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I guess I did understand it

As always with Blackberry stories this news is based on incorrect information. According to Crackberry the Senate was informed that the Blackberry Classic phone, which does run BBOS10 is being discontinued not all phones running the BBOS10 operating system. Blackberry is continuing to update the operating system with a new version 3.3 in the final release now.

http://crackberry.com/us-senat...

I just checked Crackberry.com The android version still works on BB10. In case you just can't give it up delete the BB10 version and load the Android one.

http://forums.crackberry.com/b...

it simply won't run Google Play Services-dependent apps (though all other Android apps worked when sideloaded)

Can't tell if you're trolling or just ignorant. Google Play Services and dependent apps run fine on BB10 (I'm running them on my Passport, along with the Google Play Store). Regularly updated downloads for the patched versions in the first post at http://forums.crackberry.com/a...

You keep calling people ignorant or trolls on this point, when it is fairly obvious that they are asking for official out-of-the-box support, not something that requires a lot of patching with 3rd party APKs you need to trust. It's fine that you like your hacked version, but people should still be allowed to ask for official and verified support from Blackberry.

it simply won't run Google Play Services-dependent apps (though all other Android apps worked when sideloaded)

Can't tell if you're trolling or just ignorant. Google Play Services and dependent apps run fine on BB10 (I'm running them on my Passport, along with the Google Play Store). Regularly updated downloads for the patched versions in the first post at http://forums.crackberry.com/a...

Google Play Services. This is not open source, but it is needed to run many of the apps. (this is also why I can't run some of the Android apps on my BB Z10)

I can't tell if you're trolling, but you can run Google Play Services on BlackBerry (I'm running them on my Passport, for example, along with dependent apps like Snapchat, or even the Google Play Store). Regularly updated patched versions of the Google services are in the top post at http://forums.crackberry.com/a...

http://shop.crackberry.com/aqu...

Or are you saying that you'd only accept an otterbox? I saw one officially announcing it, but the Edge isn't fully released. So yes, there aren't 10,000 cases for it.

Do you even read the news?

The real news here is that it will be bundled in their 10.3 OS. The ability to use it has been around ever since the last OS update (10.2.1). With that version, users can load APK files through their browser. Getting and using the Amazon Appstore is already as easy as searching for "amazon app store download" and installing it straight from Amazon. Then you use it just like you would on Android, when you choose and app it downloads and the OS takes over installing the APK file. Reference: http://crackberry.com/how-get-....

I am shocked! Nothing like this has ever happened on the Google Play store before.

I mean Samsung would never stoop to such levels

So either RIM feels they should have this, or they're really stupid.

There is no reason to send your email credentials to RIM ... the local device needs it, but I can't think of a single defensible reason to send your credentials to their servers.

Why do companies feel they're entitled to this kind of information? Pretty much everyone who owns a BlackBerry should be asking if they can really trust the device.

Looks like you have no clue how RIM e-mail works on Blackberries. Just copy and pasting a quick summary on how their e-mail system works.

"Unlike other PDAs, the BlackBerry device does not log into your email account for you, and check for new messages. This pull type email is best related to having a Post Office box. It requires physical action on your part to go and check your mail. You have to get up, drive in your car to the PO Box location, open it up, check for new mail, get back in your car, and drive home. All this time you are expending time and energy. What happens if you are unable to check the box due to the store/post office being closed? You have to wait until the next chance you get, and then check. As you can see this is not a very time/energy efficient way of doing things.

On the other hand, if you had someone to bring your mail to you, a Postal worker wouldn’t that be a better alternative? All you have to do is sit at home and when the mail arrives you have it. No need to do anything, no need to go anywhere else. This is how the BlackBerry architecture works." (Example From Crackberry.com

For a site apparently loaded with Computer professionals its astounding how many here do not know how BlackBerry e-mail works.

perhaps the OP is referring to the "Discovery Service" when an account is configured on a BB10 device without using the advanced features to include mail server settings. Then yes, by entering an email address the device will probe the discovery service to obtain all relevant server info from the domain implied.

The OP obviously has not read any of the documentation regarding Prism et al, in this era you can have as much encryption as you might feel safe, however it is the endpoints that are susceptible to eavesdropping , so either they can hijack your smartphone device (not very plausible) or just log on to the exchange server at your ISP (more probable) circumventing any type of encryption imaginable. Make Sense?

Since the evidence has already been provided that Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook readily provide all the information to these government entities, your best bet is not to communicate important information via electronic nor snail mail means.

Protip: This is the way BIS has always worked. A post explaining this from four years ago... Heise is way behind the times if they've only just now discovered that this is how BlackBerry email works.

