[thepolishguy]

Yes...yes, he did.

Now I know what inspired the Onion to write this article. Mr Chen can be proud of himself to be picked up by such a top quality site as the Onion...

Google Launches 'The Google' For Older Adults - The Onion - America's Finest News Source

[dejanh]

Now I know what inspired the Onion to write this article. Mr Chen can be proud of himself to be picked up by such a top quality site as the Onion...

Google Launches 'The Google' For Older Adults - The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Hahahahahahaha

On the theme of #Worstlaunchever, where is the PRIV? Oh there it is, second screenshot, bottom right. Nowhere to be found on the main page. Also, it is apparently not a smartphone, it is a PRIV.

[sicz24]

I'm pretty sure today is just a soft launch for the enthusiasts such as our selves. Once it on carrier shelves we will get an official launch with hopefully some hero status from the carriers.

[crackberry_geek]

It took some longer than others to figure if out. But now it is painfully obvious that Chen is an 1d10t.

When will the board figure it out?

Posted via CB10

[BBSpring]

I don't think that is fair, he did not have much to work with. I do think that this turnaround required some more attention to the market sentiment of Blackberry and ignoring that sentiment has eroded any feeling or expectation of success . I get the strong sense that folks inside BB do not know what the tech industry/customers feel about the company.

[laid-back]

That has something to do with it, However Chen is not Canadian. In fact he is accustomed to the ways of SV. I would guess that there is not budget and/or man power to make this go the way most would expect. Either way, it's an obvious cast study for how NOT to win. IMO

Leaders make history for a reason. they take whole countries in the right direction, companies, sports clubs etc. There is a reason why Apple has become what it is. John Chen is no Steve Jobs. Jobs was a salesman, Chen is an "engineer" and that's all. He said it himself on one of the interviews. As a CEO Jobs was an engineer, a visionary and salesman, Chen is an engineer that;'s it that's all.
As a CEO, Chen missed few opportunities to make a big splash with the PRIV. He butchered the interview with BNN, he spoke about exiting the hardware business as the PRIV is getting ready to be released thus sending mixed signals, the launch is now awkward, in addition to a high price that's making a lot of people look the other way.

Although the move to Android is the right thing to do, at least for the time being, the execution of this whole thing is just not good. There absolutely has to be an event with a good presentation of what the phone can do, it has to be fun, appealing, and has to leave people wanting the phone and critics going nuts about it. No need to be shy about this new device.

I saw a documentary about the 2000's, and among the events that marked the decade was the launch of the iphone, and guess what, Steve Jobs was the one who presented this revolutionary thing called iphone and he showcased how it does so many things. all that is normal, except Jobs had actually 4 or 5 phones hooked to the projector and he didn't use the same phone the whole time simply to avoid any possibility of the phone crashing or lagging when moving from one app/task to another. that was just genius, and nobody knew that and everyone thought wow this phone is amazing. Chen has none of this.
If BB is serious about this phone, they need to act fast and create a WOW moment for their phone. It shouldn't cost a lot of money to invite some journalists and put together a nice conference.

[crackbb10]

I think a fuss like this should be held off until the device is actually launched in the absence of any marketing. I'm still thinking marketing is going to be okay, just like it was with BlackBerry 10. It would definitely be nuts if no proper marketing campaign appears, I agree on that.

One thing I'd like to ask. Some people here are ready to jump ship to other premium devices because BlackBerry screws up their public performances a lot. What if the Priv blows your mind? Not the world's, just yours.

[Cynycl]

I think a fuss like this should be held off until the device is actually launched in the absence of any marketing. I'm still thinking marketing is going to be okay, just like it was with BlackBerry 10. It would definitely be nuts if no proper marketing campaign appears, I agree on that.

One thing I'd like to ask. Some people here are ready to jump ship to other premium devices because BlackBerry screws up their public performances a lot. What if the Priv blows your mind? Not the world's, just yours.

You must mean this piece of genius.

[jope28]

I thought Chen was a smart guy, I'm really not sure which direction he's heading with this...

Am pretty sure he's a smart business guy (probably not a good tech guy- "it runs the Google")
It's just that we don't know what his true intentions are


 Frosty White Q10/10.3.2.2789 CB10 

[BBSpring]

Lets be clear, marketing has never been a strong suit for this company. The brands that have management that value marketing , are the ones that thrive now. Look at Dyson, Tesla, Square....so many to mention them all. I think that Apple really showed the way to create strong demand and loyalty and that model has been copied and copied and improved upon.

Now look at Msft and BB, two companies that were always more about engineering than presentation, it's a hard slog to do well without that skill in the DNA of a brand. I wish them luck.

[JeepBB]

BlackBerry injected PINs into the chips and employed Root of Trust making the Priv the first "compatible" Android handset that cannot be rooted (but we'll see how well that works out...).

