14 DAY TRIAL // Everyone knows by now that BlackBerry is in deep financial troubles due to low sales of its new smartphones (Passport, Classic). The company's latest device, BlackBerry Leap, isn't likely to help either judging by the low demand.
However, the Canadian company confirmed that it would continue to launch mobile devices in the coming months, so not all is lost for BlackBerry yet.
Last week, a new report coming from Reuters cited two unnamed sources that claimed that BlackBerry would launch an Android smartphone sometime this year, probably in September.
Said device is likely to feature a slider form factor and will come with both a physical QWERTY keyboard and a large touchscreen display.
The new BlackBerry smartphone powered by Android will arrive bundling several BB services and apps, but at this moment it's unclear which ones will be available at launch.
We expect some of BlackBerry's security and productivity tools, like Hub and BBM, to be included by default, but these are just speculations for now.
Today, a new rumor emerged, suggesting that BlackBerry might team up with Samsung in order to bring its Android-powered smartphone to the market.
This kind of makes sense, since the Canadian company doesn't have the expertise required to launch an Android smartphone yet, even though the latest BlackBerry smartphones come with an Android VM that works pretty well.
No word on what BB services could make it to Android
According to (in)famous leaker Eldar Murtazin, Samsung and BlackBerry are now working together to launch an Android Lollipop smartphone that will be packed with BB services.
Once again, there is no mention of exactly what BlackBerry services could be implemented in the new Android smartphone. However, Murtazin confirms that the device will be launched this year, but he doesn't point out an exact release date.
We recommend our readers to take this information with a grain of salt until more sources confirm it, since Eldar Murtazin got it wrong several times in the past. It's a possibility though, one that would make sense.
Samsung + Blackberry = Android Smartphone with Lollipop + BB services
— Eldar Murtazin (@eldarmurtazin) June 15, 2015