[anon(3879737)]

I think there's exactly one thing that could change the game: Google Play Services.

I read that BlackBerry currently prevents us from using them by adding a sub to the system. Its like an empty shell looking like play services and in effect cripples the system. Get rid of this -- or even provides a patched version pre-installed -- and the world of Android apps is really open to BlackBerry users.

[vbdwork]

I read that BlackBerry currently prevents us from using them by adding a sub to the system.

I don't know what sources of information you read, but only Android OS is open source, not Google Apps and Google Play Services. Even Android custom ROM developers are not allowed to include Google Apps package into their modified OS. BlackBerry can't legally use any Google Apps or Google Play Services without Google consent.

[Khizer Hayat2]

What? Do you have any idea what are you talking about? Apple A8 is one of the fastest SoC on the market.

Agreed with vbdwork because apple is superior in every aspect and that is why some people pretends to be BlackBerry loyal or they haven't used Apple as Apple has no heating up nor have battery drainage issue and apple has much much mature OS

BB Z Ten | 2267

[Toodeurep]

Are we talking about sales or users? I don't think BB can catch up to WP on sales volume because WP is selling entry level devices for $25 and low to mid level devices for $50. WP is also leveraging their converging product portfolios to help too.

If we are talking about users, I would like to see evidence that BB isn't already there.

[diegonei]

I don't know if you have LTE where you live. The unlocked international devices of any platform typically don't support US carriers' LTE bands. I'd never consider any device without LTE.

The Lumia 1020 is nice, but it's old at this point. It is basically the same as my Lumia 920 except it has a better camera. Same processor though. I wouldn't consider a device to be better unless all the hardware is better.

2600, yeah, we have LTE in Brasil.

I bet you a dime I can find you a Z30 model compatible with your carrier's LTE if you tell me frequency.

Still on the 1020, but offtopic to the thread, is it getting WP10?

[diegonei]

So, you never tried it and don't know exactly what it is, but you already have an opinion? Nice.

That pretty much sums up half the world's reaction to BlackBerry 10...

[Toodeurep]

Agreed with vbdwork because apple is superior in every aspect and that is why some people pretends to be BlackBerry loyal or they haven't used Apple as Apple has no heating up nor have battery drainage issue and apple has much much mature OS

BB Z Ten | 2267

SAY WHAT?? LOL

The original poster took the comment out of context and meaning and then you hit us with this "superior in every aspect...no heating..." absolute stuff. Lol, sheer sales volume alone would suggest that Apple has more issues with their products than BB. Law of averages being applied of course. You did read about that guy that had his iPhone blow up in his pants right?

Here you go...

EXCLUSIVE: Long Island man burned on leg by iPhone when it exploded, hospitalized for 10 days | 7online.com

[Witmen]

Very naive. Chen was sent there to save investors. He will cut every single losing department, including hardware and OS development. Individual customers are last on the list. In this situation it really doesn't matter what they want or expect.

This is so true. A lot of folks around here have placed Chen on the same pedestal that TH used to be on. The only problem is TH actually cared about BlackBerry users, Chen ONLY cares about BlackBerry's investors. TH failed, but I honestly believed that he did do his best to make BB10 a winner. Chen has mostly done nothing except give all of BlackBerry 10's advantages over to the competitors in hopes of turning BlackBerry into nothing more than a software and services company.


Since Chen has came in, he killed off at least one phone. The Passport lauched only because it was in the works long before Chen took office. And the Classic as well as the Leap each uses the same outdated parts that they already had laying around. The total lack of advertising and very small build numbers of each device tells that Chen has already gave up on making BlackBerry 10 a success.

Soon, BlackBerry won't even need BB10 any more. BBM is already cross platform. BlackBerry 10 doesn't have BIS, so there is no added revenue for them unless you are on BES. BlackBerry has already gave up on native BB10 development and even told developers to put their apps in Amazon instead. The only positive news from the company lately has all been related to them making Android better for enterprise. BES is for iOS and Android now. So how much longer do you folks think BB10 will still be around?

The fact of the matter is - BlackBerry already makes more money off of Android and iOS users than they have off of BlackBerry 10. Chen doesn't need to sell BB10 devices, he'd much rather sit back, let Samsung and Apple sell millions of devices and then collect BES subscriptions off of them.

As for the question asked by the OP: Nope, BlackBerry 10 won't catch up to Windows. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if either Jolla Sailfish, Tizen, Mozilla Firefox or Ubuntu doesn't end up catching and surpassing BB10 in the next year or two.

[vbdwork]

That pretty much sums up half the world's reaction to BlackBerry 10...

Well, actually very first attempt to try BB10 may leave negative impressions. Give a BB10 phone to a teenager and ask him to change the wallpaper, for example. Touch UI must be self explanatory, user have to see what's coming next. On BB10 you have to know how to do some things, no easy way to figure out. No one want's to read user manuals these days.

[TrueKulcha]

Very funny how these "opinion based" blogs tend to draw a lot of responses but someone here asking for help goes unanswered.
Truth is most of us depend on other people's polls and research and swallow all as facts. The almighty Google magically has all the answers as if those figures came from some divine entity. Western propaganda at its finest here!!!

Posted via CB10

[themats]

I must be naive but for what i'm seeing at the office with massive BB10 adoption through corporate needs....people who 6 months ago though I was nuts with my BlackBerry now starts to understand what they were missing specially since 10.3.1.....i'm pretty positive about BlackBerry hardware future I just think they should leave the entry level to others....keep the Passport, Classic and and a new Z30 you're power upgraded style :-)

Posted via CB10

[Khizer Hayat2]

SAY WHAT?? LOL

The original poster took the comment out of context and meaning and then you hit us with this "superior in every aspect...no heating..." absolute stuff. Lol, sheer sales volume alone would suggest that Apple has more issues with their products than BB. Law of averages being applied of course. You did read about that guy that had his iPhone blow up in his pants right?

