Smart devices, not for entertainment
While on the scene of the industry of gadgets competitors competed for retail customers, Research In Motion (RIM — the original name of BlackBerry) did not offer mobile phones to all and Sundry buyers, and drew attention to the more solvent audience. That is, for businessmen, because these guys were willing to shell out for the sake of stable and safe when inside corporations.
It all began with a tool for the exchange of textual information pager (1996). However, it is not simple, and two — way communication- for correspondence without devices-intermediaries, which were usually made by phone.
Pager BlackBerry Inter@ctive Pager 850 is one of the debut of the company’s gadgets with two way communication (1999)
Today “katikati” over the air no surprise, but in the 1990s a compact device for correspondence quoted is very high, especially with so comfortable a keyboard as Canadians. Looking at the scattering of black keys unusual shape of the guys from RIM decided to name its subsequent devices — BlackBerry (“BlackBerry”, translated from English.). So started series devices Inter@ctive pager with comfortable text input and x@R@chernym for those years@Fi@tion. A little later came a more compact model with constant access to e-mail, for which she fell in love with gentlemen in expensive suits.
But some pagers will not be full, therefore, already in 1997, Canadians gathered forces and launched a smartphone — BlackBerry, Proton 957. However, for calls in the cellular network had to connect a headset. Trumps the devices at the time lacked: awesome for “the calculator” proportions 3-inch display, developed for business needs BlackBerry operating system 2.0 and all the same brand keyboard. Before the birth of the first iPhone remained for 10 years, and even Nokia smartphones on the Symbian system was released only five years later. Music, videos and animated pictures of the game early BlackBerry could not offer, but these gadgets did great and fast work and “bezglyuchnost” for the working devices was more important than any “whistles”.
BlackBerry became a symbol of a fancy smartphone long before the iPhone and Nokia smartphones with Symbian system
BlackBerry 5810 smartphone without speaker and microphone, communication headset (1999)
Initially RIM even handed out the devices for free! Marketing companies quickly realized that the “first dose” for hospital workers, and firefighters will make the company more popular than hype or attempts to placate corporate leaders. A little later, pulled up, and traders who have the thirst for timely, secure information was even higher than in all other professions.
Business phones go to the people
Convenient to work, people were even more important than easy to relax. Mobile computers BlackBerry “lit up” in the right circle, attracted leaders in large organizations and began to disperse more and more impressive numbers.
BlackBerry 7210, the first BlackBerry with a color display (2004)
Specialization, oddly enough, did not interfere with Research In Motion to capture the market. On the contrary — the company produced is not the most complex device for the spent the canadian dollar, however, other well-designed business gadgets (not “correct here in the registry, but this security hole we propatchen in the next firmware”) on the market was not easy to find. So RIM has managed to turn far beyond Canada and in the US, where Nokia has historically not been popular, BlackBerry devices were just as prestigious as the iPhone in his most feverish years of release.
With the growth of popularity of the model was acquired similar to “just phones” features — color display (2004), Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, audio-video player and Oh the camera (2006) even given the fact that “photographers with a cell phone” called in those days, the fear among employees of large companies. And yet the company took into account that a full-sized keyboard is necessary not to all and released the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 in a narrow (by the standards of its predecessors) housing.
BlackBerry Pearl 8120 smartphone into “just-the-phone case (2007)
What is special about BlackBerry?
Just as off-road vehicles often drive on the pavement, “BlackBerry” cell phones are at the peak of his popularity were not strictly corporate devices: bought them as a reliable and robust tool for online communication.
If smartphones running Symbian and Windows Mobile were in the network from time to time, the BlackBerry checking emails, newsfeed and private messages was initially key and the “polished” feature. IPhones-Android phones have offered something similar much later, and in Windows – and Symbian-smartphones all these blessings have to tie manually, which required a search of software, money for its purchase, download and install, sometimes through the computer. “Dialers” without an operating system, but with integration into e-mail and messengers, too, came much-much later.
