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BlackBerry Says Its New Android Smartphone DTEK 50 Is the 'World's Most Secure' (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the new-phones,-old-company dept.

BlackBerry, which once assumed the tentpole position in the mobile market, announced on Tuesday the BlackBerry DTEK 50, its second smartphone powered by Google's Android operating system. The Canadean company is marketing the DTEK as the 'world's most secure' phone. It is priced at $300, and will go on sale in select markets on August 8. The Verge adds:The DTEK50 has a 5.2-inch, 1080p display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor, 3GB RAM, 13-megapixel camera, and 2,610mAh battery. The 8-megapixel front camera also includes a flash for taking selfies. It runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with BlackBerry's software features, such as the Hub. The software is similar to the software on the Priv released last year. The security features are highlighted right in the device's name, as it has BlackBerry's DTEK software that protects users from malware and other security problems often seen on Android smartphones. The DTEK app lets users quickly get an overview of their device's security and take action on any potential issues. BlackBerry says that it has modified Android with its own technology originally developed for the BB10 platform to make it more secure. The company is also committing to rapid updates to deliver security patches shortly after they are released.

8 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. Try again. by wkwilley2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The "world's most secure" comes with free backdoor access for anyone who comes knocking.

    No thanks BB, you're no longer relevant.

    --
    Have you ever fallen asleep at the keybhanusdiog?
    1. Re:Try again. by msauve · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yep. Link right here, describing their "security."

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    2. Re:Try again. by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 5, Insightful

      how do you KNOW apple is more secure?

      have you seen all the files in the source build chain, along with auditing the silicon used in all data paths?

      of course not.

      we have apples' WORD that its secure.

      maybe its true, maybe its all a PR stunt and they cooperate with LEOs just as much as BB does.

      you and I and 99.9% of the world have zero insight into this. lets be honest, shall we?

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    3. Re:Try again. by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      However with Apple Popularity, You would expect to hear about hacking exploits all the time and some open to the world problems that will demand that you upgrade. and Hear about people with old phones who can't upgrade getting hacked and all this other nasty stuff.

      Honestly I hear more about android hacks (inside malware available on the Google Store) then from Apple.

      I am not saying Apple is golden. However current history shows it is rather good.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    4. Re:Try again. by AK+Marc · · Score: 2, Insightful

      BB is also the only one that let you own your own messaging server and run everything through there, with encryption they had zero control over. That makes it 100% better than everyone else.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
  2. "most secure" by celeb8 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The world's most secure smartphone, if you trust every government in the world and BlackBerry employees given the authority to choose which government requests they assist with by ignoring your privacy...

    1. Re:"most secure" by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Most secure if you also ignore Chen's frequent attacks on Apple for not just handing data over to the US government... which, when you think about it, rather suggests that Blackberry's products are not really all that secure at all.

      I'd get worked up, but the reality is that no one really gives a flying fuck anymore about Blackberry.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  3. Re:What's the point? by saloomy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Android is Open Source, so one could strip all the Google analytics out of it. I believe this is what Amazon has done with Fire, and what Cyanogen has done? They have displaced google services for their own, or third parties. I remember reading on how to change Android to use duckduckgo secure search. I still don't trust BBY to do it though.