Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry is working on licensing its Android ROM to other smartphone manufacturers. Known for their safe and secure smartphones, BlackBerry has named this ROM as ‘BlackBerry Secure’.
According to a report by Economic Times, the ROM licensing is told to be the second phase of licensing strategy by one of the key officials of BlackBerry. BlackBerry also stated that this operating system will likely be adopted by third-party manufacturers in India.
About BlackBerry Secure
BlackBerry Secure is reported to be the name for BlackBerry’s home-brewed ROM which will be open for other OEMs to use. It will come equipped with D-Tek security and all the other safety features BlackBerry is known for.
After the limited edition BlackBerry KeyONE, the company displayed how near-stock Android is fine-tuned to BlackBerry level security. While BlackBerry KeyONE was secured top-down, with this ROM, other smartphones may achieve the same level of security.
Alex Thurber, Senior VP and General Manager, Mobile Solutions at BlackBerry said
“We have a number of different contracts that we are working on right now. We expect some to be announced soon. We have an agreement with Optiemus for the India market for BlackBerry Secure.”
Optiemus is one of the three companies that takes care of the licensing and distribution of BlackBerry smartphones. At the same time, it is Optiemus which made the KeyONE available for the Indian market.
BlackBerry Secure on IoT
BlackBerry sees vast opportunities in the Internet of Things (IoT) business. BlackBerry’s secured devices may soon be accompanied by smart speakers, televisions, and other accessories to complete the BlackBerry secured family.
Adding to the statement, Alex Thurber said,
“There is an amazing amount of products that run Android and since we are able to make a very secure Android, we think there are a lot of opportunities.”
Conclusion
Recently, the Indian Government was reported to be setting up guidelines and standards for user data safety on smartphones. BlackBerry may make good use of this opportunity, as being one of the safest and most secure phones, BlackBerry Secure OS might become a preference for many OEMs.
