Let me speculate about Nougat updates for BlackBerry
by Volker Weber
Let me speculate about the Nougat update for older BlackBerry Android devices. So far BlackBerry has not announced that they are going to upgrade any of the existing devices to Nougat. So the question is, will they, and if they do which ones. Before TCL took over I would have said that it is very likely that all devices are carried forward. Since TCL is focusing on the KEYone, I have changed my mind. There is not enough incentive for BlackBerry to upgrade all versions.
By and large, the PRIV has been a failure. There just aren't that many in the market. Things changed with the DTEK50, which was well received due to its much lower price. By the time DTEK60 was announced, and very quietly so, interest had faded. No carrier in Germany attempted to sell it. Without access to hard data, I would think it was an even bigger flop than PRIV.
I think that only the DTEK50 stands a chance to receive a Nougat update. The PRIV already had a major upgrade and for DTEK60 there aren't that many customers who would be disappointed. It's just not worth the effort.
Advice: if you want Nougat, sell PRIV or DTEK60, but keep DTEK50.
Comments
And THIS is exactly why I would love the option to install a custom ROM. Yeah, I know that this is against security in general but I keep using my older Android devices (OPO, N7, N5,...) because they are still up to date thanks to LineageOS. One of the OPO´s still got a second life as fully automated, no touch solution (read: Tasker) that I leave in my car for Android Auto (I haven´t decided if AA or CarPlay is more useful). And it just works great.
The Priv, when it´s not receiving updates anymore, is probably going straight into my BlackBerry device archive in a while, side by side with the BB10 devices, BB OS devices all the way back to my very first 5820.
Very sad. I had high hopes.
It's getting monthly updates all right. Just not a major feature upgrade. Marshmallow is good for another couple of years. Android feature upgrades have slowed down considerably. Whatever is needed comes with Google Play Services.
I bought the DTEK50 for the promise of superior firmware support. Not getting an upgrade to Nougat would be a disappointment.
BlackBerry promised monthly security updates. That was difficult at times, but now works very well for DTEK50. What are you missing from Nougat, or is it on principle?
On principle, I admit. The device has reasonably powerful and ruggedized hardware and I want it to last a long long time. That requires OS upgrades over time.
I think smartphones are pretty much "done". You need security updates and you might be constrained more by the hardware, if you pile on software.
Hardware requirements aren't that much of an issue for the recent OS upgrades. Android 5 devices are fast enough and offer enough memory for Nougat. Afaik it's mostly a driver issue if a chipset can run the kernel needed for Android 7. (And I bought the DTEK50 because I wanted pros to look after that.)
I wonder if the situation that DTEK50 and DTEK60 are both now available to D-Telekom Business Users too, changes anything regarding Android 7 update decision.
BB/TCL must feel some pressure in order to get influenced about the decision to release an update.
Any news regarding DTEKs/Priv and Android 7 anyway?
