What Blackberry needs to do to be successful again
- I was an avid user of the BB Bold 9900 and then the Passport and I really loved both of them. And now I've got the KeyOne and it's OK, except for a lot of small things that annoy me. But I won't buy a BB phone after this even though I really loved the brand.
I'm going to tell you why. And what BB, in my opinion, can do against this.
What really spoke for the older phones, especially the Passport, was that it was comfortable to use. The swiping gestures worked perfectly fine and were intuitive, the idea of the hub was great, everything was well-tested, well-integrated and very stable. Even though I am a hardcore-user (I'm a software developer and on the phone all the time, doing all kinds of different things, web-browsing, app-testing, ssh'ing servers, even coding, and of course, phone, SMS, ...), in my 3 years of using the Passport, it only crashed twice and needed a reboot and only one time it hang so much that I needed to reboot manually.
The modern KeyOne, in all of those regards, sucks. It does not matter to me whether it's Androids fault or Blackberrys. The only thing that matters is that it sucks. The Hub is only a bare reminiscence of what it used to be, not at all as comfortable and well-integrated into the OS. Swiping when getting calls doesn't work most of the time. Sometimes, when typing an email, I accidently press some buttons, go to the home screen and it detects my last key presses as "search for this item", which starts the (not really working) phone search (it never finds what I want and I practically stopped using it, though it was one of the best features on the Passport), which disrupts the email writing for like 30 seconds. I have to restart the phone like twice a month because something isn't working, mainly at the login screen when unable to login. Also, I use the music player a lot. But it was Google Music. Some day, they just told me "hey, we stopped Google Music. It won't work in a month from now and all your contents will be deleted. Use the Youtube Music app from now on". This is absolutely unacceptable to me. I don't want Google to decide what software I use. All alternatives suck, the least worst one being the VLC media player.
It seems to me like the KeyOne software has barely been tested in a real work scenario by real people.
But there's one even bigger thing in the way of BB making a widespread phone. The hardware.
The specs are Ok. It's not a gaming machine, but it doesn't need to be. But the shell sucks.
When looking out for a new phone, I came across the Unihertz Titan. A rugged BlackBerry clone. Waterproof, dustproof and so on. It would have been perfect if I just was able to trust the software (which I'm not, because it's full of chinese spyware). I have lots of friends and colleagues that would love a good QWERTY (or, in my case, QWERTZ) phone, like the Passport once was, but they're on their way all day long and need a more rugged phone that may fall down once or twice without everything breaking. My friends range from construction workers, water-workers, programmers and even hippies on their own farm, and they all use rugged phones and none of them is happy with the phone's software. But they put up with it, even though it annoys them, because they need rugged hardware. This is a huge market that a good software rugged phone can easily take.
If BlackBerry wanted to be successful again, my advise would be:
- Test your software thoroughly, and fix every small thing that is annoying. Don't hide behind "it's Android's fault". Fix it. The BBOS10 was near perfection imho. Everything worked, was intuitive and stable. The android versions suck.
- Create a rugged hardware option. This will get you a lot of customers that would have not considered your phone and that can easily pe persuaded even with the mediocre software quality of the android phone, because it's way better than what rugged-phone-companies can offer now.12-18-20 06:12 AMLike 5 - I was an avid user of the BB Bold 9900 and then the Passport and I really loved both of them. And now I've got the KeyOne and it's OK, except for a lot of small things that annoy me. But I won't buy a BB phone after this even though I really loved the brand.
I'm going to tell you why. And what BB, in my opinion, can do against this.
What really spoke for the older phones, especially the Passport, was that it was comfortable to use. The swiping gestures worked perfectly fine and were intuitive, the idea of the hub was great, everything was well-tested, well-integrated and very stable. Even though I am a hardcore-user (I'm a software developer and on the phone all the time, doing all kinds of different things, web-browsing, app-testing, ssh'ing servers, even coding, and of course, phone, SMS, ...), in my 3 years of using the Passport, it only crashed twice and needed a reboot and only one time it hang so much that I needed to reboot manually.
