This week, classic BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry OS will no longer be able to make calls, send text messages, access data, and call 911 making them essentially unusable.
MacRumors reports that from January 4, 2022, all classic BlackBerry smartphones will become essentially unusable. The phones will no longer be able to make calls, send text messages, access online data, and lose all access to emergency functionality.
(HAMAD OLAYAN/AFP/Getty Images)
In September 2020, the company announced that as part of an effort to shift its focus to enterprise security and solutions it would be shutting down support for BlackBerry OS devices. The company stated: “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.”
Blackberry was previously a huge force in the smartphone market, but the company’s dominance came to an end with the introduction of the iPhone in 2007. Only ten years later, the company’s smartphone market share was completely decimated.
The once-mighty handset company made a number of attempts to regain a foothold in the smartphone market, selling Android-based devices in an attempt to attract a wider audience. But none of its efforts seemed to work and the company announced that it would be focusing on cybersecurity software for enterprise customers instead of making hardware.
For the few still using BlackBerry smartphones, the company has published a list of steps you can take as they plan to disable service for the devices.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
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