RIM Supercharges BlackBerry Browser with WebKit

By Nick Mokey Published February 16, 2010

BlackBerry owners who have long envied the smooth Web browsing of peers with competing smartphones will finally get their time in the sun this year. On Tuesday, Research in Motion took the stage at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to announce a forthcoming new browser along with new server software for businesses.

The browser will use the same open-source WebKit browser engine employed by the likes of Safari on the iPhone, Palm’s WebOS browser, and the Google Android browser.

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“You’ll see how fast it downloads, how quickly it renders and how smooth it scrolls and zooms in,” RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis told BusinessWorld.

RIM also announced Enterprise Server Express, a free version of the Enterprise Server software used to by businesses to provide corporate e-mail, calendars and other productivity services to employees. Although it will lack some of the more advanced features, “free” should be a compelling point beside a traditional license, which typically costs upwards of $3,000. It will be available for download in March.

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Mobile

Classic BlackBerries are finally losing suppport as company shuts down services

BlackBerry Key2. Credits: BlackBerry official.

After kickstarting the smartphone era, BlackBerry's classic devices and services are finally shutting down. No, not the Android-powered modern BlackBerries such as the KeyOne, Key2, and Key2 LE, but anything that ran a BlackBerry-branded operating system. Whether this is a classic QWERTY keyboard powered by BlackBerry 7, or the iPhone-inspired BlackBerry 10, or even the forgotten BlackBerry PlayBook OS -- it's all shutting down this month.
"As another milestone in the BlackBerry journey, we will be taking steps to decommission the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1, and earlier versions, with an end of life or termination date of January 4, 2022," the company announced. "As of this date, devices running these legacy services and software through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS, and 911 functionality. We have chosen to extend our service until then as an expression of thanks to our loyal partners and customers."
BlackBerry bids farewell to its longtime customers. Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
It's the end of an era for what was once a distinguished product that defined the market a decade ago. Even predating iMessage, the BlackBerry instant messaging service -- BBM -- was a great selling point for the product line. As iOS, Android, and WhatsApp began to dominate, BlackBerry devices began to fall by the wayside.
The company tried to rejuvenate its smartphone business by launching its own touchscreen phones and later its own operating system in 2013, but had little success. Unable to keep up,ity stopped the creation of smartphones in 2016 and licensed services to TCL Ltd. between 2016 to 2020. BlackBerry promised to launch a smartphone by the end of 2021 in partnership with OnwardMobility, but that hasn't panned out.
The company has now shifted its focus to selling software. It briefly had a nostalgia-fueled increase in its share price this year, which later nearly returned to its original price. While the market has been saturated with multiple companies claiming a stake in the smartphone pie, hopefully, BlackBerry manages to return to some form of relevance with its current partnership.

Mobile

BlackBerry rises from the grave: New 5G phone with a keyboard coming in 2021

BlackBerry Key2. Credits: BlackBerry official.

BlackBerry is the smartphone brand that steadfastly refuses to die. The presumed-dead name has been resurrected once again, this time by a new company called OnwardMobility. It will work with manufacturer FIH Mobile to create and sell a 5G BlackBerry Android phone with a physical keyboard, ready for a potential release in the U.S. and Europe during the first half of 2021.

You read that right: A new BlackBerry phone with a physical keyboard and 5G, running Google’s Android software, is coming next year. TCL Communications was the last company to produce BlackBerry smartphones. It did so under license from BlackBerry Ltd., which continues to provide mobile security services, but isn’t in the hardware business anymore. TCL let its license lapse in February 2020 when modern, Android-based BlackBerry phones became a thing of the past. Until now.

Mobile

Act Fast! Google Pixel 9 phones are going to cost hundreds more soon

The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, the Google Pixel 9 Pro, and Google Pixel 9 all next to each other.

The Google Pixel 9 series is just shy of a year old and we still prefer the base Pixel 9 phone over a ton of iPhones and Samsung favorites. It's a new, hot, and trendy phone in its peak era, but tech moves rapidly and we're already learning about the Google Pixel 10 series. That means that initial offers on Pixel 9 series phones are going to disappear soon. Google's Pixel deals now have a countdown, reading "5 days left" as I write this (tap the button below to check for yourself, but it should be around 3 days left when most readers get the article). With these deals you can save $100s on your new phone if you sign up with a Google phone plan. If you know you want to buy a Pixel 9 series phone, but have been procrastinating, this is the time to do so. As a quick reminder, three Pixel 9 phones appear in our best Android phones roundup, but if you need more info to jog your memory about why you wanted a Pixel 9 phone, read on — we'll help you find our reviews, give a quick summary of the phone, explain the offers, and help you find them.

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