BlackBerry Venice to arrive on all four US carriers in November
The Galaxy S6 edge. The Galaxy S6 edge+. Have you heard of either of these phones? If so, then you’ll instantly know what we’re thinking of when we say that they stand out for one reason: the edge. The dual-edged display is what makes these smartphones fun to explore. And the “edge” feels as though it should have been there all along, a merging of form and function in the most beautiful way.
Well, it seems that the “edge” is on fire with manufacturers, BlackBerry now deciding to join in on the “edgy” competition. The company that was once known for its physical keyboards and data encryption and Web security technology has become something of a has-been in the eyes of tech enthusiasts and average consumers (although a few famous celebs, Google’s Eric Schmidt being one of them, still carries his BlackBerry). The BlackBerry Venice has been leaked in a few photos, but now-retired leakster @evleaks (a.k.a., Evan Blass) is still on the job, apparently. In a new tweet just three days ago, the leakster wrote, “BlackBerry Venice confirmed for November release on all four national US carriers.”
The announcement refers to “all four national carriers,” which likely includes T-Mobile. T-Mobile has taken over Sprint’s #3 national carrier spot, pushing Sprint back to fourth, while Verizon and AT&T are still the giants among the top four (no surprises there). This news is significant when you consider that only AT&T was rumored to get the handset some weeks ago.
The BlackBerry Venice will be BlackBerry’s dive into the Android smartphone market, as the company once known for its own BlackBerry OS (or BB OS) will utilize Google’s own massive collection of apps for its users. We’ve seen Google Drive, Google Hangouts, Google docs, sheets, and slides, Chrome, and even Google Play Music on the handset in pictures that have traveled around the Web and back again.
What do we know about the BlackBerry Venice? According to the rumors, you’re looking at a 5.4-inch, Quad HD curved LCD screen with 2,560 x 1,440p resolution, a hexa-core, and Snapdragon 808 with 3GB of RAM. There’s been no word on whether or not the BlackBerry Venice will arrive with the latest Android update currently, Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, or just how soon the BB Venice will receive the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update that looks to arrive with Google’s two new Huawei Nexus and LG Nexus 2015 handsets.
BlackBerry looks to make a comeback in the smartphone space, and the Venice is a handset that seems promising. Now, where’s Nokia?