Microsoft, Windows 10 & Blackberry

[Praxius]

Well to be clear, I wasn't thinking of a complete takeover by MS, but a partnership between the two.

To have a Blackberry device running W10 would be sweet in my books.

A hybrid between Blackberry OS's best features with W10 features a few years down the line would be impressive.

I love WP and Luminas but there are a few things in Blackberry that peak my interest a lot too.

I find myself regularly checking out what Blackberry has going on but to be honest, it's not enough for me to personally switch, meanwhile I have no interest at all in looking into Android or iPhones.

Maybe I just like underdogs.

 

[anon(5340442)]

I've read the same with the exception of the Play Store. Android apps run in a Runtime Environment, not natively.

My understanding was that they would run natively when in Android mode. I was quite surprised to hear the Play Store as well, but I guess for it to be worthwhile it has to be the full experience - the current 3rd party app stores just dont cut it.

 

[anon(5340442)]

If that happens, I'll be leaving BlackBerry for Windows phone. That's how much I want to avoid anything associated with Google.

Typed with much precision and clicky-ness on my Q10

Unfortunately, its likely the only way BB can see growth again. BTW, someone in my office just upgraded his Q10 to the Classic and said that its a night and day difference. He's quite happy with it and said it is by far the best BB he has owned (he has always used BB).

 

[Alain_A]

BlackBerry devices will have both BB10 and Android on them

Not will have, they already got it by side loading snap.

Right now, you can switch between a work and personal mode

yep, when you connected with BES

it will be the full Google Play Android

Ah really, by whom??? not gonna happen. Unless you use another side loading method that I forgot the name of

Not sure, but this is the direction they are going

exactly, you are not sure..In case you are it would be nice to have a source..

 

[Alain_A]

Android apps run in a Runtime Environment, not natively

That is right..

 

[Alain_A]

Originally Posted by Crushing Destroyer it will be the full Google Play Android Ah really, by whom??? not gonna happen. Unless you use another side loading method that I forgot the name of

I remember now, It is called Cobalt's method by side loading the google play store to be able to buy android apps with BB

 

[SteveNoza]

I certainty hope not! The only thing BlackBerry is doing that I'd like to see on Windows Phone is gesture based navigation so we can get rid of the bottom buttons. Yeah, I think BB10 OS is slightly ahead of WP 8.1 feature-wise, but Microsoft is getting there. In the mobile/enterprise market BlackBerry and Microsoft are kinda doing the thing, why would Microsoft pick up a financially troubled company that offers no advantage? And let's not have BlackBerry build physical keyboard phones for Microsoft as the double typing issue on the Q10 (and looking like the Passport and Classic are double typing too) proves that they don't build the wonderfully durable phones like they used to.

 

[xandros9]

I KNEW Balloon Boy was up to something!

Hello!

 

[fatclue_98]

And let's not have BlackBerry build physical keyboard phones for Microsoft as the double typing issue on the Q10 (and looking like the Passport and Classic are double typing too) proves that they don't build the wonderfully durable phones like they used to.

That slider they teased looks awful sweet.

 

[Alain_A]

and looking like the Passport and Classic are double typing too

I don't about the passport but my Classic doesn't have the double typing issue

 

[SteveNoza]

That slider they teased looks awful sweet.

I have never been a slider fan, old school BlackBerry all the way! If my Q10 didn't double type, it would have been the ultimate BlackBerry.

 

[Alain_A]

For me, when windows 10 comes in I think it will be better than BB, business wise..

 

[anon(5340442)]

Not will have, they already got it by side loading snap.

yep, when you connected with BES

Ah really, by whom??? not gonna happen. Unless you use another side loading method that I forgot the name of

exactly, you are not sure..In case you are it would be nice to have a source..

I live nearby and know many people that work there. Some of which are not low level employees. Same person that gave me the release date for BBM on WP (which was accurate by the way), was the person that told me this.

 

[SteveNoza]

I don't about the passport but my Classic doesn't have the double typing issue

Hopefully you'll stay double typing free, still too early to see how bad it is on the Classic yet.
BlackBerry Classic 'double-typing' issue - BlackBerry Forums at CrackBerry.com

 

[Spectrum90]

BlackBerry devices will have both BB10 and Android on them. Right now, you can switch between a work and personal mode, but soon it will be BB10 and Android modes. And from what im told, it will be the full Google Play Android, not a 3rd party store with an app launcher. So BB for work, Android for personal. When? Not sure, but this is the direction they are going.

