BlackBerry launches latest Android device
Blackberry is a launching a new smartphone, the DTEK50, which it is billing as the world’s most secure Android phone.
A full touchscreen device, the DTEK50 runs Android Marshmallow 6.0 and promises to use BlackBerry’s expertise to allow users more control over security and privacy of their phones.
“We take our customers’ privacy seriously,” Ralph Pini, BlackBerry’s chief operating officer, said in a statement. “DTEK50 merges the unique security and connectivity features BlackBerry is known for with the rich Android ecosystem.”
The DTEK50, priced at $429, comes with a 5.2-inch full-HD display, a microSD card slot that supports up to 2TB of added storage, a 13-megapixel rear camera and eight-megapixel camera up front. The name DTEK comes from an app, which made its debut on the Priv, that allows users more control over what happens with the phone’s apps, with a security and privacy focus.
There is a programmable key, a physical button on the device — a throwback to older products — which users can assign a function to, (for example, turning on the phone’s flash to use as a flashlight).
In terms of security, BlackBerry is pitching a full service ecosystem that starts with the company hardening the Android kernel (the basis of the phone’s software), rapid security patches for new malicious threats and a secure boot process that ensures your phone has not been tampered with since the last restart.
While there are some additions — and a lot of hyperbole about it being the “world’s most secure Android smartphone” — many of the security improvements were part of the pitch for the Priv. When asked, executives conceded that earlier device was just as secure.
Alex Thurber, BlackBerry’s senior vice president, global device sales, said that BlackBerry remains committed to the company’s proprietary operating system, BB10.
“We’re continuing to develop BlackBerry 10 — in fact, there will be a new release, 10.3.3, in the next few weeks, and our researchers and developers are working on the next release after that,” Thurber said.
“So we are absolutely committed to BB10. What Android is allowing us to do is expand our market and bring the opportunity for more choice to our end users.”
He also confirmed that more An- droid devices are coming, with a full keyboard product in development.
Company executives are pitching this as a low-cost fleet device that has a much broader target audience than the company’s previous release, the Priv, which is a more premium device priced at $899.
Hanging over the announcement is the statement by BlackBerry’s CEO John Chen that the company’s device business has to return to profitability by the end of the year.
The company recently posted a $670-million (U.S.) net loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2017, which included a $21-million loss in the smartphone business segment.
The DTEK50 is available for preorder now at BlackBerry.com and will ship on Aug. 8.