The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Blackberry

  • WhatsApp to drop support for BlackBerry, older Android phones

    WhatsApp to drop support for BlackBerry, older Android phones

    Instant messaging service WhatsApp has announced plan to end support for a number of older mobile operating systems by the end of 2016.

    It said that it would affect all Blackberry OS devices including Blackberry 10, Nokia’s S40 and Symbian S60, Android 2.1 (Éclair) and 2.2 (Froyo), as well as Windows Phone 7.1.

    The company added that users of these platforms would no longer be able to use the popular messaging app unless they switch to newer systems by the end of the year.

    However, later versions of Android, including 2.3 (Gingerbread) or higher, will still be capable of sending WhatsApp messages.

    The company cited technical development limitations with regard to these legacy platforms as the reason for its decision.

    Some so-called feature phones, low-end handsets featuring some basic multimedia and internet capabilities, still run Nokia’s S40 and S60 operating systems, but have become largely unfashionable with the rise of Smartphones.

    “Windows Phone 7 has already been replaced by Windows Phone 8 and, more recently, by Windows 10 Mobile.

    “The Android versions Eclair and Froyo, with their numerous vulnerabilities that are no longer being fixed, are also considered to be outdated.

    “BlackBerry has switched gears by opting for Android instead of its own BlackBerry 10 for its new smartphone Priv.

    “In future, the development of WhatsApp is to focus on newer versions of Android, iOS and Windows, which are now used by the vast majority of users,’’ the company says.

    Meanwhile the messenger was launched in 2009, more than 70 per cent of Smartphones still ran Nokia and BlackBerry operating systems.

    The company said as of today, dogs Android and iOS accounted for less than 25 per cent of the mobile devices sold.

  • BlackBerry unveils PRIV Android smartphone

    Global leader in secure mobile communications BlackBerry Limited has launched the PRIV, the first-ever smartphone from BlackBerry, powered by Android, in Nigeria.

    Combining the best of BlackBerry’s productivity, security and privacy features with the wide world of Google Play store apps, PRIV is the epitome of form and function. It has been engineered with the world’s finest technology and packaged in an ultra-thin device, including a dual-curved screen, touch and physical keyboards, state-of-the-art 18MP camera, and long-lasting battery, with unique tools that allow users to manage and control their privacy.

    The firm said as part of its cross-platform strategy to provide a greater choice of secure solutions to its customers, users will see a seamless merging of key BlackBerry 10 productivity features such as the BlackBerry Hub and BlackBerry Calendar into PRIV.

    Additional key features include: Full Android App and Ecosystem Experience. PRIV brings incredible new features to the Android platform and gives users full access to over one million applications: whether it’s Instagram, Spotify, Uber or BBM, you’ll find it on Google PlayTM.

    Another is its two keyboards which offers users the freedom to choose between a virtual keyboard or a physical keyboard for speed and accuracy.

    It said the device has tough and beautiful screen with a stunning 5.4-inch immersive dual-curve OLED display offering plenty of room to work or play with rich colours, deep black levels and less power consumption.

    “At a resolution of 2560×1440, it sports an incredible pixel density of 540 PPI – 4x the amount of pixels of a standard HDTV. Along the screen’s curved edge is the Productivity Tab that provides an “at a glance” view of the most pertinent info from BlackBerry Hub, Calendar, Task, and Contacts,” the firm said, adding that it also has a full-day battery life because it has a 3410 mAh battery with enough power to work up to 22.5 straight hours of mixed usage.

     

  • Blackberry quits Pakistan over govt ‘back door’ demand

    Blackberry quits Pakistan over govt ‘back door’ demand

    BlackBerry has on Monday announced that it would cease operations in Pakistan and exit completely by December 30.

    The company came to the conclusion to quit after the Pakistan government asked the Smartphone maker to give it unfettered access to its secure BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) servers.

    According to an online report, the Pakistani Telecommunications Authority notified carriers that BES servers won’t be allowed to operate in the country citing security reasons.

    However, BlackBerry was of the argument that the Pakistani government’s demands had nothing to do with public safety.

    According to Blackberry Chief Operating Officer (COO), Marty Beard wrote in a blog post announcing the company’s decision to exit Pakistan: “The truth is that the Pakistani government wanted the ability to monitor all BlackBerry Enterprise Service traffic in the country, including every BES e-mail and BES BBM [BlackBerry Messenger] message.

    “But BlackBerry will not comply with that sort of directive. As we have said many times, we do not support ‘back doors’ granting open access to our customers’ information and have never done this anywhere in the world.”

    The original directive had asked carriers to stop BES services by November 30 but the deadline was extended by a month to December 30.

