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BlackBerry's Survival Plan: the Internet of Things
jfruh writes BlackBerry's smartphone business is famously floundering, but the company isn't betting everything on its new retro physical-keyboard phones. It's also making moves into distributed, embedded, and asset-tracking computing for homes, cars, and businesses, which can all be lumped under the currently trendy "Internet of Things" buzzword umbrella. The company got a head start when it acquired the QNX OS in 2010, which was intended as the basis of a new smartphone OS but which already had credibility in the embedded market.
How hard is it to reposition a company?
"The Internet of Things" is so dumb. It was never called "The Internet of Computers" when computers were hooked up, and technically all these "things" have computers in them. And a network exists in the ether between devices; communication. I'm just so tired of this buzz phrase, I cringe every time I hear it. It's like "Information Superhighway", except less relate-able .
I can see a hundred little bots fouling up your house with this IofT nonsense. one release, no upgrade path, no thought of security built-in, sell 'em and run. I have several candidates, and there is NOT going to be any RJ45 or wifi permissions for them. period.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
BlackBerry CEO: It's not dead - it's pining for the fjords....
"Buzzword Umbrella Corporation"
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"IoT" in terms of consumer products, yes, it's a buzzword and no one wants. But other M2M applications like asset tracking and wireless smart metering would be a good business move.
They still have the best mobile management software out there. Citrix, Good, MobileIron, etc can't touch BB's offerings.
Plus they have QNX which is used in billions of devices around the world. So what if their handhelds aren't popular? Who cares? They will continue to have a niche market in handhelds.
"A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
If Blackberry jumps on the Internet Of Things bandwagon then we can finally get our wish of having the term killed, beaten to a pulp, and buried.
I have two family members that use new Blackberries. One has a model from about 14 months ago and my brother just got one about a month ago. They are both somewhat limited in terms of apps but conversely, they both have stupid amounts of battery life and they Just Work(tm). They're business phones so obviously they aren't getting stressed with Youtube/Netflix/etc. Still, it appears to be a solid product, if probably unsexy to the people always on my lawn.
Nintendo started as a card company. Nokia started as a paper company.
Blackberry could get into the hogs trading market.
Not as fancy as selling phones, but I've heard as an industry it really brings home the bacon.
Priest: "Universe from nothing, no laws of physics, sped up time"+ huge discrepancies. Creationism? No. Big Bang Theory
my gut tells me that there's lots of us out there who miss our bberry keyboard ... whilst still loving the apps that android gives us. I'd pay more than what I do for my samsung for a well made, slide up, vertical keyboard and bberry battery life.
Doing their hayday blackberry bought one of the companies who essentially invented the whole idea of internet of things, and a big player in the embedded market(QNX) so they have had a department doing that for a while, just not under the blackberry brand, but since knowing industry details is beyond most of the tech press we get snark and fluffy editorials on weather or not a mobile company can transform itself.
In essence what your seeing is that blackberry downplay it's old porfolio and tries to live off the one competent profitable company they bought doing their uptick, other companies have done so successfully before. but the thing to notice here is that the part of blackberry doing this were making internet of thing devices before anyone in the IT press even heard of the term.
Android phones allow using BBM free {Blackberry Messenger Free(only internet needed)}, but when it comes to Blackberry smartphones, you have to activate a BBM plan to chat with your friends, and the BBM plan rates are above Rs.199. In this plan you are not allowed to use internet, you can only chat with your friends using the BBM. If you want to use internet you have to activate another internet plan. Where Android phones allow using BBM in your General Internet Plan. So Why Blackberry charges extra to use BBM?
From the early days, Blackberry has had better mobile security than competitors. Even today, though their app selection is more limited, their permissions model is better.
I like my Android, but if I'm going to have something integrated into my home or vehicle, I'd go for "more security+reliable" over "pretty with apps"