In 2016, the BlackBerry Executive Chairman and CEO, John Chen announced that the company was to transition into a software entity. Today, January 4th marks the completion of this years-long shift from making mobile phones to a software-based business model.
Back in the day, owning a BlackBerry was considered a status symbol among politicians, business leaders, and everyday users. However, with the advent of the smartphone, customers abandoned the device and its full external keyboard and small screen for the much wider options.
The end of the BlackBerry era
As per the statement issued by the company, the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1, and earlier versions will no longer be available after January 4, 2022.
All devices running these legacy services and software through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS, and 9-1-1 functionality.
In order to effect migration, customers will need to move to new devices. Additionally, customers with BlackBerry hosted email addresses or receiving redirected mail sent to a BlackBerry hosted email will need to move to a new email address.
Below is a list of devices, software, applications, and service offerings that are affected:
- BlackBerry Classic
- BlackBerry Passport
- BlackBerry Leap
- BlackBerry Z10, Z30, Z3
- BlackBerry Q10, Q5
- Porsche Design P’9982 from BlackBerry
- Porsche Design P’9983 from BlackBerry
- BlackBerry Bold: 9900/9930, 9790, 9650, 9788, 9700, 9000
- BlackBerry Curve: 9380, 9370/9360/9350, 9330/9300, 9320/9315/9310/9220, 8530/8520, 9380, 8900/8980, 8300/8310/8320/8330/8350i
- BlackBerry Torch: 9860/9850, 9810, 9800
- BlackBerry Storm: 9500/9530, 9520/9550
- BlackBerry Pearl: 9100, 8100/8110/8120/8130, 8220/8230
- Other:
- BlackBerry 9720
- BlackBerry 9620
- Porsche Design P’9981 from BlackBerry
- BlackBerry Tour 9630
- BlackBerry Style 9670
- BlackBerry 8800/8820/8830
- BlackBerry 7130
- BlackBerry 8700/8707
- BlackBerry 7100
- BlackBerry 7290
- BlackBerry 7730
- BlackBerry 7230
- BlackBerry 6720
- BlackBerry 6230
- C++ platform based devices: 850, 857, 900, 950, 957
- BlackBerry PlayBook 4G LTE / 3G+
- BlackBerry PlayBook
On its website, the company pointed out that Android-powered models like the BlackBerry KEY2, which was manufactured by the Chinese company TCL under a partnership that ended in 2020, would not be affected by the change.
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