Android-Running BlackBerry 'Venice' Tipped to Launch on AT&T

Last week BlackBerry CEO John Chen said that the company would make an Android handset only if it could make it secure enough. Leaks continue to pour in about the company's 'Venice' handset, which is said to be powered by Android. The latest set of leaks talk more about the smartphone's launch partner, while a separate leak shows what looks to be a BlackBerry Passport running Android.

An Android-powered BlackBerry Venice smartphone is said to be due to launch on AT&T, the US telecom operator. The news comes from @evleaks, a reliable tipster, via a post on Twitter. "The Android-powered BlackBerry Venice slider is AT&T-bound," he tweeted on Thursday. There are no details about if the smartphone will stay an AT&T exclusive or will reach other regions in an unlocked version as well.

The tipster also posted an image (seen above) showing the lower front-half of what looks like a BlackBerry Passport, running Google's operating system. The image seems slightly odd as it shows the typical Android on-screen navigation buttons - Back, Home and Multi-Window in the display above the Passport-like Qwerty keypad, and an on-screen keyboard as well.

The image goes in line with a previously leaked photo of a BlackBerry Passport with on-screen navigation buttons and running Android 5.1.0.2055 OS version.

Update: @evleaks has tweeted to clarify that the phone pictured above is indeed the BlackBerry Passport. He's also posted what one hopes is the 'real' Venice:

From the past rumours and leaks, the BlackBerry Venice slider smartphone is said to sport a dual-edge curved display. Also tipped is the inclusion of 5.4-inch QHD (1440x2560 pixels) display, a 1.8GHz hexa-core 64-bit Snapdragon 808 SoC, 3GB of RAM, an 18-megapixel rear camera, and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.