BlackBerry’s comeback has suffered a couple of setbacks, with a major US retail chain announcing it is switching to Apple iPhone on the same day its celebrity spokesperson was also caught out reportedly using an iPhone.
According to Tom’s Hardware, US-based retail giant Home Depot has announced that it won’t be making the upgrade to BlackBerry 10, with the world’s fifth largest retailer switching its 10,000 employees to iPhone.
BlackBerry is downplaying the news, citing strong corporate interest in its new Z10 smartphones.
“We are in the process of launching BlackBerry 10 globally in key markets, and we are seeing positive demand for the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone in countries where it is already available,” the company stated.
“And, for enterprises, we have over 2,700 unique businesses in North America already registered for our BlackBerry 10 Ready Program. We are confident that BlackBerry is, and will continue to be, the best solution for corporations managing large smartphone deployments.”
Meanwhile, BlackBerry’s new “global creative director”, Alicia Keys, has been busted tweeting using an iPhone.
The company announced Keys as its celebrity spokesperson during the official launch of the company’s Z10 smartphone.
“I have been using the BlackBerry 10 for a few weeks now, and I’m truly inspired by its innovation. It has entirely revolutionized the experience. I know the potential this platform has to help creative people be more productive, and help productive people be more creative,” Keys said at the time.
However, according to Tom’s Guide, Keys recently posted a now-deleted tweet, quoting lyrics from rapper Drake, which was marked as being posted “via Twitter for iPhone”.
“What the h*ll?!!!! Looks like I’ve been hacked… I like @Drake but that wasn’t my tweet :-(“ Keys tweeted after deleting the Apple-posted tweet.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
