Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry has announced its 2014 plans in terms of new products and services, including two new devices based on its revamped operating system (OS) - the BlackBerry Z3 and BlackBerry Q20.
The company announced the upcoming devices at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona today, saying these underscore its strategy of a renewed focus on its core strengths in security, productivity, communications and collaboration.
BlackBerry CEO John Chen says the BlackBerry team has engineered a new strategy to stabilise the company and restore its customers' confidence in BlackBerry. "The announcements made during MWC demonstrate that BlackBerry is looking to the future and bringing solutions to market that matter most to our customers."
New devices
Designed for customers in the emerging market of Indonesia, the Z3 is an all-touch, 5-inch smartphone that will come with the company's latest version OS, 10.2.1.
Key features include BlackBerry Hub, BBM, Time Shift and Story Maker, instant previews and reply now features and FM radio. The device is expected to be available to the Indonesian market in April, with further availability details - as well as pricing particulars - to be announced at launch.
BlackBerry's new flagship BlackBerry 10 smartphone, the Q20, will feature both BlackBerry's iconic qwerty keyboard and a 3.5-inch touchscreen. The device will also feature an integrated trackpad.
Chen says the flagship phone comes in response to feedback from "millions of passionate qwerty customers around the world".
"In my first 90 days on the job, I consistently heard from our ardent BlackBerry customers that the hard buttons and trackpad are an essential part of the BlackBerry qwerty experience. This smartphone will be for them."
The Q20 will feature the familiar menu, back, send and end buttons. BlackBerry says the device, which features the largest touchscreen ever on one of its qwerty devices, will be crafted from premium materials and designed for reliability and durability. A larger battery will also provide better battery life, says the company.
BlackBerry says the Q20 will be available in the second half of this year, with availability and pricing details to be provided at launch.
For the enterprise
In terms of its enterprise offering, the company says BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES)12 will be available by the end of the year, with an early adopter programme opening for participation in coming months.
"BES12 will enable organisations to develop enterprise-grade applications that are quickly deployed to BlackBerry smartphones and other mobile devices. The BES12 platform will offer backward and future compatibility, unifying BES10 and BES5 on to one platform.
"The flexibility and scalability of the new BES12 architecture will also provide customers with the ability to move securely from on-premise to the cloud."
A new EZ Pass programme - available from 31 March through 31 January next year - will enable a free migration path for customers to move from BES and other mobile device management (MDM) platforms to BES10, says the company.
"For existing BlackBerry customers, the EZ Pass program will match any active existing on-premise BES licence and any active licence customers may have from other MDM vendors with a corresponding silver BES10 perpetual licence."
BlackBerry is also introducing a new BES pricing and licensing structure, with two tiers - silver and gold. "Silver includes full device, application, e-mail and security management for BlackBerry, iOS and Android devices, including BlackBerry Balance technology.
"Gold adds BlackBerry's Secure Work Space containerisation solution for iOS and Android, and advanced BlackBerry 10 management and security features for the most security-conscious organisations, including government, financial services and healthcare."
These pricing structures will be in place as of 31 March, says BlackBerry.
Finally, BlackBerry introduced the Enterprise BBM (eBBM) Suite, a new family of products and services that work with BlackBerry smartphones and BES and BES10 to provide enterprise-class mobile messaging, which the company says "brings together the core strengths of BBM with features and capabilities aimed at enterprises".
BBM Protected will be the first solution offered in the new eBBM Suite, bringing regulated industries secure and real-time mobile messaging.
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