BlackBerry Confirms Android Smartphone Plans on iPhone Launch Day

[rdlink]

At least their trying but, it may already be too late.

May...?

 

[fischersd]

Android may or may not be secure - I wouldn't know as I don't look into it much, but the fact that the OS is open source does not make it insecure.

Linux is also open source, but the vast majority of servers run it because it's far more secure than any other OS.

I suspect the reason Android is more vulnerable than iOS is because of Apple's Walled Garden approach - Apple simply doesn't allow users to install software from anywhere but the App Store. Android, in contrast, allows users to install software from any website via the browser... or any other app, for that matter. You can store apps on Dropbox and install them via the Dropbox app, for example. Third party app stores exist for Android, which can be installed to be just as official as the main app store.

You're not walking around with your servers. They're also behind corporate firewalls and you're not surfing on them, nor are you loading them with dozens of applications that could contain malware. People didn't go to Linux because it was more secure, they went to Linux because:
- Corporate UNIX flavours are(were) ungodly expensive (ditto for the app flavours that you could get for them)
- Windows server licensing is also very expensive. Patching constantly due to the thousands of exploits being discovered each quarter. Prone to many virii. Also requiring reboots due to the design flaws in the OS and how applications interface with it.
- You could get many Linux flavours for free. Most small businesses never bothered with support until they grew. As companies became more dependent on Linux, it made sense to buy a supported distro.

Open source will always be less secure as the black hat community has access to the code. It allows for much more elegant exploits than closed source.

 

[roadbloc]

Huge shame. BlackBerry OS 10 was my favorite phone OS. I have no interest in an android phone.

 

[rdlink]

Interesting timing. This is like going to somebody's party and lightly whispering that you'll possibly throw a party of your own at some point.

Actually, it's like going to someone's lavish party, where all the celebrities come because they know that there's champagne, lobster and filet mignon, and saying that maybe you'll be throwing a party in a few months with Doritos, Velveeta dip and PBR.

 

[KPOM]

You mean a bigger than expected loss, not a lower than expected loss.

 

[chasemac]

Let this be a reminder to Apple themselves.

 

[CFreymarc]

Bad timing, but also bad decision. For Blackberry hardware is not a differentiator without their tightly coupled software and security ecosystem. They are really starting to scramble for scraps.

I have seen this in the past. There is huge ego and company valuation in getting a box out with you brand on it no matter what market share.

While your underlying technology may be your secret sauce, I have seen executives come up with the most bizarre reasons not to license or sell components. Many quote the "fall of Studebaker" when they stopped making cars but kept on with just automotive components they sold to other car manufacturers.

 

[BrettApple]

It appears that I'm one of the few here that would be willing to give it a shot (provided it isn't grossly overpriced).

I love the Android OS and it's what I started on with my first smartphone (2.1 baby). I also own a BlackBerry Z10, and really do like BB10 and their hardware. I also love my iPhone.

It seems that I'm a different breed here

 

[CFreymarc]

At least their trying but, it may already be too late.

While it has not had much press, been told one of the things keeping RIM on this path is the Canadian government not wanting them to fail.

RIM is a shining star in the Great White North and for them to fold or go the way of their former aerospace industry is a huge ego blow to their GDP as a whole.

 

[cerrense]

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 lower-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 to $600 million. Still, BlackBerry believes that its new handset, called the Priv, will boost its quarterly earnings as it heads into 2016.
Confirming a previous rumor from June, the smartphone will have a slide-out keyboard and will combine "the best of BlackBerry security and productivity" with Android's robust mobile platform applications, according to BlackBerry CEO John Chen. The company confirmed Priv will launch by the end of 2015, and that the BlackBerry 10 OS will still be supported, getting a software update around March.

Chen also mentioned that he has been aware of the company's steady decline, and that he'll stay in the business as long as there's money to be made. "If I can't make money on the phone, I will be out of that telephone handset business," Chen said. "There is a timeline; I won't tell you when." BlackBerry hopes Priv will fill a niche in the smartphone market with a device that can work as an enterprise-ready work machine, but be fueled by Android's "expansive mobile application ecosystem."

(Image: evleaks)

Article Link: BlackBerry Confirms Android Smartphone Plans on iPhone Launch Day

Finally!!!! I've been anxiously waiting for Blackberry to release their latest phone!! How can people withstands not to have a Blackberry in their pockets, I will never know!!!