    Accordingly, the Canadian telecommunication and wireless equipment company has delayed its exit till the deadline lapses. The move would affect approximately 5,000 companies who are BES customers in Pakistan.

    “Pakistan’s demand was not a question of public safety; we are more than happy to assist law enforcement agencies in investigations of criminal activity.

    “Rather, Pakistan was essentially demanding unfettered access to all of our BES customers’ information Pakistan was essentially demanding unfettered access to all of our BES customers’ information,” Beard claimed.

    While the directive did not include consumer services and BlackBerry phones themselves, the company has decided to cease all its operations and leave the country.

    “Although the Pakistani government’s directive was aimed only at our BES servers, we have decided to exit the market altogether, because Pakistan’s demand for open access to monitor a significant swath of our customers’ communications within its borders left us no choice but to exit the country entirely,” Beard explained.

    This is not the first time a government has asked BlackBerry for access to its servers for “lawful interception.” India too had made a similar demand for real-time access to traffic going through BlackBerry’s enterprise and consumer servers. The government had made it mandatory for BlackBerry to set up its servers within the country.

    After several rounds of negotiations, BlackBerry set up servers in India and reportedly provided the Indian government the ability to track in real-time certain consumer services such as emails and email attachments as well as whether messages sent over BlackBerry Messenger were delivered and read. The enterprise services were kept out of that arrangement.

  • BlackBerry revenues slump 46.5%

    Smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results at the weekend but forecast higher revenue and said it might replace its operating system with Google Inc’s Android platform.

    Revenue fell 46.5 per cent to $490 million, well below the analysts’ average estimate of $610.6 million.

    Net income was $51 million, compared with $68 million in the prior quarter and a year-earlier loss of $207 million.

    The Waterloo, Ontario-based company, which is pursuing a turnaround plan based on selling more software, said it expected modest revenue growth in the remaining two quarters of this fiscal year, after nine quarters of falling sales, and a return to profitability in the fourth quarter.

    It also confirmed widely expected plans to launch an Android smartphone later this year. This marked a shift away from its own BlackBerry 10 platform that failed to regain market share ceded to Apple Inc’s iPhone and a slew of Android-powered devices.

    “This phone is the answer for former BlackBerry users who miss the physical keyboard but also need apps,” Chief Executive Officer John Chen said on a conference call.

    The company could jettison its own platform if the Android device gains acceptance with its core base of government and financial industry clients, Chen added.

    BlackBerry shares, which fell as much as 8 percent before the morning bell, were down 2.7 per cent at $6.84 in Nasdaq trading.

    “What they said on the call, speaking more about the outlook as opposed to the results itself, painted a less bleak picture,” said Cormark analyst Richard Tse.

    BlackBerry, whose smartphone market share has dwindled, said earlier this month that it would buy rival mobile software maker Good Technology for $425 million. It expects the deal to help win new clients for its services business, a priority as it shifts its focus to device management software for enterprise customers.

    Still, analysts noted revenue growth from the software arm was weak.

    “I’m happy to give them credit for patent licensing, but that’s not what we’re talking about in terms of high-value recurring revenue,” said CIBC analyst Todd Coupland.

    Excluding restructuring charges, a non-cash credit tied to the value of debentures and other one-time items, the company reported a loss of 13 cents a share for the second quarter ended on Aug. 29.

    On that basis, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had, on average, forecast a loss of nine cents.

     

  • BlackBerry revenues slump 46.5%

    Smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results at the weekend but forecast higher revenue and said it might replace its operating system with Google Inc’s Android platform.

    Revenue fell 46.5 per cent to $490 million, well below the analysts’ average estimate of $610.6 million.

    Net income was $51 million, compared with $68 million in the prior quarter and a year-earlier loss of $207 million.

    The Waterloo, Ontario-based company, which is pursuing a turnaround plan based on selling more software, said it expected modest revenue growth in the remaining two quarters of this fiscal year, after nine quarters of falling sales, and a return to profitability in the fourth quarter.

    It also confirmed widely expected plans to launch an Android smartphone later this year. This marked a shift away from its own BlackBerry 10 platform that failed to regain market share ceded to Apple Inc’s iPhone and a slew of Android-powered devices.

    “This phone is the answer for former BlackBerry users who miss the physical keyboard but also need apps,” Chief Executive Officer John Chen said on a conference call.

    The company could jettison its own platform if the Android device gains acceptance with its core base of government and financial industry clients, Chen added.

    BlackBerry shares, which fell as much as 8 percent before the morning bell, were down 2.7 per cent at $6.84 in Nasdaq trading.

    “What they said on the call, speaking more about the outlook as opposed to the results itself, painted a less bleak picture,” said Cormark analyst Richard Tse.

