14 DAY TRIAL // We reported a few days ago that BlackBerry's first Android smartphone, the Priv, briefly appeared on the company's webstore with a $750 price tag attached to it.
One day later BlackBerry confirmed that the smartphone should be available for pre-order on October 23. True to its promise, the Canadian company has decided to start taking pre-orders for the BlackBerry Priv, but only in some countries.
BlackBerry's online store is now selling the Priv in Canada, United States and United Kingdom, but we believe the smartphone will be available for pre-order in more countries in the next couple of days.
The good news is the Priv has been priced cheaper than we anticipated. As mentioned earlier, our initial report indicated that BlackBerry plans to sell the Priv for $750 in the United States.
It's cheaper than expected, but this version doesn't support CDMA networks
It looks like the price listed along with the phone was not final since BlackBerry Priv is now available for pre-order in the US for just $700.
Customers in Canada will be pleased to know that the smartphone will be available for CAD $900, which is CAD $50 less than the initial price.
Last but not least, BlackBerry Priv is also available for pre-order in the UK where customers can purchase it for £560, which is £20 less than the price Carphone Warehouse is asking for the device.
According to BlackBerry, the Priv will ship starting November 6 (November 9 for the UK), so if you plan to pre-order the smartphone, keep in mind that it won't reach you until next month.
It's also worth mentioning that if you live in the United States and pre-order the BlackBerry Priv from the company's webstore, the device will not work on CDMA carrier such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint and US Cellular.
BlackBerry is only selling the GSM version of the Priv, but we suspect the biggest carriers in the US will get their own variants in the next couple of weeks.