Watching BlackBerry over the past few years has been like watching a train wreck in slow motion. The company, whose name was once synonymous with smartphones, has stumbled from one disaster to another. This week, things got a lot worse. BlackBerry
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Last November, when we reviewed Nokia’s then-flagship Windows Phone device, the Lumia 920, we described it as a flawed masterpiece: a great piece of hardware let down by a few key design mistakes. Our main issue with the 920 was its heft. It was too thick and, at 185g
There are few arenas more brutal and merciless than the cellphone market. In just five years, BlackBerry has gone from the world’s leading smartphone brand to a company teetering on the edge of collapse. The fact that BlackBerry is struggling is common knowledge
We can all let out our breath. Apple’s annual hypefest – sometimes called the iPhone launch – is over. As expected, and in accordance with Shapshak’s First Law of Smartphone Upgrades – minted for the previous iPhone launch – the device is thinner with a faster processor and better camera
The top end of the smartphone market is well served with Lumia devices and the bottom end has the sub-R2 000 Lumia 520. But the midrange hasn’t had an update since 2012’s 620. Enter the Lumia 625, which, despite its similar name, is a wholly different device
The smartphone market could be reaching another tipping point. Several developments in recent weeks point to potentially big shifts in the fortunes of the major players. Let’s start with Apple, which on Tuesday took the wraps off not one but two new iPhones, a top-end model, the 5s, and, perhaps more significantly, a
Soon the Nokia name will vanish from high-end devices. Nokia has sold the Lumia and Asha trademarks to Microsoft as part of their €5,4bn deal, announced on Tuesday, but Nokia’s name will vanish from smartphones. Curiously, Microsoft will continue
Microsoft is officially launching itself into the smartphone hardware business. The US software company has made a E5,4bn cash offer to buy Nokia’s device and services business, to license the company’s patents and to use Nokia’s mapping services
Rarely are the kings of one era the kings of the next. Just as Nokia and BlackBerry were the kings of the pre-smartphone era, so they were eclipsed by Apple and its fast-follower, Samsung. The same is true of Palm, which reigned in the preceding age of the personal digital assistant
In the wake of another set of poor quarterly results tied to weak consumer demand for its new smartphones, BlackBerry on Monday announced that it was exploring “strategic options”, including the possibility of selling the business. But who would want to buy