BlackBerry also tweaked the kernel and to my knowledge are not making available those tweaks to the AOSP, which would have been the rule under OHA. But this is something that will remain to be seen.

.

Do you have a source for this?

I'm no Android expert and I'm not interested in buying the Priv but I'd understood that the Priv ran near-vanilla Lollipop, with some BB "security" on top (DTEK).

[hazarjast]

It seems like most are getting worked up prematurely. If the COO is to be believed, this was a soft-launch with a hard launch planned with carrier release:

[chenageddon]

John Chen certainly wasn't hired because he is a charismatic technoevangelist. He's a cost-cutting turnaround guy for what ultimately will not be a smartphone company. However, if he's really making all of the decisions regarding this hardware including the marketing budget, the timing of the launches, production volumes, design, etc. then look out. This is big-league stuff and he's a novice at it.

[6stringriffs]

Do you have a source for this?

I'm no Android expert and I'm not interested in buying the Priv but I'd understood that the Priv ran near-vanilla Lollipop, with some BB "security" on top (DTEK).

This phone is on a hardened Kernel from grSecurity. Search the Blackberry website/blogs. Meanwhile grSecurity is known for making the most secure Kernels.

[Jerlexis]

Maybe the Priv is supposed to be a secret and everything we've seen is a leak.

[crackbb10]

You must mean this piece of genius.

I mean the Z10 and Q10 were available in many stores front and center. And there was a lot of initial marketing from both BlackBerry and the carriers. I think we'll see that again. If not, that would be a loss. And yeah, that ad was stupid. But it was there nonetheless, amongst others. That was the only point I wanted to make. Let's just hope we'll see some good ads in the coming weeks.

[Darrell456]

Here's another angle... It's possible that all the carriers aren't on board. Maybe this is a way to get the carriers to pay attention and agree to carry the Priv.

[crackbb10]

I think we would've never seen this device if carriers hadn't been along for the most part.

[Darrell456]

I think we would've never seen this device if carriers hadn't been along for the most part.

I really hope so.

[thepolishguy]

Do you have a source for this?

I'm no Android expert and I'm not interested in buying the Priv but I'd understood that the Priv ran near-vanilla Lollipop, with some BB "security" on top (DTEK).

The many ways BlackBerry beefs up Android security on the Priv | ZDNet

[7onZ]

Hahahahahahaha

Also, it is apparently not a smartphone, it is a PRIV.

This still confuses me. Everyone likes to call it "Priv by Blackberry" yet on BlackBerry's page, it's officially named as "BlackBerry Priv"

[ChrisLeNeve]

THERE WAS A LAUNCH??

Forgive my typos, I don't look when I type

[7onZ]

I mean the Z10 and Q10 were available in many stores front and center. And there was a lot of initial marketing from both BlackBerry and the carriers. I think we'll see that again. If not, that would be a loss. And yeah, that ad was stupid. But it was there nonetheless, amongst others. That was the only point I wanted to make. Let's just hope we'll see some good ads in the coming weeks.

Lol! I'm pretty sure they've started producing "the good ads" such as Blog posts, tweets and some uncanny pictures of Priv

[RECOOL]

Lets be real launch event is corny ,chessy and just old. Bunch of old dudes talking about their hardware & tech bull**** background screens., and force entertainment Its garbage ,boring and just ********. Every single press. I like this style they need to market digitally print and pop vid ads where need be. Al that press streaming crap **** you aint ******* rockstars ******* embarassing grown man bull****ting about ''amazing phone'' and the features everyone can get.

2015 stop trying to repeat old played out ****.Tyring to make theatre out of a phone embarrasing.Move different .There's plenty ways to advertise much more cooler,slicker and better. THat stream press thing is not in.

All the streamed press releases get chopped up by media sites into compressed vids,text. Just do a hands on the BB website and push it to media outlets.New hustle ,new manuvering.New advertising approach. Whoe teh **** wants to see BB personel embarass themselves.

[6stringriffs]

Lets be real launch event is corny ,chessy and just old. Bunch of old dudes talking about their hardware & tech bull**** background screens., and force entertainment Its garbage ,boring and just ********. Every single press. I like this style they need to market digitally print and pop vid ads where need be. Al that press streaming crap **** you aint ******* rockstars ******* embarassing grown man bull****ting about ''amazing phone'' and the features everyone can get.

2015 stop trying to repeat old played out ****.Tyring to make theatre out of a phone embarrasing.Move different .There's plenty ways to advertise much more cooler,slicker and better. THat stream press thing is not in.

All the streamed press releases get chopped up by media sites into compressed vids,text. Just do a hands on the BB website and push it to media outlets.New hustle ,new manuvering.New advertising approach. Whoe teh **** wants to see BB personel embarass themselves.

And this is why people keep telling me "Oh I didn't know BlackBerry is still in business"