Canadian firm from financial ruin.
The unexpected warm reception to the Priv has led to speculations that BlackBerry is set to make another Android phone and name it BlackBerry Vienna. Android Headlines reports of leaked renders of the new smartphone.
Among the anticipated changes in the so-called Vienna is that it would be larger than Priv to accommodate the touchscreen and an openly visible full QWERTY keyboard which is the trademark of a BlackBerry phone. Soft navigation keys also appear to be absent in the device since it likely has hard keys for home, recent and back buttons.
The color options of the speculated second Android-OS BlackBerry phone include white or silver, blue, orange and green, but there are no final designs yet for the production model. The Vienna apparently has front and back cameras, speakers that are bottom-mounted and a charging port on the left side above enclosed trays for the SIM and microSD cards. On the right side are the volume rocker and power buttons
However, Android headlines emphasizes that these features are just renders, and there is no confirmation from BlackBerry yet.