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Classic BlackBerry Smartphones Are Officially Dead
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That’s impossible!! Noooooooooooo!!! - Luke Skywalker
Maybe it’ll be a Tesla implant that handles everything ?
I loved my blackberry when I had one. I haven’t had once since 2009. The keyboard was the best feature for me. I used Android for a year, before switching to Apple, and I haven’t looked back since. This is saying something about Apple, because I used to the biggest Android advocate I know. The day I started using Apple, I sold my Android device quick and in a hurry 
I really miss Blackberry, the device. not their Android re-write but the original OS. I ended up buying one on eBay for $100 (A Blackberry Bold) in 2017 and putting my iPhone in a drawer for a week to see if I could go back. I'm one of those people who doesn't use my iPhone that much compared to my computer. I need a device for calls, texts, emails and maps. Unfortunately, BlackBerry's email system on those old devices was POP only. They didn't even have IMAP on devices being sold in 2013. I didn't want to stand up a BES server so that was sort of strike one. Then strike 2 was the lack of any modern software. and the maps app unfortunately had languished compared to the competition. The issue was not the physical keyboard. I LOVED having that back. I didn't care about the small screen. typing without lookin gat the screen was awesome but Blackberry hadn't caught up with technology and developers had long since left them behind so I sold the bold for $100 a month later and went back to iPhone.
What I really want in 2021 is a feature-phone. One not built on iOS or Android. just give me a web browser, rudimentary camera for taking photos of barcodes and labels, a good email client and turn by turn navigation along with a small fits in your hand device and a physical keyboard with 3-7 day battery life. I'd love that for every day carry and only use an iPhone when I'm fully disconnected and need to do more basic computing tasks.
What I really want in 2021 is a feature-phone. One not built on iOS or Android. just give me a web browser, rudimentary camera for taking photos of barcodes and labels, a good email client and turn by turn navigation along with a small fits in your hand device and a physical keyboard with 3-7 day battery life. I'd love that for every day carry and only use an iPhone when I'm fully disconnected and need to do more basic computing tasks.
The last BBOS device was released back in 2015. More recent Blackberry devices run Android, and those are not affected.
Their virtual keyboard in some of their last devices was the BEST keyboard ever. Really. No one has a similar keyboard until now. The predictions appeared above each key, not in the top row, that made typing many times faster.
And their unified messaging center was also fantastic. You could see all your messages, from any app, in a single OS level app. So your emails, chats, messages etc. Where visible without the cumbersome Notification Center or having to open 3 or 4 apps.
Shame the innovation has died by the self complacency of Apple.
When was the last keyboard innovation from Apple for a keyboard?. QuickPath?!. Lack of imagination justifies a “ain’t broken, don’t do it” approach. Really, think about the keyboard it is “fine”, but surely is is bit perfect nor has evolved (keys can change size, the dot gets in the way very often, the prediction location is ineffective, the globe icon takes more espace than 2 rows, etc.
And their unified messaging center was also fantastic. You could see all your messages, from any app, in a single OS level app. So your emails, chats, messages etc. Where visible without the cumbersome Notification Center or having to open 3 or 4 apps.
Shame the innovation has died by the self complacency of Apple.
When was the last keyboard innovation from Apple for a keyboard?. QuickPath?!. Lack of imagination justifies a “ain’t broken, don’t do it” approach. Really, think about the keyboard it is “fine”, but surely is is bit perfect nor has evolved (keys can change size, the dot gets in the way very often, the prediction location is ineffective, the globe icon takes more espace than 2 rows, etc.
I loved my Blackberry Pearl and Curve. The tactile keyboard was the sole reason it made such an amazing device, and the scroll pad/ball. Plus I really liked the LED notifications that you could customize the colors for specifics.(i.e- E-mails, SMS, missed calls, ect.)
The battery life was decent, but the keyboard made it what it was.
The battery life was decent, but the keyboard made it what it was.
You could also have multiple languages at the same time present for word suggestion and spelling.
I really miss that.
But what else would people have expected the company to say publicly at this early stage? We're doomed, don't buy our products anymore. sell your stock now??
I'm 100% convinved if you gave me my old work blackberry from 7-8 years ago (or more?) right now I could still type faster on the keyboard than I can with my iPhone. With less typos as well, even with autocorrect. Really no doubt in my mind.
I believe the article is wrong. The phones will still work, they just can’t be provisioned in the future. This means if anything changes on a network they will lose connectivity, but for the moment they should still work.
I had three or so as well. I still consider the Pearl to be my favorite phone of all time. It clearly doesn't stand up today, but at the time...
Good memories. I was a BlackBerry person, and dual-carried Bolds + iPhones up until the iPhone 4 when I gave up the 2 phone system and went all in on iPhones. Several years ago I bought an unlocked Classic as a little trip down memory lane, and used it to write and send emails while tethered to my iPhone for internet/service. The BlackBerry keyboard and LED notification light are still my most missed features when i look at my iPhone. All things come and go. Nothing is permanent, and life goes on.
I was using BB10 devices before I switched to iPhone. My primary phone is iPhone 13 Pro Max but I still have a BB10 second phone and today, January 4th, it still works for phone calls and texts. Weather still works. I am in Canada and my service provider is Telus.
When BB10 was my primary device (BB Passport) it had excellent email, text, and messenger service. The flashing LED is great for notification. Call quality was great.
BB10 is based on QNX and QNX is still around for vehicle operating systems and other devices.
BB10 has a file manager. I could access my home computer from my BB10 device from anywhere.
I will say, the on-screen keyboard and word prediction was better on BB10 compared to current iPhones.
When BB10 was my primary device (BB Passport) it had excellent email, text, and messenger service. The flashing LED is great for notification. Call quality was great.
BB10 is based on QNX and QNX is still around for vehicle operating systems and other devices.
BB10 has a file manager. I could access my home computer from my BB10 device from anywhere.
I will say, the on-screen keyboard and word prediction was better on BB10 compared to current iPhones.
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