Secure sticker shock: BlackBerry SecuTablet charges high price for government-ready device
On Saturday, BlackBerry Ltd. announced a new secure tablet offering developed by Secusmart, a Germany-based company it acquired last year, in conjunction with IBM and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Based on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5, the SecuTABLET secures corporate and government users’ sensitive work-related data while still allowing access to less-secure consumer applications such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and WhatsApp.
Speaking at CeBIT 2015, the technology fair currently taking place in Hannover, Germany, Hans-Christoph Quelle, head of BlackBerry’s Secusmart unit, said that the SecuTABLET will be available by the third quarter and will retail for around $2,360. Secusmart hopes to sell more than 10,000 units annually in its home market by 2016, while IBM will handle worldwide sales to its corporate and government customers.
The SecuTABLET solution combines the Secusmart Security Card, a micro SD card, and IBM software to put applications containing sensitive data in secure virtual containers or silos where data is protected from malware. The solution is undergoing evaluation by Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security and Secusmart expects the device to be approved for government use later this year.
BlackBerry’s new tablet further expands on the company’s partnership with Samsung.
In November, the two companies announced a partnership to deliver end-to-end security to Android devices used in the enterprise. Earlier this month, BlackBerry said that Samsung would include additional BlackBerry enterprise services in it Samsung KNOX platform to help companies manage mobile voice and data charges and encrypt sensitive voice and text communications between employees.
Although not a true BlackBerry tablet – the device does not run BlackBerry’s mobile OS, BlackBerry 10, and is based on a Samsung Galaxy Tab as mentioned – the SecuTABLET can be viewed as the company’s second foray into the tablet market.
In 2011, BlackBerry released the PlayBook to compete with rivals Apple Inc. and Samsung in the consumer tablet market. Following a botched launch and lackluster sales, BlackBerry killed off the PlayBook in 2013.
It remains to be seen if BlackBerry will re-enter the consumer tablet market with a pure-BlackBerry tablet. Speaking at Mobile Word Congress earlier this month, BlackBerry CEO John Chen hinted at the possibility when he said, “It’s not in the works, but it’s on my mind.”
photo credit: Touch via photopin (license)
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