Blackberry finally pulls plug on classic devices

Classic Blackberry 10, 7.1 OS, and Blackberry PlayBook OS 2.1, will no longer function after January 4, 2022, thé company announced last month. The news was posted on Blackberry's FAQ page with the update. The company also thanked its customers and partners for its loyalty over the years.

According to the update, the software on these phones will no longer "reliably" function over carrier networks or over Wi-Fi, including for features like data, phone calls, and SMS.

In 2016, Blackberry company executive chairman and CEO, John Chen announced that the company's transition to a software company was officially complete. The company is now providing intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments. It also emphasized that the new Blackberry Protect which is an AI-based endpoint security solution will face no impact on its services.

Blackberry provided details on the page regarding the change and guided users with the phone, on how they can shift their data to a new phone, password keeper data and more.