[MO3iusONE]

My only question would be what is special about BlackBerry hardware to put it above those already offered by Samsung

Posted via CB10

Dat physical keyboard...

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[jsmith00075]

I still prefer to see the company die than going android. As simple as that. Good luck people.

[anon(153966)]

...LOL, that's cold!

I still prefer to see the company die than going android. As simple as that. Good luck people.

[MO3iusONE]

Blackberry, as a former Palm Treo 650/755p user, a Blackberry Curve 8830 user, a Nokia e73 user, and a Palm Pre user, and as a die hard fan of physical keyboards in general; I'm sure I'm not the only who agrees but, we Android users stand behind you, with credit cards in hand. Make this happen!



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[JanuarJaguar]

This BlackDroid device will be a killer one.

[Carmels]

Here's how I see this all panning out.

BB10 stays as a secure communication OS for Government, Enterprise and SMB (small to medium businesses) that only care about securing their communications i.e. Email, text, BBM no Facebook, WhatsApp or any other social media presence. Lower margin devices will continue to be directly made through BlackBerry and or other current partnerships.

Then on the other spectrum, BlackBerry devices running a heavily skinned Android fork with all the BB10 fixings i.e. Hub, BBM, Peek etc. All of which is wrapped up and secured through BES12 as BlackBerry is currently doing with Samsung KNOX services today. Hardware again designed by BlackBerry but with current partnerships. These device options will be for not only enterprise and government sectors but the customer space as well. Companies that don't require ample amounts of security but do want access to the latest hardware, social media apps and or apps pertaining to their everyday work place, will now have access to GP services and the GP Store native through Android.

IMHO, if BlackBerry manages to pull this off and can indeed produce two separate devices running two different OS's. They'll cover every facet of the handheld market and leave no reason for people to not take a look at their product portfolio. I for one hope they have the means and strategic planning in place to pull something like this off.

Look! It's Zedzilla30!

[lnichols]

How much profit has BlackBerry been generating from hardware though? BlackBerry has lost billions of dollars from BB10 (without even factoring in "opportunity cost"), they only still exist as a company because of their other revenue sources. I don't think any Android manufacturers have lost anywhere near that amount of money because of Android.

I don't know if Android will save BB10 hardware, but it can't possibly do as poorly for them as BB10 has.

Why have they lost money on BB10 hardware? They over produced hardware beyond demand, and the hardware had specs that could not sustain flagship pricing for more than a couple months. Also they released the product when it was Beta grade at best. They showed with the Passport, even though it is a very low sales, low desirability device, the they can make money with BB10 hardware if they manage the supply chain.

The fact that hardware companies like HTC can barely make money with Android, makes me wonder how a company like BlackBerry will make money with it. BlackBerry cannot make cheaper or better hardware than Sony or HTC. Android won't be any more free for them to use than those companies. Are PKB Android devices going to be a differentiator people will buy more than PKB BB10 devices? Will people pay the premium pricing needed to generate profit if it has BlackBerry on the front? More questions than answers, but their is a fallacy that all these Android OEMS are making lots of money.

Posted via Z30

[mornhavon]

Why have they lost money on BB10 hardware? They over produced hardware beyond demand, and the hardware had specs that could not sustain flagship pricing for more than a couple months. Also they released the product when it was Beta grade at best.

Those were certainly some of the factors, but I think a primary reason that they had trouble competing was that they didn't provide the ecosystem that nearly everyone expected from a smartphone by that time. I'd say that's still their biggest obstacle with BB10.

They showed with the Passport, even though it is a very low sales, low desirability device, the they can make money with BB10 hardware if they manage the supply chain.

Yes, according to Chen, who's been utilizing funny accounting and misleading figures, they had at one time broke even on Passport hardware. Maybe they even made a slight profit on it. The problem is, that doesn't take into account the software side of their devices. Developing your own OS and maintaining even a bare bones ecosystem is expensive, and it's been nothing but a money pit for BlackBerry so far. Unless BB10 is now complete and ready to compete with every future innovation from their competitors, it will need continuous investment, and that money is being siphoned away from hardware/BB10 as we speak.

...their is a fallacy that all these Android OEMS are making lots of money.

