Blackberry confirms its Android phone formerly known as Venice

By Cameron Faulkner

BlackBerry's move into Android is now official. Its CEO, John Chen, confirmed that the company is launching its foray with, you guessed it, that oft-rumored smartphone with a slide-out keyboard.

Not just that, the phone, previously codenamed " Venice", has a new name, Priv. BlackBerry Priv. It might seem like a confusing name at first, but Chen's announcement offers a few hints as to what it could mean.

Announced during a quarterly meeting, Chen goes on record by saying that "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."

Ok, so Priv is short for privacy? Possibly. Doing a bit of research on the latin root for "priv" more or less confirmed it. BlackBerry hopes to sway its customers over to the new Android-powered phone by promising them with a secure foundation.

Aside from the name, nothing else was confirmed. We've heard quite a few rumors as to what could be inside of the BlackBerry Priv, but it's all still speculation at this point.

Though no official pricing or release date was specified, BlackBerry's Priv will be released later on the year. Rumors point to a November release, and on multiple carriers in the US.