ブラックベリー、旧モデル使用不可に　サポート終了で

【ニューヨークＡＦＰ＝時事】物理キーボードを採用し、かつて政治家や実業家の間で人気を博した携帯電話「ブラックベリー」の多くが、基本ソフト（ＯＳ）の更新打ち切りに伴い、４日から正常に動作しなくなる。（写真はブラックベリーの携帯電話端末。フランスのレンヌで）
　開発元のカナダ・ブラックベリー社は先月、旧モデルの端末が使用するＯＳの「ＥＯＬ（サポート終了）」を発表。対象となるバージョンは「７．１」以前のＯＳや「１０」のソフトウエア、「ＰｌａｙＢｏｏｋ ＯＳ ２．１」以前のＯＳで、今後はデータ通信や音声通話などが正常に機能しなくなる。ただし、中国の家電大手ＴＣＬが設計し２０１８年に発売された「ＢｌａｃｋＢｅｒｒｙ ＫＥＹ２」など、米グーグルのＯＳ「アンドロイド」を搭載する端末は影響を受けない。
　ブラックベリーは２０００年代後半、主にビジネスパーソンの間で人気のピークを迎えたが、その後登場した米アップルの「ｉＰｈｏｎｅ（アイフォーン）」などのスマートフォンに取って代わられた。サポート終了の決定により、携帯電話の一時代が幕を閉じることになる。
　バラク・オバマ元米大統領は愛用者として知られ、２００８年に大統領に選出された後も、使用の継続を希望。警護チームはデータ保護のため、基本的な機能だけを搭載した特別モデルを用意する必要があった。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/01/05-10:40）

Nostalgic for those mobile phones with a physical keyboard? Brace yourself, because as of Tuesday many models of the once-indispensable BlackBerry devices will no longer work.
The Canadian company has decided to pull the plug on new updates of its operating system, meaning most BlackBerries that became synonymous with the emerging mobile digital culture of recent decades -- and were embraced by politicians and business executives -- will not operate correctly after January 4.
As of this date, devices running these legacy services and software through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS and 9-1-1 (emergency) functionality, the company said on its website last month.
The end-of-life (EOL) move, as Blackberry called it, impacts BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions.
The company did say, however, that devices using Google's Android operating system, including the BlackBerry KEY2 released in 2018 and designed by China's TCL Group, would not be affected by the changes.
The EOL decision marks the end of an era in mobile telephony, which reached its peak in the late 2000s when BlackBerry met with widespread commercial success, especially among professionals.
The large QWERTY keyboard for easier emailing and the simple, uncluttered design were favored by business leaders, celebrities, politicians and journalists.
Former US president Barack Obama was famously addicted to his BlackBerry and insisted on keeping his phone in the White House after his election in 2008, forcing his security detail to build him a custom model reduced to basic features to keep his data safe.
BlackBerries were ultimately supplanted by smartphones, notably beginning with Apple's iPhone, which launched in 2009.
Attempts to relaunch BlackBerry fizzled, and its partnership with TCL for the KEY2, the latest model, was not renewed.
Since 2013, the firm based in Waterloo, Ontario and formerly named Research In Motion has focused on software development and production.