Tag: blackberry applications

Mobile apps from third parties to be available over BlackBerry OS

The struggling Canadian handset manufacturer is now looking to new device management application options.

As a growing number of smartphone users turn their sights toward third party mobile apps in order to manage their gadgets, BlackBerry has now announced that it will be opening up its current operating system – BlackBerry 10 – to its rivals as a part of an overall strategy that would give products from other companies the ability to manage their gadgets.

The company claims that there have been a number of parties that have expressed interest in this area.

According to BlackBerry, it has seen interest from Citrix, SAP, AirWatch, and even IBM, in being capable of providing mobile apps that would manage the smartphones from that company. BlackBerry released a statement that quoted the Gartner research firm in saying that “Mobile device management (MDM) remains a top priority for IT buyers, and investment levels are growing steadily. Competition among players drives commoditization.”

This BlackBerry acknowledgement regarding third party mobile apps underscores an important trend.

Blackberry - Mobile AppsBlackBerry’s statement went on to further quote Gartner by saying that “Proliferation of and demand for workplace mobility necessitate the need for quality and flexible management tools.” Because of this, said BlackBerry, the company is now seeking to be able to work with the aforementioned companies that have expressed interest in giving their customers the “most flexible solution” in order to be able to “support a broader enterprise mobility strategy.”

This places an even greater spotlight on the rising trend among consumers to look to third party opportunities to provide them with their mobile device management options. This is especially true as companies open up their bring your own device (BYOD) policies to a growing number of different types of gadgets.

By introducing this new mobile apps policy, it is BlackBerry’s method of making certain that its own handsets will continue their relevance and will hold onto the foothold they have made within the enterprise space. There, many of the large scale networks are already managed by MDM applications provided by third party vendors. At the same time, the company has clearly stated that it will be continuing to offer its own multi-platform enterprise mobility management platform, the BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES10).

Apps from BlackBerry announced for other operating systems

The greatly struggling smartphone manufacturer has now unveiled its BBM for iPhone and Android users.

As the company had been indicating for some time, BlackBerry has now announced that its dedicated BBM messenger service apps are now available to Android and iPhone users very soon.

The BlackBerry Messenger service have now become available for sale on the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

This means that the apps for BlackBerry Messenger will no longer be exclusively available to users of the devices from that manufacturer. They are now available for free for the devices based on the operating systems of the leaders of the smartphone market, Android and iOS.

These free apps becoming available for Android and iPhone are only one of many recent announcements from the company.

Apps - Blackberry messenger app for other operating systemsThe unveiling of the apps for other smartphones came directly after the company launched yet another smartphone device into the marketplace. It also revealed that it would be laying off 4,500 employees, as the company flounders in losses from a lack of sales.

These messenger apps allow smartphone users to be able to share information and chat with up to 30 different users within a single conversation. It also uses a unique PIN to ensure that the users’ privacy will remain secure. That number is not just a password for signing into the program. Instead, it can be used to boost security when deciding whether or not contact information and other data should be shared with the other people who are involved within the conversations.

As BlackBerry takes these steps into the iOS and Android marketplaces, it is leading many people to speculate with regards to whether or not this is a last ditch effort from the company to attempt to compete in yet another marketplace. The messenger service apps market is already swamped with competition, with leaders that have already established themselves, including WeChat, WhatsApp, and Line.

The BBM apps became available to Android smartphones over Google Play download as of September 21, and iPhone users started downloading from the App Store starting on September 22. The number of downloaders and users has yet to be seen.