Blackberry phones to DIE on January 4, LITERALLY!

Yes, this is no clickbait! If you still use a Blackberry phone (Kudos to you, Sir/Madam), your phone will lose its ability to “will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS and 9-1-1 functionality,” Those are the exact words that Blackberry has used in its latest update on the continuation of its software support for older Blackberry devices. 

We have seen software support for older Android and iPhones being withdrawn but none of them lose the ability to make calls or do basic phone stuff. Not the case with Blackberry phones, though. You could be able to make calls, or send texts but the company itself doe not guarantee whether it will work as it used to so far. 

Blackberry phones are DYING (Sob!)

“As a reminder, the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions, will no longer be available after January 4, 2022. As of this date, devices running these legacy services and software through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS and 9-1-1 functionality,” says Blackberry.

Don't panic if you have one of those TCL-made bigger Blackberry phones running on Android. Whether or not those phones get the latest Android version is a different question but you will be able to make calls, send texts, and do almost all of the smartphone stuff on those. 

If your eyes have gone all teary for your Blackberry's imminent death, wipe them off and hope the revival by OnwardMobility shapes up nicely. In 2020, Texas' OnwardMobility announced it would revive the Blackberry name for its QWERTY keypad smartphones running on Android and supporting 5G networks. 

OnwardMobility hasn't shared anything since then and with the chip shortage situation prevailing, we doubt whether a revival is coming anytime soon.