Report: Blackberry will use Android on a future smartphone

A couple of years ago it might have been a bit taboo to hear of companies like Nokia and Blackberry using Android after years of doing their own thing, but it seems to be commonplace by now. A Reuters report suggests Blackberry will be taking a crack at making an Android device of their own at some point down the line.

Blackberry’s big heavy-hitting move was to regain the large pool of market share they lost with the launch of Blackberry 10 devices. Those devices and the overhauled OS were quite good by Blackberry’s standards, but tech moves too fast and Android’s explosion in popularity seems to have been too much for the Waterloo company to overcome.

Reuters reports that the device would house a slide-out keyboard, a detail we’re sure many past Blackberry fans are pleased to hear considering keyboards are a huge selling point of Blackberry hardware.

Using Android on a new smartphone would seem to confirm that Blackberry is looking to be more of a software and services company rather than take on Apple’s strategy of us against the world (but even they are starting to come around these days). We’ve already seen great evidence of that with the launch of Blackberry Messenger on iOS and Android, as well as Blackberry’s enterprise-focused BES suite that helps businesses maintain ultimate device security and management.

We honestly would love to see a Blackberry phone, but our only hope is that it doesn’t succumb to the same strategies that failed the Amazon Fire Phone and Nokia’s X lineup — that is, completely disregard the Google-fueled Android ecosystem in hopes to make Android their absolute own. Make us proud, Blackberry.