BlackBerry makes its devilish Android trickery official in OS update BlackBerry has started to roll out the latest version of its eponymous Operating System. The tiny incremental increase in version numbering (from 10.2.0 to 10.2.1) belies its importance - for this version runs Android apps at full-tilt, thanks to trickery we described back in November and previewed earlier this month. …
Does it work with apps that have native code? Nope... Does it work with apps that use the Android OpenGLX libraries, nope.
These are just the two we know about. 80% is actually rather generous estimation of how good the new Android emulation is under QNX.
Then you have the problem of course, that they aren't authorised Google Play devices, so no play store, only the shite that ends up on the chinese-copy stores....
You've got it wrong.
Buy a BlackBerry that will allow you to customise your apps permissions so they don't read your text messages.
If you've got an Android phone, and you've installed Facebook, check the permissions. You'll have given it permisison to read all of your SMS messages.
BlackBerry doesn't do that. So you're paying for security.
Or you could say,
"Buy an overpriced Android that compatible with at best 80% of Android apps"
and be more accurate with it. Last I heard a lot of software devs were targeting only a few Android platforms and the rest can go hang so far as bugs are concerned.
Having used a corporately activated Blackberry 10 device since they came out the OS is coming on at an impressive rate. I've now dropped my own Android device and simply have one Z30 for everything. I think the "welcome to 2008" title for this article is a little unfair and the pinch and zoom references a new feature for mailbox management which is actually really cool. You've been able to pinch and zoom on a BB since roughly...ermm.. 2008.
Really looking forward to the trolling anti-BB comments from loads of iSheeple who've never actually used a Blackberry 10 device. I've used all the major phone OS's and BB10 combined with a corporate BES10 server really is a force to be reckoned with, ask the Pentagon...
We'll fix that subhead. I called it "pinch to zoom" which is (at best) ambiguous - and for most people will be very misleading. "Pinch to filter" would be much more accurate.
I haven't seen another device that allows you to filter messages instantly like this, and it's very useful..
The Q5 and Z10 are looking better now. I have a Curve 9320 and a Playbook. I wish they would provide an upgrade for the Playbook to BB OS 10 or bring out a new version, perhaps with a 10" screen. There is only about a tenner between the Z10 and Q5 at carphonewarehouse. Maybe it is time to get a Z10 and upgrade to a touchscreen. I really hope this latest improvement to BB 10 gives Blackberry a boost. I really want them to do well. As OrinokoMatt says, ask the Pentagon. Blackberry respect their users privacy which sems to be a bit lacking these days with other companies. Yes Google, I'm pointing the finger at you.
It depends on whether you want to know how, say, the graphics hardware works or how the baseband processor works. Both of these can "see" all your data. Neither of them have source code available for a typical handset that you buy in the shops.
You cannot completely recompile the entire software stack for the phone you actually use (yes, you can make your own Android build, but it will either have no useful graphics capabilities, or you'll be using somebody's binary blob).
But it is VERY clearly documented. As it is a micro-kernel architecture and all applications and drivers communicate with the kernel via well-defined messages, this is not such a problem. After 30+ years developing QNX applications, I would rather write software for it than just about any OS, though its full support for the GNU compiler suite, POSIX, Eclipse, etc. means that most applications written for Linux/Android will port without much problem. I know, because I do this regularly - most of the time it is a simple recompile issue. FWIW, QNX wrote the CDT plugins for Eclipse, so if you use Eclipse for C/C++ application development, you can thank QNX!
I've had a Z10 from quite early on, and now I'm also carrying an iPhone 5 and I have to say I prefer the screen size and feel of the Z10 over the iPhone. Somethings are better on the iPhone, but the Z10 gets alot right as well.
The soft keyboard on the Z10 is better, or at least I can type faster and more accurately on there than on the apple. I've got bigger hands, so I find the just a bit bigger Z10 a real advantage. I'd probably go Android otherwise because of the physical size I'd prefer to have.
