We live in an era of information overload, there’s no doubt about that, and with all the apps and services we use constantly asking for our attention it has become easier than ever to feel as if we were drowning in way too many communication services.
BlackBerry has been working on a solution to this problem for Android users, which it is officially announcing today…
The Hub aims at unifying a slew of services into one handy slot, whose interface is of course heavily reminiscent of its BlackBerry 10 counterpart. As per the company, it will “help streamline many productivity tasks such as Calendaring, Passwords, and many others.”
The BlackBerry Hub+ Services app will be downloadable for free, and immediately offer you to start a 30-day trial, which includes the above mentioned Hub as well as BB’s Calendar and Password Keeper apps. At the end of your trial, you will either have the choice to stick to a free plan (but with added, occasional ads) or move to a $0.99 monthly subscription.
Were you to go for the latter option, BlackBerry will provide you with additional features, such as access to apps like Contacts, Tasks, Device Search, Notes and their own Launcher — the ones already integrated into BlackBerry’s own PRIV, their upcoming DTEK50, and of course BlackBerry 10.
BlackBerry’s Hub+ will only run on devices sporting versions of Google‘s OS no older than last year’s Marshmallow, and you’ll be able to get it on the Play Store:
The easiest way to try out BlackBerry Hub+ is to go to the Google Play Store on your smartphone and search forBlackBerry Hub+, and then download the BlackBerry Hub+ Services app onto your phone. Then click the Hub+ Services app icon on your home screen and tap “Apps by BlackBerry” to install the entire suite of applications or select a few of your favorites. It may take some time for the trial app to show up on Google Play today; hold tight, as you should be able to see and download it within a few hours.
Given the hard time that platform has had, it’s nice to see BlackBerry recalibrating its efforts into a more easily dispensable suite of software services, and as per the firm: “BlackBerry Hub+ is the first pure software offering from the new Mobility Solutions Group. But it’s a natural move for us.”
“Not only is it the latest example of BlackBerry’s fast-emerging software business (already at a run rate exceeding $500 million a year), but it fulfills our promise to make the fruits of decades of R&D and software development as widely available to users of other devices and other platforms as possible,” the company says.
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