[grahamf]

Just sit down and think about it for a minute. The reasons why people claim they want a Blackberry running Android are as follows:

1. The Keyboard
2. The Security
3. The Quality Hardware

I don't know about you, but I believe Blackberry would have at most a few months and then it will be caught in the Android Rat Race, where the only company seemingly making a profit is Samsung (who even then is starting to falter)

1. The Keyboard.
This is admittedly an opening at the moment as the only Androids with keyboards are a few sliders that are a year or two old, but there's honestly nothing stopping the Samsung and the stragglers from cloning any Blackberry keyboard if they see a Android version becoming a hit. They can't use the exact same shape of the keys, but they can still do the exact same form factors.

2. The Security.
There's nothing stopping Blackberry from forking Android and making it more secure, except a) they technically already did that and b( it would not get access to the Play store. a) With the Android runtime BB10 effectively works as a (somewhat locked down) android device with a custom launcher and application set; no less standard than a Samsung or whatever with it's own launcher and application suite. Plus they are already partnering with Samsung to better secure the Android OS. b) modifying the Android OS enough to meet BB10's level of security certification would end up blacklisting it from the Android OHA, meaning it would not be able to run Google services; namely the Play app store. Not having the Play store would effectively make it DOA to anyone who was expecting to actually have apps on it.

3. The Quality Hardware
All I'm going to say is that the best selling Android devices have been mostly plastic and the ones rated as having really good hardware have been effectively brushed under the rug.

I simply don't believe that Blackberry would have enough to differentiate hardware running Android, and if they were forced to drop BB10 they would be better suited to completely exit the handheld business and focus on QNX and all of their services.

[Dave Bourque]

I hope they realize that maybe going full android isn't the best decision... They need to crunch the numbers ,check the current market trends and see if it's really worth their $ to go android.

But I can't imagine that they'll be able to support both platforms if they do go android on their latest devices.

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[mathking606]

Why couldn't they support both oses. All they are doing is skinning android. If companies like HTC can support multiple oses then I'm sure BlackBerry could

Posted via CB10

[LuxuryTouringZone]

Honestly, I think this question will vary greatly between users, so I'd say an unspecified amount of time. For me personally it'd be DOA because I'd rather use a Samsung or LG phone to get that full android experience.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Why couldn't they support both oses. All they are doing is skinning android. If companies like HTC can support multiple oses then I'm sure BlackBerry could

Posted via CB10

Other OEMs don't support other Operating Systems that are running forked versions of Android like BB10 is. Windows is not a version of Android, even Tizen is not Android.

As for BlackBerry Android.... I too see there no way that these would get any traction in the consumer market. As I think the BlackBerry Experience is going to be a major resource hog, and BlackBerry has no ability to provide competitively priced hardware with their volume and having to use 3rd party builders.

But we aren't even sure if the BlackBerry Experience will work without a BES subscription yet, could very well be that this will be an Enterprise only solution.

[Jakob Greve]

But it's mostly consumers that are hungry from prime speced phones with curved screens like Venece so I seriously doubt it will be enterprise only.

[Dave Bourque]

Why couldn't they support both oses. All they are doing is skinning android. If companies like HTC can support multiple oses then I'm sure BlackBerry could

Posted via CB10

They barely make a profit if any at the moment... the cost of supporting two is not realistic.

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[Dave Bourque]

For me personally it'd be DOA because I'd rather use a Samsung or LG phone to get that full android experience.

There ya go... this right here is the target market telling BlackBerry to stay away from Android.

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[ccbs]

I hope they realize that maybe going full android isn't the best decision... They need to crunch the numbers ,check the current market trends and see if it's really worth their $ to go android.

But I can't imagine that they'll be able to support both platforms if they do go android on their latest devices.

Z30STA100-5/10.3.2.680

Of course, they won't support both. As you mentioned, skinning Android is much cheaper than to keep the lame duck OS BB10. BB10 has failed to become a viable mobile platform and has no place in the market now. On a parallel universe where BBRY is on government support, they can certainly fund it just for hobby play. But the reality is that they need to cut the lost and refocus the development resources on their other focus area.

[Dave Bourque]

Of course, they won't support both. As you mentioned, skinning Android is much cheaper than to keep the lame duck OS BB10. BB10 has failed to become a viable mobile platform and has no place in the market now. On a parallel universe where BBRY is on government support, they can certainly fund it just for hobby play. But the reality is that they need to cut the lost and refocus the development resources on their other focus area.

BlackBerry 10 failed because they are unable to market their products... if that happens again with a android BlackBerry.. they would of scrapped BlackBerry 10 for the wrong reasons.

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[CTU2fan]

BlackBerry 10 failed because they are unable to market their products... if that happens again with a android BlackBerry.. they would of scrapped BlackBerry 10 for the wrong reasons.

