BlackBerry continues metamorphosis with BlackBerry Secure licensing

August 28, 2017

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BlackBerry continues metamorphosis with BlackBerry Secure licensing 3

BlackBerry, out of necessity after a long, deep fall from their perch above the smartphone market, is working on a yet another move to help the company transition to their new reality. BlackBerry already moved production of their devices from in-house to being outsourced by Alcatel. In their latest move, they are working to license their customized version of the Android operating system dubbed BlackBerry Secure and according to reports, they have several parties already interested in entering into an agreement.

BlackBerry senior vice president Alex Thurber says, “we have a number of different contracts that we are working on right now. We expect some to be announced soon. We have an agreement with Optiemus for the India Market for BlackBerry Secure.” Optiemus already entered into a 10-year deal earlier this year with BlackBerry to design, manufacture and sell BlackBerry branded smartphones in the Indian market. They will also provide customer support for BlackBerry branded device in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangledesh, so this new agreement extends their reach into the BlackBerry ecosystem. The existing Optiemus agreements are described as being similar to the one in place with TCL, aka Alcatel, for the global market.

According to the description of the licensing deals BlackBerry is trying to setup, manufacturers will be able to launch their own devices with the BlackBerry Secure operating system in order to capitalize on the security features and enterprise-class benefits of BlackBerry's work in the Android operating system space.

Besides smartphones, Thurber indicates the company thinks their secure version of Android may be appropriate for other devices like televisions, wearables and medical devices, a segment described as the “Enterprise of Things.”

source: The Economic Times

Jeff Causey Author

Raised in North Carolina, Jeff Causey is a licensed CPA in North Carolina. Jeff's past Android devices include an HTC EVO, a Samsung Note II, an LG G3, and a Motorola Moto X Pure Edition along with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1. He currently uses a Samsung Galaxy S8 and (very rarely) a Nexus 7 (2013). He is also using a Verizon-branded Motorola Moto Z Play Droid supplied by his job. Jeff used to have a pair of Google Glass and a Moto 360 Sport in his stable of gadgets. Unfortunately, his kids have all drunk the Apple Kool-Aid and have i-devices. Life at home often includes demonstrations of the superiority of his Android based devices. In his free time, Jeff is active an active runner usually training for his next marathon, owns a Mazda MX-5 Miata, and plays Dungeons & Dragons. Jeff has three grown kids and a golden retriever.

2 comments

xBURK says:

August 28, 2017 at 3:02 PM

Loving the KEYone and BlackBerry’s new direction. Sure, it should have been done years ago, but at least they still have the cash to move forward.

Reply
1. meh... says:
  
  August 29, 2017 at 1:02 AM
  
  It would be interesting to see an S8+ or Note8 with BlackBerry Android on it. I like running BlackBerry Launcher and the rest of the Hub+ suite on my S8+.
  
  Reply