The modern KeyOne, in all of those regards, sucks. It does not matter to me whether it's Androids fault or Blackberrys. The only thing that matters is that it sucks. The Hub is only a bare reminiscence of what it used to be, not at all as comfortable and well-integrated into the OS. Swiping when getting calls doesn't work most of the time. Sometimes, when typing an email, I accidently press some buttons, go to the home screen and it detects my last key presses as "search for this item", which starts the (not really working) phone search (it never finds what I want and I practically stopped using it, though it was one of the best features on the Passport), which disrupts the email writing for like 30 seconds. I have to restart the phone like twice a month because something isn't working, mainly at the login screen when unable to login. Also, I use the music player a lot. But it was Google Music. Some day, they just told me "hey, we stopped Google Music. It won't work in a month from now and all your contents will be deleted. Use the Youtube Music app from now on". This is absolutely unacceptable to me. I don't want Google to decide what software I use. All alternatives suck, the least worst one being the VLC media player.
It seems to me like the KeyOne software has barely been tested in a real work scenario by real people.
But there's one even bigger thing in the way of BB making a widespread phone. The hardware.
The specs are Ok. It's not a gaming machine, but it doesn't need to be. But the shell sucks.
When looking out for a new phone, I came across the Unihertz Titan. A rugged BlackBerry clone. Waterproof, dustproof and so on. It would have been perfect if I just was able to trust the software (which I'm not, because it's full of chinese spyware). I have lots of friends and colleagues that would love a good QWERTY (or, in my case, QWERTZ) phone, like the Passport once was, but they're on their way all day long and need a more rugged phone that may fall down once or twice without everything breaking. My friends range from construction workers, water-workers, programmers and even hippies on their own farm, and they all use rugged phones and none of them is happy with the phone's software. But they put up with it, even though it annoys them, because they need rugged hardware. This is a huge market that a good software rugged phone can easily take.
If BlackBerry wanted to be successful again, my advise would be:
- Test your software thoroughly, and fix every small thing that is annoying. Don't hide behind "it's Android's fault". Fix it. The BBOS10 was near perfection imho. Everything worked, was intuitive and stable. The android versions suck.
- Create a rugged hardware option. This will get you a lot of customers that would have not considered your phone and that can easily pe persuaded even with the mediocre software quality of the android phone, because it's way better than what rugged-phone-companies can offer now.
The new licensee OM hasn’t done anything yet but will probably use Android One for the OS if the venture ever happens. I suspect a Unihertz Titan similar phone that has BlackBerry stickers just made by FIH somewhere in some neutral political facility. OM hinted at USA manufacturing possibilities. As far as rugged phones, OM has connections with Sonim that currently makes rugged phones. That could be your real-time actual solution.Trouveur likes this.12-18-20 06:44 AMLike 1 - Yeah we are long past the point of BlackBerry caring about the hardware market..... they are tiny software company with some remnant smartphone IP and name. And looks like they are selling off the hardware patents. So the name and the legacy of what BlackBerry was may soon be separated.
As Chuck said, OM might simply be some stickers and maybe some Enterprise level BlackBerry software solutions.... that I'm not so sure consumers are going to want to pay for.12-18-20 07:03 AMLike 0 -
And how many Titan owners have complained of the weight and bulk?
Personally I don't really understand the rugged phone market.... I'd rather buy the phone I want at a good price and then add a case to it. You don't see rugged phones "on sale" or being updated all that much.
What I wish they'd do is just forget about Government, Enterprise or Invincibility, and build a "good" low cost PKB phone that get's updates and patches via the Android One program (and OM continuing support of that program and their phones). But then that risks the BlackBerry name. So in the end it's going to have something BlackBerry on it. My guess is off the shelf enterprise solutions... for a monthly fee.12-18-20 08:13 AMLike 0 - I was an avid user of the BB Bold 9900 and then the Passport and I really loved both of them. And now I've got the KeyOne and it's OK, except for a lot of small things that annoy me. But I won't buy a BB phone after this even though I really loved the brand.
I'm going to tell you why. And what BB, in my opinion, can do against this.