 

[Robert.Walter]

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 to $600 million

Revenue 20% under expectations, losses 44% above expectations. It is no wonder they announced this new product into today's news cycle as they had no other happy news. Desperation.

 

[xlost6]

Is it 2005 again? RIM is still relevant? Slide out keyboard?

What?

 

[CFreymarc]

Its amazing what happened to Blackberry.

Apple simply destroyed their company (along with Samsung and Google I guess).

I'm stunned they are still around. I'm even more stunned they pulled in $490 million in revenue.

I haven't seen a Blackberry in the wild in 5 years.

IMO, the continued success of RIM despite being outpaced is a classic exercise in cronyism. Instead of meeting to market need, they kept entrenching themselves with their old business model where their "secure email" server is mandate by many governments and corporate operations. However, this is little growth compared to the mass consumer market.

 

[KazKam]

"Finally, Android by Blackberry!" Said no one, anywhere, ever.

 

[CFreymarc]

"Finally, Android by Blackberry!" Said no one, anywhere, ever.

Never underestimate how bizarre and twisted some technophile niches are out there. Go to a ham radio gathering and you'll find some of the most excentric geeks out there including those who still mess with vacuum tubes.

 

[iolinux333]

If anything will truly get the revenue flowing again for BB, I think this will be it....at least in terms of a semi large influx of cash. It would be nice to see them come back from the brink; makes for a good story. Also makes a great case study of how NOT to do things, but be able to recover and survive.

The Boomers that made BB profitable company are moving into assisted living and don't care about a new phone. I'm not joking.

 

[iolinux333]

Never underestimate how bizarre and twisted some technophile niches are out there. Go to a ham radio gathering and you'll find some of the most bizarre geeks out there including those who still mess with vacuum tubes.

What exactly is your issue with vacuum tubes? There are specific use cases where nothing else works better. It's also not that hard to make a vacuum tube in the garage if you have a decent workshop. Good luck making a transistor at home!

 

[CFreymarc]

The Boomers that made BB profitable company are moving into assisted living and don't care about a new phone. I'm not joking.

They are also the market still keeping broadcast television networks alive.

 

[CFreymarc]

What exactly is your issue with vacuum tubes? There are specific use cases where nothing else works better. It's also not that hard to make a vacuum tube in the garage if you have a decent workshop. Good luck making a transistor at home!

I knew there would be a tube-head on this thread! You do your own peanut tubes?

Yes, vacuum tubes (especially if you use chromium grids) have excellent SNR and no semiconductor noise floor. One of my advisors kept a glass tube evacuator in his garage to the day he went silent key.

 

[markdemaio]

Just the name alone is ass. PRIV...I mean for F*&#'s sake, at least come up with an interesting name!

 

[Waxhead138]

The Boomers that made BB profitable company are moving into assisted living and don't care about a new phone. I'm not joking.

Waaaaaay to broad of a generalization, if you really aren't kidding....and not to mention wrong.

You would have said the same of vinyl 20 years ago too I bet. Things have a way of coming back around is all I mean.

 

[Waxhead138]

They are also the market still keeping broadcast television networks alive.

Old people don't keep broadcast TV, or FM radio around. If that were the case, AM radio would be long dead, if based on the age of those who used it at its inception.

There is a school of thought out there and some people who just don't want to pay for technologies available for free....at least in a basic form. I'm not comparing anything free to a more premium offering.

 

[2457282]

I was given a blackberry pager many years ago, and then the blackberry PDA, and then the blackberry phones. Through the it all I had my personal things, phone, palm pilot, and eventually iPhone. Through all those times I considered blackberry a necessary evil. Not once did I enjoy it or want it for myself. When BYOD came out, it was a god send and the end of blackberry in my life. Never looked back. Now my work installs Good on my iPhone for work related stuff. Blackberry bought the wrong tool. Good is an appropriate name, because it is not great, just good - at best.

 

[jayducharme]

I'd be curious to know what percentage of the populous craves a slide-out physical keyboard on a phone. Blackberry is dumping its resources into a device that by its nature probably will have a very small market share. They need to create a device with wider appeal if they want to survive.

 

[Jason83]

Never underestimate how bizarre and twisted some technophile niches are out there. Go to a ham radio gathering and you'll find some of the most excentric geeks out there including those who still mess with vacuum tubes.

Exactly. There's one guy I went to HS with who is for some reason unbelievably stoked about this new phone.