Xiaomi's India head confirms Mi5 launch on February 24

fter months of speculation, Xiaomi has finally confirmed that their flagship phone for the year, the Mi5 will be launched on February 24. The company confirmed this by tweeting about it from its twitter handle. Xiaomi VP, Hugo Barra and Xiaomi India head, Manu Jain also posted the same teaser image from their respective twitter handles. The shared image states “All you ever imagined, and more” with a big “5” written in the middle. Xiaomi is also hosting a contest in which, contestants have to describe, what they expect from the Mi5 and why they should be chosen?. 10 lucky winner will be taken to Beijing to witness the launch event of the phone.

The Xiaomi Mi5 smartphone has been in the news for more than a year now. Earlier in 2015, it was suggested that the phone will launch with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC. However, Xiaomi didn't launch the phone last year. The company took its time and now the upcoming phone is due for launch on February 24th. While specifications of the phone have been under constant speculation, rumours suggest that, it is more than likely that the phone will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC. This year, most flagship smartphones are expected to be powered by this SoC only.

Apart from the obvious SoC choice, the phone is supposed to have a 5.2-inch display. There are rumours that the display of the Mi5 will offer a 2K or QHD resolution. It may have 4GB of RAM and rumours suggest that we might get the same storage options as we got the last time, i.e. 16GB and 64GB. In the camera department, the phone is expected to offer a 16MP camera sensor at the back. We are still not sure, whether it will have features like OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) and laser autofocus. The front-facing camera is supposed to feature an 8MP sensor. Going by early renders, and rumours till now, the phone is believed to come with a fingerprint sensor and a metal frame as well. The lower variant of the Xiaomi Mi5 is expected to be priced around the RMB 2200 (Rs. 22,750 approximately) and prices can go upto RMB 3100 (Rs. 22,750 approximately)

Besides the Mi5, Xiaomi is all set to launch the Redmi Note 3 in India. This will be a budget phone from the company. Xiaomi recently launched the phone in China for RMB 999 (Rs. 10,100 approximately) and we might see a Indian launch soon. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 SoC (earlier known as the Snapdragon 618). Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 3 in two variants offering 2GB and 3GB of RAM with 16GB and 32GB of on-board storage respectively. At the back, the phone sports a 16MP camera and a fingerprint sensor. It features a 5.5-inch FullHD display and a large 4000mAh battery.

UPDATE: Images purported to be of the Xiaomi Mi 5 and its retail packaging have been leaked on Weibo. If the images really are of the upcoming phone, then it confirms that the phone will have a home button located between below the display. 

Microsoft thinks Holograms are the future of video calls

They say Microsoft isn’t cool anymore. Well, a project called RoomAlive, from Microsoft research may turn that around for the company. Microsoft’s goal with the project is to bring holographic video calls to the mainstream. Yes, Star Wars is exactly what came to our minds as well. The RoomAlive Project creates an augmented reality zone using Kinect depth cameras and digital projectors. If you’re thinking the project will revolve around Microsoft’s Hololens headset, then think again. RoomAlive will reportedly be free of headsets, having the capability to turn your living room into a AR Zone.

Imagine a video call on Skype, but except being on a screen, you will actually be able to see a hologram of the person you’re talking to. It currently works with real time streaming, but Microsoft is still working on the image depth and resolution. You also need a multi-camera setup along with a projector, but the Redmond, California based technology giant will hopefully reduce the amount of equipment required to use such a technology. After all, all they had on Star Wars, were desks or small handheld projectors, right?

It’ll take some time of course, years most likely, but it’s definitely amongst the coolest new technologies that we’ve heard of. Microsoft has, in a way, been spearheading augmented reality’s entry into the mainstream. The company recently introduced its Hololens headset and has showcased impressive demos of games, calls and other activities that can be performed with it. In fact, Microsoft has even announced a price for its futuristic AR headset.

Hololens was introduced alongside Windows 10, with Microsoft announcing its own computing platform, called Windows Holographic, for developers to build apps for the Hololens. We have seen demos of games like Minecraft in Microsoft’s various events recently.

Microsoft Lumia 650 up for pre-order before official announcement

The Microsoft Lumia 650 is up for pre-order even before it has been officially announced. UK-based retailer, MobileFun listed the device on its website for $283.99, which is approximately Rs. 19,300. However, the website does not mention the date as to when the device will be available. As per the listing, the device will come with a 5-inch IPS display and a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. It is powered by a quad-core processor clocked at 1.1GHz with 1GB of RAM. The device is equipped with a 2000mAh battery and runs Windows 10 for Mobile out-of-the-box. The device is listed as having an 8MP rear camera while the front camera details are not mentioned. However, it is expected to be a 5MP sensor. 

Recent reports suggest that the Microsoft may be planning on launching the Lumia 650 on February 1, but may do so without an event. It has been suggested the the company will release the details about pricing and availability via its official blog. It is also reported that the Lumia 650 will be the only phone to be released by Microsoft this year. However, the much rumoured Surface Phone might be launched eventually.

A few days ago, Microsoft accidentally mentioned a device called Lumia Phone X, which may be the Surface Phone. On the description of a video produced by Microsoft China to explain Continuum, it is mentioned that the Microsoft Lumia 950/XL, Acer Jade Primo, and Lumia Phone X will support the device. The description was later edited to reference the Lumia Phone X, which could mean that the device is legitimate and the company is trying to cover it up. It is also possible that the device mentioned is not the Surface Phone, and it is a yet-to-be-numbered Lumia Phone. 

Reports suggest that HP may launch a high-end Windows Phone by the end of the year. GFXBench screenshots suggest that the device, called HP Falcon, will have a 5.8-inch display with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels and will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC. It has been tipped to come with a 20MP rear camera and a 21MP front camera. The device is expected to be announced at the World Mobile Congress event scheduled to be held in Barcelona next month. 

Source: MobileFun

Apple iPhone sales up by 76 percent in India

While, for the first time in 13 years, Apple saw a drop in revenue in iPhone sales, India stands distant from the phenomena as sales grew up to 76 percent for the company's flagship smartphone in the last quarter. Company CEO, Tim Cook suggested that this is just the beginning of more future growth in sales, as the demographics suggest that the average age of current Indian buyers is just 27.

With an economic downturn in China, Apple is seeing a sudden shift in the market and it seems that the company may focus its energies and efforts toward India. It is stipulated that India could overthrow China, becoming the largest market for Apple in future. Analyst, Neil Shah from Counterpoint Technology Market Research suggests that India cannot replace China as a cash cow market for Apple in the immediate future as the company averaged to 450,000 smartphone shipments per quarter in India against 15 million per quarter in China last year, but if the sales growth rate continues at a similar rate things could be different. 

He also suggests that India may take time to surpass China as currently 70 percent of smartphones sold here are below $150 and Apple owns at a meager market share of 2 percent. 

Both China and India show a similar streak of young consumer willing to spend heavily, since Apple is considered to be a status symbols in both the countries. With the growth of the Indian economy along with the growth the in the disposable income of the youth in India, it seems the future sales would be favorable to Apple. 

Apple needs to expand its distribution channel in India and for the same, the company has also filed an application with Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to open more of its own stores in India.

SpaceX tests parachutes to bring astronauts back from ISS

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has successfully tested parachutes that are aimed at bringing its Crew Dragon spacecraft back to Earth. The company completed the test for four large parachutes yesterday, with NASA publishing a video of the test. The video shows the large parachutes slowing down a test spacecraft. SpaceX has been employed by NASA, to make cargo runs to and from the International Space Station (ISS) since 2012 now. The premier space agency is also going to use SpaceX for shuttling astronauts to and from the ISS in future. The Crew Dragon spacecraft is being built for this reason.

The parachute test was one of many that the company needs to pass, before it is ready to send astronauts to space in the Crew Dragon. While SpaceX didn’t use the actual spacecraft, a giant weight was used in its place. The entire rig was then dropped from a C-130 aircraft over the Coolidge, Arizona area and the four parachutes deployed correctly, to reduce the speed of the falling rig. While the rig landed somewhere in the desert, the final plan is to have the spacecraft land in the ocean, which, if achieved, would mark the first time that astronauts would have landed on water since the 1970s.

The missions testing the landing of the spacecraft are reportedly going to be conducted in late 2017 to early 2018. Parachute assisted landing is one of the ways that SpaceX is testing, with the other being propulsive landings, which was seen in a video that was published last week. This was achieved using the built-in SuperDraco rocket engines. SpaceX reportedly wants to use the parachutes for emergency purposes, with the propulsive method being the primary landing mechanism. 

Samsung to focus on displays, better software in 2016

Smartphone market leader Samsung will focus on displays and software to enhance its business this year. In its fourth quarter results, the company said that it will develop new panel applications like “transparent, mirror, head-mounted and automotive displays, while strengthening its flexible display technologies.” In addition, Samsung will also strengthen hardware, services and wearable products, while planning to lead the Smart Home market in the Internet of Things segment. Samsung wrote:

For the memory business, the company plans to improve competitiveness of its products and solidify its technological leadership by expanding its leading-edge process. As for the System LSI business, the company plans to diversify its foundry customers and enhance the SoC (System-on-Chip) line-up.
For the Display Panel segment, the company plans to secure mid- to long-term growth momentum by leveraging its OLED technology for the development of new panel applications such as transparent, mirror, head-mounted and automotive displays, while strengthening its flexible display technologies.
For the mobile business, the company will focus on strengthening the competitiveness of its software, along with hardware, services and wearable products. For the consumer electronics business, the company plans to lead the Smart Home era with diverse IoT-enabled products.

Samsung’s report states that the company earned a profit of 6.14 trillion Korean Won in the fourth quarter, against sales of 53.3 trillion Won. Although this is an increase in the company’s year-on-year numbers, Samsung’s net profits dropped by almost 40 percent year-on-year, to 3.22 trillion Won. Samsung stated that it will be coming up with an “enhanced product mix” in 2016. This will include new phones in the Galaxy A series and improvements to Samsung’s software.

Apple iPhone 7 Plus may have a dual-camera variant with optical zoom

Apple may use a dual-camera setup on a separate variant of the iPhone 7 Plus, according to KGI analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo. As per a report by Apple Insider, Kuo believes that Apple will make two variants of the iPhone 7 Plus, one with a single camera at the back, while the other would have a dual camera setup. He also stated that the dual-camera variant will use two 12MP cameras by Sony. One of the cameras may come with optical image stabilisation and a wider field of view, while the other might have an optical zoom lens capable of 2x to 3x magnification. 

Apple Insider’s report says that Apple may use technology from LinX, a firm it acquired last year, in the device. LinX’s will technology allow Apple to produce high-quality images from relatively small multi-lens sensors. Kuo estimates that the dual-camera variant of the iPhone 7 Plus may account for 25% to 35% of the total iPhone 7 Plus shipments in 2016. 

Previous reports have suggested that the iPhone 7 Plus may come with a 3100mAh battery and a variant with 256GB of storage. The report did not specify if Apple would continue to offer the phone with 16GB of base storage, or if they would increase the storage across its entire lineup. Rumours also suggest that the Apple iPhone 7 would come with a new design and a waterproof chassis. In addition, Apple may increase the RAM to 3GB as compared to the 2GB of RAM found on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. It is also rumoured that the company will ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack from the upcoming phone. Another analyst, Gene Munster, believes that Apple may remove the Home button from the iPhone 7 and will use 3D Touch in its place. It is possible that the company may use a flexible OLED display on the device. Reports suggest that Apple may have opened a new production facility in Taiwan where it is working on OLED and Micro-LED technology.

