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BlackBerry 10 was the best mobile OS, and it's death due to corruption will end innovation in smartphones for years.

2013 the first smartphone running the legendary BlackBerry 10 OS was born. the touch-screen gesture based Z10. It was the phone that introduced the majority of features many phones today take for granted. This isn't an exaggeration, many documentary and books have been made on the innovations of Black Berry OS, the duopoly retailer contracts Samsung and Apple got away with which would have been illegal 10 years ago, and other obstacles that prevented it from taking off, selling only just under 100 million phones across 6 models in 4 years. It will be ending support in 2020.

  • Your iphone since the X has been using gestures, something considered an innovation, but not only did BB10 do it first years before, but Apple has directly copied some of BB10's gestures.

  • Multitasking even today is still superior on a Blackberry, apps running in the background or cut on the same display, music, video, production apps all running at once without draining much battery, and quick switching made BB10 an amazing experience. Android and IOs multitasking has barely changed. Expensive top of the line Android models have improved multitasking but it's limited, drains a ton of battery, and based on the processor can slow down the phone. Maybe Android will catch up with the new upcoming update.

  • Home page hubs with all your apps, notifications, news, weather, and etc all on one screen for convenience came from BB10, then taken from HTC and then the rest.

  • 3D touch is something that was blatantly ripped off and presented as a new feature never seen before by Apple. Whom Blackberry can't sue due to laws backing Apple and other companies like Samsung, yet they can sue people out of business. Interesting. This also includes the removal of the "home button"

  • Custom Emojis, is another one taken from BB10.

  • Quick charging cables started with BB10 (they were Micro USB like Android but had a special aspect that the software would pick up increasing charging speed 10x, which Android would do later)

  • Modern wireless charging (putting phone over an object to charge)
  • Still the most secure OS in the market in terms of security features, firewalls, proxies, and phone tracking if lost/stolen.

Even now with declining support, BlackBerry 10 devices on average have better battery life, are 35% faster, can multitask better, and are much harder to hack or implement viruses, which even HP couldn't do with Palms and almost no one brought those. They are also built like tanks, to last, and aren't made to die in 2 years.

The Smartphone Industry since 2016 has been, let's be honest, stagnant. With innovation just Apple and Android makes reintroducing features that were used by better products long gone due to their duopolitical practices. Even that isn't engaging sales enough leading to prices skyrocketing to make up for declining demand.


Considering how cheap the Z30/Leap/Passport/Classic are right now, I'd buy one just to play around with, use it for awhile, and try to experience what made BB10 5+ years ahead of its time when it entered in 2013. Windows Phone was innovative as well, but nowhere near as much as BB10. Also in MS's case they didn't get as screwed over by Android makers and Apple, their lost was almost entirely incompetence and dumb decisions alone.

When Palmos/WebOS came in it was an advanced system, the best out there, but BB10 smashes that by being 5x more innovative.

This is what happens when corruption destroys competition. The market has become so experiences, and the top brass have so much power it's no longer possible to bring in a new competitor to market. Kind of like the traditional home console market.

279102d1403240600t-all-blackberry-10-devices-date-one-picture-scale-all_bb10.jpg


.
 

Pagusas

Elden Member
I really miss the Blackberry forum melt downs. Those were so enjoyable during the days blackberry neared it’s end.
 

pr0cs

Member
Yet another sign that suits should not be allowed to run tech companies (yes my avatar applies)

"Cameraphones will be rejected by corporate users."
Fucking idiots
 
I miss using a BlackBerry with a near full and tactile physical keyboard. It made it so much easier for me to avoid my fat fingers making a typo on a pretty damn frequent basis. Pus they were just great phones for every day use. I was never a businessman, but it felt cool to have all of those extra features.
 
Yet another sign that suits should not be allowed to run tech companies (yes my avatar applies)

"Cameraphones will be rejected by corporate users."
Fucking idiots

Well technically that was true. Although they did sometimes put out limited shipment of versions that did have a camera.

The issue was they kept that mentality when they started gaining in the consumer market although they did change their tune. The issue was that they decided to make a separate consumer market while all their best phones were still focusing on businesses. Instead of making consumer versions of their top line, they created a new low quality consumer line.

This is where some of the shitty blackberry bolds and the "storms" came from, the storms being very bad, buggy and broken. By the time the torch came out it was too late and then with BB7 they were forced to make their top phones available to everyone and then sat on them for like 4 years. Doing nothing.

They could have pout BB10 out in 2009-2010, but they delayed the buyout for the tech they needed because they though that there was no "genuine" interest in Ios/Andorid/WebOS yet, which to be fair was true of the market at the time, but the developer support was rapidly going to them so clearly the future was clear.

Still at least BB still makes phones, indirectly.
 

Azzurri

Member
From like 2009-2012 everyone had a BB, more so than the iPhone.

I remember people would ask for your BB pin instead of your number to text.
 
Was always interested in purchasing a Blackberry Motion. Some advice and opinions would be appreciated.

