Roundup: Ten Publications Listing PRIV as One of 2015’s Ten Best Smartphones | Inside BlackBerry (repost)

Roundup: Ten Publications Listing PRIV as One of 2015’s Ten Best Smartphones
(Updated Dec. 17 with entries from Stuff Magazine and CTV News)

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about reviews of the PRIV, both from North America and globally. Today, we’re going to shift gears a bit. See, the PRIV’s been getting a lot of love from the media as a whole, too – not just reviewers. As is always the case around this time, journalists are taking a look back as 2015 draws to a close, putting together roundups of 2015’s best, most promising technology.

And the PRIV is more often than not making those lists. Have a look for yourself (And if you’d like to learn a bit more about what the BlackBerry PRIV can offer you, check out our product page and our how-to demo videos.)

1. Pocket Lint

“This is a serious handset worthy of serious consideration, whether you’re a BlackBerry fan or an Android fan…It’s blessed with BlackBerry Hub and a range of BlackBerry shortcuts and features lifted from BB handsets and reinvented for Android. The result is an innovative handset that offers some charming twists, like the pop-up widgets and battery charging indicator, which both show software nouse from BlackBerry.” (Best Smartphones 2015: The Best Phones Available to Buy Today by Chris Hall)

2. The Independent

“This is the first Android phone from email and productivity masters BlackBerry. It has strong security features to please privacy-conscious execs and the million-plus Android apps for the rest of us. The 5.4-inch touchscreen is complemented by a clever slide-out keyboard. The keyboard is smaller than on some BlackBerry handsets but the domed keys remain easy to use at speed.” (Christmas 2015: 10 Best Android Smartphones by David Phelan)

3. Android Central

“This is the best physical keyboard ever seen on an Android phone to date — though it’s been a long time since anyone’s actually attempted one — with the rest of the hardware matching up to the rest of the smartphone elite. Plus, it’s got a gorgeous high-resolution screen, excellent battery life, good camera and a mostly Google Android experience, enhanced in places with BlackBerry’s own apps and services.

Lots of people wanted BlackBerry to do well with its first Android phone, and it did. This is one of the finest experiences on any Android phone this year.” (The Best Android Phones of 2015 by Phil Nickinson)

4. Fox News Tech Take

“Everyone likes their keyboards, they like the security, but where are the apps? Finally, you’re able to get the Google Play store on this device as well as a built-in slide-up keyboard…the display is nice, the camera’s pretty good, and it has built-in security features such as DTEK by BlackBerry. It shows you how secure your device is at any given time, and if you look at apps it’ll show you what your apps are actually pinging. It helps you be more secure overall.” (Tech Take’s Winter 2015 Cell Phone Review (Video) featuring Mark Spoonauer, Laptop Mag)

5. The Globe and Mail

“The PRIV runs a purer version of Android than others do, sprinkling its own software throughout, and adding extra layers of security along the way. The Hub messaging platform has been brought over, and the slide-out physical keyboard will conjure up memories of the old Torch. BlackBerry’s own onscreen keyboard acts as an alternative, and all told, this is a hybrid handset that delivers.” (Nine of The Year’s Best Smartphones by Ted Kritsonis)

6. Best Products

“BlackBerry’s first Android smartphone is a decidedly premium offering with an excellent sliding keyboard, which separates it from its rivals. Powerful, elegant, secure, and highly entertaining when you want it to be, the PRIV is one of the most interesting smartphones to come out this year…” (The Best New Android Smartphones Available Now by Stefan Vazharov)

7. Recombu

“BlackBerry’s hardware was seriously impressive, from the curved Quad HD screen which slides up to reveal a responsive QWERTY keyboard, to the dependable 18-megapixel camera. However, it was BlackBerry’s improvements to the Android OS that really won our hearts. Now we can’t wait for BB’s next handset.” (Top 10 Best Android Phones (2015) by Chris Barraclough)

8. Know Your Mobile

“If you like physical keyboards and Android, [then] you kind of only have one option: BlackBerry’s first EVER Android handset, the BlackBerry PRIV…The handset has ALL the specs you’d expect from a topflight Android handset with its Snapdragon 808 CPU, QHD display and 3GB of RAM. The camera, an 18MP setup, is also decent and BlackBerry has confirmed it will [releasing] monthly updates to the PRIV’s Android software so as to ensure it is always as secure as possible.”  (The BEST Android Phones of 2015 by Michael Grothaus)

