Feb 3, 2020 - Technology

TCL to stop making BlackBerry phones

Ina Fried

Photo: TCL

Chinese phone maker TCL said Monday that it will stop making BlackBerry-branded phones as of Aug. 31.

Why it matters: The move comes as TCL is increasingly focused on devices under its own brand and again raises the question of whether there will be future devices that use the BlackBerry name.

TCL, which has made keyboard-equipped Android phones under the BlackBerry brand since 2016, announced its decision in a Twitter post Monday. A BlackBerry representative was not immediately available for comment.

Go deeper: BlackBerry is still here

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Scott Rosenberg

Apple's closed security model is great until it isn't

Photo: Alex Tai/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Last week's report that Jeff Bezos' iPhone was allegedly hacked via a WhatsApp message from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discomfited a lot of Apple customers who long believed that one of the features of their high-priced phones was invulnerability.

The big picture: The flaw in this case was in WhatsApp, not the iPhone itself. But the larger lesson is that in a networked world full of incentives for digital mischief, there's no such thing as perfect security — only varying degrees of relative risk.

Go deeperArrowJan 30, 2020
Dan Primack, Ina Fried

Android founder's next phone company goes bust

Andy Rubin. Photo by Brian Ach/Getty Images for Wired

Essential, a mobile phone maker founded by Andy Rubin, announced on Wednesday that it will shut down.

Why it matters: Rubin co-founded Android, the mobile phone operating system that Google acquired in 2005, where he remained to oversee Android before moving on to head up the company's robotics unit.

Go deeperArrowFeb 12, 2020 - Technology
Ina Fried

Google releases developer version of Android 11

Image: Google

Google released an earlier-than-expected test version of Android 11, offering developers a glimpse of what to expect in the final release later this year. Among the changes in the early code are improved support for 5G and foldable devices, as well as more granular security protections.

The big picture: Once upon a time, Google waited until its spring I/O developer conference to share code for the next version of Android, but has been moving the release earlier in recent years to give developers more time to prepare for the under-the-hood changes.

Go deeperArrowFeb 20, 2020 - Technology