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BlackBerry will continue to support OS 10, but future is uncertain

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By Cosmin Vasile

Updated: Oct 05, 2016, 7:13 PM

BlackBerry will continue to support OS 10, but future is uncertain

BlackBerry recently announced it has decided to quit smartphone development, so the Canadian company will remain only a software provider for its customers. Even though that doesn't necessarily means that we won't be seeing any new BlackBerry smartphones coming from other companies, the announcement puts an end to an agony that's been lasting for a couple of years now.

The good news for BlackBerry fans is the Canadian company will continue to support those who purchased its smartphones for quite a while. During a recent interview, BlackBerry's senior VP for sales, Alex Thurber said something interesting about the future of BlackBerry 10 OS.

We continue to support the BlackBerry 10 operating system; some companies are interested in licensing it for handsets. If it's a solid business model going forward, we'll work with a 3rd manufacturer. But we're not close enough to say we're going to do that.

BlackBerry plans to outsource the development of smartphones powered by OS 10, but its engineers will continue to work on the software part. John Chen, the company's CEO, confirmed a while ago that BlackBerry is very careful about choosing its partners.

We're very careful who we're working with. We want to be very positive; the contracts are long and complex and we're involved in every stage of the way. We'll know what's going on at every stage of the manufacturing process - and we'll still inject our hardware keys at the right moment.

The BlackBerry DTEK50 uses a TCL reference design, but Alcatel sells its own version of the smartphone powered by Android, which is called Idol 4. It's very possible that other companies might want to license the BlackBerry 10 OS to test the market, but we doubt that a high-profile player in the smartphone market will do that.

source: The Register via CrackBerry

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Cosmin, a tech journalist with a career spanning over a decade, brought a wealth of experience to PhoneArena. His expertise lies in brands like Samsung and Nokia, and he has a keen interest in innovative technologies. After a brief stint in PR, Cosmin returned to tech journalism in 2016, committed to delivering clear and objective news. When he's not writing or appearing as a guest on TV and radio shows, Cosmin enjoys playing RPGs, watching Netflix, and nurturing his passion for history and travel.