I also like that I can expand my Z10 with an SDHC card for more storage room, as well as replac the battery with a new one or a spare if need be. And the iPhone's email is *horrible*. Maybe I'm dumb, but not being able to group emails by sender and quickly and easily select multiple emails at once is key, and the oiPhone (running iOS 7) just doesn't do that.
I do like iIOS7 though, it looks much better to my eye and seems to work quite well overall.
John
The problem with recent BBs are that they now require BES10, Blackberry ( RIM or whatever they are now called) needs to make the phones at least semi-compatible with existing BES servers. Then the corporate buyers would at least accept to include them as possible candidates....
Updating to BES 10 is probably not a major requirement for many of the corporates at the moment.
The phones ready but the essentials are not mainstream.......not an easy position...
Blackberry has a chance to regain their footing in the Enterprise. Most of the customers that we support are using iPhone 4S and Android Phones that are 3 years old. Windows Phone has very little presence in AirWatch MDM deployments, at the moment. As someone else noted, the Z30 is definitely looking good.
Yes, BB10 has come on nicely but as the article says it's becoming niche. Nothing wrong with that of course, but I took the plunge yesterday and abandoned my Z10 in favour of an iPhone 5S with Good Technology for work mail.
Nowt wrong with the BB that NATIVE apps wouldn't solve, but droid cast offs just muddle the UX.
By all means look forward to trolling from fans of other platforms. You can smile and sit back knowing you've made the right choice for you. Unfortunately it wasn't the right choice for me.
I have been a QNX developer since 1982 - I have serial number 0004. They have some of the best software engineers it has been my privilege to work with over the past 30+ years. FWIW, in the past I was an OEM of the operating system, and wrote a good bit of the TCP/IP code for the QNX 2.x OS so it could be used by the US Navy. So, it is not surprising to me that they managed this "hack". Kudos QNX!
Smartphone newbie, as of yesterday. I was influenced both by the good reviews of the OS here and from my son, a veteran of two Android phones, at least one of which he rooted. Anxiously awaiting Wind (a minor player here in Canada) to provide their update to 10.2.1. The Q10 will only cost me $200Cdn on a 2 year. Not dead yet, really, it's feeling so much better..............
How to get Android apps on devices running BB 10.2.1 from the Amazon app store in 3 quick steps:
1- Download and install the Amazon app store: Open browser and go to (http://www.amazon.com/getappstore) and tap "Download Amazon app store"
2- Run and log in to the Amazon app store.
3- Download and install Android apps.
That's it!
Not sure about Google play, but Amazon has welcomed BB users to use the Amazon AppStore.
Alternatives:
DroidStore (native Google Play client)
Amazon App Store
1mobile Market
APK Train (website)
Snap APK Downloader
If you already own an Android device, you could install an app such as “App Backup and Restore” then export your APK files to your cloud storage such as Dropbox. You can then use your BlackBerry device to open your Dropbox account and simply click on the saved APK file to install.
As a loyal BB device owner for the past 10 years, I finally had to get a Moto X, simple because I have to faith that BB is going to be making phones in 2 yrs (when I can upgrade to a new phone) so might as well migrate now.
IMO, One of BB biggest mistake was not making sub $100 (with contract) BBOS7 devices to appeal to users like me, who just need a phone that does task good enough, until OS10 proved itself. The cheapest OS7 device from my carrier was $250 and it wasn't even in stock. OS10 is of course better, but it has nothing that most people can't leave without (especially OS7 users), or find in the competition, and that is why it just not appealing to the masses.
The jump from 10.2 to 10.2.1 seemed a lot more than from 10.1 to 10.2. But poor old BB can do no right. They've even been mocked for enabling the FM radio on the Q10/Z30.
The biggest change I have noticed on the Q10 is that the standby drain seems to have been fixed - if I don't make voice calls, but with 3G and wireless on, battery life is around 3 days. (No 4G here in the sticks).
The jury is still out on whether I would buy another one, but the progress since May last year is very visible, and this is the first time I've had a phone which really does improve with time. BB used to have far too many models, and having only 4 to support for BB 10 must surely help.
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