Many models of BlackBerry smartphones will cease to function on Tuesday as the company terminates several of its services.
The Waterloo, Ontario-based company will be deactivating its services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS models and all prior versions. The same goes for BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions.
This new step is part of BlackBerry’s transition from abandoning phone production to devote itself to software development.
Decommissioning will not affect BlackBerry devices that are running Android operating systems.
In fact, the announcement means that all devices that still use BlackBerry services and software for cellular or Wi-Fi connections will no longer have access to reliable features for phone communication, data, text messaging. or even 911 emergency service.
The BlackBerry company, previously known as Research In Motion, was founded by Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin in 1984. Its first devices marketed under the BlackBerry brand date back to the 1990s with pagers capable of receiving e-mail. It later occupied an important place at the beginning of the era of smart devices.
Its users loved its keyboard which made it easy to write long messages. BlackBerry Messenger system communications were also popular because users could communicate securely by sharing a unique identification code.
BlackBerry devices have enjoyed immense popularity, with celebrities including former US President Barack Obama and reality TV star Kim Kardashian among their followers.
Many users, however, made the leap to Apple’s camp with the appearance of the iPhone models while others succumbed to the wide range of devices running on the Android system. BlackBerry then experienced a dizzying fall.
The company eventually began to prioritize the development of security software and services, notably by developing the QNX business system, designed for the automotive industry, but licensed to phone manufacturers.