So either RIM feels they should have this, or they're really stupid.

There is no reason to send your email credentials to RIM ... the local device needs it, but I can't think of a single defensible reason to send your credentials to their servers.

Why do companies feel they're entitled to this kind of information? Pretty much everyone who owns a BlackBerry should be asking if they can really trust the device.

Looks like you have no clue how RIM e-mail works on Blackberries. Just copy and pasting a quick summary on how their e-mail system works. "Unlike other PDAs, the BlackBerry device does not log into your email account for you, and check for new messages. This pull type email is best related to having a Post Office box. It requires physical action on your part to go and check your mail. You have to get up, drive in your car to the PO Box location, open it up, check for new mail, get back in your car, and drive home. All this time you are expending time and energy. What happens if you are unable to check the box due to the store/post office being closed? You have to wait until the next chance you get, and then check. As you can see this is not a very time/energy efficient way of doing things.


On the other hand, if you had someone to bring your mail to you, a Postal worker wouldn’t that be a better alternative? All you have to do is sit at home and when the mail arrives you have it. No need to do anything, no need to go anywhere else. This is how the BlackBerry architecture works." (Example From Crackberry.com

For a site apparently loaded with Computer professionals its astounding how many here do not know how BlackBerry e-mail works.

BB 10 still has BES support but BB 10 has ended BIS support as the original need for it in developed countries (high mobile data costs and SLOW speeds) has mostly ceased to exist. BB has not ended support for BB OS 7 nor BIS since they still have a huge market for it in developing countries. They are releasing a new device in a few months that looks like a ruggedized BOLD.

BIS is an ISP for BlackBerry phones up to BB OS 7. Unlike iOS or Android BB OS 7 accesses the internet through BlackBerry NOT the carrier the phone is on. Since BlackBerry knows the device it is serving a web page to it also knows what content the phone can handle. As such when you request a web page on a BB the BIS only sends data the phone can process and it compresses the data as well. A web page that clocks in at 500K may only take 5K to transmit to a BB. So it's a little bit more than an email messaging service.

This affects BIS, not BES. This exact story is re-hashed every year on /. Must be a slow news day.

http://crackberry.com/blackberry-101-lecture-2-bes-and-bis-whats-difference

Apparently RIM caught on to this idea well before Taco since they've already built and added the feature that he's begging for as an integral component of the BlackBerry 10 Operating System (and it works VERY well!!) -> BlackBerry Hub API.

-AC

What they need to "invent" is a messaging *platform* that does it all for you (i.e. collects the message data from different providers...

uhm someone already has done this on mobile -> BlackBerry Hub API

-AC

You would think there would be an app to combine all as well.

There is, it's called BlackBerry Hub and it works awesomely! :)

-AC

FTA:

No single app wraps them conveniently together.

Uhm, apparently he's in the dark about a key feature of the new BlackBerry OS: BlackBerry Hub API

I love having one place where all of my message sources are aggregated, sorted and accessible, and it directly addresses the issue he's raising. If he was fully cognizant of the industry, Hub would've at least warranted mention...

-AC

http://crackberry.com/blackberry-q10

Slashdot story submitter should use better judgement. The picture taken on the BB10 phone wasn't even framed like the others were: http://forums.crackberry.com/attachments/blackberry-z10-f254/133209d1359583067-gizmodos-camera-review-low-light-performance-fail-wwzsmmo.jpg

I think one of the videos linked at the bottom of the article said Feb 1st, 5th, and 10th depending on where you where. And read the posts on this forum... supposedly ex-RIM employees are saying Feb 1 or 5th. But that may only be for a Canadian carrier and T-Mobile(?!).

http://crackberry.com/rumored-blackberry-z10-canada-release-date-emerges

Since when does “We are looking at all opportunities -- RIM and many others,” automatically translate into "We are taking over RIM"? Seeing how countries are treating ZTE and Huawei in the network space Lenovo would be crazy to buy RIM (Everyone knows RIM has a global network infrastructure right?). It does however make a lot of sense to partner with them to offer devices outside of RIM's current core.

Well Sencha seems to think HTML5 is already ready for prime time. Their fastbook (HTML5 implementation of Facebook) app looks pretty impressive.

Claims like that are simply bizarre.

The Blackberry 5810 - March 2002:

http://cdn.crackberry.com/files/u3/evo3BlackBerry5810.jpg

Status bar along the top - power,signal strenth,clock
Grid of app icons
Keyboard along the bottom

It really is amazing how Apple came up with the iPhone when there was NOTHING like it out there...

