End of an Era! Classic Blackberry devices to stop working from January 4

Web Desk:

Starting Tuesday, January 4, the company will stop running support for its classic devices running BlackBerry 10, 7.1 OS, and earlier.

BlackBerry reminded its users in the statement, which was posted on Dec. 22, of the impending shutdown of so-called legacy services.

“As a reminder, the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry Playbook OS 2.1, and earlier versions will no longer be available after January 4, 2022,” the statement reads. The shutdown means the phones will no longer reliably function for “data, phone calls, SMS and 9-1-1 functionality,” BlackBerry said.

This means all of its older devices not running on Android software will no longer be able to use data, send text messages, access the internet, or make calls, even to 911.

While most mobile users have moved on from BlackBerry, the last version of its operating system launched in 2013, then move to discontinue support for its phones represents the end of what was once considered bleeding-edge technology.

BlackBerry (BB) has been mostly out of the phone business since 2016, but over the years it continued to license its brand to phone manufacturers and become a software company that focuses on providing intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments, around the world under the name BlackBerry Limited, originally announced in September 2020 that it would be discontinuing its phone service.

BlackBerry phones were once status symbols among celebrities and CEOs and permeated many facets of pop culture. The brand peaked in 2012, but as technology moved away from the external keyboard of the BlackBerry and toward the full screen of the smartphone, so too did pop culture.