"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.

The Nexus 4 is fantastic

Nexus 4 & it's box

If you're aware of the Nexus 4; you're more than likely aware of how much of a struggle it has been for the majority of people (me included) to obtain one. The original release in late November definitely flopped, leaving so, so many people disappointed. Fast forward to December 4th. The UK was having a second release!

I geared up at 4:30pm on the Play Store, passing time and F5ing slowly, the closer to 5pm, the more rapid the refreshing. Eventually, I managed to get through to the checkout after quite a few server crashes and successfully copped a Nexus 4 16gb at 5:07pm. Fantastic, or was it? Multiple errors?! Turns out Lloyds TSB were blocking the transaction on account of 'fraudulent activity' - are you kidding me? Weeks of anticipation and this is what happens?!. So, after nearly an hour and a half on hold with the bank and many new curse words later, I finally had the transaction authorised and was able to pay Google (pending transaction!).

Upon reading that many people were stuck in limbo from Google, with no acknowledgement of payment, shipping - any information at all; like many others I had no idea what was going on. Some were shifted to 5-7 weeks of waiting for the phone; whereas some were having their phones delivered despite being quoted 3-4 weeks. Unsettling, my patience is truly being tested here.

So, fast forward to Saturday 8th December. A day off work and I awake to a phone call from Meg at work. Our Birmingham store has a Nexus 4 in stock, it's on reserve for me. After initially crapping my pants, I rushed and dragged my girlfriend out of bed to head to town and God bless Charlotte for doing so (I think I paid her back by buying her a Harringtons jacket). I rushed down to our store, brought the phone and traded in my broken HTC Sensation. £257 after discount for a mint condition 16gb Nexus 4? I'm game. We had to rush home immediately to cancel the transaction on Google and I was preying it hadn't gone through. But all is well!

The phone itself is absolutely phenomenal. It just feels so good in my hands and I haven't even used it outside of my home yet (I'm waiting for my case to arrive!). I keep picking it up and just looking at it. It's so nice to look at. It feels like one of the more finely polished Android phones in recent years, I think this is a very good sign to the prospected future of Android (alongside the Galaxy S3). I wish I could write a more detailed review of actually using the phone, but hey - this is a blog. There are plenty of dedicated websites for that.

The long and short of it is: if you've ordered one and are in limbo - the phone is absolutely worth it. I haven't come across one of the complaints I've been reading online (battery? Over 24 hours of use here and I just hit 15% writing this..).