BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) announced last September that they are working together with South Korean electronics giant Samsung to build the most secure tablet in the world for the German government. The device is meant to handle and store classified information. With it, even the biggest archenemies of James Bond will have a hard time uncovering secret codes.
As mentioned, Samsung and BlackBerry already worked together last year. They were joined by IBM in building high-security tablets to launch a custom-made version of the Galaxy Tab S 10.5. The device was known as the SecuTablet. It was specifically made to provide security for its users. However, it was quite expensive as it was sold for $2,380 each. The tablet was approved by the German Federal Office for Information Security. It was also tagged with a security level “for public authorities” for its amazing safety features.
The companies claim that the new tablet will be embedded with an encryption technology. This new aspect of encoding should improve the security of an already-secure Samsung tablet. The device will be literally spy-proof thus allowing government agencies to use it without worrying about any national security issues.
BlackBerry is Germany’s most renowned smartphone manufacturer. Despite being a pioneer in the industry, the company has been struggling for the past couple of years with the rise of other smartphone giants. They even had to replace their own operating system to use the more popular Android OS. Some experts believe the company will soon stop producing mobile handsets.
BlackBerry has also tried to catch up with trendier and more stylish handsets. In fact, they released a second Android-based smartphone model in July called DTEK50. The first Android phone BlackBerry released was the Priv. Too bad both attempts did not do too well in the market mostly because of pricing.
Currently, BlackBerry is focusing on building a name as the top provider of security and productivity software. Hopefully, the success they make in this field will make them realize that specializing on something else might help improve their bottom line. The primary commodity that BlackBerry can offer their customers right now is privacy. No other competitor can match their ability to do so.
BlackBerry’s new spy-proof device uses a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 that has a security card. It will be amped up by BlackBerry’s encryption software called Secusmart. It can lock down information stored on and transferred from the SecuTablet. The tablet will also have a secure voice technology, VPM, and a certification management system.
Samsung will strengthen the wall with their own security software called Knox. These features should make the tablet the safest way to send messages between users. According to Sascha Lekic, director of B2B Sales, IT & Mobile Communication for Samsung Electronics, “Knox adds another level of security for Android on Samsung and facilitates the development of solutions for mobile security.”
Samsung and BlackBerry have yet to disclose the value of the deal with the German agencies.
Leave a Reply