After a decadelong battle with irrelevance, the BlackBerry is no more. The company ended access to basic smartphone functionality for its classic devices today.
What that means: If you still have a working BlackBerry running on BlackBerry 10 software or 7.1 OS and earlier, it’s time to hang up the phone belt holster for good: As of today, you’ll no longer be able to reliably use that device for SMS, phone calls, data usage, or even calling 911. It’s decor now.
- In most cases, newer Android-based BlackBerry phones will continue to function normally. Or, whatever normal means for them.
End of an era: Once the crème de la crème of smartphone tech, the BlackBerry had 80 million active users in 2012—with power button-smashers like President Obama, Kim Kardashian, and your uncle who drove an Audi A4.
Still, the company soldiers on. BlackBerry’s pivoted to focus on cybersecurity and provide operating systems for cars, as the auto industry moves toward autonomy. Heck, it even moonlit as a meme stock last year.
