BlackBerry Venice bares all in new hands-on video

Just take my money, BlackBerry. Photo: Evan Blass

Just take my money, BlackBerry. Photo: Evan Blass

BlackBerry’s first Android smartphone is on its way, and it has leaked out yet again in a new video that gives us an early glimpse at its slide-out keyboard and curved glass display, and its operating system, which is near-pure Android with some essential BlackBerry additions.

The BlackBerry Venice featured in the four-minute video below is an “evaluation unit,” so its final design and features may change before it makes its official debut. However, what we see here is everything we’ve been expecting from Venice — plus some nice surprises.

Not only does Venice have a physical QWERTY keyboard, but its keys also double as a trackpad — just like on the BlackBerry Passport — allowing you to move the cursor through text by swiping your thumb over the keys.

Holding down Venice’s virtual home button provides shortcuts to Google Now, as well as BlackBerry’s own “Device Search” function — which is similar to Spotlight on iOS — and the BlackBerry Hub, which has been ported over from BlackBerry 10.

Venice looks somewhat slimmer than anticipated in the video below, and according to Baka Mobile, it’s very comfortable to use with or without the keyboard extended.

Once again, this is a final version of Venice, but we don’t expect it to change much ahead of its official debut. We still don’t know when that announcement will come, but according to recent reports, Venice could arrive this November.