BlackBerry Passport shown running Android in new video

BlackBerry’s Android-powered smartphone is allegedly due later this year, but the company may also be rejigging one of its recent devices to run Google’s OS. A video showing the BlackBerry Passport very clearly running Android Lollipop has surfaced. In the non-English clip above, you’ll see the silver phone cycle through the Android home screen, app drawer, and Google Play.

There are also some BlackBerry-centric features visible, so it’s unlikely that this is a home project where someone simply managed to finagle stock Android onto their phone. Timing-wise, it seems like a strange move for BlackBerry to relaunch the Passport so long after the original with new software underpinning everything. The Venice seems to be the priority — especially considering how much we’ve already seen of it. This may simply be a way of testing Android on existing hardware, as Crackberry points out.

But clearly there’s a significant Android movement happening at the company’s labs right now, even as it continues to sell BlackBerry 10 devices. It’s believed that these new phones will borrow features from BB10 like BlackBerry Hub. (BlackBerry Messenger is already available across Android and iOS.) BlackBerry has yet to confirm plans to bring Android to the Passport, though the Venice was previously flashed on stage at one of its events.