RIM designed their platform end to end with security in mind. Every phone they make has security baked in at the hardware level. Then they provide enterprise/government customers with their own BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) which when properly configured encrypts all traffic going over the network. The security is so good the Indian government almost banned BlackBerries entirely because they were unable to eavesdrop on them. But even if RIM gave them full access to their network it wouldn't help them since the encryption keys are held by the BES admin of the enterprise or government that runs them.

Blackberry users EXPECT security to be baked in. RIM knew this and couldn't deliver a full blown messaging system with that security in such a short time frame so they provided the Blackberry Bridge which allowed for your already secure messaging on your Blackberry phone to link to the PlayBook with the security intact. when they added the messaging this year I set my accounts up and quickly realized it wasn't nearly as good as it already was with the Bridge. That's why they pushed BB 10 back so far. They don't want a repeat of the bad press that sank the PlayBook sales. What's interesting is the Bridge app isn't locked to only the PlayBook. If you had a BB with Bridge installed you could pair it with your Galaxy Tab or iPad (Bridge uses Bluetooth) and use the remote control feature. (good luck getting apple to allow iTunes to work with a non iOS device) For anybody who appreciates BB keyboards this is a nice addition.

It's not to distort the numbers, it's to give developers realistic expectations. If you're not a major player, this is what you should expect. If you happen to own Angry Birds, great. Everyone else, on the other hand, is scrambling for the scraps. (80% of iOS developers are competing for the last 3% of revenue in the game market, for example.)

Fun fact: 13% of developers on the BlackBerry platform earn more than 100k/year from their apps

Hate on RIM all you want, but smart developers know where the money is.

I'm afraid the BB platform has changed far too late to attract any developers

You haven't been paying attention. Developers are flocking to the platform. RIM's outreach efforts (combined with an incredible suite of tools) have been wildly successful. There have been a few high-profile games studios that have praised RIM's new platform and tools. One example Galaxy on Fire 2 HD was ported to the PlayBook by a single engineer in one day. The web is loaded with examples like this. It's a great platform for developers, both financially and technically, and developers that have taken a few minutes to consider the platform have decided that it's exactly where they want to be.

That was their BIS system, which is glorified activesync hosted by RIM. You hand your email OWA credentials to RIM, they push email to your blackberry.

It has absolutely zero bearing on their BES security, since with BES they are never in posession of either the master key or the derived device keys.

Its wonderful that ignorance like this gets modded up, however.

Source (among many):
http://crackberry.com/rim-encryption-keys
The only people capable of such access are the corporate customers in control of the accounts in question, therefore, any Indian government agency requiring lawful access would need to request it from the corporate customers themselves and not RIM directly.

(Which is true; the QNX kernel of BB10 is far more efficient in an embedded environment than Android's Linux kernel is. This translates into increased battery life.)

Please stop regurgitating marketing propaganda as if it's meaningful. The combination of UI framework and application software design is often every bit as important as the kernel. All these kernels are reasonably good at shutting hardware down when it's idle, which is much of what can be gained at that layer, so a lot of it's about higher layers giving the kernel more opportunities to save power.

They could go further, too. One enterprising hacker has gotten (some) unmodified iOS apps to run on the Playbook. And it's perfectly legal, because the developer has just created his own implementations of relevant Apple APIs, and, under the ruling in Oracle v. Google, APIs are not copyrightable and Apple can't stop him. RIMM should acquire or license this technology and extend it to work with more iOS apps, and promote the hell out of this capability, too. Imagine being able to run virtually any popular smart phone app on one phone...

From the article: "Right now it works best with apps like games, but apps that need UIWebView and CoreData, not so much yet.".

Reading between the lines, the hacker has done simple passthrough for crossplatform APIs like OpenGL, covering 90% (or more) of what games want to call at runtime without having to reimplement any of it from scratch. He's also emulated just enough non-GL API calls to get the handful of apps he's tested up and running. This makes for a neat demo but is a long way away from full API emulation which can run any app, especially non-games.

A quick & dirty demo can look really impressive but it might represent 5% of the work needed to make something generally useful. And when you're talking about API emulation, there's the additional problem of always trailing a moving target. And when you're specifically talking about iOS API emulation, the problem of how to legally get iOS apps from the Apple App Store onto non-Apple devices also looms.

with better battery life than either Android phones or the iPhone. (QNX beats the iOS Darwin kernel for efficiency, too.)

Once again, you know this how? Please, no fanboyism, no "everybody knows QNX is super efficient because EMBEDDED!!!".

Also, account for the fact that API emulation inevitably involves some inefficiency.

