BlackBerry's slide from leader of the smartphone pack to near obscurity has not been easy to watch, and it sounds like the company has decided that embracing Android is the way to get its phone business back on track - although officially BlackBerry says BB10 is still part of its plans.
The launch of the BlackBerry Priv was a big clue: a flagship handset running the latest version of Google's mobile operating system rather than the BlackBerry's own BB10 software.
"The Priv device is essentially our transition to Android ecosystem," BlackBerry director Damian Tay told The Economic Times. "As we secure Android, over a period of time, we would not have two platforms, and may have only Android as a [smartphone] platform.
The future is Android
Tay said that Android and BB10 would co-exist for the time being but it sounds like the writing's on the wall. In fact, rumours that the company would switch OSes have been swirling since last summer.
"The future is really Android," added Tay. "We went for Android essentially for its app ecosystem. In addition, all the enterprise solutions that we have been doing have been cross-platform for a long time now. So it's a natural progression towards Android."
In an email to TechRadar, a BlackBerry representative said the firm "remains committed to the BlackBerry 10 platform", pointing us to this blog post that says multiple updates to BB10 are on the way in 2016 - so no need to worry if you're rocking a Passport, Classic or other BlackBerry phone.
- Find out why BlackBerry is already living in an Android world
Via Softpedia
Thousands of coffee lovers warned to stop using their espresso machines immediately after reports of burns and lacerations
Samsung promises to repair soundbars bricked by its disastrous software update for free – but it'll probably involve shipping
What is Viggle: everything you need to know about the AI animation tool and meme generator