What really spoke for the older phones, especially the Passport, was that it was comfortable to use. The swiping gestures worked perfectly fine and were intuitive, the idea of the hub was great, everything was well-tested, well-integrated and very stable. Even though I am a hardcore-user (I'm a software developer and on the phone all the time, doing all kinds of different things, web-browsing, app-testing, ssh'ing servers, even coding, and of course, phone, SMS, ...), in my 3 years of using the Passport, it only crashed twice and needed a reboot and only one time it hang so much that I needed to reboot manually.
The modern KeyOne, in all of those regards, sucks. It does not matter to me whether it's Androids fault or Blackberrys. The only thing that matters is that it sucks. The Hub is only a bare reminiscence of what it used to be, not at all as comfortable and well-integrated into the OS. Swiping when getting calls doesn't work most of the time. Sometimes, when typing an email, I accidently press some buttons, go to the home screen and it detects my last key presses as "search for this item", which starts the (not really working) phone search (it never finds what I want and I practically stopped using it, though it was one of the best features on the Passport), which disrupts the email writing for like 30 seconds. I have to restart the phone like twice a month because something isn't working, mainly at the login screen when unable to login. Also, I use the music player a lot. But it was Google Music. Some day, they just told me "hey, we stopped Google Music. It won't work in a month from now and all your contents will be deleted. Use the Youtube Music app from now on". This is absolutely unacceptable to me. I don't want Google to decide what software I use. All alternatives suck, the least worst one being the VLC media player.
It seems to me like the KeyOne software has barely been tested in a real work scenario by real people.
But there's one even bigger thing in the way of BB making a widespread phone. The hardware.
The specs are Ok. It's not a gaming machine, but it doesn't need to be. But the shell sucks.
When looking out for a new phone, I came across the Unihertz Titan. A rugged BlackBerry clone. Waterproof, dustproof and so on. It would have been perfect if I just was able to trust the software (which I'm not, because it's full of chinese spyware). I have lots of friends and colleagues that would love a good QWERTY (or, in my case, QWERTZ) phone, like the Passport once was, but they're on their way all day long and need a more rugged phone that may fall down once or twice without everything breaking. My friends range from construction workers, water-workers, programmers and even hippies on their own farm, and they all use rugged phones and none of them is happy with the phone's software. But they put up with it, even though it annoys them, because they need rugged hardware. This is a huge market that a good software rugged phone can easily take.
If BlackBerry wanted to be successful again, my advise would be:
- Test your software thoroughly, and fix every small thing that is annoying. Don't hide behind "it's Android's fault". Fix it. The BBOS10 was near perfection imho. Everything worked, was intuitive and stable. The android versions suck.
- Create a rugged hardware option. This will get you a lot of customers that would have not considered your phone and that can easily pe persuaded even with the mediocre software quality of the android phone, because it's way better than what rugged-phone-companies can offer now.12-18-20 08:21 AMLike 2 - And how many Titan's have they sold.... 5K?
And how many Titan owners have complained of the weight and bulk?
Personally I don't really understand the rugged phone market.... I'd rather buy the phone I want at a good price and then add a case to it. You don't see rugged phones "on sale" or being updated all that much.
What I wish they'd do is just forget about Government, Enterprise or Invincibility, and build a "good" low cost PKB phone that get's updates and patches via the Android One program (and OM continuing support of that program and their phones). But then that risks the BlackBerry name. So in the end it's going to have something BlackBerry on it. My guess is off the shelf enterprise solutions... for a monthly fee.
1. The hardware is not nearly as good as BlackBerry could make it with their experience, especially if they designed it similiar to the Passport's hard- and software.
2. It's practically impossible to trust this thing since it's from china and packed with weird unremovable spyware that sends all your data to some weird foreign servers.
Also, marketing is a big thing where they miss.
