BlackBerry

It was nearly all over on August 31. BlackBerry owners had known it was coming for six months. TCL, which had been making Android phones under the BlackBerry name since 2017, was out, “no longer selling BlackBerry-branded mobile devices.” Then, just 12 days before the deadline and the latest in a long line of blows to BB phone fans, in steps Texas-based Onward Mobility with promises of a new 5G Android BlackBerry in 2021.

In case you missed it, smart home devices are vulnerable to hackers.

Experts have been warning us for years that smart devices aren't so smart when it comes to security, showing us how easily a car, a doll or a security camera could be hacked. And hackers have done their best to prove the cybersecurity experts right -- from yelling at a baby through an internet-connected baby monitor to using vulnerable security camera systems to cripple the web's infrastructure.

Enterprises – particularly those in the healthcare and defense sectors – have the same need for real-time communications as any other company but differ in the level of security they require. To address this market, one-time Canadian smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry just announced the launch of BBM Enterprise SDK.

While we still don't officially know the new name of BlackBerry's forthcoming device (code name: Mercury), we will soon enough, as BlackBerry teased the announcement in a short video tweeted from the company's official Twitter account. The new device will be formally launched on February 25 in Barcelona, the Saturday before the official start of Mobile World Congress 2017 on the 27th.

BlackBerry is going to write a cheque  for $75 million to invest in a new autonomous vehicle testing hub over several years.

The company’s chief executive John Chen  said the smartphone pioneer was looking  elsewhere for growth and most of its cash was going on engineering jobs.

Priced considerably lower than BlackBerry's first Android phone, the new DTEK50 is being touted by the Canadian firm as "the world's most secure Android smartphone." Available for pre-ordering today, the $299 DTEK50 is set to ship on August 8.

Faced with steadily declining sales of phones running its proprietary BlackBerry operating system, the company last year came out with its first-ever Android smartphone, the $699 Priv. Aimed at security-conscious professionals, the Priv has seen disappointing sales, which CEO John Chen blamed on the device's steep pricetag.

It looks like Blackberry has placed its handsets production onto death row and, failing a last minute appeal, could be headed for silicon heaven soon.

Chief Executive John Chen said a decision would be made by September on the future of the unit, which has suffered a sustained drop in sales in recent quarters.

Claims by the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) that it has successfully decrypted emails stored on Blackberry smartphones have caused bafflement at the Canadian firm.

Documents seen by Dutch blog Crime News show the NFI claiming to have decrypted 275 out of 325 emails encrypted with PGP from a handset in their possession. The NFI reportedly used software from Israeli firm Cellebrite to crack the encryption.

In response to a demand for backdoor access to its enterprise messaging products, BlackBerry is completely pulling out of the Pakistan market. The announcement comes as a ban on providing BlackBerry Enterprise Services over mobile networks in Pakistan was due to take effect today.

A battle royale between secure phone vendors has erupted with BlackBerry hitting back at Silent Circle, maker of Blackphone.

In an official blog post on BlackBerry’s website, its chief security officer David Kleidermacher has responded to Silent Circle’s claim that BlackBerry’s security was “very much like it was done in 2007”.