Reliability and resistance to cracking — for it BlackBerry loved businessmen, intelligence agencies and even the US government
The online connection in the BlackBerry devices were so reliable that after the terrorist attack of 11 September 2001 in the United States and the failure of mobile networks only device RIM has been able to communicate with each other — handy Protocol support for first responders, Mobitex.
With no less “shaggy” years work on the BlackBerry device via BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) — “vnutrimatocny” unlimited browser, a proprietary instant messenger + up to 10 active mailboxes running on secure Protocol. From the height of 2016 and new tariff plans service is no longer causing a stir, but even today the operators of “chop” Internet connection, one has only to exceed the traffic plan.
“Defective” smartphone beat corporate giants
The main mistake of the management BlackBerry was the idea that the popularity of cell phones in the business-class will not last forever. When the online mobile phones have become really a fashion phenomenon, RIM set records and sold a highly specialized device sensational numbers — in 2009, for example, more cell phones sold only Nokia (including Finnish “state employees”, “babushkiny” and other devices).
BlackBerry Storm — a failed attempt to compete with iPhone (2008)
But after the announcement of the first-generation iPhone, the trend was broken, the debut mobile phone of Apple for all its apparent limitations, cope with many tasks better. Yes, it was not the vaunted encryption and privileges according to the type of traffic, but there were favorable tariff contracts with operators, support for streaming video and elegant browser. And checking email, for that matter, was not carried out as economical way (Push notifications, the Lord), as in BlackBerry.
Businessmen also love to have fun — fun iPhone BlackBerry took the lion’s share of buyers
The iPhone is not immediately began to take seriously: “toy”, not “serious” smartphone, it would seem, was not a threat for the creators of technology business class. Even the businessmen were reluctant to trust business relationship to the new Apple, but the glory of the “Apple” device is expanded, and everyone who’s bought the canadian smartphone not out of necessity but for the sake of prestige, began to run across to the other camp.
Of course, RIM is also modified their devices. The company flourished, culminating “9000 series” — there were sliders, and candy bars-“calculators”, and “clamshell”. BlackBerry OS finally tried on touch, and a year after the release of the iPhone in the system has full-fledged app store.
BlackBerry Bold — the Golden classics of business phones, the best BlackBerry to-IOS era (2008)
But with this the pores and Research In Motion turned in a runner-up. And not caught up.
What is allowed to apples not permissible for BlackBerry
The company underestimated the speed kupertinovtsy, so a couple of years after the release of the iPhone BlackBerry smartphones existed in isolation from new trends. No, a model with touch controls in the portfolio of the brand were available, but apps for the Apple superiority over the “on startup” was even smaller than Symbian, with its many “killers” of the creation of jobs. Because:
- Excessive demand for iPhone spurred developers to write software under iOS
- Canadian smartphone “for the serious guys,” no one in entertainment purposes are not bought, namely “fun” apps mostly work AppStore and playmarket”.
From a technical point of view the BlackBerry device were obsolete — and from the point of view of the processor, and toppings in General (GPS, Wi-Fi, that’s all) models looked decent, and the convenience of a hardware keyboard has not been canceled. Just capacitive displays conquered the world, and users of mobile phones began to consume more of the content than to communicate and accustomed themselves to the onscreen keys very quickly.
It’s a shame that even the revolution in the “brains” of the devices RIM has not solved the problem. Since 2010, canadian gadgets acquired operating real-time system technology QNX Software Systems. Unique in its structure thing, by the way.
The original and unsuccessful BlackBerry Playbook tablet and a BlackBerry Torch (2010)
Operating system structure “from each according to his ability” proved to be economical and fast. But in the future of business phones could not believe application developers
The essence of the system QNX — universality and decentralization. Center modern OS is the kernel, interact with the drivers (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G modem, audio, etc.). Through him as interpreter, command touch display is sent to the operating system, and it responds with the response that we see on the screen. The more modern the system, the more “job descriptions” in this kernel.
QNX is arranged differently — in system is based on the microkernel with a minimal authority, and for other scenarios (from telephony to voice recognition) answer microkernel. Due to the large number of “Deputy” assistants and “Director” do not boil the head from the task, and if we talk about smartphones, then under low-load QNX more economical than competitors, and under intense stress to cope better with a bunch of open programs.
