The Blackberry Developer Conference followed the recent release of the Z10 and Q10, Blackberry’s new touch-screen competitors. The focus was on the latest mobile OS, BlackBerry 10 (BB10), and of course a review of the cool new smartphones by BlackBerry. Huffington Post Business reports the Q2 2013 sales of the new BlackBerry line up to be roughly 3 million units. Blackberry is hoping that developers will pick up on the BB10 wave to meet the demand for smartphone apps.
A New Phone & Colors at a Lower Cost
The latest in the line of Blackberry 10 phones was announced at the conference. The Q5 has a design resembling the Curve and the new Q10. The Q5 has the Blackberry QWERTY keyboard and a touch screen. It also comes in a variety of bright colors.
This phone has a square display and 720 x 720 pixels, same as the Q10. Rather than the AMOLED panel used by the Q10, the Q5 has an LCD panel. The phone also has lot more plastic than the other Blackberry models. The design hints at lower manufacturing costs for the Q5.
While the price was not discussed, Money online did say the intent was for the Q5 to be a lower-priced phone targeted at emerging markets such as the Middle East and Africa. The plan is for an early July release of this phone.
Messaging for Everyone
One of Blackberry’s highly successful trademark products is the Blackberry Messaging Service (BBM). This service enables consumers with Blackberry devices to share information and files with other Blackberry users without impacting their own data plans. This is a very popular product in areas of the world where wireless coverage is glitchy.
A surprise announcement at the conference was that Blackberry will provide a free app to iOS and Android developers to encourage development with that service. The service already has a huge portion of the emerging marketplace in the third world. Data and messages sent through BBM go through the Blackberry servers and are considered more secure than other networks.
CNN Money speculates that one strategy might be for Blackberry to hold onto the market for messaging, regardless of the type of phone. As this market grows, they could be seen as the premiere messaging service for individuals and corporations.
Courting the Corporations
While much of the Blackberry Developer Conference was about consumer products and services, a key session discussed the efforts of Blackberry to become known as a mobile device management (MDM) company.
Yahoo Finance notes a presentation on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) by COO Kristian Tear. For years, Blackberry has provided BES as a way for corporations to monitor and maintain security among the various Blackberry devices within the company. While this served companies well that provided Blackberry devices to its employees, the trend to allow employees to use their own devices requires a major change.
During the presentation, it was announced that a new application called Secure Work Space will be available to help companies manage and secure personal mobile devices connected to their network. It will create separate spaces in which employees may continue to do their personal business and also have a secure space to handle company data.
Driving Blackberry in Style
The most entertaining event during the conference was when the Blackberry CEO revealed a new Bentley automobile supported by the Blackberry 10 OS. Once people got past the plush leather seats and detailing, they focused on the BB10 display dashboard.
The Bentley BB10 system connects with other BB10 smartphones and allows voice, text and email. Video conferencing is available on the dashboard. Control is done by moving a hand over the icons on the screen. There are several BB10 functions that monitor and test the car’s system, a well.This was purely a concept car but other manufacturers like General Motors and Tesla are beginning to load up new models with smartphone technology.
