Crikey
BlackBerry ponders putting Android on future mobes
BlackBerry is pondering kitting out its next smartphone with Google's Android operating system, according to reports. In a major strategic turn the firm is considering running the Chocolate Factory's operating system on its next mobe, reports Reuters. Citing multiple source, the newswire said the move is part of BlackBerry's …
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Friday 12th June 2015 11:40 GMT muttley
Google Play working on my Passport here...
...thanks to Cobalt232 over on Crackberry.
Logged into my Google account, but not Play SERVICES, Location Services, etc.
Older version of Chrome, latest Google Maps logged in with Favorites etc.
In app purchases working etc etc.
Vanilla Android + hub on a Blackberry device, oh yes please.
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Friday 12th June 2015 12:03 GMT Captain Scarlet
Yup, my contract up I have a Q10 and they haven't replaced the Q10 which I find odd. I would have at least expected a hardware refresh and why would I bother replacing like for like?
For me it has been my best phone for years and years (For the simple reason I haven't found the need for apps for functions I am used to and expect to be on a "smart" phone), its the perfect size for what I use it for. It hasn't broken by itself (I ran into the edge of a table cracking the display which was my fault!!). I don't want another freaking android landfill device!
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Friday 12th June 2015 11:50 GMT Nash
striking while the irons hot!
BB are doing exactly what nokia SHOULD have done when they instead chose to go with Microsoft.
Now that the partnership with MS is over, Nokia find themselves in an awkward position whereby the cant use any other OS providers until the end of 2016 IIRC. so BB have a perfect opportunity to potentially open up a market lead on Nokia....if they ever do decide to go with Android, which my god, i hope they do!
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Friday 12th June 2015 12:28 GMT TeeCee
Ah!
Some time ago I summed up BB's current state and opined that their best move would be to ditch hardware (low-margin, competing with world+dog) and concentrate on software (high-margin, market leading, etc).
I also opined that the daft move would be to provide their services on other platforms without ditching the hardware business.
I never even dreamed they'd be this bloody stupid.
Presumably the share recommendation on BB has just moved from "sell" to "GTFON!".
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Friday 12th June 2015 13:05 GMT Captain Queeg
Re: Ah!
Spot on.
Remove the only differentiation? Expand boldly is to a commodity market with little real profit in it?
How on earth can anyone at BB think consuming capital on non-profit hardware is preferable to gracefully leaving the market is beyond me?
And this isn't a dig at Android, it's just acknowledging that if you're not Samsung or Apple there's just *no significant profit* to be made in hardware.
When will BB finally smell the coffee and start to make some really strategic bold decisions like killing the sacred cow of Hardware? Give it up guys!
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Friday 12th June 2015 13:36 GMT Eddy Ito
Re: Ah!
Exactly, even Samsung is watching it's smartphone profit slip gracefully under the waves and I expect that Apple will soon be following once the big screen models soak in for a bit. In the end all smartphones are just expensive razors and it's going to be the ever increasing streaming services that are the blades. I think even Apple sees that, why else would they work so hard to spark interest their latest music and video services?
If BB does this we'll have Androids with a keyboard. Meh, if they're going to follow the pack at least they won't have to worry about software updates anymore.
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Friday 12th June 2015 12:54 GMT Joel Mansford
Blackberry Classic User over here
I run two phones, a Sony Z3 compact and a Blackberry Classic (that's the newest one with a keyboard running v10). What's surprising is that I tend to use the Blackberry most due to the keyboard, I can type without looking, I can hang-up a call without taking the phone out of my pocket. I have a few android apps on it which mostly work ok. For taking pictures, GPS navigation and reading web sites it's the Sony every time - this isn't the majority of what I use my phone for though.
After I think two years on v10 (I had a Q5 before) though I still don't find the gestures intuitive.
I think Blackberry make quality hardware and, if they went to a proper native Android build I think they'd get a lot of business customers who actually type emails on the move - you know the original reason they were popular. No one else makes a decent Android phone with buttons anymore.
They could be sensible and release a developer OS release for an existing device and see how many people try it. They can maintain that it's unsupported as is the case with the unpublicised Android app support currently.
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Friday 12th June 2015 13:26 GMT Anonymous Coward
Dear God, please, no!
All I want is a full keyboard, a screen that can is legible for textmessages, the ability to make phone calls and send text messages, a calendar function and an alarm function, and I emphatically do NOT want Android. Is that really too much to ask for?
IMO Blackberry's phones have been getting steadily worse, sticking Android on 'em will be yet another disimprovement!
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Friday 12th June 2015 21:30 GMT FreeBrad
Re: Dear God, please, no!
I love my passport; it's fast, highly configurable and even though I have fairly big clumsy fingers the keyboard is no problem; the build quality is good too.
BB10 is maturing but is pretty stable, even with the android apps; The blackberry hub is of great benefit and being able to turn off location services at the touch of a button assigned to the quick pull down menu is priceless for somebody who values their privacy but from time to time still needs to use the device as a sat nav.
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Friday 12th June 2015 15:35 GMT Grade%
That is a negatory BlackBerry.
Z30 with BB10.3.2 has excellent file support that allows me to manipulate my data and get important information to the needed people with elegant simplicity. Copy/paste, the predictive keyboard, the Hub, eight applications running at once, HDMI output, Miracast; it's my dogdamn OFFICE! In my POCKET!
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Friday 12th June 2015 17:34 GMT Anonymous Coward
Not a terrible idea
People don't buy phones for the OS, they buy them for the user experience, apps and hardware (in whatever order) It doesn't matter if the phone is running Android, QNX, iOS or Windows 10 underneath, if the phone is well designed and you like the GUI and can run your apps.
Blackberry can design the hardware their customers want, layer on the GUI features they want, add Blackberry's software like their email and the stupid messenger, and benefit from the large application base of Android. They were already going Android compatible for apps anyway, once they do that exactly zero developers will care about developing native BB apps that take advantage of OS features that Android lacks. So why not add those OS features to their own build of Android and give those committed to Android an option for something a little different?
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Friday 12th June 2015 22:40 GMT Tom Maddox
Re: Not a terrible idea
"People don't buy phones for the OS, they buy them for the user experience, apps and hardware (in whatever order) It doesn't matter if the phone is running Android, QNX, iOS or Windows 10 underneath, if the phone is well designed and you like the GUI and can run your apps."
Heresy! Burn the infidel!
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Saturday 13th June 2015 17:38 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Not a terrible idea
The point of moving to full Android is they don't have to waste a lot of resources maintaining and improving an entire OS, but only the special sauce they stick on top of it. What's the benefit to having it run QNX and run Android apps?
Unless someone wants to argue QNX is inherently superior to Linux, to the extent that an underfunded company maintaining QNX would produce something more secure than the well-funded company maintaining Android, there's no point.
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