Dear Customer, You Should Buy A Passport...

[As BlackBerry CEO]

Dear BlackBerry customer (or potential customer),

We are running a 20%-off sale on all Passport devices....

...So, if you own a Passport, its a great time to upgrade to the Silver Edition Passport because ___________ .

___

Ok, readers, please fill in the blank - keeping it as factual as possible.

I do own a Passport and would love to get a Silver Edition Passport under the current sale, but am frankly confused and concerned by rumors/chatter that apparently we will not see much of any improvements to BB10 in the future, and therefore there may be no point in forking out the money for yet another BlackBerry that may be useless in a year or two.

I simply want to rest assured that this sale is not part of a plan to empty inventory and I look forward to a continuing progressive future with BlackBerry - i.e. BB10 and the non-android side of the house. Beginning with a SE Passport and 10.3.3 apparently rolling out in the coming week (hopefully with more than a few improvements).

...Heck, I am totally open to buying a new BB10 (non-android) device rolled out in a year or so - so its not about the money, so much as I wanna know there is a BlackBerry device future. If anything else, I hope that at least official news out last year that BlackBerry would always continue to produce devices for professionals is true, as that would mean we could possibly look forward to there always being devices...

BB10 is dead. Let it go.

*C5303

Hi JC

Blackberry Passport Running 10.3.2.2813

The long and short of it: if there is a device future, BB10 isn't in it.

Thurask, do you also mean that BB10's days are numbered in terms of support and development, announcements to the contrary from BlackBerry notwithstanding?

Originally Posted by thurask

The long and short of it: if there is a device future, BB10 isn't in it.

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by nathan62969

Thurask, do you also mean that BB10's days are numbered in terms of support and development, announcements to the contrary from BlackBerry notwithstanding?





Posted via CB10

Pretty much, yes.

10.3.3 is a minor update to introduce certifications so that a handful of IT managers can be satisfied. 10.3.4 is set to be the same. After that, I'm not sure if there will be anything.

Nothing terribly relevant to the consumer will come.

As for third party support and development, its days were numbered since the beginning.

Originally Posted by johnny_bravo72

BB10 is dead. Let it go.

*C5303

Just like the Androids that will not get marshmallow.

Posted via CB10

So statements such as "Our commitment to BlackBerry 10 and to developers has not changed" and "we want to also make very clear our ongoing commitment to the BlackBerry 10 platform" are half-truth attempts, at best, to maximize sales of current inventories over the long term and minimize losses to its customer base in the short/intermediate term?

It's sad to think of having the best phone, still, with many shortcomings nonetheless and nothing on the horizon to improve or replace it.

Originally Posted by thurask

Pretty much, yes.

10.3.3 is a minor update to introduce certifications so that a handful of IT managers can be satisfied. 10.3.4 is set to be the same. After that, I'm not sure if there will be anything.

Nothing terribly relevant to the consumer will come.

As for third party support and development, its days were numbered since the beginning.

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by nathan62969

So statements such as "Our commitment to BlackBerry 10 and to developers has not changed" and "we want to also make very clear our ongoing commitment to the BlackBerry 10 platform" are half-truth attempts, at best, to maximize sales of current inventories over the long term and minimize losses to its customer base in the short/intermediate term?

It's sad to think of having the best phone, still, with many shortcomings nonetheless and nothing on the horizon to improve or replace it.


Posted via CB10

"Our commitment has not changed" doesn't mean "we are deeply committed and will substantially update the OS". Token security updates, minor features and bug fixes, that's it, much like their past little while of OS development.

The last major change was 10.3.1, which was about a year ago.

Thanks Thurask, I really appreciate your take on this and all that you have done for the BlackBerry community, and what you say is pretty much the gist I have gathered in pieces over the past few months, with what little time I have had to research further amid BlackBerry's macro and micro trends, such as its shiftings to software and the dwindling of updates and leaks. My questions though were frankly searching for hope, and now I guess I still wish BlackBerry comes out with a new device and OS in the future that is not android as it still currently exists, or, in the very end, Apple comes out with many new iPhone features BlackBerry has, such as micro-SD capacity...

