BlackBerry scraps services for several models, phones to stop working this week
Global News
Many of BlackBerry Ltd.'s mobile phones will stop reliably working on Tuesday, after the company decommissions several of its services.
Many of BlackBerry Ltd.’s mobile phones will stop reliably working on Tuesday, after the company decommissions several of its services.
The Waterloo, Ont.-based business is decommissioning services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions, as it transitions away from producing phones and toward being a software company.
The decommissioning will not impact BlackBerry phones running on Android software, but means devices running the company’s legacy services and software through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer have reliable data, phone call, text message and 9-1-1 functionality.
“It’s sad to see those older devices go, but it’s not unexpected,” said Dave Mason, a longtime BlackBerry user in Didsbury, Alberta.
“There’s only so much they can put into it time-wise, security-wise because everyone is either using Android or Apple devices.”
Mason, a storm chaser and photographer, has owned at least half a dozen BlackBerry devices over the last few decades.
When he got his first BlackBerry smartphone, he said the company was known for releasing “sexy” devices. Though that reputation has since diminished, he has stuck with BlackBerry phones because of their commitment to security and their Canadian roots.
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