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With the latest iPhone now in people’s hands and Google’s annual Android flagship not far behind, it’s a pertinent time to release a film about the once iconic device that paved the way for both.

BlackBerry hasn’t appeared alongside them on shop shelves for years, and any remaining devices were effectively killed off last January when the company behind them ceased support.

It was an undignified end for a gadget that changed the world, one that became not just ubiquitous with boardrooms and offices (including a certain oval-shaped one), but a true fashion statement.

Thrusting it back into the spotlight in 2023 is director Matt Johnson, who hails not far from BlackBerry’s Ontario HQ.

And yet, against all odds, he says he has no history with the world’s first smartphone whatsoever.

“The timeline of the product was one of the main things I was interested in,” the 37-year-old says.

“A film about the late 90s/early 2000s shift from a more analogue world to a more digital world.

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“That’s when I was quite young and a great opportunity to explore that cultural space, all where I grew up.”

The exterior of one of the Research In Motion Limited (RIM) buildings is seen in Waterloo July 10, 2012. Research In Motion Ltd's slate of directors was re-elected at the BlackBerry maker's annual general meeting on Tuesday, Chairwoman Barbara Stymiest said. REUTERS/ Mike Cassese (CANADA - Tags: BUSINESS)
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Research In Motion was based in Waterloo, Ontario

‘Hacker-style’ nerds who changed the world

BlackBerry (the film, not the product) picks up in 1996 at tech firm Research In Motion.

At the time, its ragtag crew of engineers are unaware they’re working on perhaps their country’s most famous export since maple syrup.

Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) and friend Douglas Fregin (Johnson) suspect their “PocketLink” idea for a phone that does email is good, but lack the business sense to turn concept into reality.

Mike Lazaridis, President and co-chief executive officer of Research in Motion (RIM), waits to speak at the Empire Club of Canada luncheon in Toronto March 2, 2006. Lazaridis stated in his speech that RIM is still keen to resolve a bitter patent dispute with NTP Inc. and avoid an injunction that would shut its U.S. BlackBerry service. REUTERS/Mike Cassese
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BlackBerry’s president Mike Lazaridis and (below) in the film, played by Jay Baruchel

Jay Baruchel as Mike Lazaridis. Pic: National Amusements/Piece Of Magic Entertainment
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Pic: National Amusements/Piece Of Magic Entertainment

Johnson says they were interested in solving practical problems, but had “no vision of a cultural revolution”.

Enter the ruthless and opportunistic Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton), who sees enough potential in the pitch to brute force his way into becoming co-CEO and set up a pitch with the US telecoms giant that would become Verizon.

Research in Motion Ltd. Chairman and Co-CEO Balsillie reacts during his speech at Fortune Global Forum in Beijing. Research in Motion Ltd. Chairman and Co-CEO James L.Balsillie reacts during his speech at the last day of Fortune Global Forum in Beijing May 18, 2005. The forum which attracted more than 800 participants, including CEOs, chairpersons and presidents of Global 500 firms and domestic enterprises, top government officials and renowned scholars, to brainstorm in the Chinese capital wil
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BlackBerry’s co-CEO Jim Balsillie and (below) Glenn Howerton

Glenn Howerton as Jim Balsillie. Pic: National Amusements/Piece Of Magic Entertainment
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Pic: National Amusements/Piece Of Magic Entertainment

The film, based on the book Losing The Signal, takes some liberties with the BlackBerry story – and the real players involved have said some portrayals are closer to satire.

Balsillie’s depicted as a hilariously foul-mouthed demon of the boardroom, while Lazaridis and Fregin lead a team of “almost hacker-style” nerds who love video games and office film nights.

What the film undoubtedly nails is the BlackBerry brand’s ascendancy to stardom.

The film presents the RIM team as a ragtag crew. Pic: National Amusements/Piece Of Magic Entertainment
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The film presents the RIM team as a ragtag crew, including Lazaridis (left) and Fregin (in headband). Pic: National Amusements/Piece Of Magic Entertainment

Cracking the market

The first device in 1999 had email and two-way paging, with a keyboard and modest monochrome display.

