After a four-year hiatus, BlackBerry returned to South Korea today with the launch  of its first Android-based smartphone Priv.
This is BlackBerry’s first phone launched in Korea since pulling out of the local market four years ago and the choice of the outdated Priv is a surprise, as many would have expected the company to launch the DTEK50 in the country, opposed to the more expensive Priv.
The fact that the specs of the upcoming DTEK60 leaked today will also not help device sales in the country.
Priv Security highlights include:
- Advanced Privacy Controls: The exclusive DTEK by BlackBerry app for Android monitors and reports on application access to the microphone, camera, location and personal information, enabling users to be confident that their personal data is being kept private. Users can know at a glance when their privacy could be at risk so they can take action to improve it.
- Secure Hardware: BlackBerry’s hardware root of trust, a unique manufacturing process, injects cryptographic keys into the device hardware, providing a secure foundation for the entire platform.
- Verified Boot and Secure Bootchain: Keys have been embedded to verify every layer of the device from hardware to OS to applications in order to make sure they haven’t been tampered with. Additionally, thousands of modifications were made to harden the Linux kernel with numerous patches and configuration changes to improve security.
- Fully supported on BlackBerry’s EMM Solution: PRIV can be integrated with our leading EMM solution, BES 12, which offers cross-platform management of PRIV and other devices; providing a full end to end security solution and secure collaboration applications for business users like Secusuite for secure voice and WatchDox for secure file sharing.
BlackBerry Priv voted Best Smartphone of 2015
Additional key features include:
- Full Android App and Ecosystem Experience – PRIV brings incredible new features to the Android platform and gives users full access to over one million applications: whether it’s Instagram, Spotify, Uber or BBM, you’ll find it on Google Play.
- Best of Both Keyboards – offers the freedom to choose between a virtual keyboard or a physical keyboard for speed and accuracy.
- Tough and Beautiful Screen – A stunning 5.4-inch immersive dual-curve OLED display offers plenty of room to work or play with rich colors, deep black levels and less power consumption. At a resolution of 2560×1440, it sports an incredible pixel density of 540 PPI – 4x the amount of pixels of a standard HDTV. Along the screen’s curved edge is the Productivity Tab that provides an “at a glance†view of the most pertinent info from BlackBerry Hub, Calendar, Task, and Contacts.
- Full-day Battery Life – PRIV has a 3410 mAh battery with enough power to work up to 22.5 straight hours of mixed usage.
- State-of-the-Art Camera – Engineered to deliver professional looking photos with minimal effort, an 18MP camera, certified by Schneider-Kreuznach, integrates technologies commonly found in DSLR cameras.
- Powerful Performance and Expandable Storage – PRIV is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, a premium-tier chipset designed to offer consumers a superior and compelling user experience along with peace of mind with Qualcomm SecureMSM technology and Qualcomm Snapdragon StudioAccess content protection. Plus, with 32 GB of onboard storage and support for micro SD cards up to 2TB, the new PRIV gives users the flexibility to add affordable and hot-swappable storage to download, install, capture and share as their needs evolve.
-  BlackBerry Natural Sound – PRIV comes with powerful speakers and a three-microphone system that delivers a high-quality listening experience. BlackBerry Natural Sound Technology is built in to adapt Wi-Fi and cellular call sound depending upon phone position and background noise, automatically adjusting volume so users don’t have to.
- Android for Work – PRIV comes ready for work. Android for Work support allows for fast, simple and secure integration with the enterprise environment. Seamless integration with Google Play for Work enables easy access to IT-managed apps.
The launch comes as foreign handset makers such as Japan’s Sony and China’s Huawei are seeking to secure a footing in the nation’s mid-range smartphone market, with the high-end segment dominated by Samsung and Apple.
A South Korean market watcher commented:
“It is hard to predict how many units BlackBerry will be able to sell here as the firm traditionally targets a small group of its loyal fans in the global market,â€Â
“… the marketing strategy will play a vital role in the uphill battle against bigger local players LG and Samsung”
The retail price is set at 598,000 won.
