(Opinion) BlackBerry Needs Full Access to Android
After reading about all the new products and integrations that Google announced yesterday, one thing is clear, BlackBerry will never be able to compete in the consumer market beyond smartphone devices. There's just no point in them creating wearables (or SDKs to go along with them), TV solutions, thermostats that talk to everything, etc etc. It's a waste of resources, time, and money.
I believe BlackBerry is on track to be the "back-end" for all these connected devices, much like it is already the back-end for all the new Auto-connectivity that is coming (Android Auto and Apple CarPlay). Is being the "brain" really a bad thing? Sure they don't get the recognition or fan-fare, but they do receive royalties/licensing dollars as these new products surface. Imagine if BlackBerry could receive royalties on every connected device that comes out in the future - - because they would all use a secure back-end that uses QNX as its brain.
In order to stay relevant to the general consumer though, BlackBerry needs to have full Android access in BB10 so that BlackBerry devices can connect to these IoT devices just as well as the other consumer devices on the market. A new smartwatch should not dictate what smartphone a person buys.
I really think this is where BlackBerry is headed. They're not going to come out with a BlackBerry Watch, or a BlackBerry Car, or a BlackBerry TV solution. They're going to be the brain that enables other manufacturers to create securely connected devices, because that's what their strength is.