    BlackBerry, whose smartphone market share has dwindled, said earlier this month that it would buy rival mobile software maker Good Technology for $425 million. It expects the deal to help win new clients for its services business, a priority as it shifts its focus to device management software for enterprise customers.

    Still, analysts noted revenue growth from the software arm was weak.

    “I’m happy to give them credit for patent licensing, but that’s not what we’re talking about in terms of high-value recurring revenue,” said CIBC analyst Todd Coupland.

    Excluding restructuring charges, a non-cash credit tied to the value of debentures and other one-time items, the company reported a loss of 13 cents a share for the second quarter ended on Aug. 29.

    On that basis, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had, on average, forecast a loss of nine cents.

     

  • Timeline: BBM celebrates 10th birthday

    Timeline: BBM celebrates 10th birthday

  • BlackBerry Leap launched in Nigeria

    BlackBerry Leap launched in Nigeria

    Global player in mobile devices manufacturing, BlackBerry Limited, has launched its latest device, the BlackBerry Leap, in the country. It said by the launch in the country, consumers who want to get things done and companies looking for enterprise fleet renewals can now purchase the device.

    According to the firm, BlackBerry Leap features the latest BlackBerry 10.3.1 operating system (OS), a brilliant edge-to-edge five-inch HD display and more than a full day’s battery power.

    Other top features of the BlackBerry Leap include: Security to maintain privacy, where customers can feel safe in the knowledge that BlackBerry Leap was designed with the highest standards of security in mind to protect privacy. It is equipped with support for encryption, plus built-in malware protection and back-up, wipe and restore.

    Its battery, which powers through a full day, has a sustainable capacity of 25 hours of heavy use. The impressive 2800 mAh battery and optimization of power consumption of the mobile phone, also known as BlackBerry 10, gives users more than a full day of productive usage.

    It also has best-in-class BlackBerry keyboard, which enables faster typing and more accurately on a touchscreen keyboard that learns how users write. With superior error correction, multi-language support, customized adaption and flow, BlackBerry’s touchscreen keyboard helps to reduce the mistakes and missteps that can hold users back.

  • BlackBerry launches Passport

    Global leader in mobile communication, BlackBerry Limited has launched the BlackBerry Passport, a new device it said is purpose-built for productivity with a boundary-breaking design that challenges the status quo,.

    Featuering a large square touch screen, new QWERTY touch-enabled keyboard and BlackBerry’s latest 10.3 operating system, the BlackBerry Passport gives users a wider vision to do mobile business without compromising portability.

    The BlackBerry Passport encourages productivity with a 4.5’’ square touch screen that optimizes screen real estate to enable users to read 60 characters per line, whereas a typical all-touch device in portrait orientation only displays 40 characters. When you combine this with a revolutionary touch-enabled keyboard, you will be able to get more done on your smartphone, without feeling the need to turn to your PC or tablet to read and write emails, view maps, surf the Web or edit documents.

    It explained that its key features include its innovative screen which is a 4.5’’ square full high definition (HD) screen and a pixel density of 453ppi, offering the best resolution of any device in its range including the Galaxy S5 and iPhone 6 Plus; its best-in-class battery power at 3450mAh, makes the device to be able to be alive for up to 30 hours of mixed use.

    The BlackBerry Passport’s revolutionary new keyboard brings innovation to input with a responsive touch surface that lets you perform many touch functions directly on the keyboard. You can scroll web pages, flick to type or slide along the keys to move the cursor, leaving the full screen space for viewing while the device is built for the most demanding user using durable materials mixed with top-of-the-line technology, including a Gorilla Glass display with 1440 X 1440 resolution, Quad Core 2.2 GHZ Processor, 3 GB RAM, 13 MP OIS rear Camera and 32 GB memory.

    It comes preloaded with the BlackBerry 10.3 operating system, including new features such as BlackBerry Assistant, BlackBerry Blend and Amazon Appstore. It has a fresh look that incorporates updated icons and an action bar so that each user’s most commonly accessed functions are in the center of their screen.

  • 5 common problems with Blackberry and how to fix them

    5 common problems with Blackberry and how to fix them

    Blackberry phones are among the best and preferable smart phones available in the market today.

    This is because Blackberry devices can record video, take photos, play music and also provides functions such as web-browsing, email messaging, and the multi platform Blackberry messenger service.

    But still, there tends to be some down sides to the Blackberry phones, as they come up with different faults from time to time. Just like every other phone. The common problems that are associated with the blackberry phones are highlighted below with their solutions.

     

    • Poor Battery life

    This is one common problem with most blackberry mobile devices. Bear in mind that you will be using the new devices a lot more than in the first few days and that, it will require some extra juice to perform the initial email and social media accounts syncing.

