Once-Indispensable BlackBerry Smartphone Ceases To Exist

Canadian firm BlackBerry Ltd said it will take steps to decommission legacy services for its 10 and OS operating systems

By this announcement the company has shut down support for both its BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry PlayBook OS, effectively rendering the mobile and tablet devices defunct. Beginning from yesterday (January 4, 2022) the two operating systems will cease some of their core functions, including making phone calls, text messaging, or even emergency calls to 9-1-1.

BlackBerry said that Wi-Fi and mobile data may also become “unreliable,” with apps like BlackBerry Link, BlackBerry World, BlackBerry Protect, BlackBerry Messenger, BlackBerry Blend and BlackBerry Desktop Manager all having “limited functionality.”

 

The move marks the end of an era for the phones, which sported a tiny QWERTY physical keyboard, pioneered push email and the BBM instant messaging service.