May I ask - what device are you currently using, and what excites you in the smartphone future, BlackBerry or otherwise, following BB10?

Originally Posted by thurask

"Our commitment has not changed" doesn't mean "we are deeply committed and will substantially update the OS". Token security updates, minor features and bug fixes, that's it, much like their past little while of OS development.

The last major change was 10.3.1, which was about a year ago.

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by nathan62969

So statements such as "Our commitment to BlackBerry 10 and to developers has not changed" and "we want to also make very clear our ongoing commitment to the BlackBerry 10 platform" are half-truth attempts, at best, to maximize sales of current inventories over the long term and minimize losses to its customer base in the short/intermediate term?

BlackBerry have reiterated their commitment to have other people spend their time and money to prop up BB10 long enough to keep the books balanced for another quarter or two.

Originally Posted by Notna Nosyel

Just like the Androids that will not get marshmallow.

Posted via CB10

Those Androids that won't get Marshmallow still have apps though. Besides, the main point that you seem to have missed is that no one wants to stick with the same phone forever. If they did, the BB10 fans would stop whining already and be happy with either the Z30 or Passport for the rest of their lives. A user with a Android device that won't get Marshmallow can quite easily move to a new Android phone that does have Marshmallow. Android has a future. Fans of the Android operating system have a huge and constantly refreshing selection of devices to choose from. There is no reason for a Android fan to use the same phone for years on end or buy a replacement for the same exact model of phone they already had been using. Android fans have options, BB10 fans don't. BB10 fans have nothing new on the horizon to look forward to except for two security updates. BB10 being dead isn't quite the samething as a model of Android not getting marshmallow.

Originally Posted by Witmen

Those Androids that won't get Marshmallow still have apps though. Besides, the main point that you seem to have missed is that no one wants to stick with the same phone forever. If they did, the BB10 fans would stop whining already and be happy with either the Z30 or Passport for the rest of their lives. A user with a Android device that won't get Marshmallow can quite easily move to a new Android phone that does have Marshmallow. Android has a future. Fans of the Android operating system have a huge and constantly refreshing selection of devices to choose from. There is no reason for a Android fan to use the same phone for years on end or buy a replacement for the same exact model of phone they already had been using. Android fans have options, BB10 fans don't. BB10 fans have nothing new on the horizon to look forward to except for two security updates. BB10 being dead isn't quite the samething as a model of Android not getting marshmallow.

Err..you missed the point also. The connotation that BB10 is dead because it will not received any developmental updates to the os is applicable also to older Android os versions that will not received marshmallow.

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by Notna Nosyel

Err..you missed the point also. The connotation that BB10 is dead because it will not received any developmental updates to the os is applicable also to older Android os versions that will not received marshmallow.

Posted via CB10

Actually you don't get it - you are comparing an OS whose development is suspended to a device that will not get an update which is not the same. The next android version (N) coming out later this year. It is not like Google has stopped developing and advancing android and just releasing patches/bug fixes from now on.

That is what BB is doing, they have stopped development of BB10 - no new api for developers, no new tools, no new stack, no new features etc... What you get are just two updates (aka security updates/bug fixes), no new devices and more importantly no new BB11.

Originally Posted by Notna Nosyel

Err..you missed the point also. The connotation that BB10 is dead because it will not received any developmental updates to the os is applicable also to older Android os versions that will not received marshmallow.

Posted via CB10

I didn't miss that, it just isn't a valid point. Besides, if you want to get technical, Google pushes a ton of updates to older Android phones using Google Play Services. Google pushes new features, security patches and optimization improvements through Google Play Services. Android devices that aren't on the latest version of Android still receive developmental updates thanks to Google Play Services updates. So you simply do not have a point.

