BlackBerry CEO Willing To Bring Services to iOS, Android - Tom's Hardware Guide

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By Kevin ParrishDecember 29, 2013 9:06 AM - Source: PC Advisor | B 0 comment

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BlackBerry's CEO seems keen on the idea of bringing more services to Android, iOS.

In a recent financial conference call, BlackBerry's new CEO John Chen admitted that the company is "very interested" in bringing some of the company's signature tech over to rival platforms like Android and iOS. The company has seemingly already begun traveling down that road with its highly-successful BlackBerry Messenger, or BBM.

"The one great thing about BlackBerry is that we are well known in security and productivity," Chen said."I would love to find a way to make our BlackBerry experience [available] on Android and iOS. It's not without difficulties, as you all know, but it's something that we are very interested in trying."

According to PC Advisor, some analysts have suggested that BlackBerry discontinue hardware sales and simply focus on software. The company began heading down that path on Friday with the announcement that Foxconn would design and develop a low-end phones for BlackBerry.

As the report points out, bringing BlackBerry's signature software to other platforms won't be a sunny walk in the park, even more so if BlackBerry wants to keep the same high level of encryption and security. The company reportedly has already started looking beyond BlackBerry 10.

During the call, Chen admitted that he was considering a per-user fee for BlackBerry Messenger when customers are running it with BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

"It will be a service that we offer with our BES strategy and the model will come from a per user, per month model," he said. "I will not rule out the monetization from advertising model, but at the moment we are very far away from doing it. That doesn't mean we can't do it with a partner, but it's not in my math."

Earlier this month, Chen said in a letter that BlackBerry is here to stay despite rumors. The company is going through yet another restructuring period and is refocusing resources. He also assured investors that the BlackBerry infrastructure and solutions are secure.

"Our competitors want you to think that BES only manages BlackBerry devices, and that we are somehow more expensive than other MDMs. This is false," reads BlackBerry's blog. "We understand the realities of the enterprise mobility market better than anyone, and we're in the game for the long term. We've been investing in enterprise mobility management – for any device – and thanks to customers like you, we're doing very well."