9. Android Authority

“The BlackBerry PRIV…has been a solid performer in every test. It has vivid colors without veering into over-saturation, there’s no noticeable color tint and it’s brighter on average than the competition for viewing outdoors. Therefore, we have crowned the PRIV as the winner in the display test.” (Best of Android 2015: Display)

10. The Daily Telegraph

“Just when you thought BlackBerry was totally dead and buried, the Canadian company came back fighting with the release of the PRIV, the touch-screen / physical QWERTY keyboard combo that delighted and repulsed in equal measures. The first BlackBerry handset to run Android, it has a beautiful screen and an excellent 18MP camera, coupled with BlackBerry’s strong security features.” (The 10 Best Smartphones of 2015)

11. Tech Zone 360

[The PRIV] combined the stuff people used to love about BlackBerry—in terms of security and a keyboard—with all of the apps on the Android store. It even has access to the Amazon app store, giving it a larger selection than most Android users seem to have. [It flipped] the app shortfall [BlackBerry] used to have with BB10 on its head, and the PRIV has become my personal favorite phone— I can attest to just how wonderful it is. Who would have thought that in 2015 BlackBerry would have a hit phone? Yet that’s exactly what they have.

(Tech Products of 2015 That Kicked Butt by Rob Enderle)

12. Stuff Magazine

“The PRIV stands out from every other major smartphone currently available, thanks to its unique design and physical keyboard.”

(The Ten Best Smartphones in the World Right Now)

13. CTV News

“The PRIV keeps the best parts of BB10 such as the BB Hub and advanced security features that are unmatched by other phones. But it adds the familiar Android interface and is directly compatible with the Google Play app store — no more middle men for downloading and installing apps… At 5.43 inches in size, [The PRIV’s screen] uses OLED technology which is more vibrant and energy efficient than regular LCD, and is made from a piece of curved Gorilla Glass 4 for superb scratch-resistance. Reading text at any size will look even better than on paper thanks to its 540 PPI pixel density. To put that number in perspective, the iPhone 6s Plus has a 401 PPI density.”

(The Five Best Smartphones of 2015 and Who Should Buy Them by Simon Cohen)

Want to purchase a PRIV for yourself? Here’s how.

About Nicholas C. Greene

Nicholas C. Greene is a technology writer based in Calgary, Canada. An English graduate of the University of Calgary, he’s written for publications and organizations such as VPN Haus, Streetwise, Northcutt, and The Coolist.

Roundup: Ten Publications Listing PRIV as One of 2015’s Ten Best Smartphones | Inside BlackBerry
http://blogs.blackberry.com/2015/12/roundup-ten-publications-listing-priv-as-one-of-2015s-ten-best-smartphones/?utm_source=bbmchannel&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dvprivengagementpriv

http://blogs.blackberry.com/2015/12/roundup-ten-publications-listing-priv-as-one-of-2015s-ten-best-smartphones/?utm_source=bbmchannel&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dvprivengagementpriv

 

PRIV around the World: What Do Reviewers in Europe and Asia Think of BlackBerry’s First Android Phone?

http://blogs.blackberry.com/2015/12/priv-around-the-world-what-do-reviewers-in-europe-and-asia-think-of-blackberrys-first-android-phone/?utm_source=bbmchannel&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dvprivengagementpriv

PRIV around the World: What Do Reviewers in Europe and Asia Think of BlackBerry’s First Android Phone?

The BlackBerry PRIV isn’t just making waves in North America and the UK. Reviewers from all over the world are showering BlackBerry’s first Android phone with praise, talking up everything from its keyboard to its battery to its camera. Take a look, and then check it out at ShopBlackBerry (note that most of the excerpts here have been translated to English from their original language, and minor tweaks have been made for readability):

Germany

Björn Brodersen, Areamobile: “With its slider mechanism, dual edge display, true QWERTZ keyboard and BlackBerry features like Hub, DTEK and productivity tab, the BlackBerry PRIV stands out against other current Android smartphones.”

Martin Eisenlauer, BILD.de: “Overall, a great comeback from BlackBerry with PRIV. Not a revolution for the mass market but nearly perfect for a specific target group. They will be happy to have the BlackBerry they want back.”

