[iatansaldanha]

I think they should keep the blackberry os but make it run all the android apps run perfectly on it.
Perhaps add Google play services?

Posted via CB10

Why do you have BlackBerry instead of Samsung or LG or HTC?

Posted with a BlackBerry Q10, Australia

[Hende Nicolas]

If BlackBerry make the stupid move to Android, I'll just keep my Passport and switch to a Samsung or something when it's too old. By then, BlackBerry would have given up on that embarrassing failure and just be making Hub and other BlackBerry 10ish apps for Google.

Some silly part of me just can't buy the idea that BlackBerry will be stupid enough to bail on BlackBerry 10 though...

Posted via CB10

[zap10]

Putting in nice blackberry features and adding them to android wouldn't look good stuff all.

Posted via CB10

[KAM1138]

Most people indeed - and this is hard for a lot of Crackberry people to believe - do not know that BlackBerry 10 EXISTS. Honestly, I think it would make a telling study. I'd love to see a properly researched public survey asking people all over the US and Europe whether they are aware that BlackBerry have a 'new' operating system. Those of us with BlackBerry 10 phones know how often you come across someone who STILL has not heard of BlackBerry 10. That is a problem, and there is no excuse for it.

Posted via CB10

Right--BB10 was not put in front of people in an effective way, nor was Blackberry's Brand battering effectively addressed, so when BB10 phones were released it was under a banner of a wounded, or in the public perception "dead" company.
So, again, the MORONS who touted their decades of marketing experience, saying it would be a waste of time to market the Blackberry Brand, and upcoming products were 100% wrong. Blackberry DIDN'T do this, and we see the result.

As to all this talk about Blackberry producing Android phones...I think this is an equally poor idea. It may address some issues, but would then relegate Blackberry to being a "me too" company, who STILL would have the problem of branding, because many consumers aren't getting into the level of operating systems in their consideration, and even if they did, why would they choose Blackberry (a battered brand) vs Samsung or LG, or HTC or whoever else is already producing Android phones.

No, that idea is a failure waiting to happen. If anything Blackberry BB10 Software should be on other companies hardware. BB10 is an excellent product. Running Android apps as a patch for that issue--fine. Otherwise, bad idea, or should I say futile idea.

I just think the fantasy that Android OS instead of BB10 will save Blackberry is nonsense, and smacks of utter desperation. Either build your brand and produce and market your products effectively or you're going to be a failure.

KAM

[Hende Nicolas]

On top of this, the uncertainty isn't helping a darn thing.

Posted via CB10

[Hende Nicolas]

I find it amazing that the Passport was released in what, October? And still I get the same comments any time someone new sees the phone. More people have heard of the local plumbing company offering 25% off a home inspection than have heard of BlackBerry 10. It's hilarious unless you own stock or care about the brand...

Posted via CB10

[JulesDB]

None of the above solutions will work.

BlackBerry needs to create something new, away from smartphones and away from all the things you find on the market.
Something that people will recognize as trendy or necessary (remember the iPod?).

Then people will change their mind and admit to themself that BlackBerry is the new cool thing to have.

Then it will buy everything that the canadian brand will put out. They need to be a leader, not a follower: they need to have something new to be recognized again: the smartwatch is already been done, so let's find something else!!

Also: I don't know how many millions cars are acctually using QNX and n-o-b-o-d-y knows?!?
They need to hire a serious marketing guy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mrlahjr]

BlackBerry should invent sometime that the other platforms would want and need. Something that the world couldn't live without. And in return for it would be to have all apps to be made available for BlackBerry devices

Posted via CB.10 on my  Z10

[calicocat2010]

Oh I thought of another....they should check out the dream device concepts thread. THERE'S A LOT of good looking mockups and Very unique styled ones too. That would be an eye opener.

[StephanieMaks]

Thinking of new / different / outside-the-box things, there's been a lot of talk about this Internet of Things lately.

Maybe BlackBerry should think about marketing or advertising some of their IoT products? I mean, I don't even know what they sell in that arena.

[Raestloz]

Create another Z10, repackage BlackBerry 10 OS, create a clean storefront, and get high profile developers like LINE, Uber, Clash of Clans, everything on board 6 months before announcement, so that their native app is prime and ready.

Then release it as ANYTHING but BlackBerry. Availability at announcement day.

Seriously, at this point people can remember new Android contender better than BlackBerry. I'm in Indonesia, one of the largest userbase of BlackBerry and I still hear people thinking that BlackBerry is already dead, no thanks to Facebook fear-mongering posts

King.com, Supercell, LINE, facebook, Uber, ehh... IDK what developers are hot? I don't use many apps. Get all of them on board, and no shady Chinese indie devs.