By 2002, calls, texts, and internet browsing were features of an increasingly popular product with business types.

But the game-changing launch of BlackBerry Messenger in 2005 took it truly mainstream, bringing WhatsApp-style encrypted messaging we now all take for granted.

The world’s addiction to typing on the go saw “CrackBerry” named Webster’s Dictionary’s word of 2006.

It was the phone of choice for millions of people, endorsed by celebrities and even the US president.

At its peak, BlackBerry controlled almost half of the global smartphone market.

Writer/Actor Larry David (L) has a look at director Spike Lee's blackberry phone as they sit courtside at Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference final basketball playoff game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets in Los Angeles, May 19, 2009. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES ENTERTAINMENT SPORT BASKETBALL)
U.S. President Barack Obama uses a Blackberry device as he makes his way toward the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, January 29, 2009. Obama was allowed to keep the Blackberry after security modifications were made. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES)
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Anyone who’s anyone wanted a BlackBerry

Apple makes its move

But 2007 heralded the iPhone – and the world would be about to change all over again.

Steve Jobs ruthlessly mocked the BlackBerry’s reliance on a keyboard during the grand unveiling, as observers swooned over the large multitouch display in his hand.

For many analysts, it marked the beginning of the end for BlackBerry.

Pic: AP
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Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone. Pic: AP

For Johnson, it wasn’t necessarily the iPhone itself that killed the BlackBerry – but its creators’ response to it.

It saw the company hastily assemble a Frankenstein-like competitor which tried to combine a touchscreen with the satisfying clicks of a physical keyboard.

“It’s a keyboard… on a screen… on a keyboard,” is how Baruchel’s Lazaridis pitches it to his engineers, tragically unconvincingly.

The resulting BlackBerry Storm, released in 2008, was a disaster.

Issues with the new touchscreen, which had one enormous button underneath, saw Verizon have to replace all one million devices it sold and claim $500m in losses.

A Research In Motion BlackBerry Storm is pictured in New York, November 20, 2008. Verizon Wireless is betting on the new BlackBerry Storm for the all-important holiday season, hoping the highly anticipated smartphone can compete against the iPhone offered by rival wireless provider AT&T Inc. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES)
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The BlackBerry Storm was a direct attempt to cash in on the excitement around the iPhone

‘How do you do, fellow kids?’

It put the Canadian company on the back foot, and left its executives grappling with an identity crisis as Apple’s trendsetter went from strength to strength.

BlackBerry still had its loyal users, with one Barack Obama among those happily using them for years after.

The company even welcomed Queen Elizabeth II for a visit to its headquarters in 2010.

But by then it was clear the company’s direction had become muddled, and the masses and phone carriers were batting their eyelids in the iPhone’s direction.

BlackBerry had gone from status symbol to “how do you do, fellow kids?” in the blink of an eye

Britain's Queen Elizabeth tours Research in Motion, maker of the handheld device Blackberry, in Kitchener, Ontario July 5, 2010. REUTERS/Fred Thornhill (CANADA - Tags: SCI TECH ROYALS BUSINESS)
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‘How does one text Philip?’

Blind revolutionaries

Johnson sees BlackBerry’s downfall as a cautionary tale, but also something of a tragic one.

“They set up the scaffolding for a revolution, but then didn’t realise one was about to happen,” he says.

“It wasn’t that the iPhone was just a better product,” says Johnson.

“It had more to do with the vision of a company like Apple compared to Reality In Motion.

“People say they’re part of the ‘Apple ecosystem’ – the brand means more than the products.

“BlackBerry just did not do that and weren’t interested in that.

“And by the end, those original engineers end up so disillusioned and alienated from the thing they built, I don’t think they even believe they built it.”

The moment the iPhone is announced as portrayed in the film. Pic: National Amusements/Piece Of Magic Entertainment
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The moment the iPhone is announced as portrayed in the film. Pic: National Amusements/Piece Of Magic Entertainment

BlackBerry kept chipping away at iPhone-style touchscreen devices, but found itself swimming against a tide made even stronger by the popularity of Android.

In 2016, the firm gave up making phones and transitioned to being a software security business, licensing out the BlackBerry name for other manufacturers to give it a shot.

