BlackBerry’s first Android smartphone has been pretty well-received, and while we still don’t how well the device is selling, it must be selling enough for BlackBerry to be working on a successor. A few days after CEO John Chen confirmed that his company is working on even more hardware, CrackBerry reported that a second Android-powered smartphone, codenamed Vienna, is in the works, and this one isn’t a slider phone.
Just days after CEO John Chen confirmed the company has a range of products planned after the newly-released BlackBerry Priv, we just received on the CrackBerry tip line these renders of what is rumored to be BlackBerry’s next Android-powered phone.I’ve dropped the codename “Vienna” before on our weekly podcast and in the forums, but these renders are the first real look we’ve had at the design. Vienna ditches the Priv’s slider in favor of the iconic BlackBerry layout, with a front-facing physical keyboard that is always present. The keyboard looks to be of the same size and design as that of the Priv’s, but it’s hard to tell simply based off of the renders alone. Although it’s still early days for BlackBerry in the Android world, they’re off to a great start and the Priv finally has those who likely wouldn’t otherwise be interested in BlackBerry finally taking a look at their offerings in a serious light (even our rather picky colleagues at Android Central love the Priv – if you missed it, be sure to read their Priv review).