Also, account for the fact that there's good reasons to expect Darwin to be power efficient based on its background. Apple has been optimizing for power since the dawn of OS X, since even back then (long before conceiving of iDevices) they believed the future of their company was going to be laptops, not desktops.

If RIMM does these two things, they could go from zero to hero in one fell swoop.

History has an example of a major OS which began relying on API emulation because it couldn't otherwise attract enough developers. The outcome isn't necessarily as rosy as you imply. In the case I'm thinking of, OS/2, it was even pretty good in its own right, was backed by an industry titan with enormous influence, and enjoyed a fanatical evangelistic userbase. Yet it still withered and died. The "OS/2 is a better Windows than Windows" era may even have worked against OS/2 by discouraging developers from doing native ports (which, no matter how good the API emulation, are still better for end users).

Apparently there's some debate regarding if that's true or not.

To which I'd reply
http://crackberry.com/rim-encryption-keys

I don't dispute there is some debate. But at this point I have no reason to doubt RIM, and think it is probably sensationalist headline grabbing... or just outright bad journalism.

But given that all other corporate email systems... whether its exchange or dovecot or scalix or lotus notes all offer handset to corporate server encryption the whole notion that RIM would even be expected to be able to do this difficult to accept.

I am definitely interested in knowing the truth. But I think the burden of proof lies squarely with those asserting its even possible to intercept BES communications.

It is possible, however, by rooting the Playbook, to open it up to full GAPPS capability, including the Google Play Store. RIMM needs to do this for BB10...and then they need to promote the hell out of this capability, saying, "BlackBerry runs all your favorite Android apps...and runs them better!" (Which is true; the QNX kernel of BB10 is far more efficient in an embedded environment than Android's Linux kernel is. This translates into increased battery life.) Karl Denninger has argued that this is the only way for RIMM to avoid complete irrelevance in the marketplace...and the company's performance since he wrote that piece in March seems to bear that out.

They could go further, too. One enterprising hacker has gotten (some) unmodified iOS apps to run on the Playbook. And it's perfectly legal, because the developer has just created his own implementations of relevant Apple APIs, and, under the ruling in Oracle v. Google, APIs are not copyrightable and Apple can't stop him. RIMM should acquire or license this technology and extend it to work with more iOS apps, and promote the hell out of this capability, too. Imagine being able to run virtually any popular smart phone app on one phone...with better battery life than either Android phones or the iPhone. (QNX beats the iOS Darwin kernel for efficiency, too.)

If RIMM does these two things, they could go from zero to hero in one fell swoop. If they fail to do either one...well, next stop is probably a bankruptcy court.

As has been pointed out over and over again, This Does Not Affect BES Users.

Everyone else is just as insecure as they always were. If you want security in India, RIM is still your only real choice.

More details here

Please, the BES keys have not been handed over... because they can't be...

http://crackberry.com/rim-encryption-keys

BIS != BES.

When RIM launched the playbook it didn't have native email apps for security reasons. In order to use email and calendaring you had to own a blackberry and tether it or something like that. This lead to a lot of confusion on what it's internet capabilities actually were. See here for some details: http://crackberry.com/why-rim-launching-blackberry-playbook-without-native-email-client-and-why-may-or-may-not-matter-you

It's good to see all these apps on either iOS or Android. It just means more apps for for my BlackBerry PlayBook!

It's good to see all these apps on either iOS or Android. It just means more apps for for my BlackBerry PlayBook!

I sympathise with you re the .bar file conversion. I thought it was possible to load the Android Market - I haven't done it so can't comment on how well it works though.
I've had problems with the rotate feature too - only when I'm using the Android player, some apps don't rotate and that seems to mess up the rotating for all Android apps.
Thankfully wifi has not been an issue for me since moving from 2.0 beta to 2.0 release, never had issues with icons disappearing but I've had problems with the Android Player locking up because an app crashed.
I like the browser but you have some very valid points - all easily fixable by RIM if they ever get around to it.... I suspect they are too busy putting out other fires.

I really think they should just dump their OS altogether IMO. RIM's value is in security, certification and business infrastructure. They can provide this as value added software / hardware over Android. I think a security hardened Android would be extremely popular.
Two thumbs up on that. I'd be surprised if they're not investigating this option - it is (to me aleast) the easiest option - possible the only option left if OS 10 doesn't turn things around for them and they want a reasonable market share (imo).

http://crackberry.com/rim%E2%80%99s-q4-weak-results-and-outlook-and-brutally-honest-ceo-commentary

Looks like Thorsten is actually being the CEO now. Might get worse before it get's better. I have faith (mostly because not much else is left)!

