BlackBerry Intros Enterprise Services, Devices

Mobile World Congress 2014 sees BlackBerry refuse to throw the towel as it launches new services and products-- a new version of BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES), the enterprise BBM (eBBM) suite and the Z3 and Q20 handsets.

BBM MWCThe company claims BES12 unifies the best of BES10 and BES5 in one backwards-compatible platform. It allows the development and quick deployment of enterprise-grade app on BlackBerry and other devices, with flexible and scalable architecture handling secure movement from on-premise to the cloud.

It comes in two tiers-- Silver (includes device, app, email and security management for BlackBerry, iOS and Android devices) and Gold (adds Secure Work Space containerisation separating work and personal data).

Addressing recent NSA-fueled privacy concerns on messaging services is the eBBM suite, a mobile communications solution that "brings together the core strengths of BBM with features and capabilities aimed at enterprises." The first eBBM product is BBM Protected, a messaging service equipped with end-to-end communications encryption via symmetric encryption keys.

The service applies such security to inter-employee communications, and allows external messaging to BBM contacts (if with normal BBM security levels). It runs on BB10 devices, with no upgrades required.

As mentioned earlier BlackBerry also revealed two smartphones at MWC 2013-- the 5-inch all-touch Z3 (a first result of a Foxconn partnership) and the Q20, a nostalgia-inducing throwback complete with hard button QWERTY keyboard, 3.5-inch touchscreen and integrated trackpad.

Go BlackBerry Forges Ahead with Introduction of New Products and Services