The first Android based smartphone from the vendor can now be purchased by Canadians.
Canadians have now become the first consumers to be able to buy a BlackBerry PRIV in advance of its release, which is expected to occur in mid-November, though the company has yet to officially release a launch date.
The PRIV will be the first BlackBerry handset to be based on Google’s Android operating system.
This device has now been opened up for preorders within the Canadian market. Though there is no date published for the release of the BlackBerry PRIV, the company is hoping that consumers will start to get on board in buying the device ahead of time, when they know that there is an imminent launch date ahead – even if they don’t know exactly when that will be. This will represent the first time a smartphone from the company will be running on an operating system that was developed by a company other than itself.
The company is hoping that the BlackBerry PRIV will help to revive its floundering handset sales.
Since there is a relatively small BlackBerry customer base at the moment, the majority of developers have stopped creating mobile apps for that operating system. Instead, they have chosen to develop apps for Apple’s iOS and for Google’s Android, where the markets are exponentially larger. This drop in app available has caused BlackBerry to lose a tremendous amount of interest from customers.
Recently, it attempted to create a new appeal for its devices by making it possible for Android apps to be run on BlackBerry 10 through the Amazon app store. However, that didn’t produce the results for which they were hoping.
Now, the BlackBerry PRIV will take this effort a step further by dropping the BlackBerry operating system and using Android, instead, while still providing the hardware features that consumers have come to enjoy from the company. In this way, consumers will be able to use the brand’s smartphone but will still be able to download apps from Google Play, which offers far more applications and a much larger number of favorites than the company’s own offerings.
Some in the industry are saying that the designer brand may bring legitimacy to the wearables market.
Fossil has recently unveiled a line of new wearable technology in the form of smartwatches, making the designer brand one of the most recent entries into this ecosystem among companies that had not previously been tech-focused.
As of yet, other big names in the same category have not managed to see any large scale successes with wearables.
Companies such as Adidas, Nike and Under Armour have all stepped into wearable technology in various forms, despite the fact that tech has not previously been a central component of their offerings. As of yet, major success has not been seen by any of those brands. In fact, while Under Armour has placed a delay on it device, Nike has altogether abandoned its own. Fossil’s hope is that its name will bring some legitimacy to this brand of the market and that consumers will see the draw of these devices in fashion as much as function.
So far, the wearable technology market has proven to be a very challenging one to all companies involved.
Even the wearable tech that has been launched by companies that are giants in the technology industry has not been flying off the shelves. In the smartwatch from Fossil, the hope is that the partnership between that brand and IBM will show that the design of the device can be made appealing enough for consumers to want to wear it while the features will be attractive enough to offer more than just a novelty.
Aside from what consumers actually choose to do, the entry of Fossil into this space, particularly in partnership with IBM, could help to underscore the relevance of these devices within the overall technology environment.
Fossil is currently the leading fashion watch manufacturer worldwide. That company manufactures watches for several of the top designer brands in addition to the wristwatches that they create under their own name. By bringing that name into wearable technology, it may be another much needed shot in the arm for the industry in the eyes of both the companies involved and for consumers.
