FollowThought they might not have quite as many shinny apps as iPhones, BlackBerry phones have always been some of the most reliable, sophisticated smartphones in the market and one clear advantage the ex market leader still holds over current leader Apple lies in the quality of their security.
They are so well known and respected for their security that even The Defense Department and President Obama have their own BlackBerrys. And every time news breaks about a new phone hack, BlackBerry always gets positive press.
In a recent interview for CNN Money, BlackBerry CEO John Chen told moderator that “if Apple would ever come to us and would love to have our security, we could talk”. When asked if he had already been approached by the rival company, John Chen refused to comment.
He went on to say that BlackBerry would make their security system available “for any device operating system” and admitted that he has had conversations with some of the big companies in the field. “You compete and collaborate at the same time” Chen added.
An Apple / BlackBerry partnership could bring consumers the best of both worlds as both bands have considerable advantages and disadvantages in their designs, however the likelihood of one remains a mystery for the time being. It was after all Apple that dethroned BlackBerry, the creator of the smartphone market, and Chen is very much aware of where his company went wrong:
“What BlackBerry didn’t do early on was expand the app ecosystem. Younger people love more and new apps. Apple did a very, very good job on that.”
The BlackBerry CEO also attended the Milken Institute Global Conference earlier this week and revealed that the company is working on several projects, including new phone designs. He was unable to offer specifics, however he did say that “It’s really about creating the next cool phones, so to speak. It will evolve. There are opportunities to regain the market share”.
He confirmed that the company is focused on developing apps stating that “[I] think there’s a new generation of apps coming. That’s an important thing. You don’t want to just kind of play in the old game. You got to get ahead. And we’re working that”.
In February 2005 BlackBerry released new software that gave their users access to Android apps and games through Amazon Appstore, a decision that comes with over 200,000 new apps for BlackBerry users to choose from.
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