More evidence has been drifting down the waterways, indicating that the BlackBerry Venice smartphone will indeed run Android—and it'll be the first BlackBerry device to do so. The latest puzzle pieces come from popular leaker and tipster Evan Blass, by way of Twitter.
According to the mounting evidence, the BlackBerry Venice will wear accessories from BlackBerry's Productivity Suite. Underneath that business attire, the smartphone will run on the vastly more popular Android mobile operating system.
The first of Blass' two posts details a host of elements from the BlackBerry Productivity Suite, all packaged in APK (Android Application Package) format. Check it out:
This is no stock Android handset... pic.twitter.com/3RgBQHsCng
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 21, 2015
The followup, posted the next afternoon, purports to depict some of those BlackBerry Productivity Suite components in action. It allegedly depicts a Venice decked out in BlackBerry gear, but there's no telling what's underneath all of that. Here's your second serving:
"Nothing else keeps you as productive as BlackBerry" cc:@blackberryninja pic.twitter.com/BN0Gmobors — Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 22, 2015
A few days earlier, Blass tweeted a post proclaiming that the BlackBerry Venice is slated to launch this November on the top four wireless carriers in the U.S. Here's another dollop:
BlackBerry Venice confirmed for November release on all four national US carriers. pic.twitter.com/l5jFCGKLjO
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 19, 2015
BlackBerry CEO John Chen has previously downplayed reports asserting that his company has been prepping an Android device. Back in June, Chen described what it would take for BlackBerry to decide to release a handset that runs on Android.
When put to the question, regarding reports of an Android Venice in November, a BlackBerry spokeswoman sang the same tune as Chen.
"We don't comment on rumors or speculation, but we remain committed to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, which provides security and productivity benefits that are unmatched," the spokeswoman said.
