Legacy BlackBerry devices are going to die on January 4

(Image Courtesy: Reuters)

BlackBerry used to be the undisputed king of the smartphone world. Witty marketing campaigns and its stellar keyboard positioned it as the ultimate work device.

Then the iPhone happened. Physical keyboards fell out of favour, and the company tried its best to keep up with the trends. Unfortunately, its devices could never pick up the momentum they needed, and the company fell to the wayside.

Now the older BlackBerry devices are getting the boot. Any device running BlackBerry 10 OS or lower, and BlackBerry tablet OS will lose call, text and internet functionality on January 4, 2022. This means that any older device that runs on BlackBerry software will stop functioning.

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Their Android phones seem to be unaffected, so far.

In a post put up on its website, the company says, "We have received questions about our plans to provide ongoing support for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier and BlackBerry 10 devices. In 2017, we committed to providing at least two more years of support for BlackBerry 10 and at least two years of BlackBerry network access for BBOS devices."

It looks like that time is up, as BlackBerry puts it, "On January 4, 2022, devices running on these service offerings through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS and 9-1-1 functionality. We have chosen to extend our service until then as an expression of thanks to our loyal partners and customers."

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So that's it then, all older BlackBerry devices will now officially cease to function or "reliably function," as the company puts it.

Time to pour one out for the BB Boys, and embrace the bitter end.