And rugged phones are not for everyone. There are people who don't want to have a slightly heavier, but more robust phone. But from my experience I can tell that there *is* a market that wants and needs this, even in "normal" people. People who care more about having their phone reliable for a longer time than to either have the latest apps, or a very lightweight phone. And these people can be easily marketed to when you have good hard- and especially good software, since on all these rugged phones, the software really sucks and is barely usable at all. Even the mediocre-quality BB android software would get these users, as it would be better than anything they'd ever laid their hands on.12-18-20 08:24 AMLike 0 - I certainly don't agree. I've got this phone for about half a year now, and I think I will never get used to rebooting my phone because it doesn't work as I want it to, the calendar that doesn't allow me to import or export ical files, the terrible device search app that never finds what I want and the slow and sluggish UI that hangs at random times at random tasks.12-18-20 08:28 AMLike 0
- I certainly don't agree. I've got this phone for about half a year now, and I think I will never get used to rebooting my phone because it doesn't work as I want it to, the calendar that doesn't allow me to import or export ical files, the terrible device search app that never finds what I want and the slow and sluggish UI that hangs at random times at random tasks.
You seem to be under the impression that BlackBerry didn't leave the device business in 2016. You do realize that the 3 licensees who picked up the brand-name since have either gone bankrupt or have already dropped it, right?
A new startup called OnwardMobility is purporting to launch another BlackBerry-branded phone mid-2021, but that really has nothing to do with BlackBerry Limited either.Last edited by conite; 12-18-20 at 11:14 AM.
12-18-20 08:56 AMLike 0 - The problem with Unihertz, in my opinion, is twofold.
1. The hardware is not nearly as good as BlackBerry could make it with their experience, especially if they designed it similiar to the Passport's hard- and software.
2. It's practically impossible to trust this thing since it's from china and packed with weird unremovable spyware that sends all your data to some weird foreign servers.
Also, marketing is a big thing where they miss.
And rugged phones are not for everyone. There are people who don't want to have a slightly heavier, but more robust phone. But from my experience I can tell that there *is* a market that wants and needs this, even in "normal" people. People who care more about having their phone reliable for a longer time than to either have the latest apps, or a very lightweight phone. And these people can be easily marketed to when you have good hard- and especially good software, since on all these rugged phones, the software really sucks and is barely usable at all. Even the mediocre-quality BB android software would get these users, as it would be better than anything they'd ever laid their hands on.
But more something along the lines of the Samsung Galaxy XCover.anon(8004005) likes this.12-18-20 10:14 AMLike 1 - I certainly don't agree. I've got this phone for about half a year now, and I think I will never get used to rebooting my phone because it doesn't work as I want it to, the calendar that doesn't allow me to import or export ical files, the terrible device search app that never finds what I want and the slow and sluggish UI that hangs at random times at random tasks.12-18-20 11:09 AMLike 0
-
- I certainly don't agree. I've got this phone for about half a year now, and I think I will never get used to rebooting my phone because it doesn't work as I want it to, the calendar that doesn't allow me to import or export ical files, the terrible device search app that never finds what I want and the slow and sluggish UI that hangs at random times at random tasks.anon(5597702) and saint300 like this.12-18-20 02:32 PMLike 2
- I agree with you on this. I've been using an android device for years (off an on) and I still hate android. I would much more prefer an OS with some integration of services (such as HUB, File Manager etc), but it is what it is and you have to accept it. Either that or iOS, which, to me, is TOO integrated and walled-up. Whatever happened to the happy medium? No one wanted it. Pity.
Personally I like how features like Passwords are integrated and can be used in most any app that supports that API - browser, os or apps. Things like pairing a Apple Watch or EarPods is seamless. Adding a new Apple device to a network is seamless as well, as you can use one device to approve the other.
I've even added some of my own music and movie to play on iPhone. The only wall I've hit is I can't buy movies in the Vudu app.12-18-20 03:16 PMLike 0 - What's too walled or intergraded about iOS. If you want a different browser, email, sms... you can use different ones. iOS isn't any more walled up than BB10 was.
Personally I like how features like Passwords are integrated and can be used in most any app that supports that API - browser, os or apps. Things like pairing a Apple Watch or EarPods is seamless. Adding a new Apple device to a network is seamless as well, as you can use one device to approve the other.
I've even added some of my own music and movie to play on iPhone. The only wall I've hit is I can't buy movies in the Vudu app.12-18-20 04:15 PMLike 0 - What's too walled or intergraded about iOS. If you want a different browser, email, sms... you can use different ones. iOS isn't any more walled up than BB10 was.