Originally Posted by Witmen

I didn't miss that, it just isn't a valid point. Besides, if you want to get technical, Google pushes a ton of updates to older Android phones using Google Play Services. Google pushes new features, security patches and optimization improvements through Google Play Services. Android devices that aren't on the latest version of Android still receive developmental updates thanks to Google Play Services updates. So you simply do not have a point.

An Android device that is not gonna be updated anymore from its current os version is basically the same as a BlackBerry device that will have no update from its current os 10 version . You don't have to be technical to understand that. Don't you?

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by Notna Nosyel

An Android device that is not gonna be updated anymore from its current os version is basically the same as a BlackBerry device that will have no update from its current os 10 version . You don't have to be technical to understand that. Don't you?

Posted via CB10

So in other words, you think a Android phone is as dead as BB10 is if the Android version number doesn't go up? :confused:

Google is still providing improvements, patches and updates to Gingerbread devices through Google Play Services. Does that count for nothing if the Android version number doesn't go up? If Google is still supporting Gingerbread devices with updates, then it is safe to assume that a Android device that stays at Lollipop will see continued improvements for years to come.

As Google improves Android, they put as many of the improvements they can into GPS. So although a Android device that is on lollipop may not have everything that is in Marshmallow, some of the new stuff does trickle down. Pretty soon, there probably won't be anyone left working on BB10 at all. So there will be no new stuff period for BB10.

It is not the same thing. You can keep desperately trying to make it seem like the same thing, but it really isn't. Have you ever owned a Android device? Android updates through GPS was a genius move by Google.

Originally Posted by nathan62969

May I ask - what device are you currently using, and what excites you in the smartphone future, BlackBerry or otherwise, following BB10?

Posted via CB10

Right now, the Priv.

Once my contract finishes, who knows what November 2017 will be like? But probably a Nexus phone.

P.S. I wonder if Android has yet to or will build into its os the very basic functionality of playing of videos in the background (i.e. allowing for multitasking during video playback)?‎

Originally Posted by thurask

Right now, the Priv.

Once my contract finishes, who knows what November 2017 will be like? But probably a Nexus phone.

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by nathan62969

P.S. I wonder if Android has yet to or will build into its os the very basic functionality of playing of videos in the background (i.e. allowing for multitasking during video playback)?‎






Posted via CB10

Android has been able to do that since before BB10 even existed. The stock YouTube app, chrome and other apps are all programmed to pause video playback when the video exists the foreground. The apps that do pause video playback do so by design, not because of any limitations of Android. Several third party apps do not behave that way though.

BTW, the subscription based YouTube Red service does do YouTube background playback. Also, there are Android phones that have pop-up YouTube video Windows that will let you see multiple apps in the foreground while the YouTube video is still running and is still viewable. BB10's multitasking is limited to only one app in the foregroung at once. Android's isn't.

But yea even though it appears that almost every BB10 fan in the world thinks that it is, video playback in the background isn't some magical feat that only BB10 can do.

Thanks...I should have been more specific/accurate.

..Playing of videos through a browser, such as Chrome, and at least some other apps, like Bloomberg, in the background allowing for multi-tasking. I have an android phone for work, which I use rarely for anything other than email and calls, so my experience is limited to it, some android-based apps on my Passport (chrome, bloomberg, etc), and testing Priv and some other android OS phones (not recently). Therefore, it seemed like an android limitation, but I guess it's a limitation found in many android-based apps?

Originally Posted by Witmen

Android has been able to do that since before BB10 even existed. The stock YouTube app, chrome and other apps are all programmed to pause video playback when the video exists the foreground. That apps that do pause video playback do so by design, not because of any limitations of Android.

BTW, the subscription based YouTube Red service does do YouTube background playback. Also, Android has pop-up YouTube video Windows that will let you see multiple apps in the foreground while the YouTube video is still running and is still viewable. It isn't some magical feat.

Posted via CB10