BlackBerry today announced that it has released the Android Marshmallow 6.0 update for PRIV users, just 5 months after launching the device. BlackBerry has thus made its name to the elite 4.6 percent manufacturers that are officially running Marshmallow on their devices — a feat it would have made a joke of during its once glorious years.
PRIV users can now download the new Android offering on their devices over-the-air(OTA), which also includes a patch update coming this May.(this update is a hefty one, so be sure to connect to a Wi-Fi network before downloading the update).
BlackBerry also reports that all the new PRIV phones available on ShopBlackBerry.com will come updated with Android Marshmallow out-of-the-box. And the update is also coming to all major US carriers starting May 3rd. The BlackBerry team had launched a BETA testing program for the same about a month ago, but it seems as-if the Android Marshmallow build was almost production-worthy, and so, has been released to the masses right away.
This Android Marshmallow update also places a key focus on security, which has been a strong suit of BlackBerry from the start. But, the company has made some significant changes to the classic vanilla Android Marshmallow, and added their own touch to it.
In addition to the features mentioned above, BlackBerry has also added some over-the-top features to the PRIV:
- Customized Personal Data Permissions gives users the power to control their privacy and better control their data. The users can change any permissions, whenever they want and still use the application.
- The new update supports an updated BlackBerry keyboard with better predictive analysis, error correction and cursor control. This also introduces 200 new and updated emoji’s to the keyboard.
- With the new and improved BlackBerry Hub, you can better organize your notifications and manage productivity with new apps like Slack, Instagram and Pinterest.
- Mute Indicator is now a floating phone indicator which appears during a call. Yellow represents muted, while Green means it isn’t.
- The updated BlackBerry Launcher helps you organize apps and widgets into Recent, Personal and Work sections, in a more clean and intuitive manner.
- Battery Life Improvements can be seen thanks to the inclusion of Doze and App Standby
- Media Card Encryption Support is also a new addition in this update, that let’s you encrypt your SD Cards, upping your privacy game.
- Finally, the camera app of the PRIV has also been improved to allow the users to record high-quality videos at 24fps – the standard frame rate used in professional feature-length motion pictures – in 4k, 1080p or 720p. You can now also shoot Slow-Motion video at 120fps, using the PRIV and then play it back smoothly at 30fps.
This new Android Marshmallow update certainly puts BlackBerry in the game, who is trying to re-enter the market after serious blows from the loss of BlackBerry OS 10. The release of new and updated Android device, to complement the PRIV devices, should now be a priority for BlackBerry.
Will BlackBerry be able to regain its market share and attract users to buy its smartphones again? Comment your thoughts down below.