I think your information is credible. BlackBerry recently released the QNX hypervisor which can be used to implement exactly what you described, two full operating system running in the same hardware independently.
I also remember a Chen's interview in which he said that BlackBerry would release a new solution so people won't need to carry two phones.

The problem is that the user has to learn two operating systems, two email apps, two calendars, etc. BB10 and Android are very different, BB10 is operated with gestures, Android with buttons, the user would be confused of when to use gestures and when to use buttons.
The typical solution for work/personal separation is containerization. The containerized app run isolated from the personal stuff and It can interact only with other containerized apps, but everything happens in the context of the same OS, and this is less confusing for the user. Although, I guess the QNX hypervisor system is more secure, so the solution you describe should be designed for organizations with higher security requirements, in which the trade off between productivity and security is inclined to security.

Is the QNX hypervisor secure enough, because security depends on this piece of software. Is performance good enough?
The alternative is to carry two phones, one for work and other for personal life, but this solution is problematic too because if the consumer side phone is hacked the microphone could be opened or the camera could be activated. The QNX hypervisor probably desactivate all the critical functions of one of the operating systems when the other one is activated.

It definitely make sense, thanks for sharing.

 

[RJ Priest]

I live nearby and know many people that work there. Some of which are not low level employees. Same person that gave me the release date for BBM on WP (which was accurate by the way), was the person that told me this.

Lucky you! I also live near by and was a huge BB fan before WP8 stole my heart. My good friend worked there until he was the last man standing on his team when everyone was jumping ship or getting cut, and finally took the payout to leave rather than switch to a different department in the company. He was so tight lipped that he wouldn't even acknowledge public domain information and press releases about products or features when I wanted to talk about my thoughts regarding Blackberry.

 

[SteveNoza]

BB10 and Android are very different, BB10 is operated with gestures, Android with buttons, the user would be confused of when to use gestures and when to use buttons.

BB 10 has dedicated gestures to replace Android button navigation (ie, a diagonal swipe for the back button) It even does the haptic vibrate thing Androids do when using it, I just about dropped the phone the first time I did it!

 

[ohgood]

a) Raised and eyebrow?

b) When?


c) Whether or not it would ever happen, do you think some sort of partnership would be theoretically beneficial?

a) the theoreticals with wp and blackberry are always interesting.

b) likely not going to happen

c) in three years time, both blackberry and microsoft have lost marketshare to the point of irrelevance in mobile phones. the only benefit of merging/acquiring blackberry would be the overnight gain of numbers on paper. it would be much more beneficial for microsoft to focus on SOFTWARE for mobile devices, and try to pry some sales from the $1.00 - $3.99 software market, on android and iphone. it's fairly obvious that the free office suites are already well established, and there is not much of a market, if any, for subscription based office suites on mobiles, or a third player in the phone OS game.

the biggest benefit to microsoft would be a refocus: drop the mobile phone (hardware) division, and bring the focus back to software/apps for android and ios. android and ios comprise what, >90% of the market ? it would be much easier to sell to 90% than to try and BECOME the 90%.

 

[anon(6038817)]

the biggest benefit to microsoft would be a refocus: drop the mobile phone (hardware) division, and bring the focus back to software/apps for android and ios. android and ios comprise what, >90% of the market ? it would be much easier to sell to 90% than to try and BECOME the 90%.

That's the strategy BlackBerry has taken. They are developing software for all major platforms, including Windows. As long as they can make their own phone business profitable, which they are doing, having a huge chunk of market share doesn't matter.

 

[kg4icg]

BlackBerry has already partnered with Samsung to help out with their flawed Knox security system. I'm guessing it's a two way street and a real possibility of seeing Samsungs with BB OS10 onboard. It's no secret that Samsung is looking for avenues that don't include Google (Tizen, Samsung Pay).

As for a buyout, I doubt it since Fairfax Holdings nixed buyout overtures from Samsung already. My guess is they'll keep a limited presence in the consumer fold (one million BBM downloads on Google Play Store so far) and hammer the Enterprise sector to recapture their mojo from a bygone era.

Also if you saw MWC and the brief view of that new BlackBerry slider, it was a Samsung display on that 5 inch phone with a slide out keyboard. Microsoft and BlackBerry work hand in hand on a lot of things especially when it comes to enterprise activities. They did just signed a new multi year agreement last year. BlackBerry isn't dying off anytime soon, nor is Microsoft. Everyone falls for the iPhone/Android hype and look at the well Android is using a octo-core soc, well they need it to keep the OS running smoothly because Android especially lollipop is so bloated these days it is slowing itself down.