BlackBerry

Blackberry officially axing its Smart Phones in 2022

Dan Uff December 31, 2021 0

Well, it's for real this time. As of January 4th, 2022, Blackberry will officially end support for all of its vintage Smartphones. The company had made the announcement (via Ars Technica) early on New Year's Eve-Day.

Unlike other companies such as Microsoft and Android, BlackBerry didn't take the iPhone's surging popularity seriously enough and realized its growing dominance in the market too late. They tried rebranding, leadership and design changes, even boasted its operating system with more features. But in the end, the company couldn't keep up with the growing demand of its customers or the smartphone market.

For those of you who are unsure what this means - that good ol' blackberry device will no longer receive hardware and/or software support starting said date.

CNBC: Blackberry Keyone Review – Solid Android Phone, Throwback Keyboard

Dan Uff May 5, 2017 0

If you're among the dedicated few still attached to your BlackBerry, then listen up: We've been testing the BlackBerry KeyOne Android smartphone for the last few days, and we think you're going to like it.

One thing you should know: BlackBerry Limited doesn't build its own smartphones anymore. Instead, it licenses its name and hardware patents (including the beloved keyboard) to TCL Communications and provides the software — Android with a BlackBerry skin — while TCL Communications manufactures and handles sales and marketing of BlackBerry Mobile devices.

This is the first device launched by TCL Communications since it agreed to license the BlackBerry brand in December. The deal gave TCL a more primary role in working with the brand and BlackBerry hardware.

The KeyOne was introduced earlier this year and launched recently in Canada and will release in the U.S. next month for $549, completely unlocked, and on Sprint this summer.

Rock solid design and all the basics

To read the rest of the review, click here.

Blackberry to stop making its own phones

Dan Uff September 28, 2016 0

Early Wednesday, Blackberry issued a statement that said it will stop making its own phones and rely on partners to make them for the company starting sometime soon. The iconic phones will still have the same look and feel as they do now, but they will now be made by an Indonesian telecom company.

The reason for the move is two fold: 1) to cut costs, and 2) to focus all of its attention to software.

A once innovative cell phone company, Blackberry has slid since Apple had announced the iPhone back in 2007 and was a very late bloomer in getting touch-screen phones to the market.

Blackberry Kills BB10, will focus on Android Phones Instead

Dan Uff April 11, 2016 0

BlackBerryLogo The once dominant cell phone maker has announced that it is discontinuing its BB10 operating system, and will be moving towards mid-range Android devices.

According to Blackberry CEO John Chen, the company's change of direction comes after customers complained that the first Android phone was too expensive (around $700.00) and that the price point was a tactical error.

"The fact that we came out with a high end phone [as our first Android device] was probably not as wise as it should have been," Chen told Abu Dhabi paper The National.

"A lot of enterprise customers have said to us, 'I want to buy your phone but $700 is a little too steep for me. I'm more interested in a $400 device'," he added.