BlackBerry updates enterprise software for BB10, iOS, and Andriod devices

BlackBerry has always been primarily known as a smartphone for the workplace, but it has lost that status in recent years as iPhone and Android have steadily gained ground in enterprises. But that doesn’t mean BlackBerry won’t keep vying for attention in the workplace.

And so today it has launched Enterprise Service 10.1, which updates its flagship enterprise software that smartly secures BlackBerry, iOS, and Android devices.

“We have been doing it longer and better than anyone else in the industry,” BlackBerry COO Kristian Tear (pictured) said on stage today at the BlackBerry Live conference. “BlackBerry has security baked in from the ground up. We start thinking about it all the way back to our supply chain.”

Enterprise Service 10.1 will add better security, more IT policy options, a simplified deployment process, a new dashboard with more info on all devices in the fleet, and no cost BlackBerry support. The update will be free for all customers who already use the BlackBerry Enterprise Service.

Tear also emphasized the inclusion of BlackBerry Balance software — which creates separate profiles for business and personal — inside the BlackBerry 10 OS.

“How many people carry two devices?” Tear asked the audience. When many people raised their hands, he responded, “That is simply not needed with BlackBerry 10.”

BlackBerry also used its time on stage today to introduce the budget Q5 smartphone, which includes a keyboard and is targeting emerging markets.

Screenshot via Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat