Further leaks of the BlackBerry Venice have surfaced, this time with a video and extra details about the sliding function. This comes from the same source that brought us the earlier leaks, and sheds some additional light on what we should expect from the first sliding phone in a very long time.
Android Authority got its hands on a source with access to an evaluation unit of the BlackBerry Venice. Overall, it looks almost exactly like the unit that was teased at IFA last year. The size of the display is not yet confirmed, but it is said that the Venice will run on a Snapdragon 808 processor and pack 3GB of RAM.
The keyboard hidden behind the display retains BlackBerry’s biometric sense touch from the Passport, and allows users to scroll without actually having to touch the screen. This would mainly be useful for reading, although it doesn’t look as practical as it would require the use to have the keyboard out just for scrolling.
The back of the Venice holds an 18MP camera, which sticks out quite a bit from the rear. There isn’t much else known about the camera, and no photo samples are available yet. Considering that the Venice runs on what appears to be a stock Android OS, it should be at least better than the current BlackBerry camera app.
Aside from that, it looks like the button layout is similar to that of other BlackBerry devices, with the volume rocker and convenience key located on the left side; and the power button on the right. It also appears to have a microSD card slot, as well as a front facing speaker grille.
With an evaluation unit already making the rounds, it is likely that BlackBerry is getting close to a release for the Venice. How close this happens to be is anyone’s guess; but it would be nice if it could happen soon and just give us what we want.
