What is a BlackBerry smartphone and why is it needed? What is Blackberry? BlackBerry mobile phones: reviews, prices

In the West, BlackBerry is considered almost the No. 1 smartphone for business, but it is almost unknown in our country.

The reason is that BlackBerry is not only a dialer, but a whole combination of services and hardware for secure real-time synchronization of personal or corporate data.

BlackBerry has high level security “out of the box” and the corresponding global infrastructure integrated with the cellular operator’s network.

Details under the cut.

Excursion into history

The history of BlackBerry in Russia begins in 2005, when the first ideas about launching the service were announced. They, however, could not be implemented due to lack of agreement from the outside law enforcement agencies. Only in 2008 did Beeline launch a service that met the requirements of regulatory authorities and customer wishes. Work is currently underway to expand the functionality available in the Russian Federation.

Services

BlackBerry Internet Service- BIS is a solution aimed primarily at individuals. These are realtime-push synchronization, traffic compression and confidentiality. Some corporate users also liked it for its simplicity. It will work perfectly with any corporate mail server that has the ability to work with external clients using standard postal protocols. In the case of Exchange, BIS can be integrated through the OWA interface. When connecting Google and Yahoo mailboxes, additional synchronization functionality appears address book and calendar.

Beeline provides two types of BIS services: regular, which includes only unlimited mail traffic, and “all-inclusive” (more expensive), which also includes BIS-browsing.

Blackberry Enterprise Server- BES - designed for centralized secure connection between a corporate mail server, a wireless network of a telecom operator and Blackberry smartphones. It should be noted that BlackBerry was primarily created and developed to work with corporate users, and in the process of its evolution, it was optimized specifically for business needs. BES provides secure and easy access to corporate information and applications. It also contains a set of tools that provide IT department employees with the ability to centrally and conveniently manage the Blackberry solution. Integrates with MS Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino mail servers.

BES is:

• Wireless email synchronization,
• Wireless synchronization of the organizer (contacts, calendar, tasks, etc.),
• Search in the corporate address book,
• Access to corporate data (Intranet, File Sharing),
• Advanced security settings,
• The ability to wirelessly apply IT policies to smartphones,
• Organization remote access from smartphones to various corporate applications (CRM, SFA, ERP and others),
• Easy to install and administer (the server is deployed by a partner company, the work usually takes about 3 hours).

BES and BESx are the names of the server software. The service implies the presence of a server part on the client’s site: both versions of BES are supplied by us in the form of a software and hardware complex. To reduce capital costs, three types of complexes were created, differing in the content of the hardware component. The first is a completely turnkey solution, which includes a physical server that meets a certain specification, special hardware and software, operating system, BES software. The second is a solution for clients who have free server capacity; such clients are supplied only with BES software and special software and hardware. The third was created for clients whose IT infrastructure uses virtualization (Hyper-V or VMware).

Depending on the type of BES and the selected complex, the cost of supplying the service varies. So, 1+BES is the most expensive, 3+BESx is the most economical.

Hosted Blackberry Enterprise Service- Hosted BES - a solution for clients who do not want to install and administer a BES server within corporate infrastructure. The server is located remotely on the Beeline site and is administered by our IT specialists. This option has a number of specific advantages:

• Full access to functionality corporate solution Blackberry, as if it were physically implemented in the company,
• Outsourcing (no need to allocate an IT administrator),
• Minimum cost and implementation time,
• Direct integration of the hosting solution with the company’s existing infrastructure.

You can compare different solutions.

How does this work

This can be expressed in tasks such as activating a specific BlackBerry device, assigning a specific set of parameters for subsequent standard activations, updating information in the RIM billing system.

The diagram below shows the BlackBerry Provisioning System nodes and the interactions between them. The key node is the BlackBerry Infrastructure (BBI), which interacts with devices directly and through other nodes in the system.

One of the main goals of provisioning is to ensure normal operation smartphone. Roughly speaking, all BB devices are the same right out of the box. They are endowed with a certain set of functions only after successful registration on the network, interaction with the provisioning system and receipt of the necessary set of service books.

Service book – configuration file, which is sent to the device and contains information regarding a specific service or feature. For example, the service book “BlackBerry Internet Browsing Service” contains information about Internet application Browser, including access point settings, home page, default bookmarks.

The provisioning process always occurs when: a device is first registered in wireless network, a new SIM card is installed in the device, the “register now” option is selected in the device settings (parameter settings - advanced parameters - node routing table), the device firmware is updated, rolled back or reinstalled.

