BlackBerry

As of January 4, 2022, all classic BlackBerry smartphones running versions of BlackBerry OS will no longer work for calls, text messages, data, and emergency functionality, essentially making them unusable. BlackBerry announced the news in September 2020 as part of a broader company shift to focus on enterprise security and solutions. "As another milestone in the BlackBerry journey, we will...

Texas-based startup OnwardMobility today announced that it plans to release a new Android-based BlackBerry smartphone with a physical QWERTY keyboard and 5G support in the first half of 2021 in North America and Europe. The device will really only be a BlackBerry in spirit, as part of a brand licensing agreement with the Canadian company. Once a dominant player in the smartphone industry,...

BlackBerry Messenger, aka BBM, is set to shut down on May 31, 2019, BlackBerry announced today. Prior to when the iPhone launched and for several years afterwards, BBM was a key communication method on BlackBerry phones. As BlackBerry devices fell out of favor, BlackBerry aimed to keep BBM alive with an iOS app that's been available since 2013, but with Messages, WhatsApp, WeChat, and other...

A record 99.9 percent of smartphones sold worldwide last year were based on either Android or iOS, as all competing platforms have effectively been squeezed out, according to data shared today by research firm Gartner. Android remains more widely adopted than iOS by a significant margin, with a roughly 86-14 percent split between the respective operating systems last year. Android's...

Blackberry announced its latest crack at an all-screen smartphone during the GITEX Technology Week in Dubai on Sunday. The Motion is the company's third Android phone to ditch the keyboard following the release of the DTEK50 and DTEK60 in 2016. Blackberry also released the KEYone earlier this year, but that device includes a keyboard below the touchscreen. The Motion's 5.5-inch LCD display...

Nearly ten years after Apple launched the iPhone, which completely upended the smartphone industry, the device has effectively helped to wipe out one of its major predecessors: the BlackBerry. BlackBerry has at last fallen to a rounded 0.0% share among smartphone operating systems after shipping just 207,000 smartphones last quarter, following an over seven year decline from its peak market...

Former smartphone company BlackBerry opened a new autonomous driving research center on Monday in Ottawa, Canada, according to Reuters. BlackBerry is betting its future on the self-driving car business following its 2010 acquisition of QNX, a company which develops software for multiple in-car infotainment systems and whose software became the foundation of the BlackBerry 10 mobile operating...

Smartphone company BlackBerry confirmed today that it will cease internally developing its own handsets and rely on partnerships with other companies "for any future hardware efforts," lining up with company CEO John Chen's estimation that he would know by September 2016 whether or not BlackBerry would continue participating in the hardware manufacturing business (via Recode). Chen said the...

BlackBerry has announced that it will no longer manufacture the BlackBerry Classic, meaning that the touchscreen smartphone will no longer be available once remaining stock is depleted through official sales channels.For many years, Classic (and its BBOS predecessors) has been in our portfolio. It has been an incredible workhorse device for customers, exceeding all expectations. But, the Classic...

PayPal recently announced that it plans to pull support for its apps on the Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and Amazon Kindle Fire mobile platforms, as the company doubles down on its new and updated apps for iOS and Android (via CNET). Users on the three operating systems in question have until June 30 to access the PayPal app. In the blog post announcing the impending sunset of PayPal's app on...

Kantar Worldpanel has released new smartphone operating system market share data for the third calendar quarter of 2015, providing a regional breakdown of Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Windows Phone and other mobile platform adoption in the U.S., Europe, China, Japan and elsewhere during the three-month period ending October. In the U.S. market, Android led the third quarter with 62.8% market...

BlackBerry today confirmed that the company will be making an Android-based smartphone, with a launch date aimed for the end of 2015, even as it reported a greater-than-expected annual loss (via Re/code). The company reported that its latest quarterly loss was 13 cents per share on revenue of approximately $490 million, with analysts expecting 9 cents per share loss on revenue reaching closer ...

BlackBerry is considering releasing an Android-based smartphone for the first time in an attempt to regain market share and promote its cross-platform BES12 device management system, according to Reuters. The report claims the embattled Waterloo, Ontario-based smartphone maker will likely release an Android-based slider device with both a touchscreen and physical keyboard in the fall."BlackBerry...

BlackBerry and Typo Keyboard have reached the end of a lengthy lawsuit over Typo's BlackBerry-esque iPhone case that adds a physical keyboard to the Apple product (via The Verge). The lawsuit dating back to January 2014 argued that Typo, which saw significant publicity due to Ryan Seacrest's backing, willfully infringed on patents and "blatantly copied" BlackBerry's keyboard design. Today's...

Over the past several years, BlackBerry has gone from one of the top smartphone manufacturers to a company that's struggling to stay afloat in an increasingly competitive market. BlackBerry is hemorrhaging subscribers and losing revenue quarter after quarter as it attempts to turn the tide by focusing on marketing secure devices and software to its enterprise customers. An upcoming book by...

Kantar Worldpanel has released new smartphone operating system market share data for the first quarter of 2015, providing a regional breakdown of Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Windows Phone and other mobile platform adoption in the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, China, Japan, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico during the three-month period ending March....

Apple has expanded its Reuse and Recycling Program in the United States, Canada and several European countries to cover eligible Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone smartphones. The new trade-in program is available online and in-store and provides customers with the option to mail in eligible non-Apple smartphones, including certain Samsung, HTC, LG, Nokia, Sony and BlackBerry models, for...

Typo Products, a company that developed a BlackBerry-esque keyboard case for the iPhone, must pay BlackBerry $860,000 for continuing to sell its Typo case despite being ordered to cease sales in March. The Typo keyboard was first announced in December of 2013 and was backed by media personality Ryan Seacrest (of American Idol fame). Seacrest reportedly invested $1 million into the product,...

BlackBerry CEO John Chen yesterday published a blog post adaptation of a letter in which he presses U.S. government officials to support not only net neutrality but also "application/content neutrality". In Chen's view, all apps and content should be available on all platforms, and he points specifically to Apple's iMessage and Netflix's streaming services as examples of discrimination against...

Samsung has recently been in talks with BlackBerry about a potential takeover, reports Reuters. The South Korean company has reportedly offered to buy BlackBerry for $7.5 billion, in the hopes of acquiring BlackBerry's extensive patent portfolio. Executives from both companies are said to have met last week in order to discuss the potential deal.South Korea's Samsung proposed an initial price...