Selfie-centric Oppo F1 launched at Rs. 15,900

Oppo has launched the selfie-centric F1 smartphone in India. Priced at Rs. 15,990, the device will be available from February and its exact availability will vary from state to state. The dual-SIM smartphone runs Android Lollipop v5.1 with ColorOS 2.1 layered over it. It’s equipped with a 5-inch 2.5D HD display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels which is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The device is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 SoC clocked at 1.7GHz with 3GB of RAM. The Oppo F1 also comes with a 2500mAh battery and 16GB of onboard storage that can be expanded by up to 128GB via a microSD card. 

At the back of the device is a 13MP camera with f/2.2 aperture and a single LED flash. It efatures phase detection autofocus (PDAF) as well as shooting modes like HDR, Ultra HD, double exposure, GIF mode, etc. There is an 8MP camera located at the front of the camera and the display itself can double as a flash, similar to the Retina Flash used by Apple. The phone also comes with additional software like Beautify 3.0, eight live colour filters, and more. The device will be available in Rose Gold and Golden colour variants. It comes with dual-SIM slots and is VoLTE capable.

Besides the Oppo F1, the company also unveiled an upgraded variant of the device called the F1 Plus. The upgraded phone is priced at Rs. 26,990 and Oppo says that it will be available in April. The Oppo F1 Plus comes with a 5.5-inch Full HD display and 4GB of RAM. Oppo didn’t reveal much else about the F1 Plus, so it is possible that the phone may have similar specifications as the standard F1.

The Oppo F1 will be competing against the likes of the Lenovo Vibe S1, another selfie-centric phone. The Vibe S1 comes with two front facing cameras, an 8MP primary camera with a 2MP secondary camera. The Vibe S1 comes with a 5-inch Full HD display and is powered 1.7Ghz MediaTek MT6752 SoC with 3GB RAM. The device is equipped with a 13MP camera at the back with 32GB of expandable storage.

Honor 5X, Holly 2 Plus smartphones launched in India

After months of rumors and speculations, Honor has launched the Honor 5X smartphone in India. The device is priced in the mid-range, at Rs. 12,999. The Chinese company also launched the Honor Holly 2 Plus smartphone alongside the 5X, at a price of Rs. 8,499. While the Honor 5X was launched in China in October last year, the Honor Holly 2 Plus seems to be a India-first device.

The Honor 5X is the new sub-15k budget phone, which carries an all metal design. The phone features a 5.5-inch Full-HD display with 1920 x 1080p resolution. This puts the pixel density at 441 ppi. The screen to body ratio of the phone is 72.2% and it is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 SoC. While the SoC has been widely used in the mid-ranged segment, many users have also had issues with it. The Honor 5X combines the Snapdragon 616 with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of on-board storage and also supports external memory of upto 128GB.

On the camera front, the Honor 5X has a 13MP rear camera, with a f/2.0 aperture and supports autofocus and dual-tone LED flash. There is a 5MP front-facing camera, with a f/2.4 aperture. The Honor 5X is dual-SIM smartphone and supports 4G LTE connectivity. Below the rear camera, the phone also has a fingerprint sensor. It is powered by a 3000mAh battery, which Honor claims will last you a full day.

The Honor Holly 2 Plus on the other hand, is a budget device. It is the successor to the Honor Holly smartphone that was launched last year. The phone features a 5-inch HD display and is powered by a Mediatek MT6735P SoC. This is a 1.3GHz system on chip, also used in the Meizu M2 and the Coolpad Note 3 Lite. The Holly 2 Plus also has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, which can be further expanded using a micro-SD card. At the back, the phone features a 13MP camera and there is a 5MP camera on the front. The USP of the Honor Holly 2 Plus however, is its 4000 mAh battery.

