[Bammerz]

Hi Folks,

I know this has been discussed before but I thought I would start a renewed thread.

I just heard my company was forcing new phones on us if our BYOD didn't have 9.0 by March.

Since I just bought this Red Edition in May, this is aggravating me.

So using the Support Center, I sent an inquiry under General Feedback and asked again if this phone will see 9.0.

This is their reply as of yesterday:

"Our developers are working on the update, unfortunately they haven't informed us about when is going to be released."

Just thought you'd like to see the latest.

[mikeath]

Sigh. yeah. they're working on it... until they aren't....

cheers for trying though

[Chuck Finley69]

Hi Folks,

I know this has been discussed before but I thought I would start a renewed thread.

I just heard my company was forcing new phones on us if our BYOD didn't have 9.0 by March.

Since I just bought this Red Edition in May, this is aggravating me.

So using the Support Center, I sent an inquiry under General Feedback and asked again if this phone will see 9.0.

This is their reply as of yesterday:

"Our developers are working on the update, unfortunately they haven't informed us about when is going to be released."

Just thought you'd like to see the latest.

That reply sounds like the same from last year. I believe it’s done and just waiting for BBMo to pay the bill since Chen isn’t the “checks in the mail” kind of guy.

[Troy Tiscareno]

"Our developers are working on the update, unfortunately they haven't informed us about when is going to be released."

That's virtually word-for-word what they've been "officially" saying for over a year. I expect if you call in Dec 2020, they'll be saying the same thing, because that's what they were told to say.

[babugaru1]

By the time Android 9 arrives to key2, your company will mandate Android 10.

[Bammerz]

Trying to be optimistic. ☺️

[Chuck Finley69]

Trying to be optimistic. ☺️

We’re past optimistic to realistic.

[surgeon1919]

For the hell of it, I called BBMO just a few minutes ago and spoke to a guy named George.

He told me, they were told we'll be getting Android 9 but no official date.

[Chuck Finley69]

For the hell of it, I called BBMO just a few minutes ago and spoke to a guy named George.

He told me, they were told we'll be getting Android 9 but no official date.

It’s the same answer for months. If BBMo pays for it, you’ll see it. That’s simple problem. It’s only likely if you see a Key3 which also unlikely. Nobody is going to say it’s not happening. The phone number for customer service will be turned off first.

[surgeon1919]

@chuckfinley that cracked me up!

How much could it cost BBMo? Android 9 already exists, BlackBerry apps already work with Android 9. Hardening the OS should be a piece of cake.

All they need to do is push it out. How much does this really cost them?!

[SteinwayTransitCorp]

Hi Folks,

I know this has been discussed before but I thought I would start a renewed thread.

I just heard my company was forcing new phones on us if our BYOD didn't have 9.0 by March.

Since I just bought this Red Edition in May, this is aggravating me.

So using the Support Center, I sent an inquiry under General Feedback and asked again if this phone will see 9.0.

This is their reply as of yesterday:

"Our developers are working on the update, unfortunately they haven't informed us about when is going to be released."

Just thought you'd like to see the latest.

Yesterday while in the head, I heard a guy talking to a guy about the update. he said his friend was at a bar when he heard a woman talking about the update. She said she heard a guy talking about the update on the bus........and so it goes.

[the_boon]

@chuckfinley that cracked me up!

How much could it cost BBMo? Android 9 already exists, BlackBerry apps already work with Android 9. Hardening the OS should be a piece of cake.

All they need to do is push it out. How much does this really cost them?!

Might be really expensive to get that Android 9 update to remove the capacitive navigation buttons lol

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

@chuckfinley that cracked me up!

How much could it cost BBMo? Android 9 already exists, BlackBerry apps already work with Android 9. Hardening the OS should be a piece of cake.

All they need to do is push it out. How much does this really cost them?!

Well BlackBerry is a software company.... as much as they can charge.

But I don't know that the issue is how much would it cost to do their magic with Android 9.... I think the issue is how much money has BlackBerry Ltd and TCL already lost on the project and how far behind in their payment is TCL?

It's not only pushing out the update, but too supporting it. Remember last year all the issues with Android 8?

Basically at this point.... what would be the point of spending anything "extra" on pushing out and supporting an update? They aren't in the good vibe business.

[Chuck Finley69]

@chuckfinley that cracked me up!

How much could it cost BBMo? Android 9 already exists, BlackBerry apps already work with Android 9. Hardening the OS should be a piece of cake.

