Tag: blackberry

The approval has given the smartphone manufacturer’s efforts to recover its glory a boost in the right direction.

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) will allow customers to use Blackberry’s mobile security software to manage devices on the agency’s network that are powered by iOS and Android.

BlackBerry is positioning itself as the mobile market leader in security technology for big businesses and governments.

Recently, Blackberry Limited acquired Secusmart GmbH, a German mobile security company, to enhance its security offerings for enterprise patrons. This led to BlackBerry CEO John Chen telling employees that it is now time to focus on boosting sales from the new device and software launch, which was a positive and welcome change from company layoffs.

The company, which is based out of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, announced that customers of the U.S. DoD that are BlackBerry users and/or who use smartphones or tablets that run iOS or Android and are linked to the BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) 10 technology, are now authorized to send each other sensitive information.

BlackBerry stated that “The (Security Technical Implementation Guide) approval provides additional confidence for government agencies considering a more open mobile environment with a selection of devices and operating systems.”

Blackberry has high hopes that its next generation mobile security software, BES12, will give it a leg up over the competition.

Businesses and governments utilize supposed mobile device management software to manage smartphone security and software that enterprise customers oversee or issue for their staff. BlackBerry has several competitors in his field, such as Citrix Systems Inc. Airwatch (owned by VMware Inc.), International Business Machines Corp., and MobileIron Inc.

BES12 will be launched by BlackBerry near the end of 2014 and the company is betting on this mobile management software to give them the edge they need over their competition. So far, according to Chen, the feedback the company has received from testers of the technology has been positive. Chen stated that six customers in North America and Europe were testing the tech and that an additional six would begin testing in July.

According to a spokeswoman from the company, the DoD’s approval for BES10 does not include BES12. Each version of the mobile security technology is approved separately.

The highly popular BlackBerry Messenger app has finally been released for those mobile device users.

BlackBerry has now announced that the long awaited release of BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) for Windows Phone 8 has finally arrived, so those users can begin their downloading of the service so that they will be able to communicate with their friends, family, and work contacts through the mobile app.

The popular instant messenger app has already been a hit on smartphone platforms other than its own.

Earlier this year, BlackBerry released BBM for Android mobile device users and then for Apple’s iOS users, as well. Now, a few months later, the Canadian handset maker is jumping into another platform as it releases the service for Microsoft’s mobile operating system, as well. This is one of a range of different efforts that the company has been making in order to claw its way back to relevance once again, after experiencing one of the largest freefalls ever seen by the mobile sector.

The BBM app for Windows Phone remains in its beta, but it offers the same type of functionality for which it is known.

The beta version of the BlackBerry Messenger app still provides its users with chat, group chat, and even the broadcast functionality that the other versions of the application have to offer. This will allow users to be able to download and use it as it is updated and perfected until its official launch.

The company has also revealed that it intends to provide those users with a larger number of features in the not too distant future. A version two update will come with a range of new features that smartphone owners will be able to use but that are absent in the current version.

The BBM application is only one of a range of high profile mobile apps that have been making their way to the Windows Phone Store over the last few months. Although virtually ignored for quite some time, the Microsoft operating system is starting to draw some attention from important developers. Another recent addition that was seen to this marketplace was Adobe Photoshop Express, which drew considerable media and consumer attention.