Both the smartphones will be available on Flipkart and Amazon. The Honor 5X will be sold via a flash sale model, while the Honor Holly 2 Plus will be available on open sale. Pre-orders for the 5X starts from today and the sale will start from February 1, while sales for Holly 2 Plus will start from February 15. Both the devices come with a 15 month warranty. 

Stay tuned for Elon Musk's Mars plans this year

During the StartmeupHK festival in Hong Kong, Elon Musk answered a range of questions about SpaceX, including its plans for Mars, as well as his plans to go into space. Musk said that he believes that human missions to the red planet could begin as early as 2025. He also said that he may get to go to the International Space Station (ISS) in about four to five years.

SpaceX’s plans for a mars mission has piqued the curiosity of many people around the globe and Musk said during the forum that he would unveil its architecture at this year’s International Astronautical Conference (IAC). The IAC is scheduled to be held in Guadalajara, Mexico from September 28 to 30. During the event, he may reveal details about the Mars Colonial Transporter and the reuseable super-heavy lift launch vehicle. 

When asked if he had started training for his own space flight, he said that he had taken some parabolic flights that simulate weightlessness. He added that he didn’t think it was that hard as you just “float around.”

When asked why he was so focused on Mars, Musk replied that Mars “is the only planet that we (humans) have a shot at establishing a self sustaining city on.” He added that once a city is established, it may be act as a stimulus for the improvement of spaceflight technology, which may allow humans to establish colonies elsewhere in the solar system. The also described it as “the greatest adventure ever.”

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is expected to launch a mission to the ISS by the end of 2017 and created history last month, by launching and landing a rocket intact. The rocket launched and deployed 11 private ORBCOMM satellites into orbit, and the first stage successfully returned back to the launch area. A few days ago, SpaceX also successfully tested parachutes, which aim to bring the Crew Dragon spacecraft back to Earth. However, it is not all good news for the company as earlier this month, its Falcon 9 rocket toppled over due to a landing leg that failed to latch on. However, before crashing, the rocket did manage to deploy the Jason-3 satellite into orbit.

OnePlus 2 with 16GB storage available in India for Rs. 22,999

The 16GB variant of the OnePlus 2 is now available in India for Rs. 22,999. The device is pretty similar to the 64GB variant of the OnePlus 2 except of the storage and RAM. The 16GB OnePlus 2 comes with 3GB of RAM instead of 4GB. The device is available on Amazon and does not require any invites to purchase. 

During the launch of the OnePlus 2, the company had said that it would launch the 16GB variant of the phone by the end of 2015. The 16GB version of the OnePlus 2 comes with 5.5-inch Full-HD display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. It is powered by a 64-bit Snapdragon 810 v2.1 processor clocked at 1.8GHz with an Adreno 430 GPU. At the back is a 13MP primary camera with dual-LED flash, laser autofocus and Optical Image Stabilisation. At the front is a 5MP camera with a wide-angle lens. In addition the device has a fingerprint sensor along with a 3300mAh battery. The device comes with Android Lollipop v5.1.1 with OnePlus’ OxygenOS layered over it.

Last month, during the celebration of its second anniversary, OnePlus announced that it was making the OnePlus 2 available without invites forever. The company’s co-founder, Carl Pei, also announced today that the OnePlus X would now be available without invite as well. 

Last week, the company announced that it was recruiting fans who were interested in beta-testing the Android Marshmallow 6.0 update for its devices. It is believed that the test build would only run on the OnePlus 2. Back in November, the company had announced that it will update the OnePlus One and OnePlus 2 to Android Marshmallow v6.0  in the first quarter of 2016. The company didn’t mention when the OnePlus X would be updated to Marshmallow. They only stated that they were working hard to roll out the update as soon as possible.