On that, we agree. The smartphone business is tough. Anyone who thinks that Android is an easy path to a cash cow for BB doesn't understand the industry. I'd argue that slim margins isn't an Android problem, it's a smartphone problem. Apple is the exception to the rule for a number of good reasons that BB, and most other manufacturers, won't be able to replicate.

[early2bed]

Developing your own OS and maintaining even a bare bones ecosystem is expensive, and it's been nothing but a money pit for BlackBerry so far. Unless BB10 is now complete and ready to compete with every future innovation from their competitors, it will need continuous investment, and that money is being siphoned away from hardware/BB10 as we speak.

From a business standpoint this would certainly make a dual-OS strategy unsustainable as you halve your BB10 sales for Android units, keep all of the BB10 platform development costs and add on the cost of maintaining your secure version of Android. It's hard to imagine that cost-conscious John Chen would go for dual-OS strategy for very long. That's why he isn't saying anything more about Android because as soon as he announces development of an Android device then he will have to explain the platform strategy going forward.

[vladi]

Here's how I see this all panning out.

BB10 stays as a secure communication OS for Government, Enterprise and SMB (small to medium businesses) that only care about securing their communications i.e. Email, text, BBM no Facebook, WhatsApp or any other social media presence. Lower margin devices will continue to be directly made through BlackBerry and or other current partnerships.

Then on the other spectrum, BlackBerry devices running a heavily skinned Android fork with all the BB10 fixings i.e. Hub, BBM, Peek etc. All of which is wrapped up and secured through BES12 as BlackBerry is currently doing with Samsung KNOX services today. Hardware again designed by BlackBerry but with current partnerships. These device options will be for not only enterprise and government sectors but the customer space as well. Companies that don't require ample amounts of security but do want access to the latest hardware, social media apps and or apps pertaining to their everyday work place, will now have access to GP services and the GP Store native through Android.

IMHO, if BlackBerry manages to pull this off and can indeed produce two separate devices running two different OS's. They'll cover every facet of the handheld market and leave no reason for people to not take a look at their product portfolio. I for one hope they have the means and strategic planning in place to pull something like this off.

Look! It's Zedzilla30!

BlackBerry won't able to customize Android on that kind of low level to provide BB10 experience. Two reasons :
1. Android users want android experience and expect android experience
2. Google made it so freakin difficult to even reskin UI without getting performance hit let alone implementing third party functionality features. It's an impossible tastk and Google knows it cause they designed it that way, they want their pure/nude Google edition of Android to run best.

[jmr1015]

I still prefer to see the company die than going android. As simple as that. Good luck people.

That would be a huge disappointment for shareholders.

[Carmels]

BlackBerry won't able to customize Android on that kind of low level to provide BB10 experience. Two reasons :
1. Android users want android experience and expect android experience
2. Google made it so freakin difficult to even reskin UI without getting performance hit let alone implementing third party functionality features. It's an impossible tastk and Google knows it cause they designed it that way, they want their pure/nude Google edition of Android to run best.

Well I hope for our sack (meaning the BlackBerry enthusiasts) you're incorrect sir! Making a Android BlackBerry for the sack of pushing out another plan vanilla Android device would definitely be a bad strategic plan for the company.

If BlackBerry intends on delivering a Android variant, they have to on some level be able to customize the UI in order to incorporate some BB10 elements and or services. Otherwise, it's just big waste of time and money as no consumer looking for a fresh Android experience will give a BlackBerry labeled device a second look.

Look! It's Zedzilla30!

[Hydde]

All this android slider fiasco has amde me realize that probably we saw the last of BB10.....and if this device fails...it will be pretty much the end of BB devices...

so people...better accept hat sooner than later

[lnichols]

That would be a huge disappointment for shareholders.

Very few here are share holders so few should care what shareholders think. Just like I bet most BlackBerry shareholders now are using either an Android or Apple phone and should care less what CrackBerry users think. Except the rub is if nobody buys the phones the blackberry users can buy something else where the BlackBerry share holders have to hope Chen's BS is true.... Glad I'm not a shareholder!

