1. Techno-guy's Avatar
    So, I've been rockin' my new red Passport and showing it off to anybody who will listen to me. My wife is getting frustrated with the battery drain and lag on her Samsung phone so she started hinting that maybe she switch brands. I immediately told her I'd take her to the phone store so she could look over the Blackberry Classic (or maybe even consider a Passport!). She had very fond memories of her BB Curve from many years ago.

    Of course, we couldn't find an actual T-Mobile, AT&T or Verizon store that had a Classic at the store, at least where we live - they are special order items only. Ugghhh!

    After assuring her we could easily order the phone directly from Blackberry, she left the house to run an errand and we were texting. Only problem is that my text Emojis I thought I was sending her were received by her Android phone as gobbledygook.

    When she returned home to figure out what I was sending her, she realized (as did I) that the Emojis from my BB text app don't actually get understood by iPhones or Androids. That was it for her. She said zero chance she would even consider a Blackberry. No Emojis for texting or emailing (which she uses a lot to communicate), no phone. That simple for her. And, our children were laughing at my 'limited functionality' Blackberry as they were walking away mocking me (and BB) with their iPhones. Ugghhh!!!

    So, while Emojis may not be at the top of many of our lists of important features for 'professionals', it is very important to a lot of people who may otherwise return to Blackberry to help rebuild the brand. Silly that BB put themselves in this position by not understanding what the broader market (not the declining number of us still here) actually needs.

    While John Chen may be doing a good job of cutting expenses ahead of rapidly declining sales and revenue, that cannot save the company in the long run. The company needs a true visionary to understand how to design an OS for the broader market which buys 1 billion cellphones per year.

    Another potential customer lost...
    06-06-15 10:09 PM
  2. diegonei's Avatar
    Heh, I really don't think that Emoji support is the key to saving BlackBerry... Else they would be rich on sticker money...

    And it doesn't take a true visionary to see this.
    06-06-15 10:13 PM
  3. Techno-guy's Avatar
    Heh, I really don't think that Emoji support is the key to saving BlackBerry... Else they would be rich on sticker money...

    And it doesn't take a true visionary to see this.
    Certainly not by itself, but if Blackberry can gain the interest and attention of the 750 million women and teenagers that buy phones every year, it would certainly be a good start. Without them, they are struggling to convince a fast declining population of older men to stick with their brand which seems like a pretty sure path to extinction.
    06-06-15 10:23 PM
  4. diegonei's Avatar
    Certainly not by itself, but if Blackberry can gain the interest and attention of the 750 million women and teenagers that buy phones every year, it would certainly be a good start. Without them, they are struggling to convince a fast declining population of older men to stick with their brand which seems like a pretty sure path to extinction.
    I'm 33. BlackBerry appeals to me.

    Where are the dying old men?
    06-06-15 10:28 PM
  5. mad_mdx's Avatar
    I'm 33. BlackBerry appeals to me.

    Where are the dying old men?
    So what's your point? We should use our own version of emoticons which, BTW, are not even the same from a passport to a Z30...

    That's right, some emoticons won't even show the same image on a Z30 when sent from a passport.

    BlackBerry should make this a somewhat important issue, since we already have the emojis and emoji picker in the Facebook app for example.
    Also I prefer BlackBerry's versions of the emojis, all we really need it for them to change the emoticon picker...
    06-06-15 10:35 PM
  6. Jawad Siddiqi's Avatar
    As stated above...Emojis aren't important for the vision of BlackBerry. All I can say is....in Thornstein Heinz time...I didn't give squat about BlackBerry anymore...it was a lost case. And look at me with my Passport and countless others. thanks to John chen for bringing the BlackBerry magic back.

    Posted via CB10
    06-06-15 10:41 PM
  7. thurask's Avatar
    I'm 33. BlackBerry appeals to me.

    Where are the dying old men?
    Well, do you have a Classic?