Winfuture: “This is the best of two worlds. Variety of apps with Android, easy handling, stable, high class material, sensational keys, and a dual display edge deliver one of the best Android phones out there”

Manuel Schreiber, CHIP: “You can use the hardware keyboard also as a touchpad, which is great! [The PRIV is] a fascinating device.”

Nils Mathieson/Christian Just, Computerbild: “The big and bright display, hardware keyboard, and great camera with 4K video are complemented by data security features.”

Frank, GIGA.de: “Our first impression: solid workmanship, well integrated keyboard, the camera is good and the display is brilliant.”

Mal Geteilt, Android Pit: “The BlackBerry PRIV breathes new life into the dusty android smartphone market.”

Jan Kliczniok, Netzwelt.de: “You don´t need to miss any specialties of BlackBerry here with the integration of Hub, Productivity Tab, and Blackberry Messenger.”

Volker Weber, Heise.de: “The PRIV looks high quality and is a surprisingly slim slider.”

Sascha Pallenberg, Mobilegeeks.de: “The BlackBerry PRIV is not only the best business handset for Android, it is the best in the entire market segment. Probably one of the best smartphones of the year. Design, navigation, performance, battery, camera, software, the package from BlackBerry is unique.”

Tobias Költzsch, Golem.de: ”The PRIV is one of the most revolutionary smartphones of the year. The concept is really well thought through and PRIV has features that lifts it over competitors. Solid quality, great camera, keyboard and smart enhancements of the OS are well received.”

Moritz von Jäger, ZDNet Germany: “For the first time BlackBerry is offering an Android based device in the rare slider form factor and full hardware keyboard. This is not only interesting to BlackBerry fans but to anyone who needs his smartphone as a tool and not a toy.”

Want to buy a PRIV in Germany? Purchase from one of the following locations:

Amazon Germany
Media Markt
Saturn

France

Ubergizmo France: “The dream becomes a reality: At last, a device that offers the best of Android (Apps) and BlackBerry (Text messaging and keyboard). The physical keyboard is excellent as well as PRIV design and camera.”

Romain Vitt, Phonandroid: “The BlackBerry PRIV has all the ingredients to be the best Android smartphone.”

Rémi Jacquet, Les Numeriques: “The BlackBerry PRIV arouses curiosity. Its manufacturer has revealed its weapons in terms of security, major line of its communication. But Blackberry is not only coming with a secured smartphone but also high range technical features.”

Sales information for France is forthcoming

Italy

Emanuele Cisotti, Android World: “BlackBerry PRIV is the best BlackBerry device ever.”

Sales information for Italy is forthcoming

Hong Kong

Kevin Kwong, SCMP: “[The launch of the PRIV] is probably the best decision the Waterloo-based company could have made…in recent years.”

Vincent Lam, Oriental Daily: “As the first BlackBerry phone powered by Android, the [PRIV’s] pre-installed security features can minimize the risk of personal information leakage. Well worth the money for peace of mind.”

Holman Wong, ME!: “BlackBerry smartphones always give a sense of professionalism in the way they are presented. With the fabulous physical keyboard offered by PRIV, one can even get the full-screen experience while typing. I’m sure everyone will love that.”

Want to buy a PRIV in Hong Kong? Get it at one of the following retailers:

China Mobile
csl
1010
SmarTone
3 Hong Kong
Fortress
Hong Kong Suning
Broadway Photo Supply
Chung Yuen Electrical Co
Nuance-Watson Ltd.
Wilson Communications

Singapore

Elissa Loi, Stuff TV Singapore: “For a phone with nostalgic hardware elements, [the BlackBerry PRIV] is surprisingly forward-looking… If you’re hoarding a ton of top-secret information in your phone, the BlackBerry PRIV is the smartphone you want to be using.”

Sherwin Loh, Straits Times: “The BlackBerry PRIV offers great hardware and introduces new features to Android. If you want a QWERTY keyboard, it is the phone to get.”

The PRIV will be available in Singapore at the following retailers starting December 12:

M1
Singtel
StarHub

While you wait for your order to arrive, here’s a roundup of everything you need to know about the PRIV:

A full list of the PRIV’s features

About Nicholas C. Greene

Nicholas C. Greene is a technology writer based in Calgary, Canada. An English graduate of the University of Calgary, he’s written for publications and organizations such as VPN Haus, Streetwise, Northcutt, and The Coolist.

