
BlackBerry Unveils an Android-Powered Phone with Security Features - happyscrappy
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/02/blackberry-unveils-an-android-powered-phone-with-security-features/?src=twr
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blisterpeanuts
For years, I've believed that Blackberry missed the boat on mobile operating
systems. They should have long since developed a really good Android handset
leveraging their great keyboard and security expertise. It might have done
well. Too bad for them that they only recognized this recently.

By the way, the NYTimes blog is unreadable on my iPad. Every time I try to
scroll down, it jumps back to the top. I wish they'd stop with these mandatory
mobile versions that are buggy and limited. Just the text, ma'am.

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corin_
On my iPhone I don't get the scrolling bug you talk about (and don't recall
ever having it on NYT pages), but I do have two options to fix it if it comes
up - the reading mode where it strips everything but the content, and the
"show me the desktop site" button that would presumably strip whatever the
mobile site is doing that screws it up for you. Haven't owned an iPad for a
few years though so don't know how different it might be.

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chippy
The best bit about this news is that it will be an android phone with a
physical keyboard. There have been no new ones for around 3 years.

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baldfat
My wife's number one request for a new phone was a physical keyboard. Since
she can't buy one she has moved on to a Samsung Note. I told her about the
phone and she says she would miss swipe typing to much. I wonder how many
people actually want a physical keyboard with the added bulk?

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elij
The priv physical keyboard is touch captive and also supports swiping up for
word completion

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baldfat
you might have just sold a Blackberry phone. You should ask for a commission.

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vjvj
As someone who went back to BlackBerry when BB10 was launched, I'm not sure
I'd buy this phone - in my opinion the Android UX is just so ugly and I'm not
convinced that the Blackberry hub will work as well on Android as it does on
BB10 (the two things I love most about my phone).

My Z10 is now 2.5 years old and I'm considering replacing it with a brand new
one. I'll take a look at the Priv but my thoughts are it's too expensive and
won't be as effortless to use as it would have been if it was running BB10.

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subliminalzen
Definitely consider BlackBerry's Passport. It's a fantastic phone. Lots of
screen real estate for reading e-books and spreadsheets. And it runs Android
apps (using 1Mobile Market, Amazon App Store or a half dozen other portals).

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rbanffy
It would be great if Blackberry launched an Android-based Passport. I'd get it
without thinking twice.

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ck2
The same blackberry that handed over its encryption keys to most world
governments?

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blub
Yes, and they decided to build on an OS that is known for its poor security
track record and privacy invading features.

Even if by some miracle they will decide that they want to offer real
security, they can't secure customers from the OS developer.

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Jack000
I bought a playbook a few years ago, and it bricked after draining the
battery. Apparently this was a fatal design issue that affected all playbooks,
it just won't charge again after reaching 0%. Suffice it to say it'll take a
lot for me to buy into blackberry hardware again.

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PointerReaper
Still not seeing any technical details about if this is a native
implementation of Android or virtualized with QNX. One of the key issues with
their past approach was lack of any accessibility at the system API level. I
wonder if they will be blocking or interfering with native Android app
accessibility.

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willyyr
I'm pretty pumped for the phone and look forward to give it a spin. I'm not
yet fully convinced though and hope they will be able to handle the OS Updates
better than some of the other Android vendors. *Disclaimer: I run a german
BlackBerry blog.

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nickpsecurity
Exactly what I said they should focus on. Way, way too late though. Probably.

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kardos
How will updates be handled? If we have to wait for carriers to pass along
fixes for things like stagefright bugs, then this is dead in the water.

Getting updates right will be crucial.

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lfender6445
what are stagefright bugs?

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on_and_off
Stagefright is the name of the native module in charge of playing media (and
by the way that's an awesome name).

Since it is deeply embedded in the system, it is not possible to just push a
Play Services update in order to update it.

These past months, several vulnerabilities have been revealed in that module.
They allow privilege escalation & remote code execution.

The Nexus line (directly handled by Google) now receives very frequent
security updates. Now, all the OEMs need to follow suit and also publish these
updates for their own terminals.

