[PantherBlitz]

It would help the discussion, if the company that is suppose to be offering these knew what public relations and communications was.

I imagine that it is hard to spin the fact that they can stop updating a phone the same month that they stop retailing it. Until they demonstrate that they will release three years of updates it would hurt them to formally announce that the Key series is on a two-year cycle.

[Matt J]

BBMO wouldn't offer new versions of current phones if they werent selling.

Agreed. The KEY2 LE is a good sign. They probably recognised that the KEY2 would have sold better if it was a bit cheaper.

My friend just picked up an LE and I helped him set it up. It felt just as nice and fast as my KEY2. It was way faster than my old KEYone.

[MPdeH]

I think, to be honest, and it's only a matter of time before it's announced BlackBerry Mobile will cease to exist. I would be a really sad panda, but it's just my gut feeling. I think they might announce the KEY3 as an hail Mary pass to see if someone is still interested in a PKB premium device, and they skipped a year for KEY2 (LE) people time to be able to switch.

but I honestly believe there is unfortunately not much life left in our beloved phone brand.

[anon(10573286)]

Not sure if more advertising of the productivity benefits and PKB. BlackBerry Mobile really needs to up the specs of its new flagship device, and lower the prices of their existing offerings. I'd love a PKB device with a flagship-class camera. TCL should partner with Sony, which knows how to make a decent camera.

Posted via CB10 | SQC100-4 Classic in Cobalt Blue

Upping the specs will not change a thing. These devices are for a niche group of people. I love them but not enough people love them. The writing is on the wall. I honestly think within the year we will have an announcement that the blackberry TCL partnership is over..hope I'm wrong obviously

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I imagine that it is hard to spin the fact that they can stop updating a phone the same month that they stop retailing it. Until they demonstrate that they will release three years of updates it would hurt them to formally announce that the Key series is on a two-year cycle.

I agree that formally announcing anything about updates ending at two years would not help them.

But if updates aren't ending at two year... it would help.
If they are planning on releasing a KEY3... it would help.
If PIE is on schedule for this summer... it would help.

But if they have fallen back to just two years as was originally stated... only see them doing that if things are ending. Granted it was more a few individuals here that really built up what that program meant for users, BBMo hardly said much of anything. Even so it would gut their reputation, and they wouldn't survive that.

[anon(10562251)]

I agree that formally announcing anything about updates ending at two years would not help them.

But if updates aren't ending at two year... it would help.
If they are planning on releasing a KEY3... it would help.
If PIE is on schedule for this summer... it would help.

But if they have fallen back to just two years as was originally stated... only see them doing that if things are ending. Granted it was more a few individuals here that really built up what that program meant for users, BBMo hardly said much of anything. Even so it would gut their reputation, and they wouldn't survive that.

In the past, TCL / BBMo has responded (at least indirectly) to items of importance that were raised on these forums. Their continued silence on this issue is only deepening the growing sense of anxiety in the BlackBerry community. With BB10 already in its death throws, it's not exactly the best time for uncertainty.

If their goal is to fill up the CB forums with speculation of their imminent demise, on the other hand - they are doing a fantastic job!

(Not really the best use their marketing dollars either, I might add)

[Avenzuno]

Upping the specs will not change a thing. These devices are for a niche group of people. I love them but not enough people love them. The writing is on the wall. I honestly think within the year we will have an announcement that the blackberry TCL partnership is over..hope I'm wrong obviously

Upping the specs matters for the niche market consumers who want and will pay for a true flagship KEY3 with flagship specs, including a great camera. But I do understand those niche markets include the enterprise, which I think would like a decent-specced Motion or KEY2 LE whenever BlackBerry Mobile cares enough to update those devices, hopefully by next year at the very latest. BlackBerry Mobile cannot just sit there and watch other manufacturers improve their own product lines, and expect to survive. If we see nothing new by this fall (new colors don't count), then to me it's clear BlackBerry Mobile is throwing in the towel and going out of business. Not sure I'd want to buy any of its products right now.

Posted via CB10 | SQC100-4 Classic in Cobalt Blue

[mikeath]

The days of annual product release are over. The smartphone market especially in the Western hemisphere has slowed right down - people can't see the point in upgrading for a slightly better spec. I would anticipate the main manufacturers shifting to bi-annual product release (many kind of do it already).

I still have my old Xperia Z2 slab from 2014 which is perfectly functional. The kids use it and I keep it active on a low cost monthly contract.

I like the Key2. There are only a few things that would see me upgrade. By releasing another keyboard device every 12 months or less TCL could well end up saturating their own niche market...

[Troy Tiscareno]

Upping the specs matters for the niche market consumers who want and will pay for a true flagship KEY3 with flagship specs, including a great camera.

The amount of people who would be willing to pay what BB would have to charge to put flagship specs and features in their phones is far too small to justify making them. That's why they've been making mid-range phones.

But I do understand those niche markets include the enterprise, which I think would like a decent-specced Motion or KEY2 LE whenever BlackBerry Mobile cares enough to update those devices, hopefully by next year at the very latest.

