BlackBerry bets big on bringing back the Bold, beefing up BB

BlackBerry CEO John Chen capped off the company's latest earnings call with the news that he's bringing back the BlackBerry Bold.

That means, among other things, that the BlackBerry 7 OS isn't quite dead yet.

Previously the company focused all its efforts on the newer BlackBerry 10, but with Chen in charge it seems BlackBerry won't let the past go just yet.

The QWERTY-equipped BlackBerry Bold was one of the most popular BlackBerry models globally, so putting it back into production might be just the thing to juice up BB's comeback effort.

Desktop BBM

In related news, it seems BlackBerry is also considering bringing BlackBerry Messenger to desktop platforms.

There was a time when BBM was exclusive to BlackBerry devices, but that era ended when BBM arrived on iOS and Android in 2013. A Windows Phone version is imminent as well.

Now it seems the messaging app might jump to Windows, OS X and maybe even Linux, according to Chen, who told Reuters that the company is "going to take a very serious look at putting BBM on the desktop."

Moving forward

BlackBerry's quarterly results could have been worse, Chen admitted.

The Canadian company posted a loss of $423 million (about £254m, AU$457m), but Chen said he's "very pleased" with BlackBerry's progress.

In more BlackBerry news, Chen said the rumored BlackBerry Z3 will launch globally after a soft launch in Indonesia in April, and that the "classic" BlackBerry Q20 may be ready for a Q1 2015 release.

• BlackBerry is stamping down on the leaks

Via TechCrunch, Engadget