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Lilbits: SiFive previews its next RISC-V CPU, Google kills Pixel Pass, Analogue Pocket Glow in the Dark Edition launched

The company making some of the most powerful RISC-V processors is previewing its next-gen CPU designs. The latest thing killed by Google is a monthly smartphone + services subscription that was launched less than two years ago (which means it’s ending just before subscribers would have been eligible for a free phone upgrade). And the […]

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LILYGO T-Deck is a $50 BlackBerry-like device with WiFi, Bluetooth and optional LoRa support

The LILYGO T-Deck is a pocket-sized device with a 2.8 inch, 320 x 240 pixel IPS LCD display, a BlackBerry-like thumb keyboard, and an ESP32 dual-core processor. While it’s not exactly a smartphone, it could make an interesting platform for building a handheld messaging device or dumb terminal, among other things. One thing to keep […]

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Beepberry is a $79 hackable pocket computer kit with a BlackBerry keyboard

Beepberry is a pocket computer designed for instant messaging. It’s also a hackable, customizable device that can be repurposed to do a bunch of other things. It features a 2.7 inch black and white Sharp memory LCD display and a keyboard that’s literally a spare part from a BlackBerry Classic smartphone. Beepberry is designed to […]

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This $30 accessory lets you use a BlackBerry keyboard with your PC (or any other device)

BlackBerry smartphones may have been all the rage at the start of the smartphone era, but the company shut down its hardware business years ago, sold off its related patents last year, and hasn’t even managed to license the BlackBerry name to any third-party phone makers in recent years. But if you’re feeling nostalgic for […]

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The BlackBerry 5G phone is dead: OnwardMobility confirms its shutting down

A few years after OnwardMobility announced plans to bring a BlackBerry-branded smartphone with a physical keyboard and 5G support to market, it looks like that plan is dead… along with OnwardMobility itself. The news doesn’t come as a huge surprise. CrackBerry and Android Police both reported earlier this month that OnwardMobility had lost the license […]

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Reports: OnwardMobility’s 5G BlackBerry phone isn’t happening

This probably shouldn’t come as a big surprise, but it’s looking like you won’t be able to buy a 5G smartphone with the BlackBerry name on it anytime soon. A company called OnwardMobility had announced plans a few years ago to license the BlackBerry name and use it for an upcoming 5G Android phone with […]

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BlackBerry is selling mobile devices, messaging, and wireless patents for $600 million

BlackBerry has been pretty much out of the smartphone business for years, but 2022 is starting to look like the year when the company puts a few more nails in the coffin. After shutting down some key services used by BlackBerry OS phones earlier this month and announcing that some of its Android apps would […]

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Lilbits: NVIDIA’s ARM acquisition may not happen, plus Samsung Galaxy S22, Motorola Frontier 22, and Google Pixel Notepad leaks

It’s been more than a year since NVIDIA announced plans to buy chip designer Arm from Softbank. Since then the deal has been heavily scrutinized by antitrust regulators from across the globe and it’s looking increasingly likely that the company will be forced to abandon the acquisition. Now Bloomberg’s sources report that NVIDIA is prepared […]

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BlackBerry’s Android apps will reach end of life this summer

BlackBerry recently announced it was shutting down the legacy services that allowed phones running BlackBerry OS to make calls, send and receive text messages, and more. But that shutdown would only affect older phones running BlackBerry’s operating systems and not newer BlackBerry-branded phones running Android. But the company has been slowly pulling the plug on […]

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Lilbits: More Intel NUC systems coming in 2022… and a new BlackBerry phone too?

This week the world mourned the death of classic BlackBerry phones… after first realizing that they weren’t already (entirely) dead. BlackBerry stopped making phones running BlackBerry OS software years ago, and has been phasing out support for the devices ever since. But the company announced it was pulling the plug on legacy services used by […]