OnePlus X to sell invite free in India, soon

OnePlus has announced that the OnePlus X will be available without an invite. Sadly, this doesn’t apply to customers in India just yet. Those interested in purchasing the smartphone in India will have to procure an invite or wait for some time as the invite free offer is expected to hit India soon. The OnePlus blog post reads, “Unlike its predecessor, the OnePlus 2 was invite-free approximately four months after its release. With the OnePlus X going invite-free in even less time, this is a trend that we mean to continue.” The blog post goes on to say, “It’s been almost two years since the OnePlus One saw the light of day, firmly putting our fledgling mobile startup on the map. The invite system was integral to our approach at the time, allowing us to scale our operations, while giving fans an engaging way to get involved with the product. One year, some successes, and the occasional bump in the road later, we were able to make the OnePlus One available for purchase without an invite.”

The OnePlus X was announced in India towards the end of October 2015. The OnePlus X is priced at Rs. 16,999 and is available on Amazon India. Coming to the specifications of the smartphone, the OnePlus X has a 5-inch AMOLED 1080p display. The smartphone runs on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop overlaid with the OxygenOS 2.2.0. Under the hood, the smartphone has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset coupled with 3GB RAM. The device has 16GB built-in storage that's expandable to an additional 128GB via a microSD card. It has a 13MP rear camera and an 8MP front facing camera. A non-removable 2525mAh battery powers the entire package. If you are in the market to pick up a smartphone under 20K, you can check out our list of the top 10 smartphones under 20K before making your decision.

BlackBerry Priv First Impressions: Return of the BlackBerry Boys

The words 'once upon a time' come to mind when you're talking about BlackBerry. BlackBerry was once the smartphones to have. It was the Walkman before the iPod took over. It was the smartphone before the iPhone and that’s the thing. It WAS a smartphone before the race began for apps, budget, popularity, and every other reason why you shifted from your trusted BlackBerry to an iPhone or one of the many Android smartphones. BlackBerry was on its way out and it was only a matter of time before someone acquired the Canadian company. But, that doesn’t seam to be the case. Two years ago BlackBerry took the bold decision to move to the Android platform, giving up on its BB OS. After the failed attempt to get Android apps on BlackBerry the company decided to go all out with Android as the OS. Did it succumb to the trend of mass market OS adoption or did the company have a few tricks left up its sleeves? Well, we will give our verdict on this when we review the BlackBerry Priv. For now, here's out our first impression of the BlackBerry Priv and straight off the bat we have to say the device looks attractive. Attractive enough to grab your attention, but once you see the price tag, you will think about whether you want to buy this phone or stick with what you’ve got.

Pricing and Specifications

Lets get the simple things out of the way. The BlackBerry Priv is priced at Rs. 62,990, which, of course, is quite expensive. To put things into perspective, the iPhone 6s 64GB is priced at Rs. 59,775. The iPhone 6s Plus 64GB is priced at Rs. 71,900. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus is priced at Rs. 53,900 for the 32GB variant and the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 32GB is priced at Rs. 47,900. What was Blackberry thinking when it priced the phone at a whopping 63K? It's more or less the same price that Apple has been launching its iPhones at.

Coming to the specifications on offer, the smartphone has a 5.4-inch AMOLED display, with a 2560x1440 pixel resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection. The smartphone runs on the Qualcomm MSM8992 Snapdragon 808 chipset, with a dual-core 1.8GHz and quad-core 1.44GHz processor, coupled with the Adreno 418 GPU and 3GB of RAM. It has 32GB built-in storage expandable up to a whopping 2TB via a microSD card (Best of luck getting a 2TB micro-SD card though). The rear has an 18MP camera with the ability to shoot video in 4K and the front has a 2MP camera. A 3410mAh battery powers the entire package. 

The specifications of the smartphone aren’t ground breaking but it stands toe-to-toe with other flagships on offer, at least in terms of specifications. Before you go crazy in the comment section about Snapdragon 810 or 820, remember that the SD808 is good enough to get the job done. My primary smartphone is a Nexus 5, running on the Snapdragon 800 and that gets the job done just fine. But yes, we will put the optimisation of the hardware and software to the test when we get the smartphone for review. But the specifications have never been the reason to purchase a BlackBerry smartphone. You will buy it for other reasons. No, its not the build and design, but that’s what we are moving to next.

