[keliew]

Come to China and find a company to cooperate to make bb10. Mobile. What Chinese need is wechat. Not whatsapp.

Posted via CB10

That's so true. Pick a good partner in China and it will definitely fly well. There are so many mobile phone brands who want to differentiate themselves, and with strong links to core apps like Tencent's ecosystem, BB10 can go very far.

BlackBerry Passport via CB10

[Richard Buckley]

There's no need for BB10 for those applications (though many do license QNX for them) because most of BB10 is made for smartphones.

It would be like if you were going to manufacturer digital photo frames (a screen connected to an SD card slot and a tiny low-powered CPU that displays the photos on the card) and you were considering licensing Windows 10 for that - instead of some tiny Linux distro or even QNX. The Windows licence would cost more then your profit margin on the photo frame and you'd need much more CPU and RAM to run it - a waste for something as simple as a photo frame. You wouldn't need all of the thousands and thousands of Windows features, and just to be able to run it, you'd have to redesign your hardware to make it noncompetitive in the market. It would simply be the wrong choice of OS for what you were trying to do.

Not a bad argument, but you can run Windows 10 on a Raspberry Pi and several other low cost platforms. The ability to run powerful systems on trivial devices is where the promise of IoT comes from. It may not be competitive today, but it won't be long. On the other hand running IoT on cut rate Linux with poor security and built in back doors is where the emerging security nightmare of IoT comes from. It is going to be an interesting space to watch since there hasn't really been any disruptive products come out of it yet.

As far as recycling a mobile phone OS to do other things, many products are doing just that with Android. If you look at a typical IoT device systemically it isn't a lot different from a mobile phone.
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[app_Developer]

I wonder which components in BB10, other than QNX, are BlackBerry using in their Radar devices?

[Troy Tiscareno]

Not a bad argument, but you can run Windows 10 on a Raspberry Pi and several other low cost platforms.

Have you actually done that? I have. It... well, it isn't exactly impressive. Still, it's the equivalent of using a sledgehammer to swat a fly.

QNX is what people doing IoT will use, not BB10. QNX is tiny and efficient by comparison - but plenty for very task-specific uses, while BB10 was designed to be a very generalist platform, just like iOS or Android or Windows. It would make zero sense to use BB10 for those use-cases.

[Richard Buckley]

Have you actually done that? I have. It... well, it isn't exactly impressive. Still, it's the equivalent of using a sledgehammer to swat a fly.

QNX is what people doing IoT will use, not BB10. QNX is tiny and efficient by comparison - but plenty for very task-specific uses, while BB10 was designed to be a very generalist platform, just like iOS or Android or Windows. It would make zero sense to use BB10 for those use-cases.

Yes I have. While it isn't really impressive until you do something with it, having to capability of a full fledged OS can lead to some pretty impressive things.

I've also worked with QNX and depending on the hardware you are using and how much support is available out of the box it may also be unimpressive, until you do something impressive with it.

I've also been around long enough to know that the sledgehammer - fly analogy is the wrong way to look at it, especially when you factor in Moore's law. If you build a "smart" product on hardware and software that is only enough to do what you have in mind today you are just building a market for those who will see past your vision and eat your lunch. Legacy BlackBerry, iPhone, Android. Each built on what came before but providing something that the previous market leader didn't foresee.



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[ohaiguise]

Because from virtually all indications, BlackBerry stopped BB10 development over 1.5-2 years ago, if not earlier?

BlackBerry 'continues to support BB10' etc etc etc etc

[whatsever]

No company is intresting beacuse it allready an old version 10 with android runtime 4.3. They must rename it to bbos12 with android runtime 6 with apps permission, miracast support and that will be a great deal. Also in europe they are pushing google that the demand brands using google apps. It seems that google is only allowed to sell a mimimal stock rom like they did with windows. So I think blackberry should step up and go for it and there also allowed then to install google play.


Posted via CB10

[Troy Tiscareno]

It seems that google is only allowed to sell a mimimal stock rom like they did with windows.

The only thing MS has to do differently with Windows is to give a couple of choices for browsers, including its own. Nothing else changed, and you're going to see a very similar outcome with Android. There might be an extra step or two, but for the vast majority of users, nothing will change.

[app_Developer]

No company is intresting beacuse it allready an old version 10 with android runtime 4.3. They must rename it to bbos12 with android runtime 6 with apps permission, miracast support and that will be a great deal. Also in europe they are pushing google that the demand brands using google apps. It seems that google is only allowed to sell a mimimal stock rom like they did with windows. So I think blackberry should step up and go for it and there also allowed then to install google play.

So if I'm a Chinese manufacturer why wouldn't I just choose BlackBerry's Android offering instead? That way I don't have to worry about chipset compability or runtime versions or any of those constraints. The BB version runs on all the same hardware that vanilla Android will run on.

Isn't that the simpler, cheaper solution?

