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Thursday, December 18, 2014

BlackBerry Classic isn't a blast from the past... it's a signpost to the Dark Ages

Mark Bridge writes:

If you listen to this week’s edition of The Fonecast - in which we predict what’ll be happening in the mobile telecoms industry during 2015 - you’ll hear James Rosewell say that BlackBerry’s handset business is doomed. Well, actually that’s not quite true. What he says is “BlackBerry, I think, will withdraw from the handset market. They’re going to become a software and a services company.”

And then, just hours after we’ve recorded the programme, BlackBerry announces a brand new smartphone. The BlackBerry Classic. How wrong could James be?

Based on my initial impression: not wrong at all.

I’d interpreted his doom-mongering as hyperbole; as a warning that BlackBerry could find itself in trouble after making a wrong turn or two. But having seen BlackBerry’s newest handset and read the nonsense it’s saying about it, I find myself viewing the BlackBerry Classic as a coffin-lid nail.

The press release says:

Although familiar in appearance, BlackBerry Classic upgrades the BlackBerry Bold 9900 experience with:

  • Three times faster browser
  • 60 percent more screen space
  • 50 percent longer battery life
  • Greater variety of applications through BlackBerry World and the Amazon Appstore

It also quotes BlackBerry CEO John Chen as saying “BlackBerry Classic is the powerful communications tool that many BlackBerry Bold and Curve users have been waiting for.”

Right. So this is a replacement for the BlackBerry Curve series of phones - released between 2007 and 2011 - and the BlackBerry Bold family of phones, which were released between 2008 and 2011. Surprise, surprise. BlackBerry’s newest phone is better than those it was making three years ago.

Alright, enough sarcasm. At least it’s progress, isn’t it?

Well, yes. Compared with the BlackBerry Bold 9900, the BlackBerry Classic is a better phone. But what’s that I hear? The clanking of chains… a shadowy figure emerging from the gloom… no, it’s not the ghost of Christmas Past. It’s a BlackBerry Q10 that’s escaped from the bargain bin. Curiously, it appears to be waving a spec sheet. Let’s take a look.

First, battery life. Well, the Q10 puts up a good show - being a dramatic improvement on the Bold 9900 - but the Classic has the edge: almost four extra hours of theoretical talk time.

Screen size? It’s 3.1 inches for the Q10 but 3.5 inches for the Classic. Except… hang on. Both are 720 pixels by 720 pixels. And there are plenty more similarities elsewhere. Internal storage - both 16GB. Rear camera - both 8 megapixel. Processor - both 1.5GHz. OS - both BlackBerry 10.

So it seems that BlackBerry has made some minor improvements to a two-year-old phone and is trying to sell it as a replacement to owners of even older phones. Selling it to people who didn’t buy the Q10 when it first came out - but hoping they’ll buy it two years later.

Sorry, BlackBerry. That doesn’t seem a great way to assure your future.

You can listen to the 2015 predictions programme on our website audio player, via iTunes, on our RSS feed, by listening on the Stitcher.com mobile app or by downloading the mp3 file directly.

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Opinion Articles

‘The Eyes Have It’ at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

DoCoMo are one of many network operators and handset manufacturers demonstrating innovative new products as Mobile World Congress. Our eye was caught by the employee demonstrating “Eye Controlled Earphones”. It’s a good job the ladies from the CBOSS stand weren’t walking past at the time.

Author: The Fonecast
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'Mobile Money Monday' at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

Monday’s Mobile World Congress conference agenda dedicated one of 4 streams to Mobile Money - Transfers, Transactions and Technology allowing all stakeholders to share experiences and debate the future of Mobile and Money.

Two types of service dominated presentations and panel discussions; Near Field Communication (NFC) technology enabling payment at traditional Point of Sale (PoS), and the Mobile Wallet replacing plastic or cash.

Author: The Fonecast
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‘Innovation Corner’ at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

Here’s my pick of the 3 most innovative companies I’ve uncovered at the 2010 Mobile World Congress.

Cootek.com win the prize for simplest innovation... an accurate touch screen keyboard. They’re a few months away from being ready to release the software to handset manufacturers, but the demo handsets worked very well. The keyboard assumes the user is not going to press the intended key, but in fact might miss and press another key in the same area. Based on this knowledge and an extensive dictionary of words and language context, it’s able to determine the intended word with surprising accuracy. I sincerely hope their technology will be made available for the Nexus One in the not too distant future.

Author: The Fonecast
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Google “Mobile First” from Eric Schmidt’s Key Note at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, presented a compelling vision of a mobile centric future. The phone has become the “high value end point” for Google services enabled by a combination of increasing handset power, mobile data networks and cloud computing. By far the scarcest resource is the bandwidth available through the mobile data networks. Google appear committed to work with Mobile Network Operators (MNO) to maximise bandwidth usage, although several audience questions suggested scepticism from the main stream mobile industry. Eric expressed a need to maintain a harmonious relationship with MNOs stating Google could not operate its service on mobile devices without their co-operation.

Author: The Fonecast
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The great Windows Mobile 7 conspiracy theory

Mark Bridge writes:

I like a good conspiracy theory. A good one, mind you. None of this “Funny thing happened on the way to Mars” nonsense. Oh no, not me. And, despite occasionally mirroring Jerry Fletcher by balancing a bottle on the door handle, I’ve never been inclined to publish such a theory. Until now.

You see, it’s Mobile World Congress in a fortnight’s time. Which is when the great and the good of the mobile industry – along with their mates and hangers-on – head for Barcelona. Microsoft will be there. They’re holding a press briefing on Monday afternoon. And there’s a lot of talk about Windows Mobile 7 being (unofficially) on the agenda. But where’s the evidence?

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