Let's look at an example of a new connection. The user bought a device and a SIM card to which one or another BlackBerry service was connected. By connecting the service on a SIM card, the device is able to build a packet connection through the blackberry.net access point (for almost all BB smartphones it is the default access point). All traffic from this access point is routed by the operator towards BBI. In parallel with this, a command is sent from the telecom operator’s billing system to the provisioning system, with information about what specific communication service was connected to the user, and what set of BB functions should correspond to it. Meanwhile, the smartphone has already built an active connection through blackberry.net and sends a request to BBI about what set of services is available to it. In the provisioning system, this device is identified in connection with the telecom operator and the connected service, and through the Service Book Pushing node, the necessary settings packages that correspond to the selected type of service are sent to the device.

The device reports the successful establishment of a connection to BBI with a special indication of the registration icon in the mobile operator’s network (large letters EDGE/GPRS or a “berry” icon near 3G).

Infrastructure

So, user A creates a letter on the device. Before sending a message to the network, the device encrypts and compresses the message. The mobile operator routes this message towards the BBI, and there, in turn, it is determined that this particular device belongs to a specific BES server. The BES server of company A picks up the mail message, decrypts and decompresses it, and sends it on behalf of user A using a privileged user in the mail system (with send as rights). Next, mail server A sends the letter to user B of company B. BES server of company B (via a privileged user in the mail system with access rights to User B's mailbox) takes this message from the mailbox, encrypts and compresses it, and forwards it to BBI. From there, this message is pushed to user B’s device, where it is decompressed and decrypted, and then displayed on the smartphone display.

Russian realities

Attention, paranoids! It's no secret that we are all under surveillance and constant control, in some countries more, in others less. But this control does not go beyond the laws - there are many regulations, the requirements of which we, as a telecom operator, must comply with. For this reason, a product that is supplied in one form throughout the world, in Russia is supplied with additional solution, providing the possibility of control by state security officers. For this reason, we are forced to additionally supply special software and hardware for each server. For this reason, the BESx server, distributed worldwide free of charge, is sold by us. For the same reason, we cannot connect the service to our SIM cards if the devices are planned to be connected to a BES located abroad. For this reason, smartphones officially imported into the Russian Federation are still deprived of some functions, and so on.

With all this, it also remains a mystery to me why many people express concern that his mail can be read by state security agencies, but at the same time, much fewer people are worried that the same “men in uniform” can listen to them telephone conversations. Firstly, no one constantly reads or listens to anything, but only has a set of technical means to do this in the event of, for example, a terrorist threat. Secondly, these same technical means are applied only in accordance with the law, that is, it presupposes the existence of special grounds and permissions (for example, a court decision). Thirdly, the system provides a very high level of protection against competitive intelligence, which, in theory, can only be provided by our own expensive IT solutions (which will still need to be certified and also provide them with the ability to be monitored - otherwise this will be an article).

Anticipating most of the readers' questions, I want to say that before launching the service in Russia, we had two options: to do as much as possible and constantly improve the solution, or not to do anything at all. In the second case, our users would never have been able to take advantage of the capabilities of the solution, which has firmly won its place in the sun all over the world.

Total

The company's headquarters are located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

In fiscal year 2017, the company's revenue was $1.3 billion.

Story

At first, the company focused on engineering tasks. Since 1988, he began working mainly on wireless data transmission. Then RIM collaborated with Ericsson and RAM Mobile Data (English) Russian to use technology wireless transmission data in the paging networks existing at that time. A notable device was the Inter@ctive pager 950, which competed with products from Motorola, the industry leader.

On July 27, 2016, the company introduced the BlackBerry DTEK50 Android smartphone with programs and add-ons designed to protect user data.

October: BlackBerry abandons its own smartphone production. Even the partial abandonment of its operating system in favor of Android did not help the Canadian manufacturer; the disappointing results of financial reports affected it. The company will still remain in this market segment, but the production of new devices will be carried out by partners. BlackBerry itself will focus on software development, which is the area of ​​activity that currently keeps the company afloat.

Financial indicators

Mergers and acquisitions

On January 30, 2013, as a result of rebranding, the company changed its name to BlackBerry.

Management

Logo

The company changed 1 logo. The current one is the 2nd in a row.

