BlackBerry said it will make a handset based on Google’s Android operating system that also offers business users enterprise-class security features.
“We are focused on making faster progress to achieve profitability in our handset business,” said CEO John S. Chen. “I am confirming our plans to launch Priv, an Android device named after BlackBerry’s heritage and core mission of protecting our customers’ privacy. Priv combines the best of BlackBerry security and productivity with the expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform.”
BlackBerry said the phone will go on sale in stores and online by the end of the calendar year, and that more details will be made available in the coming weeks. At the same time, BlackBerry said it will continue to develop security and privacy updates for its own BlackBerry 10 platform, and expects to release 10.3.3 in March 2016.
The news was shared as part of BlackBerry’s quarterly earnings report, which showed the company lost $66 million on revenue of $490 million.
