Why the new 'Priv' phone might save BlackBerry’s handset business (but probably won’t)

BlackBerry’s recently announced "Priv" slider phone is a bit of an enigma. On the one hand, it appears to be a solid Android device with some innovative touches (capacitive keyboard) and a decent spec sheet. On the other hand, it comes bundled with a grab bag of features (BBM, BlackBerry Hub) that seem to have been lifted straight out of the company’s much maligned BB10 OS, in some cases without thought for how (or even if) they will integrate with Google’s user environment.

The net result is an awkward marriage of competing UX paradigms. For example, BlackBerry Hub, long a key selling point for BB10 devices, has been transplanted onto Android without consideration for what made it special in the first place -- namely, swipe gestures. BB10 users will attest to how the OS’ swipe-based interface makes working with these devices both practical and more efficient, especially when operating their phones with one hand. Over time, these users have come to master BB10’s myriad swipe combinations, allowing them to multitask at the frenetic pace most commonly associated with true "crackberry" addicts (think congressional staffers chasing their wards around Capitol Hill).

Without these gestures, Hub becomes just another "unified-inbox" solution. So unless BlackBerry plans to write its own, custom Android shell -- one that replicates BB10’s UX mechanisms on Android -- new customers will wonder what all the fuss is about while existing BB10 users will find Hub on Android to be a step backwards from what they had on BB10.

As for the rest of the transplants, it’s hard to see how BlackBerry-authored apps for calendaring, note taking, task tracking, etc., will inspire new customers to try the device. Even the preloaded BBM client seems like it will appeal mostly to the handful of users (made up almost exclusively of existing BB10 customers) who still inhabit BlackBerry’s legacy IM universe.

In fact, nothing about the BlackBerry Priv seems particularly appealing to the uninitiated. Even the hardened Android kernel the company has included (the Priv’s customized Android 5.1.1 distro includes grsecurity extensions) is mostly a concession to the security-obsessed shops that make up the core of BlackBerry’s customer base.

If anything, BlackBerry Priv seems less like a fully conceived product and more like a demo vehicle for the company’s MDM solutions. Now that BlackBerry has access to Good Technology’s Android security know-how, the company needs a demonstration platform to show off all that it can do to lock down these devices in the enterprise. And the best way to do that is for BlackBerry to leverage its world class industrial design and manufacturing experience to deliver a compelling "hero" phone that showcases just how far it’s come in terms of its ability to manage a heterogeneous mobile environment.

So, while the Priv may not set the world on fire as a pure-play Android phone (pricing will also be a factor), it should help BlackBerry when it pitches its newly Good-infused BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) platform as a solution for managing customers’ iPhones and Samsung Galaxy devices. And that’s probably all that the company is hoping the Priv launch will accomplish.

Bottom Line: The Priv will not resuscitate BlackBerry’s handset business, nor is it intended to do so. As long as it helps to establish BES as a premiere cross-platform MDM solution it will have served its purpose. Meanwhile, BB10 users can look forward to some important updates to their devices "real soon now" (think March, 2016). Just Google "BlackBerry Playbook" to get a sense of what the company has in store for you down the road.