If you want a keyboard the Key 2 is good, but the Blackberry classic would give you the best keyboard. BB Classic is a BB10 device and Key2 is an android device, though through Amazon you can download many Android apps onto the BB10 device, as well as BB10 apps which can even be loaded into the phone right from USB without using the store.

For touch screen, Evolve and Evolve X are the latest and are pretty good, but you'd have to buy one of the sku's from later shipments and not the first few shipments as those don't have the bands/tech required to work outside of India which includes most of Europe and the US. But if you can find a later model those would be your best bet, though a bit of a risky buying situation.

Otherwise I'd recommend the Priv, Dtek60 or the Motion. Technically, if you want overall power and performance, the 2016 Dtek60 is still the "strongest" blackberry phone, and I'm talking of ALL the phones. I think you can get up to android pie through update, and oreo through computer connection.

Dtek60, 2k/Quad HD display, fast processor (though it's the heat friendly qualcomm from 2016) advanced security, shirt-cut key, hub features and more. it was basically the Pixel 1 back in 2016 but cheaper and having nearly the same specs, with some being better which made it a big deal for awhile and it's still really strong and can be brought NEW pretty cheap online. Only thing thats a bit lacking is the camera which is still decent, and better than many of todays $200-$500 phones.

The Priv is a good all arounder, and it is affordable. It also has an optional slide out keyboard if you want to use it. Also Quad HD, not as fast but better than several entry/mid-range phones today. Great build quality and battery.

The Motion is the latest, it has current OS updates, and it's got a more current chip-set. The Camera is middling though, and it's not exactly a power pusher, but it having newer software makes it easier for some apps. Full hD_, great battery, and amazing security features. 4GB of ram.

1.jpg

(Priv)

blackberry-dtek60_559_101216010049.jpg

(Dtek60)

Black.jpg

(motion)

BlackBerry-Evolve-and-Evolve-X.jpg

(Evolve and Evolve X)

Everyone has a different preference but for me it's been Dtek60>Priv>Motion>Evolve. Also I personally believe the Dtek60 has the best design, and I have a new backup Dtek60 because it's one of the best phones ever made especially after the updates.

Passport is a pretty good hybrid, although everyone wants one (especially the red and silver ones) so they may cost a bit more.
 
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Shifty

Member
I loved my Passport SE. Straight up the perfect form factor, done and done.

BlackBerry-Passport-SE-Front-On_0.jpg


I can't say the same love extends to Blackberry OS itself though- it did some really nice stuff with smooth gesture controls, but its multitasking overview was weak and the app ecosystem was basically nonexistent.

I'd buy the shit out of one with supported, up-to-date Android, just for the sake of being able to install stuff. BB10 does have an Android emulation layer, but it's slow as fuck and doesn't work with everything- used to freeze my bus time/ticket app so often that I wrote my own native one.

Though what I really want is for Palm WebOS' card UI to come back:




Android and iOS are cribbing from it very slowly, but they're still not as good.

When Palmos/WebOS came in it was an advanced system, the best out there, but BB10 smashes that by being 5x more innovative.
WebOS could have been amazing if HP hadn't bought it and suffocated it in its crib.
Alas, now it's tied to smart TVs and ancient Palm Pre hardware :messenger_frowning_
 
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Tenaciousmo

Member
just ordered a new battery and a replacement screen for my passport. I should have done that years ago instead of buying any other phone.
 
I loved my Passport SE. Straight up the perfect form factor, done and done.

BlackBerry-Passport-SE-Front-On_0.jpg


I can't say the same love extends to Blackberry OS itself though- it did some really nice stuff with smooth gesture controls, but its multitasking overview was weak and the app ecosystem was basically nonexistent.

I'd buy the shit out of one with supported, up-to-date Android, just for the sake of being able to install stuff. BB10 does have an Android emulation layer, but it's slow as fuck and doesn't work with everything- used to freeze my bus time/ticket app so often that I wrote my own native one.

Though what I really want is for Palm WebOS' card UI to come back:




Android and iOS are cribbing from it very slowly, but they're still not as good.


WebOS could have been amazing if HP hadn't bought it and suffocated it in its crib.
Alas, now it's tied to smart TVs and ancient Palm Pre hardware :messenger_frowning_


Heck HP killed the Palm Pre 3 after announcing it was launching wtf. If you pay some god money you can get some of the pre-launch shipments but it's basically as useful as a Sidekick/Danger hiptop.
 

John Day

Member
I approve of OP and this thread. Last BB i had i believe was a Bold?? But i sure was looking to the Z line, though they took too damn long to reach providers here where I live with all the IPhone hype and then Android.

I was never a business kind of user though, so my testimony might be entirely useless. But i loved it, it just...did it’s job so right.

I appreciate BB’s existance.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Had a company BB in 2012.