Build and Design

From a build point of view, the device screams BlackBerry. The front of the device is simple, with the curved display. It isn’t like the one we have seen on the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, the curve works to access the shortcut menu that appears when you swipe from the edge of the display.

Below the display we have the speaker and if you slide up from where the speaker is, you will be greeted with the QWERTY keyboard. Any BlackBerry user will feel right at home with the QWERTY keyboard. Simply roll your finger on the keypad to scroll, swipe to access the predicted word, so on and so forth. The keyboard slider is extremely well built. Another great feature of the device is that when you type on Google Docs, you get the entire screen to work with. There is no keyboard on the display, which means that you have more real estate at your disposal. There is also a way to have the signs and symbols appear on the display, just like in the BlackBerry Passport, meaning you don't need to alternate between various keyboard interfaces, like you would on the stock Android keyboard. There are a bunch of nifty things that you can do with the keyboard and we have barely scratched the surface. After all, we spent a measly 20 minutes with the phone.

Coming to the port placement, the device has the micro-USB port and the headphone jack at the bottom and the top of the BlackBerry Priv has the micro-SD and SIM card slots. The left of the device has the power button and the right has the volume rocker.

Overall, the build of the BlackBerry Priv is exactly what you’d expect from BlackBerry. 

OS and Apps

I would love to take the BlackBerry Priv with me in the DeLorian, back to 2005, and show people this smartphone just for their reaction. It says BlackBerry, but runs Android and for many, it’s a dream come true. For the most part, the smartphone runs stock Android with the Blackberry 'swag' thrown into the mix and that is a very good thing.

The OS will feel familiar to any Nexus user and Blackberry has added some handy tweaks to the OS. If you see three dots below an icon, simply swipe to see the corresponding apps widget. No need to waste display real estate with a dedicated widget.

BlackBerry claims that smartphone makers don’t provide software patches to consumers on a regular basis and to a certain extent we can agree with them. BlackBerry has said that the Priv will receive monthly software patches. These patches will mostly be security patches and its no surprise that Blackberry is focusing on security.
 
The BlackBerry Hub is back too. You know? The central location for all your mail, messages and more. The Blackberry Hub doesn’t support all the apps, but the company says that if it sees enough demand, it may extend support for the particular app.

Moving on, the most important part of the Blackberry Priv — DTEK. DTEK is BlackBerry’s security app on the smartphone and the demo we got was quite good. The demo showed how a flashlight app was accessing the smartphone's location and microphone. What does a Flashlight app have to do with the location and microphone? With DTEK, a user can receive notifications when a particular app uses such functions. Now the most obvious question is why not disable the flashlight app's ability to access location and the microphone? BlackBerry has said that this ability will come with the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update on the Priv. If you have a smartphone running Marshmallow, then you know that an app asks for permission before accessing a particular function of the smartphone. Would it have been massive effort for BlackBerry to implement the same in its current state?

Are the Blackberry Boys back?

It’s tough to say without actually reviewing the device. The smartphone launched internationally towards the end of 2015 and it was received mixed reviews. One of the biggest criticisms was the price and the buggy nature of the OS. The price is still a concern but then again, this isn’t a smartphone for the average consumer. As far as the buggy nature is concerned, we will put the phone through its paces before delivering a verdict. Another thing we haven’t really spoken about is the camera and that’s because we’d like to spend time with it before commenting. My first impressions of the BlackBerry Priv lean towards the positive and that scares me. It’s the first time I have enjoyed spending time with a BlackBerry smartphone and a lot of that credit goes to the mixture of the Blackberry hardware and some software features with the Android OS. Do stay tuned as we will bring you an in-depth review of the device as soon as we get our hands on it.