Just days after CEO John Chen confirmed the company has a range of products planned after the newly-released BlackBerry Priv, we just received on the CrackBerry tip line these renders of what is rumored to be BlackBerry's next Android-powered phone.
I've dropped the codename "Vienna" before on our weekly podcast and in the forums, but these renders are the first real look we've had at the design. Vienna ditches the Priv's slider in favor of the iconic BlackBerry layout, with a front-facing physical keyboard that is always present. The keyboard looks to be of the same size and design as that of the Priv's, but it's hard to tell simply based off of the renders alone.
Although it's still early days for BlackBerry in the Android world, they're off to a great start and the Priv finally has those who likely wouldn't otherwise be interested in BlackBerry finally taking a look at their offerings in a serious light (even our rather picky colleagues at Android Central love the Priv - if you missed it, be sure to read their Priv review). While we might not see Vienna for a while and things might change from what we're seeing here in the design and form factor as there's no telling how old the renders are, it seems as though BlackBerry has a long-term Android strategy and device lineup mapped out. I know many folks are hoping BlackBerry will do a full touchscreen Android phone with no physical keyboard, but so far it seems bringing keyboards to Android is how they are getting started. We'll just have to wait and see how this story evolves.
Keeping in mind this might not be the final form for the 'Vienna', let us know what you all think of it based on the first look in the comments.
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Fan renders offer another take on the BlackBerry Vienna
Like many other devices in the past that have appeared before an official announcement, we're now starting to see some fan-made renders of the Vienna. CrackBerry Forums member, Haaszkrissz, has spent some time building the Vienna in 3D in an effort to give everyone a better look at what could be.
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