PRIV around the World: What Do Reviewers in Europe and Asia Think of BlackBerry’s First Android Phone? | Inside BlackBerry
http://blogs.blackberry.com/2015/12/priv-around-the-world-what-do-reviewers-in-europe-and-asia-think-of-blackberrys-first-android-phone/?utm_source=bbmchannel&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dvprivengagementpriv

 

What if global development was funded by developing countries’ money?

What if global development was funded by developing countries’ money? | Global Development Professionals Network

Making the world a better place – noble in theory, but expensive in practice and ambitious to sustain.

Financing the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs), for example, will require more than the combined GDP of Africa’s 30 biggest economies in additional funds every year. A big ask – so where should the money come from? Given that the funding needed is nearly 20 times last year’s official international aid flows, it’s safe to say that more aid from international donors cannot continue to be the primary focus.

So what if we tapped into the considerable resources of the developing countries themselves? Often overlooked, these countries’ tax revenues, natural resource revenues, private domestic savings, pension funds, private equity markets, stock markets, and remittances, taken together, are significantly larger than aid flows – and are growing rapidly. If harnessed to finance development, these resources could enormously accelerate the rate at which the SDGs are achieved.

Take sub-Saharan Africa. As a conservative estimate, at least 20-30% of the $2.6tn (£1.7tn) funding gap will be needed in this region alone. This is a massive amount – but our estimates show that sub-Saharan Africa can get part of the way there, and unlock approximately $90bn for development per year, with just four actions: lowering the cost of remittances and using them as collateral for loans, banking more of the unbanked, and unlocking pension funds for investment in private equity. Taken together the four suggestions illustrate a broader point: what if the way we fund development propelled development itself?

Lower the cost of remittances

The international community needs to take is to lower the costs of remittances to 5% of the transaction value. Remittances to sub-Saharan Africa support families and even some nations as a dominant source of GDP. But the cost of sending money to the region is the highest in the world, with fees upwards of 10% taken directly from the money people want to transfer abroad.

Recognising this, the World Bank’s 5×5 Objective aims to reduce the global average cost of remittances to 5%, which is expected to increase remittances to developing countries by roughly $16bn every year. If sub-Saharan Africa could do the same, remittances would increase by $4bn per year and provide an immediate infusion into the economy.

Lack of competition on the sending side keeps prices high, but positive incentives can spur innovation, such as the Limbo Prize currently under consideration by the Canadian government to reward companies that help bring down remittance costs.

Use remittances as collateral for loans

Since remittance flows are relatively stable over time, the risk of them fluctuating significantly or disappearing is low. This makes remittances reliable sources of collateral for countries; having reliable sources of collateral, in turn, makes it easier and cheaper to secure loans.

This isn’t a new idea. In 1996, a development bank in Ghana used future remittances as collateral to secure a $40m loan from the African Export-Import Bank. Since 2000, countries have raised approximately $15bn in external debt through remittance securitisation. Sub-Saharan Africa has yet to capitalise on this opportunity, but if it does we estimate that $4bn could be raised.

Securitising remittances, which represent a hard-currency asset, is a lesser-known concept – so simply getting this idea on the agenda and developing better information about the scale and reliability of remittance flows could help spur both the public and private sectors into action.

Bank the unbanked

We need to bank 50% of the income of the currently unbanked. Our estimates show that around $104bn of African incomes currently flow outside the formal banking system annually, either because people have never had a bank account or they do not know or trust how to use one.

Investing pension funds in private equity alone could yield roughly$29bn of additional funds

Drawing only half of these incomes into banks would boost total deposits by around $52bn per year. Banks would then have more capital available to lend, typically at a lower cost, to help unlock much-needed financing for small and medium enterprises.

To make this work, banks need to meet customers where they are using mobile technology and developing stronger agency banking models. It’s been done before: in Tanzania, new mobile banking services helped raise the number of adults with access to financial services from 27% in 2009 to over 50% in 2014.

Capitalise on pension funds

Pension funds in Africa are expected to more than double, to over $620bn by 2020, thanks to the continent’s growing formal workforce and expanding economies. Pension funds represent a significant but underappreciated opportunity for investment.

Only about 1% of pension funds is currently invested in private equity, despite regulation permitting as much as 10% in Rwanda and Kenya. Private equity can play a key role in providing growing businesses with expansion capital and support before they are ready to be publicly listed, so harnessing these funds could significantly stimulate new business growth.

