BlackBerry Ltd Brings New Services, Tools To iOS, Android

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BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) uncovered more details about BlackBerry Enterprise Server 12 at an enterprise event in San Francisco on Thursday. The company announced that its upcoming Enterprise solutions will be available for both iOS and Android devices, along with its own Blackberry operating system.

Simple and quick solutions

BlackBerry entered into a partnership with Samsung to offer its end-to-end encryption services on the Korean firm’s Android devices. A new service was announced during the event with the aim of easing the gap between corporate and personal devices and making the collaboration simpler. The smartphone maker is also pitching its new VPN authentication service as “an entirely new way to connect employees to corporate data.”

A user can access the service after two-factor authentication. In a demonstration, an employee was asked to confirm their identity on their phone, which was done with a quick tap. BlackBerry is offering the service on iOS, Android and BlackBerry 10 smartphones for devices that are already managed by a company’s IT department with BES12.

BlackBerry has kept the whole mechanism quite simple, but those who have the responsibility for managing the corporate network get active, immediate control over those who can access VPN, circumventing the occasional lost key fob and the headaches that causes. Further, they will be able to quickly give or take away access, which is a useful feature if a smartphone is lost or otherwise compromised.

BlackBerry expands its portfolio of services

WorkLife enables a user to switch between work and personal life with just a tap. In the demonstration, it was shown that an Android device clearly showed the mode it is working, making it obvious who pays the bill for tasks currently being done by the user. This feature is exclusively for BYOD programs, but according to BlackBerry, the companies that have given the device to employees can also allow personal lines to be added to a corporate device.

Another feature introduced is BBM Meetings, which appears to be similar to the group chat feature in BBM, but it is entirely a collaboration tool. Like others, the app will be available on iOS, Android and BlackBerry 10 devices, as well as Windows and Mac PCs.

Such features, along with other plans, will surely help the Canadian company in its turnaround and enable it to face growing competition.

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