News
BlackBerry Has Officially Pulled The Plug On Older Devices
The company is pulling the plug because it has been focusing exclusively on delivering enterprise software and services to enterprises and governments.
Long gone are the days when BlackBerry smartphones dominated the world of business with their characteristic QWERTY keyboards that made it possible for managers to bombard employees with text messages and emails at a much faster rate than phones with the old-school keypad allowed.
Now, older BlackBerry devices have turned from unused to unusable because the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions are no longer available from January 4, 2022.
“As of this date, devices running these legacy services and software through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS, and 9-1-1 functionality” stated the company in their announcement.
The company is pulling the plug because it has been focusing exclusively on delivering enterprise software and services to enterprises and governments since it discontinued its BlackBerry line in 2016 and changed its name from Research In Motion (RIM) to BlackBerry Limited.
The last mobile phone operating system released by RIM is BlackBerry 10, which became available in 2013 and reached its last version (10.3.3.3216) on April 4, 2018. Since then, Chinese electronics giant TCL released several BlackBerry-branded phones, but their reception was lukewarm at best.
Also Read: How To Enable WhatsApp Disappearing Messages For All Chats
In August 2020, the BlackBerry brand changed hands again when it was picked up by OnwardMobility, a US-based company in the mobile security space. The company announced a new BlackBerry 5G smartphone with a physical keyboard, but it has already missed the advertised release date of 2021 by a few days, and there’s no indication that the smartphone will hit the shelves any time soon.
Indeed, it’s possible that OnwardMobility has realized that the demand for a smartphone with a physical keyboard simply isn’t there anymore because most consumers have gotten used to typing on increasingly intelligent virtual keyboards on their 6-inch and larger smartphone displays.
News
Joby To Establish All-Electric Air Taxi Ecosystem Across The UAE
The comprehensive agreement with Abu Dhabi’s government includes a training program, infrastructure development, and a manufacturing presence.
All-electric aircraft company Joby Aviation has secured three separate agreements with departments of Abu Dhabi’s government that lay the groundwork to develop and scale air taxi services in the Emirate and beyond.
The deal was signed at the recent DRIFTx thought-leadership and exhibition platform and gave Joby exclusive rights to not only operate air taxi services in Dubai but also unlock inter-emirate services between Abu Dhabi.
Joe Ben Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation, said: “Today’s agreement demonstrates the incredible momentum behind the adoption of clean flight across the UAE. We’re looking forward to delivering a fantastic experience for our future customers in Abu Dhabi and we’re excited to be unlocking the potential for zero-emissions flight between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. We’re grateful for the support and collaboration of our governmental partners and the entire ecosystem in Abu Dhabi and we remain deeply impressed by their commitment to building out a world-class aviation ecosystem in the Emirate”.
Joby’s all-electric aircraft went on display for the first time in Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina at the DRIFTx event. The air taxi is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers and can reach speeds of 200 miles per hour (321 km/h). The zero-emission craft is said to have an extremely low acoustic footprint and can travel a maximum of 100 miles (161 km) on a single charge.
Also Read: Lebanese Newspaper Builds AI President To Beat Political Crisis
Once operational, Joby’s air taxi fleet would enable fast, clean travel across the UAE, with journeys between Abu Dhabi to Dubai taking just 30 minutes compared with two hours by car during peak times.
Joby continues to work closely with the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to help the Emirates become a world leader in the introduction of air taxis. Additional testing and analysis will be required before inter-emirate travel becomes a reality, but the cutting-edge technology already appears to have great potential.
Joby To Establish All-Electric Air Taxi Ecosystem Across The UAE
Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Gets 4 Months In Prison
Ring Upgrades Home Security With New Ring Protect Plus Features
Amazon.ae Debuts “It’s On Amazon Prime” Campaign Videos
Dubai Gives Go Ahead For $35 Billion Al Maktoum Airport Expansion
UGREEN Unveils Nexode RG 65W Charger For Middle East
Lebanese Newspaper Builds AI President To Beat Political Crisis
OSN-Anghami Merger Creates New MENA Media Giant
YallaHub Teams Up With Lapochka For Future UAE Expansion
