“BlackBerry legacy ends” as the company announces to discontinue their classic devices

What happened: On December 22, BlackBerry announced that they would discontinue the service of their classic phones. The statement by BlackBerry read,  “The legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions, will no longer be available after January 4, 2022.” Details: The discontinuation means that the BlackBerry phones will no longer be reliable for function. Both incoming and outgoing calls will be blocked along with SMS, and the 911 functionality will also be shut down. The statement by BlackBerry added,  “Devices running these legacy services and software through either carrier of Wi-Fi connections will no longer reliably function.”  The BlackBerry phones were once in the status symbol as the brand peaked in 2012.  What else: The Canada-based BlackBerry handset was first introduced during the 1990s with physical keyboards and was the go-to mobile device. However, in 2016 the company stopped making smartphones and shifted to making softwares and licensed its services to TCL Communication Technology Holdings.