Personally I like how features like Passwords are integrated and can be used in most any app that supports that API - browser, os or apps. Things like pairing a Apple Watch or EarPods is seamless. Adding a new Apple device to a network is seamless as well, as you can use one device to approve the other.
I've even added some of my own music and movie to play on iPhone. The only wall I've hit is I can't buy movies in the Vudu app.
I want a phone I can trust and I want a phone where I can do whatever I want with (technically and legally) and I want a phone that just works.
I cannot have that, so I chose a compromise with myself:
BlackBerrys (all I've had) worked perfectly fine in point 1 and 3, but not so good in point 2. That was a compromise I was able and willing to make.
But now, I cannot have any of these. It's the same on Mac, but even more restricted (like not being able to root it if I want it, and the need for a special ecosystem for full-potential use). And it's way too expensive.
Sadly, nothing now satisfies my needs. BlackBerry was the best compromise I was able to make. But that stopped working for me for all the named reasons.12-18-20 05:53 PMLike 0 - Here's a wild idea, with the u.s global order breaking down somewhat, we'll probably see the emergence of new phone operating systems, as the old imperial empires reemerge. Perhaps they can open source bbos or qnx os (probably not due to their car business) and one of these empires will takeup the code base for development, and we'll get a new phone os. Perhaps something like this already happened with sailfish os whose phones were adopted by russian postal service. Kaios, india got a stake in that.
Last edited by manny2; 12-19-20 at 07:06 AM.
12-19-20 06:31 AMLike 0 - Here's a wild idea, with the u.s global order breaking down somewhat, we'll probably see the emergence of new phone operating systems, as the old imperial empires reemerge. Perhaps they can open source bbos or qnx os (probably not due to their car business) and one of these empires will takeup the code base for development, and we'll get a new phone os. Perhaps something like this already happened with sailfish os whose phones were adopted by russian postal service. Kaios, india got a stake in that.
Not to mention that consumers and businesses buy devices for their ecosystems - not for their OSes.Troy Tiscareno and app_Developer like this.12-19-20 07:33 AMLike 2 -
-
-
And if Europe as a whole wanted a non US based mobile OS, why would they hire an American startup, which has no own OS development to begin with?12-20-20 10:18 AMLike 0 - It is one thing that there will be no major conflict between France and Germany (other than on the football field, and on leftover food around 2.00 am during those neverending EU Summits ), but even if there was, how it would be related to reliance on US based OSes?
And if Europe as a whole wanted a non US based mobile OS, why would they hire an American startup, which has no own OS development to begin with?pdr733 likes this.12-20-20 10:19 AMLike 1 - OK, but if there will be a Chinese, Russian, or Indian OS (these are the countries most likely to embark on an “own OS” project, roughly in that order), it will have nothing to do with either BBOS or BB10 (both proprietary, Canadian OSes that havent been in development since ages), nor with BB Ltd and its licensee Onward Mobility.12-20-20 02:40 PMLike 0
- Forum
- Popular at CrackBerry
- General BlackBerry News, Discussion & Rumors
- Armchair CEO
What Blackberry needs to do to be successful again
Similar Threads
-
like me you're still using KeyOne.. what's your next phone?
By dxvigne in forum BlackBerry KEYoneReplies: 23Last Post: 02-08-21, 07:19 PM -
Blackberry Priv suddenly went dead, no LeDs, no restart method helps.
By Vaibhav Vishal1 in forum BlackBerry PrivReplies: 21Last Post: 01-05-21, 04:35 AM -
Swiping up to answer phone call does not work
By NormansBuecherei in forum BlackBerry KEYoneReplies: 11Last Post: 12-21-20, 03:42 AM -
Want to stop your keys scratching your iPhone? KeySmart can help, and it's now 28% off
By CrackBerry News in forum CrackBerry.com News Discussion & ContestsReplies: 1Last Post: 12-18-20, 07:42 AM -
BlackBerry reports Q3 Fiscal 2021 earnings
By CrackBerry News in forum CrackBerry.com News Discussion & ContestsReplies: 0Last Post: 12-17-20, 04:40 PM
LINK TO POST COPIED TO CLIPBOARD