"i got a blackberry and all i got was this lousy messenger service"

Earlier today, Blackberry announced that BBM would be available for free on Android & iOS - this is a pretty big deal (or at least I think it is).

I see this as the first step towards the end of Blackberry as we know it.

It has been rumoured for a while that Blackberry would turn BBM cross-platform; but I didn't think they'd actually do it. I think there's no doubt that Blackberry are getting desperate to retain their customers - the whole 're-imaging' of the brand via the Blackberry Z10 & dropping the 'Research In Motion' title for 'Blackberry'. Not to mention that they literally paid Android developers to quickly port their apps over to Blackberry.

There was a time where Blackberry's were the top dog in the smartphone industry (hell, they're the original smart phone manufacturers); targeted at business environments due to the how secure it was. Since the iPhone, however - the smartphone has become a mass consumer point and frankly, Blackberry are falling behind as the alternatives have rocketed ahead. It appeared that Blackberry's one major selling point was the BBM service; exclusive to Blackberry's and from the people I've spoken to overtime was the one thing keeping people owning a Blackberry.

Since data messaging services such as Whatsapp, Kik & Facebook Messenger have emerged though; is it too late to save BBM? I see making it available on iPhones & Android as a move of desperation on the companies behalf to simply keep customers. If they're not buying their phones then at least they're using a Blackberry service, right? Right?

It might be a little too late, though. I think BBM was popular in it's prime but a lot of people have moved on. What I'd like to see in the Android version though; is unified messaging; similar to iMessage but with BBM and Google Chat integration  I don't think it'd happen - in reality it's just going to be yet another data messaging with Push notifications.

I think that the Z10 hardware is gorgeous, similar to the HTC One but a huge step up for Blackberry. The OS is pretty nice, but not quite there yet. If I had to make a bold prediction it would be that eventually Blackberry will go the way of Nokia & start focusing primarily on hardware (& software services?). Judging by the lack of Windows 8 BBM - I'd be sure they'd manufacture for Android.

In a sick way, it'd be nice to see Blackberry evolve and become legitimate competition in the smartphone wars again - however, I think they've missed their opportunity window. The Blackberry name has become an unreliable joke, meanwhile customers are sitting comfy in the world of iOS & Android.

birthday recap (+ pickups)

It was my 20th (!!!) birthday last week, which I guess marks the end of my teenage years - which is sad, but now this could be considered "the next part" of my life. University in September to study Media & Communications. I'm thankful I'm going, this year has really taught me a lot and made me more introspective about what I want & what I'm doing.

But really though, It's not different at all.

My birthday was great, though. Best birthday I've ever had. On the Friday, Charlotte cooked me a 3 course meal & made me a Dr Pepper cake. It wasn't even my birthday yet and it was going off! Seriously though, that cake was amazing, as was the meal, it's definitely a sign that she should cook for me more often, but hey - that's just wishful thinking.

The Saturday night, a few of us went to Drop Beats Not Bombs 10th Anniversary, at Q Club, Birmingham. The venue was moved there from Rainbow due to "a catastrophic power failure;" which I thought would suck, as they were closing the entire street by Rainbow for this.

Luckily though, the converted chapel was probably one of the more surreal arenas I've been in, I just remember looking up & thinking I was in Hogwarts, shit was amazing, even if it was £4 for a can of Red Stripe.

I'm not gonna recap the entire night (partly because I can't) - but it was easily one of the best nights out all year, set a pretty high standard. I felt blessed to have such people around me.

Supreme x Kermit

I finally acquired one of my grails!

Picked it up from a guy on Reddit for a good price (a birthday present to myself...).

It was a good week clothes wise - new jeans & shirt from Charlotte as well as some Nike Roshe Runs (Light Bone colourway). It'll be nice to add a bit more variation to my wardrobe





It's still early in the morning and I'm still very tired, So I think I'll publish this, re-read it and think 'what the fuck?'

I'm writing a post about Hype Clothing, so that should be up soon.

Peace