The era of BB being enterprise phones is long over. Few enterprises ever adopted BB10, the K1 had VERY limited enterprise adoption and the K2 series has had virtually none. They made a single announcement of a Canadian bank planning to order 10,000 phones, but even that might not have actually happened. With such limited carrier support, enterprise just isn't interested.

BlackBerry Mobile cannot just sit there and watch other manufacturers improve their own product lines, and expect to survive. If we see nothing new by this fall (new colors don't count), then to me it's clear BlackBerry Mobile is throwing in the towel and going out of business. Not sure I'd want to buy any of its products right now.

If we assume that there will ever be a K3, it would make sense that there would need to be K2/LE phones available until its release, but we're already seeing stock-outs. If those increase over the next couple of months, then IMO it's likely that the towel has already been thrown.

I really don't think it's sustainable making 1M phones every other year - there's far too many fixed expenses (global support isn't cheap, and neither is keeping staff around that have nothing to do with 2 years between releases), and they may not even be at that sales level.

[prplhze2000]

K2's are constantly promoted on Instagram. it's not even been a year since it came out. they just rolled out a new model with better specs and a cheaper model as well late last year. Company isn't going to go to that much trouble if the phones aren't selling. It's doing pretty good considering there is no carrier support.

[Emaderton3]

K2's are constantly promoted on Instagram. it's not even been a year since it came out. they just rolled out a new model with better specs and a cheaper model as well late last year. Company isn't going to go to that much trouble if the phones aren't selling. It's doing pretty good considering there is no carrier support.

You sure that's just not targeted advertising for you?

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

The days of annual product release are over. The smartphone market especially in the Western hemisphere has slowed right down - people can't see the point in upgrading for a slightly better spec. I would anticipate the main manufacturers shifting to bi-annual product release (many kind of do it already).

Major manufactures will keep rolling out new devices every year... it's been that way in electronic (and most every market) for decades.

Maybe people in general won't buy every year, but there will always be customers buying every year and they will gravitate towards what's "new". Even it "new" isn't very different from last year version.

It's the OEMs that have specialty niche products that might not do a new model every year. Or those on a downward path... like LG, Sony.

[prplhze2000]

I am a follower of the IG page.

[mikeath]

Major manufactures will keep rolling out new devices every year... it's been that way in electronic (and most every market) for decades.

Maybe people in general won't buy every year, but there will always be customers buying every year and they will gravitate towards what's "new". Even it "new" isn't very different from last year version.

It's the OEMs that have specialty niche products that might not do a new model every year. Or those on a downward path... like LG, Sony.

But we see that even now major manufacturers have incremental updates bi-annually. E.g. Apple with their S variants. Samsung typically do similar e.g not much of a difference between S3 and S4, but the one after that was a significant improvement.

You could Argue TCL have done the same with KeyOne and Key² if you didn't own one you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart side by side.

Given the incremental updates and how expensive phones are I doubt many manufacturers will keep up with annual release long term. People need a reason to upgrade...

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

But we see that even now major manufacturers have incremental updates bi-annually. E.g. Apple with their S variants. Samsung typically do similar e.g not much of a difference between S3 and S4, but the one after that was a significant improvement.

You could Argue TCL have done the same with KeyOne and Key² if you didn't own one you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart side by side.

Given the incremental updates and how expensive phones are I doubt many manufacturers will keep up with annual release long term. People need a reason to upgrade...

Apple with their S variants.. were still new phones with improvements over last year's phone. The S4 was still an improvement over the S3. So customers were willing to pay a premium for the newer devices.

Why do people buy new cars? Why do they buy new TV's? The reason to upgrade at this point... is going to mostly because the old one doesn't get the job done or is broken. Not that there is something new. The 12 - 24 month upgrade cycle is a thing of the past for most users today. But that doesn't mean when it comes time to buy, they aren't looking for the best bang for their buck.

Yes I agree that most OEMs could move to a two year update schedule.... No I don't think that the major smartphone manufactures like Apple, Samsung or Huawei or going to do that with their flagship products. Entry Level and Midgrade... sure I can see that, but not their flagships.

If nothing else it gives them a big brand awareness period each year.

[jcrutchvt2010]

BBJ100 shows up in some of the unreleased images. No telling if it will ever be released though. H/t @thurask for finding this reference. For now, just small breadcrumb of a potentially unreleased device and no other details know as of now.

[Chuck Finley69]

BBJ100 shows up in some of the unreleased images. No telling if it will ever be released though. H/t @conite for finding this reference. For now, just small breadcrumb of a potentially unreleased device and no other details know as of now.

Article now on the main page..

[yybenedb]

BlackBerry 'Monet' codename now starting to appear in config files https://www.crackberry.com/blackberr...r-config-files

[Vistaus]

Article now on the main page..

Not in the app. The app doesn't show any new articles...

[Chuck Finley69]

Not in the app. The app doesn't show any new articles...

Me thinks you're having app problems then. I'm seeing Monet article in the CB App on my KEYone from about one hour ago.

[Vistaus]

Me thinks you're having app problems then. I'm seeing Monet article in the CB App on my KEYone from about one hour ago.

It has appeared just now.

[charles davis11]

Love the BlackBerry Motion. Nice to see something fresh in the future.