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BlackBerry sneak-previews curved phones

Nicola Mawson
By Nicola Mawson, Contributor.
Johannesburg, 03 Mar 2015
BlackBerry's new, affordable, curved handsets were briefly unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2015.
BlackBerry's new, affordable, curved handsets were briefly unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2015.

Mobile World Congress 2015: BlackBerry is increasing its focus on its software portfolio and making solutions like enhanced security and billing available to other handset makers as it seeks to bolster its top line. This shift comes even as it unveils a new curved handset design.

CEO John Chen, addressing analysts and media on the side-lines of Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona, notes the company has plans to increase revenue from software. During the conference, it gave a flash-preview of two curved phones, which tech blogger and Swift Consulting CEO Liron Segev notes provides "wow factor".

The affordable BlackBerry Leap, which is an all-touch phone, comes with a 5-inch HD display, and battery life that powers through 25 hours of "heavy use".

Chen said BlackBerry, which he has been leading for about a year-and-a-half, is stabilising financially. Although he could not give specifics as the firm is in a quiet period, he noted it is cash-generative and is a bit ahead of its two-year turnaround strategy.

BlackBerry has "made a lot of progress" in the past 12 months on its product roadmap and has plans to generate more revenue and cash, said Chen. He believes the company can stabilise the parts of the business that are losing revenue.

In the third quarter of the year, BlackBerry reported a bigger-than-expected drop in revenue, although it had eked out a small adjusted profit and began generating cash flow again. Revenue fell to $793 million from $1.19 billion a year earlier, falling short of analysts' expectations of $931.5 million.

Chen said, however, the company has committed to its software offerings as a way to make more income. "This is not a five-year plan, this is a five-year plan with every year making money."

New services

On Sunday, BlackBerry said it will expand its cross-platform strategy by delivering its security, productivity and communication tools to any smartphone or tablet device running iOS, Android or Windows. This follows its move to allow clients like government agencies and large corporations to manage and secure phones and tablets powered by Apple's iOS system, Google's Android platform and Microsoft's Windows operating system using its BES12 platform, Reuters reported.

BlackBerry has a five-year plan that will make money each year, says CEO John Chen.
BlackBerry has a five-year plan that will make money each year, says CEO John Chen.

It has also opened up its popular BlackBerry Messaging app to those using iOS, Android and Windows devices, the wire service noted.

BlackBerry sees offerings such as its cross-platform solutions like its Work Life offering generating further revenue. This secure solution allows companies to handle reimbursing staff for business calls on their devices, and is in line with pending US legislation.

The troubled handset maker is also adding to its cross-platform solutions and will continue to build out these offerings, noted Chen. This morning, it announced a new partnership with Samsung will see Samsung's Knox offerings become as secure as BlackBerry's because the Canadian company is sharing its security tech.

In the past few months, BlackBerry has added four new phones to its range: the Z3, Passport, Classic and Porsche models, which Chen said is "just the beginning". He pointed out, however, that BlackBerry has become more software-focused and is orientating itself to a cloud strategy.

Chen said BlackBerry has moved into the realm of the Internet of medical things and is putting together a medical reference architecture. The Canadian company has 200 app providers in this space, of which 30 are clinically oriented. "That's another IOT [Internet of things] revolution."

* Nicola Mawson is in Barcelona courtesy of Samsung.

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