From January 4, 2022 let’s say goodbye to one of the protagonists of the birth of smartphones: the support for a BlackBerry OS. A definitive greeting: no more calls, no more messages, no more emails (which he first sent without turning on a computer). Although the smartphones that the company has recently produced with the operating system Android will remain in use regularly.
Goodbye to BlackBerry OS, end of support
The Canadian company BlackBerry has marked a fundamental page in the technological history of the new millennium. True pioneer, already in 2002 she launched her first smartphone: BlackBerry 5810. To give you an idea, there were still five years to the first iPhone, nine to the first Samsung Galaxy. It was a much simpler device than today’s smartphones, but it could send emails on GSM networks, it had a calendar and the characteristic physical Qwerty keyboard.
These were initially just smartphones for professionals, who needed headphones to make calls. But with the models BlackBerry 6200 and 7100 series in 2004 begins to expand its audience. After that the company begins to become popular and appreciated. The BlackBerry Pearl of 2006 is a great success, but perhaps the most recognizable design is that of BlackBerry Curve, which for a certain period becomes the telephone par excellence.
And in that period, when WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger did not yet exist, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) becomes the most used messaging app. The trackball to navigate on the screen the maximum of technology, although the first touch screens were on the way.
But the launch of the iPhone was something BlackBerry couldn’t bear. If in the early years there was still competition, with the arrival of the 2010s physical keyboards abandoned phones. The era of iOS and Android had begun, for BlackBerry OS the decline began.
Chronicle of a death foretold
Touchscreen smartphones scored alento decline for BlackBerry. The company has tried several times to find solutions. But the only solution was to switch to Android for the smartphone world and differentiate investments (such as investments in the field of the Internet of Things). Giving up being an alternative system to iOS and Android.
From 2016 BlackBerry announces the closure of its hardware division: no more smartphones with BlackBerry OS for the pioneer company in this field. On May 31, 2019 the service also closes BBM messaging, which had made it successful before the advent of the iPhone and Android smartphones.
The January 4, 2022, the last shot. Users with BlackBerry 7.1 OS or earlier, BlackBerry 10 software and BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 or earlier will now lose essential features. No more internet access, for both browsing and messaging. No more SMS, calls. You can’t even do the emergency ones. If you still have one BlackBerry email, you will have to change operator.
However, whoever uses a newer device BlackBerry with Android you will be able to continue to use your device (even if you will no longer be able to use the features linked to your BlackBerry email account). But if you still have a device with the old BlackBerry OS, you have to say goodbye: “Customers will have to switch to a new device. Contact your operators for more information on available devices and services, ”explains the Canadian company.
This does not mean that you will have to throw away your BlackBerry, which has probably ended up in some drawer in the house. Its historical value remains: it changed the world of technology and society. But know that you will no longer be able to use it. Goodbye, BlackBerry. This time it’s forever.