{"id":407656,"date":"2021-07-28T15:31:33","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T13:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=407656"},"modified":"2021-07-30T00:39:38","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T22:39:38","slug":"blackberry-is-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/smartphones\/407656-blackberry-is-back.html","title":{"rendered":"Blackberry is back"},"content":{"rendered":"

The next BlackBerry-branded smartphone will launch in 2021, and licensed manufacturer OnwardMobility has launched a waiting list for the next device.<\/p>\n

BlackBerry and OnwardMobility first announced their partnership<\/a><\/strong> last year, promising to launch a new 5G smartphone with a physical keyboard.<\/p>\n

It will be powered by Google’s Android operating system.<\/p>\n

This came after TCL Communications said it would stop selling BlackBerry smartphones by 31 August 2020.<\/p>\n

Those who join OnwardMobility’s waiting list<\/a><\/strong> will be invited to give insights into what they really want from the next BlackBerry device.<\/p>\n

Besides the focus on productivity, security, and the classic Blackberry physical keyboard, the companies have remained tight-lipped regarding info about the new smartphone, and no images or renders have surfaced thus far.<\/p>\n

However, OnwardMobility did state that the phone is set to launch in the US and Europe first.<\/p>\n

The manufacturing of the devices will be done by the third member of the partnership, FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Foxconn, one of the largest hardware manufacturers in the world.<\/p>\n

Seeing Blackberry entering the mobile phone market with a new manufacturing partner may kindle a sense of nostalgia among South Africans who remember the glory days of Research In Motion.<\/p>\n

And indeed, in its prime, Blackberry presented an excellent value proposition in South Africa.<\/p>\n

Why Blackberry was best<\/h3>\n

For three years in a row \u2014 from 2011 to 2013 \u2014 Blackberry was voted as the coolest phone brand in South Africa, and its BBM messenger was voted as the coolest app.<\/p>\n

BlackBerry’s dominance in South Africa was driven by a symbiosis of three components: BBM, the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS), and the affordable BlackBerry Curve 8520.<\/p>\n

BIS allowed unlimited on-device data usage for R59 a month \u2014 an extremely popular offering among South African that were used to paying as much as R2 per megabyte of data at the time.<\/p>\n

At a time when a 1GB data bundle was R289<\/a><\/strong>, the combination of BIS, BBM, and the launch of the Curve 8520 in 2009 made for a near-unmatchable mobile offering.<\/p>\n

Yet, though outlasting Symbian and Windows Mobile devices, Blackberry eventually saw the market slip through its fingers.<\/p>\n

Standing at the top, Blackberry saw iOS and Android devices slowly rise to meet it.<\/p>\n

WhatsApp’s rise as a cross-platform mobile messaging service and BlackBerry’s hesitance to make launch BBM on competitor devices also contributed to its downfall.<\/p>\n

The final nail in the coffin was when the BIS network in South Africa became congested, even going offline for extended periods.<\/p>\n

These factors combined to knock Blackberry from its pedestal and, eventually, into the wake left by iPhone, Samsung and Huawei.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, despite its fall, Blackberry was a magnificent beast when it was at its best, and a trip down memory lane seems appropriate in the light of its upcoming release.<\/p>\n

\n

BlackBerry Curve 8520<\/h3>\n

Affordable and user-friendly. In its prime, the best bang-for-buck smartphone on the market.<\/p>\n

\"blackberry<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

BlackBerry Pearl<\/h3>\n

The first BlackBerry device with a camera and media player. A big step towards Blackberry’s prominence.<\/p>\n

\"blackberry<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

BlackBerry 8800-series<\/h3>\n

A true business-oriented device that built on the foundation of the Pearl.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

BlackBerry Storm<\/h3>\n

The first touch-screen Blackberry, and the first without the distinctive keyboard. It was not well received.<\/p>\n

\"blackberry<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

BlackBerry Bold<\/h3>\n

The iconic corporate Blackberry. Obama \u2014 and half of the MyBroadband office \u2014 used it.<\/p>\n

\"blackberry<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

BlackBerry Torch<\/h3>\n

Blackberry’s shot at the sliding-phone trend, but better-looking than its competitors.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

BlackBerry Z10<\/h3>\n

One of the first devices to run on the BlackBerry 10 platform, which was built on top of QNX. A premium smartphone made to compete with the ever-improving iPhone and Samsung full-touch devices.<\/p>\n

\"blackberry-Z10\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

BlackBerry Q10<\/h3>\n

Also powered by BlackBerry 10, the Q10 struck a balance between the touch-screen trend and the characteristic Blackberry physical keyboard.<\/p>\n

\"blackberry<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

BlackBerry Priv<\/h3>\n

The first BlackBerry powered by Android.<\/p>\n

\"Blackberry<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

BlackBerry DTEK50\/DTEK60<\/h3>\n

A collaboration between Blackberry and TCL (Alcatel). Rebranded version of Alcatel’s Idol 4.<\/p>\n

\"Blackberry<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

BlackBerry KeyOne<\/h3>\n

A return to the classic keyboard that was well-received by the industry. Fully manufactured by TCL.<\/p>\n

\"blackberry<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

BlackBerry Evolve<\/h3>\n

TCL’s final shot at a BlackBerry smartphone before giving up the licence.<\/p>\n

\"blackberry<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Now read: Microsoft\u2019s Surface Duo 2 images leaked<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blackberry is back, and its new 2021 smartphone will once again have a physical keyboard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341065,"featured_media":195768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17934],"tags":[397,97,71130,51373,167,35,71128,71132,71134],"class_list":["post-407656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smartphones","tag-android","tag-blackberry","tag-fih-mobile","tag-foxconn-technology","tag-google","tag-headline","tag-onwardmobility","tag-peter-franklin","tag-wen-yi-kuo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407656"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341065"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407656"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":408054,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407656\/revisions\/408054"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}