BlackBerry has always been known as a top player when it comes to privacy - its devices feature deadlock security, and the BlackBerry Internet Service, also known as BIS, is a testament to that. Now that the Ontario-based company is seeking newer grounds in the mobile sector, they see Google's Android as quite a feasible platform to invest on. It is evident in the company's recent smartphone codenamed BlackBerry Slider, or Venice - it is BlackBerry's expertise in software and productivity, coupled with Google's extensive app market to bring a fresh new smartphone to a growing user base, and now it has a name. Meet the BlackBerry Priv.

BlackBerry has opted for the name 'Priv,' short for 'Privacy.' It is the heritage of BlackBerry ever since the Research In Motion days of old back when Thornsten Heins was still the CEO of the company. "Today, 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," wrote BlackBerry's CEO Mr. John Chen on a post.

According to Chen, the Priv will be one of the many BlackBerry devices that will provide the company with a modest sequential revenue growth in each of the remaining quarters of fiscal 2016. In the post, the Priv is considered as a flagship slider device that runs on Google's mobile operating system, thus bringing together the expertise of BlackBerry in security and productivity with the vast and expansive app ecosystem that is in Android. BlackBerry is also hard at work to support Android for Work on the BES12 platform to offer best in class security for customers in the enterprise sectors.

BlackBerry is expecting that the Priv will be released later this calendar year with availability going in major markets in-store and online. Further details will be released in the coming weeks as well.