- Sleek? Check
- Easy to type on the keypad? Check
- Touch screen? Check
- Worked well with work apps and email? Check
- Apps? Don't know or care, since even now I barely use any third party apps
- Internet surfing? The worst internet performance in my history of surfing the net on any device. It barely worked. I swear that surfing the net on a 33.6k modem in 1998 on a Pentium was better and faster
 

Tenaciousmo

Member
- Apps? Don't know or care, since even now I barely use any third party apps
- Internet surfing? The worst internet performance in my history of surfing the net on any device. It barely worked. I swear that surfing the net on a 33.6k modem in 1998 on a Pentium was better and faster
I didn't encounter said internet problems, but the apps were greatly lacking. Luckily, I do not care for social media anymore.
 

Shifty

Member
Heck HP killed the Palm Pre 3 after announcing it was launching wtf. If you pay some god money you can get some of the pre-launch shipments but it's basically as useful as a Sidekick/Danger hiptop.
Yeah, I did that back when it was a thing and the prices were vaguely reaonsable. Lovely bit of kit with the larger size and glass screen, easily the best device they made.

The unreleased 7in Touchpad Mini prototype comes in close second though- I managed to snag one of those after doing a bunch of work with the WebOS Ports open-source team. It had the same screen res so the panel looked super sharp, and a fancy soft-touch back that you could pop off to get at the battery which was way nicer than the trashy gloss plastic of its bigger brother.

Heck, I even heard some juicy-sounding stories about new hardware that was being worked on before they trashed everything. Beefy devkit SKUs, a touch-only phone, and even a full-on flagship tier phone with a cutting-edge chipset. So much wasted potential :messenger_pensive:
 
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Skyfox

Member
BlackBerry would have survived to this day except a news story from India about government access to bb data destroyed them.

I wonder how long apple will continue to value privacy once Tim Cook leaves?

Personally I use untrustworthy tech less.
 

V2Tommy

Member
OP is in denial and is misspelling 3-letter words while trying to make a point.

Although many of the innovations listed are true, it didn't mean much when compared to the total package. As someone that deployed BB10 devices to dozens of corporate users, I can tell you that a fresh Z10 out of the box already had frame stutters while scrolling and web browser usage was a complete joke compared to the competition. Execs were taking them home and comparing to their kids' iPhones and the differences were clear. Execution > Ideas, every single time.
 
Had a company BB in 2012.

- Sleek? Check
- Easy to type on the keypad? Check
- Touch screen? Check
- Worked well with work apps and email? Check
- Apps? Don't know or care, since even now I barely use any third party apps
- Internet surfing? The worst internet performance in my history of surfing the net on any device. It barely worked. I swear that surfing the net on a 33.6k modem in 1998 on a Pentium was better and faster

You're talking about BB7 devices, which were outdated but sat on the market an extra 2-3 years due to a delay with acquiring the tech for the upcoming BB10 which would launch in 2013 Outside of the Torch phones which were a bit better, and were touch screen.

I approve of OP and this thread. Last BB i had i believe was a Bold?? But i sure was looking to the Z line, though they took too damn long to reach providers here where I live with all the IPhone hype and then Android.

I was never a business kind of user though, so my testimony might be entirely useless. But i loved it, it just...did it’s job so right.

I appreciate BB’s existance.

Well BB10 and Android Blackberrys are really for both (outside maybe the Key2 and Passport) business and media users.

BlackBerry would have survived to this day except a news story from India about government access to bb data destroyed them.

I wonder how long apple will continue to value privacy once Tim Cook leaves?

Personally I use untrustworthy tech less.

BlackBerry is still around.

OP is in denial and is misspelling 3-letter words while trying to make a point.

Although many of the innovations listed are true, it didn't mean much when compared to the total package. As someone that deployed BB10 devices to dozens of corporate users, I can tell you that a fresh Z10 out of the box already had frame stutters while scrolling and web browser usage was a complete joke compared to the competition. Execs were taking them home and comparing to their kids' iPhones and the differences were clear. Execution > Ideas, every single time.

Think about what you're saying, you're attacking the OP based on the LAUNCH device for BB10 while acting like the other devices that didn't have it's problems didn't exist (or the later shipment updated Z10's.)

Hello?

Also I hate to tell you this but BB was still the number one executive business brand until 2015 so "comparing their kids iPhones and the differences were clear" doesn't really matter since Business executives aren't usually interested in media devices especially in government jobs. It's why when BB10 devices started leaving the market business they went to Windows with only some getting iPhones because they had no choice, until 2016 when Windows Phone 10 basically ended up being a failed niche and then they went to iPhone (because no one trusted Android).

Although BB is making a comeback in business due to their very secure Android phones. The truth is, the Business market is largely untapped and anybody who makes a secure phone and markets it well can easily take the market, people only moved to iPhone because there wasn't another option (until now)

This alternate reality where a business executive saw an iPhone 6 or 6s and saying "wow we need to move to that" didn't happen because it's about security and productivity not media for business users. Unless maybe you were in an art or design related occupation.
 
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