The Android-powered 5G BlackBerry phone has been scrapped

[midian182]

In brief: It seems that the BlackBerry smartphone brand is well and truly dead. A startup that announced plans in 2020 to release an Android-powered 5G device with a physical keyboard has reportedly given up on those ambitions.

It was August 2020 when Texas-based OnwardMobility announced its intention to launch a new BlackBerry after it licensed the brand name. The 5G handset, which reportedly took a lot of design inspiration from the 2015 BlackBerry Priv, was due to arrive last year, but we’re still waiting.

Early last month, OnwardMobility published a post titled “Contrary to popular belief, we are not dead.” It admitted that the company encountered various delays preventing it from shipping in 2021, but it would still be bringing an ultra-secure enterprise phone to market. Notably, the post doesn’t mention the BlackBerry name.

According to CrackBerry, “OnwardMobility and their BlackBerry 5G keyboard phone dream are dead.” Android Police have reportedly confirmed this, adding that the company’s license to use the BlackBerry name has been canceled. BlackBerry CEO John Chen is apparently looking to distance the firm from its smartphone past after selling the remainder of its mobile patent portfolio for $600 million earlier this month.

Whether OnwardMobility plans to release a non-BlackBerry-branded smartphone or shut down completely is unclear.

OnwardMobility isn't the first company to license the BlackBerry name in a failed attempt to capture the popularity that the brand enjoyed in the 2000s—in 2010, BlackBerry and Nokia were responsible for 70 percent of smartphone operating systems. TCL backed away in 2020 after delivering several devices to mixed reviews, as did Optiemus Infracom, a licensee for the Indian market.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/93364-android-powered-5g-blackberry-phone-has-scrapped.html

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Blackberry: a prime example of manglement driving a company into the ground.

How hard is it, in this world of privacy concerns, to make a privacy focused phone, like blackberry had been doing for nearly 20 years?

They had something in the early 2010s with their android phones, and just did nothing with them.

 

[m4a4]

Not surprised. Hard to sell a higher priced, lower powered phone in this market.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Not surprised. Hard to sell a higher priced, lower powered phone in this market.

Maybeif blackberry hadnt let all their security specialization software fall off of the face of the earth, they'd have had a selling point.

 

[techstrike]

The story reminds me the Commodore Amiga brand, many companies tried to get money from the brand name without bringing any real product.

This is sad as the name blackberry will be remembered as a bad company.

 

[psycros]

Well...this sucks. I was fairly sure the phone was vapor but that's probably the last hope up in smoke for those of us who *need* a physical keyboard. I suppose I'll have to wait a few more years until enough aged Gen-X'ers join the shaky-hands demographic that someone sees the potential for QWERTYphones again. Sigh.

 

[y6Tq2RGXEejb]

This is so sad.
Despacito, play Country Roads.

 

[amghwk]

Not surprised. Hard to sell a higher priced, lower powered phone in this market.

That sounds like Apple, but only difference is it sells well for the suckers.

 

[Sausagemeat]

An Android device with a blackberry logo is fooling nobody. It’s just another corporate data collection device which will have poor security and about a year of updates. Just like any other Android phone.