It might finally be time to throw your old BlackBerry phone away as the company is shutting down the operating system for its classic devices.
From today (January 4), BlackBerry devices not running on Android software – including the BlackBerry 10, 7.1 OS and earlier – will “no longer reliably function”, the company said in a statement.
The change will affect making phone calls, sending texts, receiving data and contacting emergency numbers.
“The termination of these service offerings and infrastructure will also impact functionality for applications such as Enhanced Sim Based Licensing (ESBL) / Identity Based Licensing (IBL), BlackBerry hosted email addresses, BlackBerry Link, BlackBerry Desktop Manager, BlackBerry Blend, BlackBerry Protect (allows consumers to lock, locate or wipe BBOS, BlackBerry 10 devices remotely,’ BlackBerry said.
“There is no impact to the new BlackBerry Protect which is an AI-based endpoint security solution.”
BlackBerry phones, with their popular BlackBerry Messenger service and sleek keyboards, were market leaders in the late noughties and early 2010s. In recent years, however, the company failed to compete with the ever-growing popularity of iPhones and Android.
The company has since ventured into cyber-security and other areas in the tech industry.
BlackBerry now describes itself primarily as “an enterprise software and cybersecurity company” developing software solutions for corporations. According to Statista, the company still employs thousands of workers and made around a billion dollars in revenue in 2020.
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