With all the failed attempts to revive the Blackberry brand—which includes the end of its partnership with TCL—the brand is coming to an end (for good), as it announced that it will end support to legacy devices running Blackberry software effective January 4.
The end of life support covers practically all Blackberry devices—BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions—with the later Android versions being the last few Blackberry devices you can still use in 2022.
“Devices running these legacy services and software through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS and 911 functionality,” Blackberry said in its statement. This basically means that from January 4 onwards, all legacy Blackberry phones will be nothing but a reminder of their glorious past in the 2000s.
This move follows Blackberry’s plans of transitioning into a software company, providing services to entrtprises and governments around the world.
Texas-based company OnwardMobility did hint that they are developing a 5G-capable Blackberry phone with the classic QWERTY keyboard through its Pre-Commitment Program in 2021. The company promised that the product will come out by the end of 2021, but we have yet heard any updates from them since then.