Isn’t that just wonderful? But the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, which tried to imagine such developments, failed miserably in
A completely different tablet. Review BlackBerry PlayBook
sales — after changes at the architectural level and in modest the size of the store software (in 5 times less than in Google Play in the days of Android 2.x) became even less compatible and useful applications. The Apple iPad hit retail a year earlier and with much smaller losses together with the Park application for the iPhone. And the key features of the BlackBerry (corporate) clients to work with mail and calendar) this tablet is also absent — this step has already been scared away buyers of “old school.”
But in terms of performance and hardware in General, the tablet was very good, and the gestures impressed hoo! But to apply the processing power was simply nowhere, “nailed” emulator to run the Android software was unstable, and non-obvious gestures no hurry to cram (as in the case with Windows tablets, by the way). At this history of tablet authored by BlackBerry has ended.
From Android can not escape
BlackBerry didn’t want to just abandon their offspring and released a couple of smartphones at the tenth version of its system Z10 to compete with Android and iOS and Q10 for all who found the time, when RIM was “still the one” and asked the reincarnation of the good old smartphones to new technologies.
A detailed review of the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry 10 OS
And, if Q10 like devoted fans of the brand, the Z10 was definitely “one man is no man” — one of a kind and malostrukturny smartphone based on a particular operating system during the development of socialism with Android Galaxy S4, Xperia Z1 and Nexus 5 was simply not needed. The company was dying, had massive layoffs and was replaced by the Director General.
The BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 — late attempt to compete with Apple smartphones and androidiani (2013)
Replaced Torsten Haynes (who was at the helm at Siemens Mobile during the collapse of German Corporation) came John Chen — he’s not known to the General public, but “raised” several IT companies are in a difficult period of life. The company in 2013 were even ready to sell to new owners, but wanting to buy it and was not found.
The new head of company started its revival… with smartphones-“klaviaturys”. In 2014, the world saw a classic new sauce — BlackBerry Passport. Luxury smartphone with keyboard-touchpad and Android software ran without any problems, and worked quickly, and did it openly without weaknesses, except for the price. The first in many years, the smartphone that was warmly received by the audience and press.
BlackBerry Passport — luxury flagship in the “calculator” form-factor (2014)
However, to continue to compete through its BlackBerry 10 OS with all smartphones in the world Canadians are still not decided. To reduce the cost of developing software and to please a broader audience, the company decided to release a Android-smartphone. We are talking about BlackBerry Priv, which not only impressed the public flagship characteristics, but also has become the coolest QWERTY klavijaturnaja in the history of androidphones.
The smartphone has pleased fans of hardware keyboards, though a disappointment to anyone used to the native “OSes BlackBerry. About sales constantly received contradictory information from encouraging news about record-fast sales the first batch of optimistic statements by John Chen in the spirit of “we will not abandon the mobile market” to assumptions that the device has failed in retail. The reason is the same as in the Passport — a smartphone is too costly for the company, which already had lost its former authority and charisma.
BlackBerry Priv — the first smartphone based on Android (2015)
The patient is more likely alive than dead
So what is happening to BlackBerry now? Officials of the company since the end of last year speak in riddles: John Chen still made a statement in the style “if Priv is unprofitable — from now on we will not deal with devices and focus on software”. And in March of 2016 President sales BlackBerry Carl Wiese hinted that smartphones have “BlackBerry” as something went wrong, so in the foreseeable future, the company preoriented on the software release. It turns out that the mobile division will go into a state of “suspended animation” until better times and new products from a canadian company in the foreseeable future should not wait.
The good news is that, according to the rumors, BlackBerry did release two more androidphone with more modest than the flagship Priv, price tag. Former Research In Motion — one of the few “dinosaurs” phone era, so we have to rely on the success of new gadgets and to believe in something that is unique in its kind “blackberrian” will survive the same type of dominance among Android flagships and Apple devices.
BlackBerry Priv