BlackBerry finally released an update for its BB10 OS, eight months later than promised.
In September 2015, when BlackBerry confirmed the coming of its first Android device, CEO John Chen promised a BB10 update for March this year. The 10.3.3 update was thrown into the US National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) security certification labs, and seemed to disappear there.
Spring turned to summer, summer turned to autumn, and still it didn’t appear.
Then late last night, alerts for the 1.6GB download finally popped up on users’ devices.
However, despite laying off BB10 engineers, Marty Beard, BlackBerry’s chief operating officer, insisted the OS is alive and available for licensing. Really?
“We have got a very hardcore base in the regulated industries, it’s a very demanding group. That’s where we’re focused. We’re very committed to BB10,” said Beard.
With its new licensing model, BlackBerry will at least have more time to promote its secure enterprise software and connected cars, rather than answer questions about its legacy phone business. Beard promised to help licensees promote the BlackBerry brand.
There’s only one final device expected from the old BlackBerry model – a QWERTY Android. Once the transition is complete, BlackBerry will be “a pure software company.”
QNX is already in 60 million cars, and more news is expected at CES in January.
[Source:-Register]