Z30STA100-5/10.3.2.680

They'll need to advertise for sure, and I imagine they will. But advertising BB10 wouldn't have saved it from the consumer perspective, not with the app situation being what it is.

If they price it realistically and market it they can succeed with an Android lineup. Whether they do both of those is anyone's guess.

Posted via CB10

[Dave Bourque]

They'll need to advertise for sure, and I imagine they will. But advertising BB10 wouldn't have saved it from the consumer perspective, not with the app situation being what it is.

If they price it realistically and market it they can succeed with an Android lineup. Whether they do both of those is anyone's guess.

Posted via CB10

Couldn't they have done the same if the Android runtime had been properly advertised?

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[grahamf]

One thing I should mention is: For the same reason why a heavily modified Android phone can't run Google Play, Blackberry can't offer both BB10 devices and an Android device with Google Play. The OHA forbids any manufacturer from selling any non-OHA-compiant android compatible device alongside the OHA-compliant ones. If Blackberry were to start selling Android devices they would either a) not be able to have the Play store on the device, making it DOA or b) be forced to strip the Android runtime from BB10 (and maybe even drop the devices completely)

[anon(1852343)]

Didnt BlackBerry and google just sign an agreement? I would bet the play store will be available to any BlackBerry android smartphone moving forward. If its true

Blackberry Passport running 10.3.2.2339

[johnny_bravo72]

Couldn't they have done the same if the Android runtime had been properly advertised?

Z30STA100-5/10.3.2.680

I believe regular customers would've wanted Android apps that worked out of the box and not rely on workarounds.

Posted from an ME173X

[pbfan]

One thing I should mention is: For the same reason why a heavily modified Android phone can't run Google Play, Blackberry can't offer both BB10 devices and an Android device with Google Play. The OHA forbids any manufacturer from selling any non-OHA-compiant android compatible device alongside the OHA-compliant ones. If Blackberry were to start selling Android devices they would either a) not be able to have the Play store on the device, making it DOA or b) be forced to strip the Android runtime from BB10 (and maybe even drop the devices completely)

That is not completely true. They don't have to make android phones themselves so they can continue to have android run time for BB10.
They can provide software components (blend etc.) to third party to make android phones with these components.

[grahamf]

That is not completely true. They don't have to make android phones themselves so they can continue to have android run time for BB10.
They can provide software components (blend etc.) to third party to make android phones with these components.

a) then it would not be an Android Blackberry
b) they are already doing that with Samsung, which apparently doesn't count.

[Witmen]

I don't think Android will be enough to save BlackBerry's hardware business at this point. BB10 has already done too much damage.

I hope they have chrunched the numbers and realized that producing any more future BB10 devices might not be a good decision. There is a chance that BlackBerry devices that run Android might not sell well, but we already know without a doubt that any future BB10 devices won't. So the way I see it at this point, their best bet is to try Android as their last attempt before exiting the hardware business altogether.

[pbfan]

a) then it would not be an Android Blackberry
b) they are already doing that with Samsung, which apparently doesn't count.

I believe they can do something completely different from what they have done with Samsung. It call still be called android blackberry because it has built-in blackberry components.

[grahamf]

I believe they can do something completely different from what they have done with Samsung. It call still be called android blackberry because it has built-in blackberry components.

How can they do this without running afoul of OHA regulations?

[Prem WatsApp]

How can they do this without running afoul of OHA regulations?

... provide the Googlies via a separate, easy-to-do download during the initial setup process. I'm not sure, but doesn't Tizen do the same* or something similar ...?

:-)

(* and Samsung is still making Google compliant 'droids...)

�   www. CrackDroidChentral .com --- (BB10 NOT dead!)   �

[grahamf]

... provide the Googlies via a separate, easy-to-do download during the initial setup process. I'm not sure, but doesn't Tizen do the same* or something similar ...?

:-)

(* and Samsung is still making Google compliant 'droids...)

•   www. CrackDroidChentral .com --- (BB10 NOT dead!)   •

Tizen does not have an Android runtime, and Google Play services have to be installed by the manufacturer. Sideloading the play services to a non-OHA device is against the licensing agreement and Google makes attempts to block it. Plus it's too complicated for the majority of Android users who expect a turn-key solution.

[kbz1960]

It will still have the name BlackBerry on it which still means poison to many. The have to change the image also.

[grahamf]

It will still have the name BlackBerry on it which still means poison to many. The have to change the image also.

Which leaves you with what?

[mathking606]

I can't believe people still believe marketing was the main reason blackberry 10 never took off. When it launched ios and Android already had pretty mature ecosystems which many consumers had bought in to. Consumers are not patient they weren't going to buy a bb10 phone and wait for the ecosystem to mature when they had offerings from ios and android.

Posted via CB10