[JeepBB]

So if I'm a Chinese manufacturer why wouldn't I just choose BlackBerry's Android offering instead? That way I don't have to worry about chipset compability or runtime versions or any of those constraints. The BB version runs on all the same hardware that vanilla Android will run on.

Isn't that the simpler, cheaper solution?

There you go again with your logical thinking... this is CrackBerry, there's no call for that!

[blackmass]

*sigh*

Petition blackberry to open up bb10, plead the techies to develop support drivers & build a custom ROM. Flash it on supported phones.

[thurask]

So if I'm a Chinese manufacturer why wouldn't I just choose BlackBerry's Android offering instead? That way I don't have to worry about chipset compability or runtime versions or any of those constraints. The BB version runs on all the same hardware that vanilla Android will run on.

Isn't that the simpler, cheaper solution?

If BlackBerry's kernel voodoo is easily portable to MediaTek/Allwinner chipsets and other bottom of the barrel crap, yes. I'm not sure what Qualcomm's market penetration is in China.

[app_Developer]

If BlackBerry's kernel voodoo is easily portable to MediaTek/Allwinner chipsets and other bottom of the barrel crap, yes. I'm not sure what Qualcomm's market penetration is in China.

Good point, but didn't BB say that licensees have a choice of which security features they want to support? I don't think they have to take them all.

Still easier than trying to get BB10 to work, I think.

[thurask]

Good point, but didn't BB say that licensees have a choice of which security features they want to support? I don't think they have to take them all.

Still easier than trying to get BB10 to work, I think.

Yeah, but what's BlackBerry Android minus the security stuff?

PRIV is for Private: How BlackBerry Secures the Android Platform | Inside BlackBerry

BlackBerry has applied its world-renowned security model to Android, including:

BlackBerry’s Hardware Root of Trust, a unique manufacturing process that injects cryptographic keys into the device hardware, providing a secure foundation for the entire platform.

Verified Boot and Secure Bootchain, which uses the embedded keys to verify every layer of the device from hardware to OS to applications in order to make sure they haven’t been tampered with.

A hardened Linux kernel with numerous patches and configuration changes to improve security.

FIPS 140-2 compliant full disk encryption on by default to protect your privacy.

The BlackBerry Infrastructure, a secure distributed global network that transmits petabytes of encrypted data to and from the world’s most powerful leaders and professionals.

BES12, the leading Enterprise Mobility Management platform used by the world’s most powerful governments and corporations.

Hardware root of trust looks like a Qualcomm thing, the hardened Linux kernel is what we're discussing, disk encryption is already available in Android and the last two are only for enterprise.

[Richard Buckley]

Yeah, but what's BlackBerry Android minus the security stuff?

PRIV is for Private: How BlackBerry Secures the Android Platform | Inside BlackBerry



Hardware root of trust looks like a Qualcomm thing, the hardened Linux kernel is what we're discussing, disk encryption is already available in Android and the last two are only for enterprise.

Since root of trust has to start with the hardware the SOC manufacturer would have to support it. The feature is available from more than just Qualcomm, but if licensees are not required to support it then it may not be available. As for the rest of it, I have yet to see BlackBerry claim that the Priv or DTeck50 is not vulnerable to a published CVE because of the hardened kernel (maybe I missed it) so that remains of unproven utility.

Full disk encryption may slow the FBI down if you lock your phone with a decent password, but it won't protect your privacy from anything that is running on the device, either because the user loaded it and granted permission, or it got on by exploiting an un-patched bug. If legitimate software can read your disk, illegitimate software can too.

There may be a security and privacy advantage to running BlackBerry Android on a BlackBerry phone, I personally remain unconvinced. I don't see any advantage to running BlackBerry Android on hardware from any manufacturer that you can't trust.

So where does that leave Western Governments and high security enterprise in the transition to BlackBerry Android from BB10? Are they really going to go to Malaysian or Chinese hardware?

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[keliew]

So if I'm a Chinese manufacturer why wouldn't I just choose BlackBerry's Android offering instead? That way I don't have to worry about chipset compability or runtime versions or any of those constraints. The BB version runs on all the same hardware that vanilla Android will run on.

Isn't that the simpler, cheaper solution?

In China, taking the easy route is never an advantage. If they see a potential yet require to write new drivers for a chipset, they'll do it in no time.

You'd be surprised. In China, price isn't always the deciding factor.

I can see why China would want a part of BB10 due to it being neutral and have a sense of security.

There's a reason why mobile phones like 8848 exists.

BlackBerry Passport via CB10

[Avenzuno]

It's my understanding the Canadian government would have to approve any transaction in which BlackBerry were to be sold to a foreign entity. To me, it's common sense a Chinese company would not receive the approval. That said, I hear Twitter is looking for a friend.

Posted via CB10 on my VZW  Z30 STA100-3 | 10.3.2.2813