Telus in Canada is selling them for $149 http://forums.crackberry.com/blackberry-playbook-f222/telus-playbook-695374/

I'm not going to say that picking a good name to brand your products is not a very important thing-nor that one shouldn't invest the proper amount of resources to properly secure it and make sure it's unique in the market you're aiming for. But I really wish some of these articles weren't so slanted against RIM. I know it's all the rage these days to kick them when they are down, especially when they are in this transition period where they are moving towards a new platform and some of the issues they've had-just makes me a little sad.

http://devblog.blackberry.com/2011/10/open-source-playbook-os/?CPID=TWDDevCon

As some people on the CrackBerry forums have said, "I could care less if they called it FROG OS" because it finally looks like RIM is starting to deliver on the promises they've put forward for the new platform. It almost looks to be the most open platform available now, where it offers several different options for developers to use. With both the WebWorks API for both BlackBerry OS and the Playbook OS or the Adobe AIR/Flex/Flash API, and now finally the NDK with a very focused porting of Open Source libraries.

And the kicker? The one thing that everyone has been saying that RIM can't pull off? You can take an Android .apk and repackage it as an PlayBook .bar file all without looking at the code just need to run a couple of commands and then side load it onto a PlayBook and then use that application right now with the OS 2.0 Developers Beta.

So... maybe they are going to have issues with BBX name.. If they have to change it? So what, it's not like it matters, because they are finally giving people what they wanted. A real development environment to target for their current and upcoming devices and platforms. They didn't seem to think so: http://crackberry.com/official-staement-rim-regarding-basis-claim-bbx-trademark

Keep in mind this is all based upon QNX which has an amazing history and is used in a lot more things then people realize. I cannot wait to see what will come of this, even if they take a massive beating on the way down. We've seen giants fall and return again. It's like karma after all.

The initial list of apps is up at http://crackberry.com/research-motion-offers-free-premium-apps-customers-following-service-interruptions

You can have millions of events on your blackberry calendar.

Why yes you can. But this sure the hell isn't obvious if someone sticks a blackberry in your hand. Thus all the alarm clock apps for 25.00 and 30.00 a pop? I mean, why just give people functionality, when you can sell more apps and make more money?

From crackberry.com discussing this issue:

For those of you who have overlooked this functionality, don't worry, you are far from the only one who has done this.

Really, I think every single cell phone I have ever had except for the Blackberry, you could set multiple alarms...and it was easy and obvious how to do it...with no need to justfuckinggoogleit.

http://crackberry.com/quick-tip-setting-multiple-alarms-your-blackberry-smartphone

This is exactly what it is, just FUD. I think what this guys stated about analysts -- which are a big part of this FUD -- makes sense; http://crackberry.com/rim-shareholder-blasts-analysts-beating-down-rim-while-typing-out-their-notes-blackberry

The news that RIM suddenly just renamed BlackBerry OS 6.1 as OS 7 strikes me as an additional sign of desperate moves, too; the OS isn't a major change, as it's not the desired/anticipated move to QNX base or anything.

I used BB's for years, and appreciated them for their excellent email support at the time. The truth is, though, once I had a taste of the Android platform, my days with RIM were over. The nearly-perfect Google data sync and number of applications are big advantages but, for my wife and I, it really came down to the fact that the browser didn't lock up the whole damned phone when a website became unresponsive.

Perhaps they can pull themselves together here--it's not an impossibility--and they're still in much better shape than Microsoft in regards to the smartphone market.

No, that's what came back from googling "blackberry app store minimum price".

For example: http://crackberry.com/2-99-minimum-paid-app-price-blackberry-app-world

However, it appears that they have since changed the minimum price since they first opened the store to match Apple's pricing levels. It is not clear when they did this.

Android is not the same, check out the screen shots posted in this forum link: http://forums.crackberry.com/f86/application-permissions-234021/ The BB actually gives the user the choice on a PER-APP basis what permissions to allow each app. As much as I've grown to hate my BB Storm for its overwhelming lack of memory and frequently required battery pulls, at least I have some control over how applications use my phone. I'd love to switch to an Android-based phone but I am hoping that the developers will address this issue first .

Self-image of smartphone users.

uh yes you do actually - several in fact:

http://www.berryreview.com/2009/02/04/phoneyfart-the-inevitable-farting-app-for-blackberry/
http://crackberry.com/best-blackberry-fart-app-yet-ibee-farting
http://www.mobihand.com/150//product.asp?id=24413
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/3699
http://forums.crackberry.com/f35/free-fart-app-joy-154538/


and there's plenty more. Got anymore bullshit or is your talking points script all tuckered out diddums?