The last hurrah was 2018’s BlackBerry KEY2 LE from China’s TCL, an awkwardly assembled jack of all trades that unceremoniously stuck a keyboard at the foot of a touchscreen.

It could hardly have been further away from Lazaridis’s original “texts, calls, email” vision for a phone, one which Johnson thinks might yet make a significant return.

Jim Balsillie, co-chief executive of Research In Motion (RIM), holds the new Blackberry Bold handset during its launch in Mumbai September 18, 2008. Research in Motion Ltd will add new carriers in fast-growing emerging markets, and does not yet see an adverse impact from a widening global financial crisis, Balsillie said on Thursday. REUTERS/Punit Paranjpe(INDIA)
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It was the future once…

Nostalgia-driven “dumb phones” from Nokia have seen a resurgence as users seek a detox from social media, while newcomers like the Light Phone proudly boast of offering nothing but texts and calls.

“I think if BlackBerry had reverted to that philosophy, they might’ve found success,” he says.

What’s certain is that no company can afford to rest on its laurels in the constant churn of Silicon Valley.

The modern smartphone may be lacking for innovation, but as BlackBerry and iPhone both proved, the future can emerge in no time at all.

BlackBerry releases in UK and Irish cinemas on 6 October.

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Gregg Wallace speaks out after MasterChef sacking

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Gregg Wallace speaks out after MasterChef sacking

Gregg Wallace has spoken about his sacking from MasterChef after inappropriate behaviour while working for the BBC – but insisted he is “not a groper, a sex pest or a flasher”.

Wallace, 60, has apologised after a report, commissioned by the cooking show’s production company Banijay UK, found 45 out of 83 allegations were substantiated.

In an interview with The Sun, he said: “I know I have said things that offended people… I understand that now – and to anyone I have hurt, I am so sorry.

“I don’t expect anyone to have any sympathy with me but I don’t think I am a wrong ‘un.”

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BBC reputation damaged by ‘serious errors’

MasterChef co-host John Torode also had an allegation that he used an “extremely offensive racist term” upheld, as part of the same investigation.

Torode, who insisted he had “absolutely no recollection” of the alleged incident, has not had his contract for the show renewed.

Wallace has now defended Torode, saying: “I’ve known John for 30 years and he is not a racist.

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“There is no way that man is a ­racist. No way. And my sympathies go out to John because I don’t want anybody to go through what I’ve been through.”

Former MasterChef presenters John Torode and Gregg Wallace. File pic: PA
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Gregg Wallace has defended his former MasterChef co-host John Torode (left). File pic: PA

At one point, Wallace became tearful during the interview when describing the impact of the investigation on his family.

“I have seen myself written about in the same sentence as Jimmy Savile and Huw Edwards, paedophiles and sex offenders. That is just so, so horrific.”

In respect to the specific allegation of unwanted touching, Wallace denied groping a woman and said that, while he was attempting to flirt with her, he did believe the contact it was consensual.

“She gave me her phone number. I considered that to be intimacy. It was 15 years ago. Me, drunk, at a party, with my hand on a girl’s bum,” he said.

He also accepted he had briefly appeared with a sock on his private parts in front of four colleagues in MasterChef studio. But he said his is not a flasher, and people were either “amused or bemused” but not distressed.

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On the broader allegations about using inappropriate language, Wallace accepted the criticism and suggested that some of his conduct could be explained by his autism and his background.

“I know I am odd. I know I struggle to read people. I know people find me weird. Autism is a… registered disability. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not real.”

He also blamed his former career: “I’m a greengrocer from Peckham. I thrived in Covent Garden’s fruit and veg market. In that environment that is jovial and crude. It is learned behaviour.”

Wallace told the newspaper he is now scared to appear in public: “I go out now in a disguise – a baseball cap and sunglasses, I don’t want people to see me. I’m scared.”

On Wednesday, the BBC confirmed a series of MasterChef filmed last year, before allegations against presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode were upheld, will still be broadcast.

