Unveils ‘world’s most secure Android’

TORONTO• BlackBerry Ltd. has released a new mid-range, touchscreen Android smartphone with a heavy focus on security in its latest bid to return its waning hardware business to profitability.

Billed as the “world’s most secure Android smartphone,” the DTEK50 is a modified Android design with BlackBerry security features baked in. It is available for pre-order in Canada for $429 and in the U.S. and Western Europe for US$299 — less than half the price its predecessor the Priv, which sold poorly due to its high price tag.

The device enters the market as the clock ticks down on CEO John Chen’s promise to stop losing money in the handset business by September.

Chen has refused to give up on handsets, which lost US$21 million in the most recent quarter, even though their rapid decline in popularity has overshadowed BlackBerry’s recent success selling mobile security software to high profile clients including the U.S. Department of Defense.

But it appears the Waterloo, Ont.-based company is betting the DTEK50 will piggyback on its position as a security leader to score a hit with business, governments and consumers that left BlackBerry for iPhone and Android devices. (Even diehard fan President Barack Obama ditched his this summer.) Executives played up fears of security breaches in a Tuesday webcast unveiling the device, with chief security officer David Kleidermacher stating that data breaches on devices are growing “uncontrollably.”

“With an increase in cybercrime on smartphones, people need to recognize that the private details of their lives — where they live, their bank info, pictures of their kids — are at risk on their personal device,” Kleidermacher said in a statement. “You wouldn’t leave the doors of your house unlocked at night. Having a smartphone that doesn’t take your privacy seriously is the equivalent.”

The new phone, manufactured by TCL in China, uses the DTEK software — the name stems from the word “detection” — to monitor security constantly and alert users when they’re at risk. It will provide monthly security patches for a minimum of 24 months after launch. The security software features are the same as the Priv, but its components make it less expensive. (It doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor.)

It also features the BlackBerry hub, a 5”2 HD display, an eight megapixel front camera and a 13 megapixel rear camera, three gigabytes RAM and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

And it won’t be BlackBerry’s last attempt to grab back some of the smartphone market it used to dominate.

Senior vice-president Alex Thurber confirmed during the webcast that another handset with the physical keyboard is coming by the end of this fiscal year. Meantime, he expects a sales boost from the DTEK50 due to its price point.

“It has a much broader market than we have with the Priv,” Thurber said. The company is targeting business customers and believes the lower price point will attract smaller enterprises — and hopefully consumers who are increasingly aware of security, he added at a roundtable discussion with media in Toronto.

Thurber tempered Chen’s statements regarding the need to make or break by September, noting that BlackBerry has other mobile products in its roster.

The new phone, the company ’s second Androidpowered device, will start shipping the week of Aug. 8.