Before I joined the iPhone craze, I had happily joined the iPhone for many years. The first big mobile phone I bought was a BlackBerry. Time made it slow like a tortoise, and it started a new life in the drawer of one of the many apartments and houses I lived in. Over the years, I have forgotten about BlackBerry devices, because I believe that most of you have not offended eternal BlackBerry fans-until now.

The only reason I am talking about BlackBerry phones is that they will officially die out on January 4, 2022. If this sounds familiar to you, it’s because we have been saying that BlackBerry phones have been discontinued since at least 2016. This is when the company announced its withdrawal from the hardware business. Since then, parts of its empire such as the BlackBerry World App Store and the legendary BBM information service have been slowly declining.

Nevertheless, for anyone who still owns old equipment, it’s really time to say goodbye.

In a recent support message on its website, BlackBerry kindly reminded users who use BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, and BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier devices-all of which are considered old devices -After January 4, 2022, these products will lose the ability to perform critical functions. BlackBerry, which now provides security software, initially announced that the end of life of these devices is September 2020.

“As of now, devices that run these traditional services and software through operators or Wi-Fi connections will no longer operate reliably, including data, phone calls, text messages, and 9-1-1 functions,” BlackBerry said.

In addition, BlackBerry applications including BlackBerry Link, BlackBerry Desktop Manager and BlackBerry Blend will have “limited functionality.” Users who have BlackBerry managed email addresses or receive redirected emails to BlackBerry email addresses will need to migrate to other services.

Importantly, BlackBerry Android devices will not be affected by the end of service date unless the user redirects their email to BlackBerry email or uses an enhanced Sim-based license or an identity-based license. In terms of licensing, BlackBerry said that users must obtain a standard license to use BlackBerry Enterprise services on their devices.

As for what you should do if you have an old BlackBerry device that you don’t want to throw away, the company will not stop it.

“Customers will need to switch to new devices. Please contact the carrier of your choice for more information about available devices and plans,” BlackBerry said.

Complete News Source : GIZMODO