All they need to do is push it out. How much does this really cost them?!

BBMo probably has some minimum OS development cost per each device release. Since the BBAndroid 9 version is for hypothetical Key3, and then pushed sometime after out to Key2, it requires BBMo to commit to Key3 development. If BBMo has already decided to move on and just satisfying minimum licensing requirements with the Key2 for the remaining life of the license, I’d suspect the cost is more about paying BB full expenses as if Key3 were developed even if not developed. Hence the falling out between parties involved. BB wants all the money it’s expected from BBMo and not crumbs. I suspect BB has pretty strong contract or BBMo wouldn’t be doing the Key2 slow walk like it’s doing.

[John Albert]

At this point, why would they update a phone that has only 6 months left of its life?!

[Chuck Finley69]

At this point, why would they update a phone that has only 6 months left of its life?!

If BBMo paid for OS update, they could also pay for more security updates.

I’m not disagreeing with you, it’s just answer to your question. I’m expecting the end of the road.

[surgeon1919]

Well let's see what happens!

[the_boon]

If a KEY3 ever came out, it would make zero sense for it to be on Pie this late.
It would be 10 or nothing

[elfabio80]

Maybe they are waiting for a final answer from TCL about the ipotetical Key3. Following this decision, Nougat be released and TCL will have to pay to BB....

[Chuck Finley69]

Maybe they are waiting for a final answer from TCL about the ipotetical Key3. Following this decision, Nougat be released and TCL will have to pay to BB....

In other news, the Santa Claus was killed when Rudolph and the other reindeer accidentally trampled him

[jelp2]

In other news, the Santa Claus was killed when Rudolph and the other reindeer accidentally trampled him

Serves him right for letting one of his reindeer run over grandma a few years back.

[scraig2015]

It depends what you are running for Corporate applications, O365 runs on Android 8.0, I have 9.0 on my Samsung S8 but if I upgrade to Key 2 (which is our Corporate device) there is no issue. I'm not sure why your company would require 9.0, also Citrix Receiver runs on anything 4.4 or higher. It could be you have custom apps that were developed on 9.0.

[Chuck Finley69]

It depends what you are running for Corporate applications, O365 runs on Android 8.0, I have 9.0 on my Samsung S8 but if I upgrade to Key 2 (which is our Corporate device) there is no issue. I'm not sure why your company would require 9.0, also Citrix Receiver runs on anything 4.4 or higher. It could be you have custom apps that were developed on 9.0.

Some on here suggest part of an overall UEM strategy coupled with consistent OS and latest security patch updates. Google becoming more Apple if you will. Not a case of having to do so but companies that choose to do so.

[tubularbell]

Some on here suggest part of an overall UEM strategy coupled with consistent OS and latest security patch updates. Google becoming more Apple if you will. Not a case of having to do so but companies that choose to do so.

Exactly. Policy at the bank I work for has become that minimum requirements for mobile OS are latest version minus 1.

[Troy Tiscareno]

@chuckfinley that cracked me up!

How much could it cost BBMo? Android 9 already exists, BlackBerry apps already work with Android 9. Hardening the OS should be a piece of cake.

All they need to do is push it out. How much does this really cost them?!

How much does it cost to build a skyscraper? I mean, the building materials are sitting right in the dirt (iron for steel and rock for concrete), or grows out of the ground (trees for wood). Why is it so expensive?

The answer is that it isn't nearly as easy as you think it is. All of BB's modifications have to be re-integrated into each new release of Android (because BB doesn't control the codebase, and the new parts aren't built with BB's modifications in mind), and then each and every thing has to be tested multiple times to make sure things still work, and then a big list of broken things needs to go back to engineering to solve and recode, and then everything is re-tested, etc. This takes tens of thousands of man-hours, and that means a lot of high-salary people working for a long time that need to be paid. Plus, BB would like to actually turn a profit from doing this work - they are a business after all - so, yes, it's expensive. I'd estimate at least $2-3 million dollars to supply an update to TCL. And is something goes wrong that bricks phones, that could add a huge additional expense for TCL, and at this point, TCL doesn't even have any replacement phones to provide, or new phones coming down the pipeline. You might have to take an Alcatel phone as a replacement.

So, the expense and the risk is pretty significant, and TCL is already LOSING money on every phone sold, so they're not exactly motivated to spend (and thus lose) even more money, and risk a FURTHER *huge* loss if something goes bad, when they can do nothing and minimize their risk and loss. It's not like they're counting on the BB brand having any future for them anyway.