     

    Solutions;

     

    * If you have 3G blackberry, turn it to 2G only. You will receive emails very quickly and unless web browsing is vital.

     

    *Turn off any features you are not using- GPS, NFC, data, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth etc.

     

    *Sync your email and accounts less frequently.

     

    *Reduce screen brightness and use a black ground.

     

    *Reduce volume, turn off vibrate on notifications

     

    *Sometimes a specific app will be culprit, for example many Blackberry owners have Skype. If that’s the case for you, then make sure the app is up to date. If it’s still causing a problem then stop using it and contact the developer to let them know.

    * Get a spare battery just in case you find yourself in difficult situation.

     

    • Trackballs getting stuck

    Trackballs are notorious for getting stuck and overtime can cease to work properly due to the build-up of dust

     

    Solution;

    One trick is to turn your blackberry down and vigorously rub it over an A4 sheet of paper. It does really work.

     

    • Phone Screen Freezing

    Here’s another common problem with blackberry. It freezes when in use, it might go for several minutes, especially when browsing.

    There have been few reports from people about their Blackberry phones randomly freezing.

    Sometimes it seems to be related to syncing or BBM, for others, the keyboard is freezing up.

     

    Solutions;

     

    *There might be a problem with one of your apps, but it could be tough to find culprit. Make sure that all of your apps are up to date. If you notice an issue with a specific app, then try uninstalling it.

     

    *Make sure you have the latest updates via settings and then security update.

     

    *Try a master reset. Make sure everything on your internal storage is backed up and remove your media card to avoid any problem, then go to settings> security> privacy> security wipe. Type “blackberry” in the box , then tap delete data.

     

    • Overheating

    Overheating is becoming a bigger issue with mobile devices as we pack in more power and more features that encourage long term on intense use. A lot of users have been complaining about their blackberry handsets getting a little too hot to handle.

    Here is what you can do;

     

    *Use the phone less- The longer you use it continuously and the more intensive the task, the hotter it will get. There is no way around this.

     

    *Turn the phone off and remove the battery so it can cool faster.

     

    *Press and hold the power key up top until the phone restarts.

     

    • Blackberry BBM getting stuck on Waiting For Authorization

    Blackberry Messenger requires a friend to accept your contact request, to add him/her to your friend’s list. While waiting for him/her to accept, the friend’s status will reflect that authorization is pending. Occasionally, BBM will become stuck on the pending authorization status after the request is accepted. In most cases, it’s a resolvable problem related to software issue.

     

    Solution;

    *Hard reset – Another process on your blackberry could be interfering with the phone’s ability to properly send requests to contacts. The quickest way to eliminate that interference without erasing your phone’s data is to do a hard reset… pulling the battery for 30 seconds before replacing the battery and then re-launching BBM.

     

    *Update Application – Occasionally, Blackberry releases updates to address bugs in the BBM software. For example, pest problems with the application, including authorization issues. You’ll find any available software updates at the Blackberry App World website. During the update process your phone needs an active cellular data or Wi-Fi connection. After the update completes, you must restart your Blackberry.

     

    * Additional Troubleshooting – If authorization problems occur for just one contact, your option includes cancelling the request and resending it. As a last resort, you can completely uninstall the application from within the phone’s “Applications” list. After the removal of the app completes and you’ve restarted your smart-phone, you can reinstall BBM from Blackberry App World.

     

    Source: www.smallbusiness.chron.com, gurubase.com, www.smartphonedaily.co.uk

     

  • BlackBerry reports huge quarterly loss

    BlackBerry reports huge quarterly loss

    BlackBerry Ltd, which gave up on a plan to sell itself last month, reported a massive quarterly loss on Friday, as sales of its smartphones shriveled and it booked asset impairment charges and inventory write-downs.

    The company, which announced a five-year partnership with Foxconn Technology Co Ltd to develop and manufacture a handset for Indonesia and other emerging markets, conceded that its biggest challenge was still in its core handset business.

    “While our enterprise services, messaging and QNX embedded businesses are already well-positioned … the most immediate challenge for the company is how to transition the devices operations to a more profitable business model,” said John Chen, who last month was named chief executive officer.

    Chen has said he will not jettison the hardware operation and is counting on strong growth in its service business that manages smartphone traffic on the internal networks of corporate and government clients.

    BlackBerry sold about 4.3 million handsets in the third quarter ended November 30, including some shipped to suppliers earlier. Older BlackBerry 7 models account for about 3.2 million of the smartphones.

    The company recognized hardware revenue on 1.9 million devices, down from 3.7 million in the prior quarter.

    BlackBerry’s cash pile grew to $3.2 billion from $2.6 billion a quarter earlier, but that included $1 billion raised by issuing convertible notes to a group of investors last month.

    Culled from www.reuters.com