BlackBerry's Android phone could be here before December

Plus, a closer look at the sliding QWERTY keyboard

Just last week, we got a decent look at what BlackBerry's Android-powered Venice might look like in the wild. But today's leaked render from @evleaks shows off even more, shining the spotlight on the rumored slide-out keyboard. Not just that, we might have discovered when the phone could launch and the US carriers could it will debut on, too.

The picture in question could very well be representative of what we'll see in the final device, codenamed "Venice". The curved edges of its body, as well as the slide-out physical keyboard are features that align with previous rumors we've reported on. Additionally, the device appears to be running Android 5.0 Lollipop, at least, that's what some of the icons splashed in Material Design aesthetic would suggest.

Ever since the company's slider phone went under the radar after being shown off at MWC 2015, I've been wondering what would become of it. It's entirely possible that BlackBerry is still at work on a BlackBerry 10 device with a slide-out keyboard, but then again, it could also be that the company wants to make a big splash by debuting the Venice exclusively for Android OS.

Carrier availability

Each rumor about the BlackBerry Venice that trickles in hints more at the features of the device. But what we haven't heard a lot about are the grittier details surround its actual launch. While we still don't know price, @evleaks also stated that the phone is slated for a November 2015 release in the US and will be available on "all four national US carriers".

If that's the case, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint customers could have BlackBerry's latest, whether it does actually arrive as the Android-powered Venice or not, just in time for the holidays. I've reached out to BlackBerry for comment on the Venice and will update this article if any details surrounding its release are provided.