BlackBerry Limited has launched the PRIV by BlackBerry, the first-ever BlackBerry smartphone powered by Android in the Philippines.
The PRIV by BlackBerry
Designed to be a very secure smartphone, the PRIV is ultra-thin, has a dual-curved screen, touch and physical keyboards, state-of-the-art 18MP camera, and long-lasting battery.
Making the phone secure is the exclusive DTEK by BlackBerry app for Android which monitors and reports on application access to the microphone, camera, location and personal information, enabling users to be confident that their personal data is being kept private. Users can know at a glance when their privacy could be at risk so they can take action to improve it.
BlackBerry’s hardware root of trust, a unique manufacturing process, injects cryptographic keys into the device hardware, providing a secure foundation for the entire platform.
Keys have been embedded to verify every layer of the device from hardware to OS to applications in order to make sure they haven’t been tampered with. Additionally, thousands of modifications were made to harden the Linux kernel with numerous patches and configuration changes to improve security.
PRIV can be integrated with BES 12, which offers cross-platform management of PRIV and other devices; providing a full end to end security solution and secure collaboration applications for business users like Secusuite for secure voice and WatchDox for secure file sharing.
As part of BlackBerry’s cross-platform strategy, users will see a seamless merging of key BlackBerry 10 productivity features like the BlackBerry Hub and BlackBerry Calendar into PRIV.
A 5.4-inch immersive dual-curve OLED display offers plenty of room to work or play with rich colors, deep black levels and less power consumption. At a resolution of 2560×1440, it sports an incredible pixel density of 540 PPI – 4x the amount of pixels of a standard HDTV. Along the screen’s curved edge is the Productivity Tab that provides an “at a glance” view of the most pertinent info from BlackBerry Hub, Calendar, Task, and Contacts.
PRIV has a 3410 mAh battery with enough power to work up to 22.5 straight hours of mixed usage. Its 18MP camera, certified by Schneider-Kreuznach, integrates technologies commonly found in DSLR cameras.
PRIV is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor which comes with Qualcomm SecureMSM technology and Qualcomm Snapdragon StudioAccess content protection. It has 32GB of onboard storage and supports microSD cards up to 2TB.
PRIV comes with powerful speakers and a three-microphone system that delivers a high-quality listening experience. BlackBerry Natural Sound Technology is built in to adapt Wi-Fi and cellular call sound depending upon phone position and background noise, automatically adjusting volume so users don’t have to.
Android for Work support allows for fast, simple and secure integration with the enterprise environment. Seamless integration with Google Play for Work enables easy access to IT-managed apps.
Company officials says that while PRIV will provide a choice in operating system to new and existing customers, the company remains committed to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, and will continue to release platform updates focused on security and privacy enhancements.
PRIV will be available at a suggested retail price of PHP45,000 inclusive of local taxes. It will be available from mid-December through BlackBerry’s exclusive partner in the Philippines, MemoXpress.
