Blackberry phones stop working; marks the end of an era
No, your Blackberry is not broken, it (along with many other BBs) are no longer functioning.
On Jan. 4, BlackBerry stopped running its support for all classic Blackberry OS and Blackberry 10-powered smartphones including 7.1 and earlier, BlackBerry 10, and BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier. Devices running on these service offerings through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer function, including data, phone calls, SMS, and emergency calls.
"Wild Ride," the company captioned a post on Instagram, leading readers to click the link in bio for the full announcement.
“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. 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 9-1-1 functionality," Blackberry reminded its users in an announcement.
Moreover, the company thanked their loyal customers and partners for their continuing support and invited them to read more about what's in store for the future.
In 2016, Blackberry's Executive Chairman and CEO John Chen announced that it is transitioning to a software company.
Blackberry also announced in a 2020 statement that the company will be focusing "on providing intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world" under the name Blackberry Limited. As a result, the company need to terminate and decommission the legacy services.
Nevertheless, Blackberry made a great impact to our techy life as it is known for its strong encryption and was the preferred choice of security-conscious users a decade ago.