    Posted via CB10
    06-06-15 10:42 PM
  8. SmileDahling's Avatar
    I agree. I know tons of people for whom my lack of emoji support has been a pain point. Sure, it's tiny and inconsequential in the grand scheme of things but it's just another little thing that dissuaded people from taking a chance on a new platform.

    Still love my BlackBerry. :-)

    Posted via my gorgeous red Passport
    kbz1960 likes this.
    06-06-15 10:55 PM
  9. NikoB82's Avatar
    33 with classic, I use Emoji Pack Pro, it works perfectly fine with ios and android users

    Posted via CB10
    06-06-15 10:57 PM
  10. Techno-guy's Avatar
    As stated above...Emojis aren't important for the vision of BlackBerry. All I can say is....in Thornstein Heinz time...I didn't give squat about BlackBerry anymore...it was a lost case. And look at me with my Passport and countless others. thanks to John chen for bringing the BlackBerry magic back.

    Posted via CB10
    I'm glad you think the magic is back (and I truly LOVE my Passport), but the market would disagree. BB had a 50% decline in device sales in just last quarter alone.

    Only 1.6 million devices were sold (including Passports and Classics) vs. 3.2 million the year prior (vs. 14.5 million at peak - that's a nearly 90% drop in sales).

    For comparison, Apple sold 74 million devices in the same quarter and Android (as a whole) over 300 million. Those numbers really put perspective on just how far Blackberry has fallen. BB clearly needs to take a different direction and appeal to the broader market or face extinction (at least from the hardware business) in the long run, so if starting with something as trivial as Emojis may seem, is a start, then BB should do it.
    06-06-15 11:20 PM
  11. diegonei's Avatar
    Well, do you have a Classic?
    Z30.

    I see what you did there. Lol

    Posted via CB10
    06-06-15 11:30 PM
  12. thurask's Avatar
    Z30.

    I see what you did there. Lol

    Posted via CB10
    Then, statistically, you're not a dying old man.

    Certainly not by itself, but if Blackberry can gain the interest and attention of the 750 million women and teenagers that buy phones every year, it would certainly be a good start. Without them, they are struggling to convince a fast declining population of older men to stick with their brand which seems like a pretty sure path to extinction.
    I'm probably an outlier, but I'm in that age group and, as can be ascertained quite easily, BlackBerry has my interest and attention.
    06-06-15 11:37 PM
  13. officially_juju's Avatar
    I just downloaded the emoji app to copy and paste and created keyboard shortcuts and I now have all emojis that show
    No Emojis, No Customer...-img_20150606_233719.png

    Posted via CB10
    SDTRMG likes this.
    06-06-15 11:38 PM
  14. Ax's Avatar
    only children need emojis, professional people need blackberries
    djsvet likes this.
    06-07-15 04:27 AM
  15. zombiecupcake's Avatar
    Luckily BlackBerry phones can still see the emojis, they just can't make them.
    For everything else, there's Emoji Pack Pro in BlackBerry world for $1.99

     = ♥ | 8220, 8530, 9670, 9810, Q10, Passport
    06-07-15 05:09 AM
  16. Icardi101's Avatar
    How old are you? Emojis seriously?

    Posted via CB10
    anon(9169048) likes this.
    06-07-15 05:14 AM
  17. cbosdell's Avatar
    I agree lack of emoji input is a pretty big oversight. I've worked around it by setting up text substitution rules for the 30 or so I really wanted to have but that's a hassle most people won't bother with.

    Sent from my Passport using Tapatalk
    06-07-15 07:01 AM
  18. anon(9155131)'s Avatar
    I don't use emojis and find them pointless, but everyone has to agree that it's the standard now.
    06-07-15 07:06 AM
  19. AnimalPak200's Avatar
    Screw emojis, we should all start communicating in the real unambiguous universal language.

    Math.

    Posted via CB10
    06-07-15 07:09 AM
  20. VeryBumpy's Avatar
    Of my 600 contacts, not a single one uses emojis. Leave emojis to 3rd party play apps, keep normal communication proper.
    anon(9169048) likes this.
    06-07-15 07:37 AM
  21. Aneres11's Avatar
    Really winds me up when people pull the 'how old are you' and 'emoji's are for kids' comments out.