Z10 STL100-1/10.3.1.2576

[ShaneVich1]

Hire a team to repair the crappy reputation the company is dragging along with it. That's the first thing they should do, followed by a stronger initiative for app-creation. Advertise. Let people know what the hell is going on. People won't know about you if you stay locked away in your house all day.

As much as I hate the word innovate, I think they need to continue with thinking outside the bun. The Passport received a lot of attention and praise just for being a different type of Flagship. They need to stick with the "unconventional device" plan and run far with it before people forget.

Also, releasing an Android flagship with a qnx flavored twist wouldn't hurt.

[Superfly_FR]

Stick to their DNA(*) and only target those involved, invest in near-future (mass) markets.

(*) Security - Reliability - Efficiency - Costs control (R.O.I)

[Hende Nicolas]

Stick to their DNA(*) and only target those involved, invest in near-future (mass) markets.

(*) Security - Reliability - Efficiency - Costs control (R.O.I)

That seems to be have been their plan for a while now. That means they planned on selling a child's handful of Z30s, and hardly any of any other devices.

If not selling, and calling it cost control is BlackBerry's DNA, then we are in a pretty dire place indeed. Wait, we ARE in a pretty dire state indeed...

Is your DNA plan a comeback plan? I, and many others, doubt it very seriously, but hey, there is always the next six months to look forward to...and the next six months...and they next...

Posted via CB10

[mrpunka1589]

Make a new feature in BBM called BBM Hook-UP, lets you search other BBMers in a 5km radius. Then have the option of adding that person, conversing with someone that isnt on your bbm list, and a option to turn this feature on or off. Oh yea a HELL MORE EMOTICONS and ICONS!!!

[ubizmo]

It was a bad idea to name BB10 "BB10", but I guess it's too late to do anything about it now.

It was a good idea to try to pay developers to build major apps for BB10, but even so it failed. As I recall, BlackBerry even offered to send programmers to Instagram to help them build the native app, and still the door was slammed. We don't know, and will never know, how much money was on the table. It's easy for us to say they just didn't offer enough, but we really aren't in a position to say that. We do know that Microsoft, with much deeper pockets, has faced exactly the same problem.

The Android runtime at one time seemed to me to be an ingenious solution, one that would buy the platform time to grow, at which point native development would take over. I no longer believe that. The trouble is, the Android runtime isn't good enough to be marketable. BlackBerry can't really claim that users can run their favorite Android apps, because many of those favorites either aren't in the Amazon store or wouldn't run properly anyway. It's okay for those of us who are left around here: the tinkerers and the few who only use the native features anyway. For the rest of the world -- demonstrably the vast majority of consumer and Enterprise users -- having the latest apps matters.

A BlackBerry Android might be the only play left, IF (a) enough of the BB10 user experience can be shoehorned into Android without ending up with a chimera; (b) there's enough added security, over and above regular Android, that BlackBerry can market it; (c) BlackBerry can preserve some degree of neutrality. For example, if you use "OK Google" to add a meeting to your calendar, it will only use your Google calendar. What if you use some other calendar? On BB10, Assistant will use whatever calendar you've specified. This needs to carry over to Android (There are third-party Android voice assistant apps, such as Dragon Assistant, that do this now).

Samsung ads don't mention Android; they just talk about what the phones can do. But BlackBerry will be in a different position. They'll have to mention Android, since the whole point of going Android would be to provide access to apps and services. But they'll have to mention it in a way that conveys a fundamentally different kind of Android experience (assuming they can provide it at all). I don't think that'll be easy.

[Superfly_FR]

That seems to be have been their plan for a while now. That means they planned on selling a child's handful of Z30s, and hardly any of any other devices.

Z30 was pre-Chen era

If not selling, and calling it cost control is BlackBerry's DNA, then we are in a pretty dire place indeed. Wait, we ARE in a pretty dire state indeed...

Cost control (Return On Investments) for the customers aka Enterprises. Yet, also applies for BlackBerry while not what I referred to.

Is your DNA plan a comeback plan? I, and many others, doubt it very seriously, but hey, there is always the next six months to look forward to...and the next six months...and they next...

At least the mandatory first step. I'm not sure what you expect as a "comeback plan"; we're not anymore in the "RIM strikes back" mood right now. Being able to generate profit and growth within achievable targets (Enterprise) alone is an incredible comeback if we refer to the "specialists" that have trumpeted BlackBerry's death next week/month/Quarter during the last 3 years (and more).
6 months ? 12 ? 24 ? I'm no wizard to give you a schedule that will fit with "comeback". But for the "plan"; see above

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

they should hire John Chen....
oh wait.. they already did.. this means they are on a come back already!

on top of this though, they should invest some money in advertisements! can't speak for other regions, but there are ZERO ads in USA!

