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BlackBerry Secure Work Space due in Q2, divides work and play on Android and iOS
BlackBerry acknowledged that we live in a bring-your-own-device world with BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, which oversees platforms beyond Waterloo's own. It's reinforcing that support through new details for Secure Work Space for iOS and Android, an expansion of BlackBerry Balance to rival mobile devices. The upcoming offering will blend a BES10 update with a locked-down suite of apps, letting those of us without a BlackBerry easily check our corporate calendars, email and notes without requiring a VPN or other elaborate gateways. Whether or not you think the company is giving away the keys to its kingdom, the expanded Secure Work Space should put up a (frankly needed) wall between our corporate and personal lives sometime in the second quarter, or before the end of June.
RIM puts BlackBerry 10 on display: new alarm, Peek gesture and more
At today's RIM event, the BlackBerry maker gave us a closer look at BB10, with CEO Thorsten Heins talking up the operating system as "all about getting things done" and coining the interface "BlackBerry Flow." He demoed a new Peek feature that lets users access the message notifications screen with a right angle gesture. The function can be used in any app: performing the swipe takes users to the BlackBerry Hub where they can view Tweets, messages and other notifications. There's also a new clock and alarm system, which works by the user holding their fingertip on the bezel and sliding it to the appropriate time to set an alarm. There's also the business-friendly Balance feature we already knew about, which will let users' IT departments access corporate email and perform remote wipe without affecting the rest of the phone. With Balance, BlackBerry phones essentially have two profiles, one secured for the work environment and one for personal use. It just so happens that we already got a hands-on look at the software running on a Dev Alpha B handset: take a look here.
The Engadget Interview: RIM VP of Enterprise Alan Panezic at MWC 2012 (video)
This week at Mobile World Congress we had the opportunity to talk with Alan Panezic, VP of Enterprise at RIM about what the company is doing to keep existing business customers (and possibly even lure new CIOs) in the warm and secure embrace of its enterprise services while still giving users personal freedom to fully enjoy their devices. RIM's secret weapon? BlackBerry Balance on the PlayBook running OS 2.0 (of course) and BlackBerry Mobile Fusion on the server side. Take look at our video and remember -- that corporate PlayBook of yours may still lack BBM integration but IT professionals are people too, so be gentle with them!
RIM announces BlackBerry 7 OS with better browser and BlackBerry Balance, but no legacy support
The BB OS 6.1 update that grew too big for its name has just been made official by RIM as BlackBerry 7. Its ambassador into the wide world of smartphones will be the newly minted BlackBerry Bold Touch, which is expected to arrive "this summer." What can you look forward to? The user experience is promised to be both easier and faster, voice-activated searches are available for content both on your phone and the web, and the browser has been "significantly enhanced" with new features like a JIT (just-in-time) JavaScript compiler and HTML5 Video support. BlackBerry Balance is also part of the new OS, allowing you to compartmentalize your personal and professional lives into neat and separate piles of content. Full PR can be found after the break. Update: RIM has just noted that there will be "no legacy support" with BB 7, meaning that older devices, even those running version 6 of the OS, won't be getting any (official) updates to the latest stuff. This has been justified by how tightly integrated the software build is with the underlying graphics hardware in the touch-capable Bold handsets. Basically, the old phones won't be able to run the new OS. Oh, and in case you were wondering, there's no trace of QNX in BB 7.
BlackBerry Balance details emerge: available in two months' time, coming to PlayBook too
If you're champing at the bit to separate your work life and personal life into two distinct, impenetrable entities, RIM's got your back: it turns out that the Balance product announced a few days ago will be available in just a couple months' time. In a recent chat with Retuers, the company's senior VP of business and platform marketing revealed that Balance is already in testing with carriers ahead of a wide-scale launch -- and furthermore, it'll be available on the upcoming PlayBook as well. As a refresher, Balance seeks to let you do all your personal stuff on your BlackBerry while still giving the IT suits in your office unfettered access to the secure stuff -- corporate email and the like -- which means you can carry a single device (as long as you're okay with that one device being a BlackBerry) where you might have previously carried two. Of course, if you've got a phone and a PlayBook, we suppose you'll have two devices anyhow -- but regardless, at least you'll be able to Facebook your face off without corporate security getting in the way.
BlackBerry Balance announced, gives your phone a split personality
You might recall that VMware has teamed up with LG to separate the "work" and "life" environments on your Android phone into two distinct, secure platforms, which has some pretty obvious benefits -- as more people want smartphones in their personal lives, IT departments can still manage the content on their work phones without necessitating two separate devices. Seriously, who wants to carry around two phones? (Don't answer that.) Anyhow, RIM's getting into the game with today's announcement of BlackBerry Balance at an enterprise-focused event in Boston, a tool that'll allow the computer nerds in your office to manage, wipe, and encrypt the work-related content on your BlackBerry while leaving your personal content unscathed. Of course, not everyone wants a BlackBerry as their personal smartphone -- but for those that do, this should make you feel a little more confident that the IT dude isn't going to spontaneously delete your mom's contact record. No word on availability just yet.
