Google just tossed BlackBerry a major lifeline

[froggyboy604]

BlackBerry’s phones now serve an incredibly slim niche market, which has forced the company to look in other places for revenue. Under CEO John Chen, BlackBerry has been reinventing itself as an enterprise security software and services company that no longer has to rely on smartphone sales for growth. Chen’s plan got a major boost on Thursday when BlackBerry announced that it will partner with Google to help make Android devices used in enterprises more secure than ever before.
 
“BlackBerry and Google are working closely together to set new standards in enterprise mobile security for organizations deploying Android devices,” BlackBerry explains. “Android Lollipop delivers key enterprise functionality and addresses any previous enterprise security concerns. BES12 supports Android Lollipop, allowing you to confidently deploy Android devices in your organization.”
 
Read More
 
This is good news for Android 5.1 enterprise users who are very concerned about security.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

I'm sure sony will be getting these

 

[lb]

So Blackberry is a security company now? WTF?! I don't like the path mobile phone companies have been going for the past year. Instead of multiplying, they're diminishing in number, and soon we'll be left with only iOS and Android...

 

[froggyboy604]

So Blackberry is a security company now? WTF?! I don't like the path mobile phone companies have been going for the past year. Instead of multiplying, they're diminishing in number, and soon we'll be left with only iOS and Android...

I feel iOS and Android are both pretty similar and getting harder to tell apart these days. I bet, both Apple and Google may end up copying each others phones and operating systems where they become the same, but with different app stores which contain the same apps.

I think the custom operating system smartphone ROM like Cyanogenmod, Ubuntu for mobile, etc will always exist, but will be mainly used by Hobbyists, and less-mainstream users like Linux PC users who use Debian, CentOS, Ubuntu, and Linux Mint on their desktop and laptop PC. 

 

[lb]

I feel iOS and Android are both pretty similar and getting harder to tell apart these days. I bet, both Apple and Google may end up copying each others phones and operating systems where they become the same, but with different app stores which contain the same apps.

I agree... The only one that tried to differentiate themselves, at least in terms of user interface, was Windows phone... The live tiles idea was pretty original...

 

[Sharon]

Blackberry was never in "trouble" they've always leaned more towards catering to businesses.  There was talks of pulling out of the main consumer market but they're testing the waters with android users.