BES10
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BlackBerry inches towards safety despite smartphone slump
From the looks of BlackBerry's newest earnings report, it looks as if CEO Jon Chen's plan to transform the company into a software-and-services company might actually be working. The company posted a quarterly net loss of $207 million, pocket change compared to the $950 million that the other guy lost in the same period the year before. The reason for the healthier spreadsheet is thanks to growth in the company's services arm, which managed to sell 3.4 million licenses of its BlackBerry Enterprise Service in three months - nearly three times the amount sold during the previous three months.
BlackBerry releases Secure Work Space for iOS and Android (video)
Paranoid corporate types living in fear of bring-your-own-device employees can soon relax: BlackBerry has just launched its Secure Work Space app, right on schedule. It'll allow organizations to manage and secure Google and Apple devices through BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) 10, which forms the mobile backbone of many a company's internal network. By using it, personnel without BlackBerry devices like the Z10 or Q10 will gain a way to check their company's calendars, email and organizers without fear of snooping. At the same time, IT types will be able to securely see, manage and update all Android and Apple devices network-wide. For its part, the Waterloo outfit should gain another source of revenue through the software (which consists of a suite of apps and BES 10.1 update), even with companies that haven't invested in its devices. For more info about the software or to grab a trial, check the source.
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 says BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10 users will get legacy device support, IT admins (may) rest easy
Corporate server managers everywhere were given a jolt this week when rumors emerged that RIM might implement a hard cutoff for BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10: any devices based on BlackBerry 7 and earlier might not connect at all, leaving IT leads with the uncomfortable choice of either running a BlackBerry server platform that's supposedly without a future (BES 5) or having to upgrade both the servers and phones all at once. RIM is putting minds at ease -- more or less. The company's Kim Geiger has confirmed in a statement to the media that BES 10 will support legacy devices when it ships in the first quarter of 2013, and that existing server customers will get an upgrade for smooth sailing around when BlackBerry 10 arrives. That's no doubt a comfort, but there are lingering doubts. Rumor source BGR maintains that companies will have to run both the old and new servers side-by-side to address everyone, which could make a truly harmonious environment complex, expensive or both. We've reached out to RIM for a more definitive explanation to hopefully settle the matter. In the meantime, we wouldn't panic; no one is being pushed to adopt BES 10 right away, and those that want to upgrade don't have to give up their legacy hardware.