    It's pathetic really. It's like you people have the mindset that BB is only for business users. That's basically what you're saying.
    Well, it's utter rubbish. I am not a business man, and nor do I use my BB as a business device. It is used as a personal device, because I spend 90% of my time on my phone texting. The other 10% is alarm clock, browsing and updating social media etc.

    I use emoji's all the time. That's why I chat to everyone over WhatsApp because emoji support is built in there across all platforms.
    People love using emoji. It can add a hell of a lot to a conversation and stop things being taken the wrong way as so often happens when people communicate over text. Sometimes just a love heart emoji sent to a loved one means a lot more than any words. They're fun and they are not just for kids.

    Whilst I don't think emoji are going to be the saving grace of BB, I do think that it's small things like the emoji text support that stops people like the younger crowds even contemplating a BB device. Or it's the kind of thing that people will be a bit annoyed about once they've settled on a BB handset only to get it home and realise it's not fully supported. And I completely understand that. The same way I understand some people don't like / use them and don't feel a need for them. Fine. But don't come across like it's a stupid requirement for some people when it actually is a big part of communication for some.
    06-07-15 07:39 AM
  22. Icardi101's Avatar
    Really winds me up when people pull the 'how old are you' and 'emoji's are for kids' comments out.

    It's pathetic really. It's like you people have the mindset that BB is only for business users. That's basically what you're saying.
    Well, it's utter rubbish. I am not a business man, and nor do I use my BB as a business device. It is used as a personal device, because I spend 90% of my time on my phone texting. The other 10% is alarm clock, browsing and updating social media etc.

    I use emoji's all the time. That's why I chat to everyone over WhatsApp because emoji support is built in there across all platforms.
    People love using emoji. It can add a hell of a lot to a conversation and stop things being taken the wrong way as so often happens when people communicate over text. Sometimes just a love heart emoji sent to a loved one means a lot more than any words. They're fun and they are not just for kids.

    Whilst I don't think emoji are going to be the saving grace of BB, I do think that it's small things like the emoji text support that stops people like the younger crowds even contemplating a BB device. Or it's the kind of thing that people will be a bit annoyed about once they've settled on a BB handset only to get it home and realise it's not fully supported. And I completely understand that. The same way I understand some people don't like / use them and don't feel a need for them. Fine. But don't come across like it's a stupid requirement for some people when it actually is a big part of communication for some.
    Come on are you a kid to need to chat with your friends etc with emojis? Don't you have enough vocabulary!? Can't imagining talking to my friends and coworkers and adding hearts and smiley faces that's girls stuff man

    Posted via CB10
    06-07-15 07:51 AM
  23. Aneres11's Avatar
    Come on are you a kid to need to chat with your friends etc with emojis? Don't you have enough vocabulary!? Can't imagining talking to my friends and coworkers and adding hearts and smiley faces that's girls stuff man

    Posted via CB10
    Aaaahahahaha. Aw do you feel like it would make you less of a man if you had to use a smiley face?!
    And there we are again. "Are you a kid". You don't really warrant a response.
    kbz1960 and Dave79 like this.
    06-07-15 08:06 AM
  24. Poi25's Avatar
    Of my 600 contacts, not a single one uses emojis. Leave emojis to 3rd party play apps, keep normal communication proper.
    I'd be willing to bet you're wrong, because you wouldn't see the emojis anyways.

    BlackBizzle my nizzle
    SpamHammer likes this.
    06-07-15 08:23 AM
  25. joekiser's Avatar
    RE: BlackBerry, tell your wife, "It's not for you. You can't get it..."

    Seriously though, in a market where DRM has returned, vendor lock-in has replaced open standards, governments are trying to ban encryption, and privacy has taken a backseat to in your face advertisements, the fact that emoticons are at the top of people's decision tree when choosing a device shows how we've misplaced our priorities.

    Sent from my BlackBerry Passport.
    06-07-15 08:35 AM
59 123

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