Posted via Z30

[cvendra]

I don't think Android will do any good to failing BlackBerry business. Coming from webOS I have seen HP ditch webOS and go Android. And how many of you have even heard of HP android phone?

It's brand perception and awareness that counts. BlackBerry stayed with old system too long and they need to change the perception.

Passport, SQW 100-1, 10.3.2.440

[Hydde]

Maybe they will not be able to do that.... It has been 3 years and nothing has happened.

[BlackberryFan777]

The problem is,.. the 'rest of us' cannot buy enough devices to maintain viable manufacturing agreements.

Even with all the folks here on CB talking about how they bought a Passport and then a Classic and then a red Passport,.. they barely moved any devices. At some point, their manufacturing partners will say... you're not ordering enough to pay for us to keep this production configuration just sitting around.

I don't quite understand why people can't see this. I like BB10, but... Not enough other people do.

Posted via CB10

I think BB10 hasn't gotten a chance. Thor ordered too many phones, but he also sold enough to keep the platform in development. The hope was that as the next gen and IoT began, BlackBerry could have advantages. But, we still aren't there yet as an industry. Innovation has slowed and the market seems mature, now. Worse, John Chen seems to have killed all support for the platform almost immediately after taking over and his plan to focus all sales efforts on the one group of buyers -- enterprise -- that completely rejected BB10 was crazy or purposefully counterproductive. I think the board should fire John Chen and give Mike L. a shot at trying rebuild the BB10 platform effort Chen destroyed.

In the meantime, I'm hoping we see the Slider run BB10 as the host OS and Android as the guest OS using QNX hypervisor. Oh and that BB10 is upgraded to Qt 5.5 and Cascades gets a major overhaul with a new phone API and an awesome camera app. We'll see...

Posted via CB10

[Hydde]

and give Mike L. a shot

You are living of the past.

Those 2 guys are the reason tha BB devices are on the brink of death...yet u want to bring one fo them back. You are naive and ilogic

[Brewer James]

This is Blackberry essentially saying if you can't beat'em join them. If this fails, I could easily see Blackberry getting out of selling phones and just managing security platforms for businesses.

[k1rkland]

The most logical implementation would be stock Android with BlackBerry apps that allow secure communication. That would allow almost everything about the device and the OS to be outsourced and concentrate the software development efforts on apps that can be used on any Android device. Doing it any other way adds unnecessary complexity which actually decreases security.

Jumping into a new platform within a year is a rush job any way you cut it so look for a lot of sophistication on the software side. Practically everything about the development of the device would probably have to be outsourced to a company that has extensive experience with Android hardware.

[bb10adopter111]

I wonder how hard it would be for BlackBerry to make two versions of the same phone: one with BB10 and one with Android?

Posted via CB10

[johnny_bravo72]

I wonder how hard it would be for BlackBerry to make two versions of the same phone: one with BB10 and one with Android?

Posted via CB10

Possible but not financially feasible.

Posted via C5303

[Daniel Rudolf]

The slider they showed off earlier in the year on stage was not running android, you could see the BB10 phone/search/camera icons at the bottome of the screen. So does this mean there will be two versions of the slider? Or was the earlier reveal just a smokescreen?

[vladi]

Well I hope for our sack (meaning the BlackBerry enthusiasts) you're incorrect sir! Making a Android BlackBerry for the sack of pushing out another plan vanilla Android device would definitely be a bad strategic plan for the company.

If BlackBerry intends on delivering a Android variant, they have to on some level be able to customize the UI in order to incorporate some BB10 elements and or services. Otherwise, it's just big waste of time and money as no consumer looking for a fresh Android experience will give a BlackBerry labeled device a second look.

Look! It's Zedzilla30!

Most likely what will happen is that BlackBerry will offer their Android app suites on their Android device and that's about it.
Of course you will have to go to into settings to make them default cause due to legal obligations BlackBerry nor anyone else is allowed to override Google apps from the factory.

[AnimalPak200]

The slider they showed off earlier in the year on stage was not running android, you could see the BB10 phone/search/camera icons at the bottome of the screen. So does this mean there will be two versions of the slider? Or was the earlier reveal just a smokescreen?

It was not running anything. Just a mock up, a glued on translucent paper screen, with a backlight.

Posted via CB10