BlackBerry is giving owners of its Android-based handset, the Priv, an opportunity to participate in its public beta program and help in testing the impending Android 6.0 Marshmallow builds. The program offered limited space, and within an hour of the announcement, the initial slots were filled.
Marshmallow on Priv soon
BlackBerry’s program is continuously taking signups from qualified users, and with the gradual expansion of testing, more and more applicants are being admitted. In the initial stages, only the devices purchased unlocked from retailers are allowed. This means that carrier-branded units will not be taken into consideration until a later date, which remains unspecified for now.
“If you’re one of the people who wants to see Marshmallow on your PRIV, we have great news. We’re kicking off the first beta program of the Android OS in BlackBerry Beta Zone,” the Canadian firm said in a blog post.
Members of the program are expected to perform certain actions such as filing bug reports when problems are encountered and enabling background diagnostic reporting so that BlackBerry engineers could be provided pertinent feedback automatically from the handsets.
Explaining who all qualifies, the Canadian firm says, “To be in the first wave of beta testers, you must have a PRIV purchased from ShopBlackBerry, Amazon or Carphone Warehouse. Other device owners may apply too, but won’t be accepted into the program immediately.”
Registrations will remain open for the coming two weeks with the actual beta kicking off next week and last between four and eight weeks. After this, Marshmallow will be offered to all unlocked Privs. As of now, the Canadian firm has not committed to a date.
BlackBerry quick to release April security update
Early yesterday, Google made an announcement regarding the details of the latest round of security updates for Nexus devices. Just yesterday, BlackBerry pushed out the security updates for Priv owners.
In a post, BlackBerry detailed the April security fix. The build number of the latest update is AAE298, and it is immediately available for download for people who purchased their handset directly from BlackBerry. For customers who bought the device through a carrier or elsewhere, there are no details on when the update will become available for their devices.
