BlackBerry’s Android Slider Phone Is Called the Priv and Will Be Available This Year

BlackBerry has been teasing us with its plans for an Android-powered slider smartphone for months, promising in March that the device would be available sometime this year. Now, as part of the company’s second quarter financial results, CEO John Chen confirmed the name of the handset — the BlackBerry Priv — and reiterated a planned release date later this year. “Today, I am confirming our plans to launch Priv, an Android device named after BlackBerry’s heritage and core mission of protecting our customers’ privacy,” wrote Chen. “Priv combines the best of BlackBerry security and productivity with the expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform.”