We could say (without fear of being wrong) that BlackBerry has lived multiple lives in the last 20 years. From being one of the companies that shaped the technological environment based on its mobiles and services, especially in the first half of the 2000s, it went almost nonstop to ostracism after being in the shadow of the iPhone and Android. And although in the middle he gave several drowning slaps, as if resisting being forgotten, he was never close to recovering his lost glory. To the point that its parent company, once known as Research in Motion, has managed to survive by shifting focus and dedicating itself to cybersecurity.
But beyond the mess, the historic phones with BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10 have remained active throughout this journey. Although not for long. The company confirmed that On January 4, practically all the services that are still active on both platforms will stop working “reliably”. We are talking especially about the connectivity section, as they will gradually lose the ability to make calls, send text messages or connect to mobile networks and WiFi.
Basically, BlackBerry Limited (the current name of RIM) has put the last nail in the BlackBerry drawer. The measure will impact devices with BlackBerry OS 7.1 or earlier, BlackBerry 10 or BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1, so it is logical to think that there will not be too many users affected. We are talking about operating systems that have already been several years since the launch of their latest versions.
Consider that BlackBerry OS was discontinued at the beginning of 2013, while BlackBerry 10 had the same fate in 2018. The big question, then, is why the Canadian firm has kept the services active legacy on these platforms, knowing that they were already obsolete. According to the explanation provided in a section of frequent questions, the decision was made “As an expression of appreciation to our loyal partners and customers”.
The final farewell to BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10
That the phones with BlackBerry OS still remain operational will surely surprise many. It seems as if its developers have refused for years to release an expired hit; But now at last they resigned themselves to going forward without that burden on their shoulders. Anyway, it stands to reason that this must have happened a long time before.
It is worth mentioning that the determination will not affect Android smartphones that have been released under the BlackBerry brand. Let us remember that in these years the company allied itself with different companies in an attempt to keep its legacy alive, but without much success. In fact, last year the company reappeared on the scene with its first mobile with 5G connectivity.
The truth is that, far from its golden age and innovation, the exRIM will give the final farewell to its most remembered platforms. And if for some reason you still use an old BlackBerry, You will no longer have excuses not to upgrade to a more modern, complete and reliable model.