BlackBerry smartphones have stopped working for good.
The once-popular handset – famous for its physical QWERTY keyboard which at its peak in 2013 had 85 million users worldwide – is as of 04.01.2021 now classed as defunct as the company confirmed the devices will “no longer reliably function.”
In a statement, BlackBerry said: “The termination of these service offerings and infrastructure will also impact functionality for applications such as Enhanced Sim Based Licensing (ESBL) / Identity Based Licensing (IBL), BlackBerry hosted email addresses, BlackBerry Link, BlackBerry Desktop Manager, BlackBerry Blend, BlackBerry Protect (allows consumers to lock, locate or wipe BBOS, BlackBerry 10 devices remotely.”
However, the company were quick to assure users of their AI-based security solution BlackBerry Protect that there will be “no impact.”
The company continued: “There is no impact to the new BlackBerry Protect which is an AI-based endpoint security solution,”
Following on from its peak in popularity during the early 2010s, the BlackBerry has been overtaken in user number by Android devices and Apple’s iOS smartphones – with almost a billion people worldwide reportedly estimated to use Apple’s iPhone.
The BlackBerry company had become a fully fledged security software business by 2016, but decided to offer ongoing support for those who still used their devices as an as an “expression of thanks”, although that has now ended.
In a statement posted on their website, the company said back in 2020: “As another milestone in the BlackBerry journey, we will be taking steps to decommission the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions, with an end of life or termination date of January 4, 2022.
“As another milestone in the BlackBerry journey, we will be taking steps to decommission the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions, with an end of life or termination date of January 4, 2022.”