Here you go...

EXCLUSIVE: Long Island man burned on leg by iPhone when it exploded, hospitalized for 10 days | 7online.com

Exceptions are always there but all the people I know have no or less issues while using IPhone but to use a BlackBerry you should have some expertise.

BB Z Ten | 2267

[dolco]

2600, yeah, we have LTE in Brasil.

I bet you a dime I can find you a Z30 model compatible with your carrier's LTE if you tell me frequency.

Still on the 1020, but offtopic to the thread, is it getting WP10?

All Lumias with WP8.x will get W10, L1020 included.

[diegonei]

Very funny how these "opinion based" blogs tend to draw a lot of responses but someone here asking for help goes unanswered.

We try to answer ALL questions. But not all questions can be answered. We're as much users as the next guy. Some we can only do so much.

[Soulstream]

wasn't 10.2.1 supposed to be the savior of BB and make customers run to get BB10 devices?

Now 10.3.1 is that "savior". I don't believe they will.

As a side note on the WindowsCentral side, WP8.1 was supposed to be a savior as well and boost sales but it did very little although it brought a lot of (wanted) features to WP8. Now Windows 10 is supposed to do the same and I am afraid they will be just as disappointed as the Crackberry users expecting a miracle.

[anon(3879737)]

I don't know what sources of information you read [...]

Here you go: Source1, Source2, Source 3. Just google the buzzwords for more.

[...] BlackBerry can't legally use any Google Apps or Google Play Services without Google consent. [...]

Is BlackBerry legally obliged to prevent us from installing a properly working version ourselves? Custom Android ROMs don't act like that. Maybe they are simply not interested in a good business relationship to Google.

[vbdwork]

Here you go:...

Forum discussions? Seriously?
If you rely on Android apps, just buy Android phone. Simple solution. BlackBerry offers only limited compatibility Android Runtime.

[Witmen]

Chen has mostly done nothing except give all of BlackBerry 10's advantages over to the competitors....

I know it is bad form to quote yourself, but I will anyway. It was just announced that Chen has decided to make the Hub, BlackBerry 10's virtual keyboard and other BlackBerry apps/features available on both iOS and Android.

I'm kind of shocked, but there you have it. More proof that Chen honestly doesn't care about BB10 at all.

[Laura Knotek]

2600, yeah, we have LTE in Brasil.

I bet you a dime I can find you a Z30 model compatible with your carrier's LTE if you tell me frequency.

Still on the 1020, but offtopic to the thread, is it getting WP10?

Yeah, there are compatible devices, but unlocked that's compatible with AT&T is still going for around $375, which is expensive for a device that's almost 1 1/2 years old.

Amazon.com has an unlocked AT&T branded Nokia Lumia 1020 for $330, but that's also too expensive for a device that's almost 2 years old. AT&T doesn't sell the 1020 anymore.

I typically don't buy unlocked devices, since I don't travel internationally. I'll probably opt for the AT&T Next 12 payment plan for whatever device I get this year, so I'll pay it off in 20 payments without a finance charge or activation fee.

[JakieWolf]

Quite simply - no it can't.

I hate to say it, but where I am (UK) BlackBerry has lost the market. Even my loyal Vodafone store said BlackBerry is "losing all relevance" in the smartphone market (which I do not believe is true.) Most people my age (16) know the saying "Oh, it's a BlackBerry" which usually means "It's buggy and slow and won't work" (again, not true at all.)

Nobody knows about 10.3.1, or exactly how good these devices are. If people actually knew what these devices could do then they would buy them. Problem is, no-one does, so there's no way 10.3.1 is going to affect sales significantly. I hate to say it but that's just how it is, we had the same situation with 10.2.1.

Most people who buy smartphones aren't going to want to go to the lengths we go to to get Android apps working. Sideloading? Having to download several apps to get Google Play working? Patching apps to get rid of their warnings about Google Play Services? Unfortunately, most people don't want to do that.

Posted via CB10.

[diegonei]

Yeah, there are compatible devices, but unlocked that's compatible with AT&T is still going for around $375, which is expensive for a device that's almost 1 1/2 years old.

Amazon.com has an unlocked AT&T branded Nokia Lumia 1020 for $330, but that's also too expensive for a device that's almost 2 years old. AT&T doesn't sell the 1020 anymore.

I typically don't buy unlocked devices, since I don't travel internationally. I'll probably opt for the AT&T Next 12 payment plan for whatever device I get this year, so I'll pay it off in 20 payments without a finance charge or activation fee.

You're just in time for the Passport lol

[diegonei]

As to the "proof Chen doesn't care about BB10", one man's proof is another man's reason to doubt.

None of us is inside his head.

[RCCOFICIAL]

Seriously.......who invests millions of dollars in research & development of any product then does NO marketing????
Kraft Dinner (Kraft Mac& Cheese for the Am�ricanos) is bad pasta & cheese flavored dust in a box but yet they market the hell out of it........every person know what this is.
Is time for Chen to admit that he is out of his league when the basics of capitalism eludes him!!

Posted via CB10

[Laura Knotek]

You're just in time for the Passport lol

Passport is out of the question for me. I'm done with physical keypads.

[anon(3879737)]

Forum discussions? Seriously?

Feel free to doubt the sources, yet, Cobalt's track record of bringing patched Versions of Google Play Services as well as the Play store itself makes him a credible source for most of us.

All in all, Blackberry did not close the app gap and that is what matters for most people. They recognized that they cannot lure developers to the platform and went for Android compatibility. Teaming up with Amazon does not seem to be the best choice given their de facto failed Fire OS phone. Continuing with the Android idea simply means getting more blockers out of the way.