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BlackBerry Priv: Enterprise Android in a snazzy but functional package ? The Register
... my review at the biggest UK tech site, on one page.
I think UK reviewers have been much fairer to the Priv than the USA gadget and lifestyle blogs. We appreciate BlackBerry is trying to do something different.
The market needs some diversity right now.
Posted via CB10
Different isn't always better....
Others have tried locking the boot ROM.... Android power users hated it.
Others have made keyboard phones.... for one reason or another they stopped.
Others have made secure Android phones... they don't market them to consumers (not that BlackBerry is marketing anything yet).
Others have tried to make "premium" Android phones.... how is that working for them?
Hope UK customers will buy them by the millions!
"Phone of the Year" is a stretch in my opinion. Its offering a sliding pkb form factor and some little software tweaks by BB. Other than that its a Lollipop Android phone. It doesn't have the best camera, the best Audio, the best screen, the best battery life (so far) so I'm not sure what would qualify it better than the slew of other new devices out this year.
The fact that it offerse a sliding pbk on android with modern specs. Thats the only reason my buddies have gotten one
Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android
Take the time to learn about the productivity shortcuts and you may discover other reasons to get one. Blue Cheese is way better than Kraft Singles.
Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android
Its always the iPhone.
Thanks Andrew. Enjoyed the read. I think the Priv is greater than the sum of its parts.
It isn't number one in any particular area. But what BlackBerry did here was to aspire to greatness by doing something original, leveraging some amazing hardware and software IP, and not making another bland slab of glass.
Complaints have come from every direction but none accuse BlackBerry of merely following the herd. And maybe that is what frightens some people.
Even if they fail. They will have inspired other companies that it isn't necessary to build in the mold of Apple.
Bring back random taglines!
Andrew,
Nice write up. But, assigning the title of the phone of the year is rather premature in my opinion. I think the Priv is giant step towards the right direction. Not that passport wasn't, but no matter how hard they tried, the app gap was still there, and they continued to lose customer base.
The Priv brings some of the core strengths of the BlackBerry to the Android platform. And deservedly so, it has been welcomed by many. But I don't think they nailed the execution here. In my humble opinion, the Priv needed these improvements.
1. The Hub: the email portion of the hub was executed well after the update. But inability to completely integrate the texting was a major drawback. I am sure hat it was the best the company could have done borrowing from someone else's software, but it would have been stellar if they could have pulled it off.
2. The Camera: yes the camera is the best camera the company has put out so far. Bud it is not he industry best nor in the middle of the pack. I would grade it, passable. The shutter speed is slow, and the sound has distracted double shutter sound. The front facing camera is well below the competition and the imaging processing time needs to improve drastically.
3. Speaker: putting a mono speaker toward the left side of the phone was a mistake. Could have used stereo speakers.
4. Physical Keyboard: the keys are little small and the key travel is shallower than th previous generation BlackBerrys. I would have loved to see the classic's keyboard integrated into the Priv, but I am sure I am asking to much. The current keyboard suffers from multiple key presses or misfires.
5. Finger Print Scanner: yes it is not as secure, could have included as a prosumer feature.
6. Overall Software Performance: I have seen the phone slowdown time to time. It is not to the point that it would annoy me, but I cannot deny that it doesn't suffer from slow downs. I have noticed the phone slow down when I am using Spotify. I am sure they will update the software to optimize system performance.
Most of the stuff I described above, are truly nitpicking items. But, we are talking about the phone to be the market leader. I have a full confidence in BlackBerry That while they were not able to achieve the phone of the year this time around, but I am sure the next iteration of the phone could be a true contender for the title. I am very much looking forward to it.
Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android
Love mine. Both keyboards are fantastic. I can get used to any BlackBerry hardware or software keyboard in no time. I have Passport(s), Classic, Q10, and I can use all of them equally well. I'm pretty special though...
Posted via CB10
I received an email from BlackBerry, the lead line was "The Device of the Year is Finally Here" and
"PRIV BlackBerry, Secure Smartphone Powered by Android".
Then I scrolled down, and full stop after the first sentence of a small paragraph: "The Kardashian's are getting the new Priv. :eek: :no:
WTF is BlackBerry doing, associating with and giving free phones to America's #1 trash family??! :cant-watch:
Good luck with the Priv BlackBerry, I won't be touching it ... will be sticking with my Z30 until it dies. It also runs the Android apps that I use, perfectly fine. And I've modified the OEM (yet rare) BlackBerry dock for the Z10, to fit the Z30 and it works great, charging each night while the alarm clock is on or using the regular HDMI out to the tv and running Netflix.
Do you know What is an short seller ? There's a lot here. A short seller is someone who sell BlackBerry stock to buyback at lower price to make a profit . So they come here to bash BlackBerry in hope for stock price drop.
There's plenty of positive review on youtube....and here all this BS.
Posted via CB10
You know there may be something to all of this BlackBerry bashing. I never bought into all the talk about Android/Iphone "plants". I'm rethinking that nowadays.
Posted one-handed via Passport
That's what I think, both here and elsewhere. The negativity towards BlackBerry as a brand was not known to me until after I bought one. It is really weird.
Love the term "Mad Max badlands of Android". Heh heh.
Attachment 380140
Weird indeed
Posted one-handed via Passport
I'd call it the most innovative of the year. Other than a spec war, what makes all the other devices different?
Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android
It all seems a bit like the leap forum when that was first released. People seemed to put it down on every thing it did. I've been using a leap (over passport) for a few months now and it is a perfectly good phone, I'm hoping the priv will end up better than good and BlackBerry will definitely work on the negatives.
Posted via CB10
2. I see a lot of complaints about the speed, but see no complaints about the quality, so speed might just be a few updates away.
4. I don't get when people say the keyboard is small. I mean, it's the second largest PKB blackberry has ever made on pair with the classic. Only the Passport has a wider keyboard, but how do you make a keyboard wide as the passport while retaining the same form factor? you can't unless you make a passport slider. The keyboard is as big as it can be, and only if you come from a passport you're going to look at it as being a smaller keyboard. How did you type in the times of the 9700 or 9900? those are quite smaller
6. That's android, just isn't a swiss watch that is iOS.
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