Instead, development finance institutions and international investors currently dominate private equity in Africa, ensuring that a significant portion of any returns from growth has to be repatriated instead of helping build their domestic economy. Investing pension funds in private equity alone could yield roughly $29bn of additional funds to help promising enterprises get to scale.

This could jumpstart a multiplier effect: private equity driving investment in productive goods and services, and these investments funnelling more income back into the domestic economy. Private equity is still relatively new concept in sub-Saharan Africa, so pension fund managers and regulators need to engage more closely with private equity firms to build capacity on how and when to use private equity.

If undertaken together, these four actions would produce a cycle in which each component stimulates the next to generate more returns – and additional development gains. To take just one example: increased remittances would encourage the receiver to go to a formal bank and reap the benefits of financial inclusion. More bank deposits then mean more funds available for investment in the formal economy. More bank accounts, meanwhile, help individuals take advantage of newer, lower-cost remittance services.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s governments must recognise the enormous potential of these pools of capital, and make moves to harness them as a primary means of funding development. It is a process that could itself become development’s most powerful driver.

Yana Watson Kakar is the global managing partner of Dalberg, Matthew MacDevette is a Dalberg consultant and James Mwangi is executive director of the Dalberg Group. Follow @DalbergTweet on Twitter.

Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow@GuardianGDP on Twitter. Use #NOunbanked

What if global development was funded by developing countries’ money? | Global Development Professionals Network | The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/aug/13/global-development-funding-changes-international-donors-financing?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=native

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/aug/13/global-development-funding-changes-international-donors-financing?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=native

 

Rumor : Blackberry Passport running Android

This BlackBerry Passport Silver Edition appears to be running Android instead of BlackBerry 10

By Bla1ze

As I’m sure just about every CrackBerry reader knows already, BlackBerry has officially announced the BlackBerry Passport Silver Edition and as expected it’s running BlackBerry 10. But what if some of the pre-release versions were set up to run Android? A new set of images, as well as a video, have now appeared over at Mondo BlackBerry which appear to show off just that. A pre-release BlackBerry Passport Silver Edition running Android.

As we know from history, it’s pretty easy to fake a BlackBerry running Android through the use of any of the launcher apps on the Google Play Store and about 3 minutes in Photoshop but there’s something a little bit more interesting about this set of images and video. A few signs that maybe, just maybe, this thing might actually be legit. To be clear, I’m not saying it is. I’m just saying, there are signs that may otherwise not be accomplished. Which signs you’re asking? Let me tell me you.

Icons – If you look carefully at the photos, you can see BlackBerry Safeguard is an icon on the device. Even through the use of a launcher, I’ve never been able to get that to show up. BlackBerry defines Safeguard as all the security measures on their device. Even though it’s a bit of inside baseball, when they send out device review documents, Safeguard generally lists BlackBerry Protect, Picture Password etc. Meaning, if they are working on Android they could have coupled this into an app as a central spot for all things related to BlackBerry specific security. There’s also a few others that wouldn’t carry over if a launcher was used as well such as Help.

The device powers off – The images show the device powering off. Although it’s in Portuguese, ‘desligar’ means switch off while ‘encerrando’ means closing. Unless there’s some Photoshop magic happening here, that device is actually powering off via the power button. Something that wouldn’t be controlled via a launcher as it doesn’t tap into those controls. Just like the Android settings when accessed through the Android runtime can’t turn off WiFi or Bluetooth, they also can’t shut off the power.

The Keyboard – As you can tell by watching the video, the touch input comes off as being rather terrible but you’ll also notice that moving around the device via the touch-sensitive keyboard also works. Granted, some apps that run through the Android runtime already work this way but, in my testing at least, I’ve never been able to use any Android launchers in that manner. It usually works within apps but never outside through a launcher.

With all that in mind, I’ll once again reiterate. I have no idea if this thing is legit and if it is, no one is talking about it, so it should go without saying that everyone should take it with a HUGE grain of salt. That said, if it’s a fake it’s a pretty damn good one and I’d really like to know what tools were used to put it together because it appears to be integrating in ways that really should not be possible. Also, if you ordered a Passport Silver Edition, don’t expect it to arrive running Android.

Source: Mondo BlackBerry

http://crackberry.com/blackberry-passport-silver-edition-appears-be-running-android-instead-blackberry-10