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Company at heart of Coldplay viral video releases tongue-in-cheek clip – with a big twist

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Company at heart of Coldplay viral video releases tongue-in-cheek clip - with a big twist

The company at the centre of a viral video at a Coldplay concert has released a tongue-in-cheek clip on social media – featuring Gwyneth Paltrow as a “temporary spokesperson”.

Astronomer was thrust into the spotlight after two of the tech firm’s senior executives were filmed embracing on a kiss cam during a gig in Boston.

Andy Byron subsequently resigned as chief executive officer – while the woman in the video, Kristin Cabot, stepped down as chief people officer a few days later.

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Tech boss resigns after viral Coldplay concert video

Paltrow, who used to be married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, is seen sitting at a desk in the new video uploaded to X – and begins by thanking the public for their interest in Astronomer.

She adds: “I’ve been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300-plus employees at Astronomer.

“Astronomer has gotten a lot of questions over the last few days – and they wanted me to answer the most common ones.”

A question is then typed out on the screen that reads: “OMG, what the actual…”

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Before the final word appears, the video cuts back to Paltrow, who goes on to promote some of the services Astronomer offers.

In a subtle nod to the countless column inches the company has attracted, Paltrow adds: “We’ve been thrilled so many people have a newfound interest in data workflow automation.”

Another question then pops up on screen, which begins to type out: “How is your social media team holding up?”

But before the sentence fully appears, Paltrow abruptly interrupts by declaring that Astronomer has spaces at an upcoming conference in September.

Astronomer

“We’ll now be returning to what we do best: delivering game-changing results for our customers,” she adds at the end of the video.

The marketing stunt is a sign that Astronomer is trying to put a positive spin on the scandal, which sparked feverish speculation online.

After Mr Byron resigned, the company had said in a statement: “Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding.

“Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.”

Woman hides her face

Pete DeJoy, who has taken over as interim CEO, admitted on Monday that the company has faced an “unusual and surreal” amount of attention in recent days.

On LinkedIn, he wrote: “While I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name.”

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Top Boy actor Micheal Ward charged with two counts of rape

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Top Boy actor Micheal Ward charged with two counts of rape

Top Boy actor Micheal Ward has been charged with two counts of rape and is due to appear in court next month.

Ward, 27, has also been charged with two counts of assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault.

The offences relate to one woman and are reported to have taken place in January 2023.

“Our specialist officers continue to support the woman who has come forward – we know investigations of this nature can have a significant impact on those who make reports,” said Detective Superintendent Scott Ware, whose team is leading the Met Police’s investigation.

Ward at the 78th Cannes Film Festival on 15 July. Pic: PA
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Ward at the 78th Cannes Film Festival on 15 July during a press call for his upcoming film Eddington. Pic: PA

Ward, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, is due to appear at Thames Magistrates’ Court on 28 August, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

Ward said he denies the charges of rape and sexual assault, adding in a statement: “I recognise that proceedings are now ongoing, and I have full faith that they will lead to my name being cleared.”

In a statement, Catherine Baccas, deputy chief crown prosecutor for CPS London South, said: “We remind all concerned that proceedings against the suspect are active and he has a right to a fair trial.

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“It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in anyway prejudice these proceedings.”

Ward has been charged with rape and sexual assault. He is pictured in October 2023. Pic: PA
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Michael Ward has been charged with rape and sexual assault. He is pictured in October 2023. Pic: PA

Ward starred in the popular Netflix series Top Boy as Jamie. He also appeared in films like Blue Story, The Old Guard and Empire of Light.

In 2020, the Jamaican-born actor was awarded the Bafta Rising Star honour in 2020.

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He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor Bafta in 2021 for his role as Franklyn in the BBC series Small Axe, and 2022 for his performance as Stephen in Empire of Light.

Ward is also in the upcoming American film Eddington alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal, which is set to be released in the UK next month.

Ward is pictured during the opening night of A View From The Bridge at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London in June 2024. Pic: PA
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Ward is pictured during the opening night of A View From The Bridge at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London in June 2024. Pic: PA

He has more than a million followers on Instagram and participated in charity events like the Soccer Aid match at Stamford Bridge last year.

Ward gave a reading at the Christmas Eve carol service hosted by the Princess of Wales in 2023.

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