Yeah but is John Chen working on a comeback.... or just a whole new direction for the company. Chen is a software man, his first comments were that maybe they don't need hardware. He has done very little while he has been running the company to develop new hardware... only projects with his DNA on them are "refreshes" . The Slider would be the first CHEN product.... but rumors are that might not be a real "berry".

The Company I think is on track to stability and positive revenues in the future - IF they are gaining EMM business, and can continue to do so without hardware.. But the OP and most of us could really care less about a software and services BlackBerry. So how doe they get back on track......

Our "original" fearless leader told us all what BlackBerry had to do at the launch of BB10..... about eight months before the launch. But they failed on just about every point.

• Carrier Support
• Marketing
• High Quality Devices that were not a year (or years) behind in specs
• Competitive or Introductory Prices (remember how at the time MS was subsidizing devices)
• Stable OS
• APPs, APPs and more APPs

We all know what happened at the launch and in the months that followed. And simply for BlackBerry to make a comeback, all of those points still need to be meet. You can't just do marketing and not also have the hardware, apps and pricing in place. But now these points are even harder to attain and would be more expensive than BlackBerry can afford. It's like trying to play poker and you have a losing hand.... and you have shown it to everyone.

So a comeback isn't going to take place anytime soon. But that doesn't mean that they can't build devices that meets the needs of some "niche", market and stabilize their company and allow for time to slowly build the business. It's just a matter of finding that niche and securing it.

[Hende Nicolas]

It's not at all like playing poker with a losing hand. It's more like being in the business of selling products and being the only muppet in the room who thinks advertising isn't important. The only thing I can come up with is that BlackBerry were burnt so badly before that they are simply scared. Also, perhaps they haven't got any idea how to connect to the public and they know it. It's got nothing to do with poker, I'm afraid.

Posted via CB10

[Blacklatino]

I like all of the comments.....especially those that are repetitive to some of us. Once again, while finances may not be where they need to be, there still needs to be some type of marketing. Right now it's like throwing ish against the wall to see if it sticks(or devices sell). Just my IMHO, so some of you, no need to spazz out. Nothing else, better coordination with carriers(yeah, I know) to assist in more(as opposed to current) marketing and drop the price- as needed. The concept of a "word - of - mouth" marketing approach(go back in time about 3 years ago) won't work.......if no one wants a BlackBerry. Not the same as telling someone about a new eating establishment, a great sale or movie. This is a bad-azz smartphone that most don't know about while those that do choose to ignore by choice and/or due to peer pressure.

[fanisk]

To establish again relationship with the carriers, in Greece none is offering BlackBerry!


Sent from my BlackBerry Passport

[Hende Nicolas]

Carriers don't want to sell phones that they think won't sell. Once again, it comes down to advertising and pricing. BlackBerry should have been getting those right for the last few years now so that they would now have a much bigger user base, and therefore a better relationship with carriers and therefore a better relationship with app developers.

Posted via CB10

[cgk]

Carriers don't want to sell phones that they think won't sell.
Posted via CB10

That's part of it - but the other part is - "how much money... sorry how much co-funded marketing are you giving us to push your phone"?

There is no way around the fact that Blackberry doesn't have the finances to do that - which is Chen backed out of consumer markets. It's the same reason why, although they make some of the best android phones, is going down the tubes.

[BCITMike]

Find a way to make providers more money per subscriber and get back into their good graces.

Posted via CB10

[Hende Nicolas]

That's part of it - but the other part is - "how much money... sorry how much co-funded marketing are you giving us to push your phone"?

There is no way around the fact that Blackberry doesn't have the finances to do that - which is Chen backed out of consumer markets. It's the same reason why, although they make some of the best android phones, is going down the tubes.

Yeah, you are right that money is tight, but we will need to pay attention to how this halfway approach is panning out. Someone else posted the famous Ford quote recently: '�A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time'. Do BlackBerry know something Ford didn't? We will have to see.

My view is that BlackBerry should at least have been advertising enough for people to know their products existed. This doesn't mean spending colossal amounts of money, but billboards in key cities for a few months advertising the existence of the Passport was a must. It just makes little sense to me to put all that money into developing the device and then not giving it a chance. There has to be a middle ground between spending too much and spending some sensible money in the right places. Just a thought.

Posted via CB10