• From 1984 to 2013, the logo was the abbreviation "RIM" blue color and in a strict font, inside it are three white boomerangs.
• From 2013 to the present, the logo is seven black semicircles, to the right of them the word “BlackBerry” is black and the font has changed.

Notes

1. May 26, 2012 - Canada’s RIM to cut at least 2000 jobs – report, Reuters(May 26, 2012).
2. Research in Motion has renamed itself to BlackBerry // lenta.ru

The history of BlackBerry began in 1984. At that time, the company Research In Motion made communicators similar to a pager. They were designed only for text transmission. In 1997, the name "BlackBerry" was used for the first time. The device's buttons resembled blackberries, and that's how the name was coined. Communicators with a QWERTY keyboard, which was then considered very convenient, appeared in 2007.

BlackBerry smartphones are service devices. Their main feature is the security of data transmission according to the AES standard to protect against interception. Another development is responsible for this - Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES).

The solution is installed on the equipment of the cellular operator and the customer company. Each smartphone on the network has its own unique number, which identifies it with the server. The intermediaries between the sender and the recipient are the company server and the mobile operator. Thus, the approach is relevant for paranoid corporations that would like to monitor the data on employees' devices.

Due to its secrecy, BlackBerrys were not officially sold in Russia for a long time - this was prevented by the ubiquitous secret services. Now Beeline is working with BlackBerry devices, but BlackBerryMessenger (a secure analogue of ICQ) is disabled on them. In Ukraine, he took up the implementation of the solution.

Today, BlackBerry has become even more irrelevant. Many smartphones can work with VPN - virtual private network, the encryption and protection of which you can configure yourself. In addition, there are a number of applications that can restrict access to data and its transfer - for example, Knox from Samsung.

Despite the upgrade in terms of working with text, multimedia, graphic files and improving the usability of smartphones, BlackBerry remains quite expensive. We practically didn’t deal with “blackberry” devices, but our Test Lab did get the latest model of the BlackBerry Z3 smartphone with the latest BlackBerry 10 OS update.

It is worth noting that the smartphone is truly typical for the business segment. Although this device is not the most expensive. Strict design and slightly heavy non-separable body.

The back is covered with textured plastic and prevents the smartphone from slipping out of your hands. There is also a speaker at the bottom, which, by the way, is very loud.

All buttons are on the left side. This is convenient, since you can press them with your thumb without unnecessary interceptions. There are also no hardware buttons here. Navigation through applications occurs thanks to unified interface, and applications are closed by swiping from bottom to top.

The slots for the SIM card and MicroSD are on the right and are covered with a common plug. MicroUSB is used for connection and charging. Audio jack is on top.

Holding the middle button between volume up and down launches Intelligent Assistant. With its help, you can search on your smartphone, on the Internet, or perform quick operations (call, write SMS, etc.). In OS version 10.3.1, the assistant now has voice input. There is no support for Ukrainian and Russian languages.

Thanks to the new optimized firmware, the 2500 mAh battery lasts for several hours more than that of similar Android smartphones. With a moderate load - a couple of hours of Internet via Wi-Fi, SMS and a dozen calls - the smartphone works for almost two days.

The smartphone has dual core Qualcomm processor MSM8230 and 1.5 GB RAM. Quite an old solution, but enough for the BlackBerry OS. There are no lags or brakes at all. Internal memory It has 8 GB, and memory cards up to 32 GB. True, we used the 64 GB version of the card, and it is supported without problems.

When connected to a computer, the smartphone automatically detects the operating system and offers to install BlackBerry Link from the company's website. Only after this the phone memory will be visible in the explorer. No drivers are needed for the memory card; it is immediately visible from the PC.

There are almost no programs from PlayMarket in the native BlackBerry World application store. But you can install third-party options that will allow you to use the usual Instagram, Forsquare, Dropbox, etc. Having studied the issue, we found information about what exactly is in latest version BlackBerry OS has been seriously redesigned to optimize their operation. Android applications take longer to launch than expected, but are more stable than on previous versions.

BlackBerry Z3 is considered a mid-price device. The price in Ukraine is approximately 5000 UAH. Apparently, the latest OS update and the Z3 model are attempts to regain user loyalty and gain new customers. Most likely, already for flagship devices. What remains for us to say is that the decision is not uninteresting, and the means of protection may become more relevant in view of the current situation of information confrontation.

BlackBerry Z3

OS: BlackBerry 10.3.1

Processor: Qualcomm MSM8230, 1.2 GHz

Screen: 5”, 540×960, AMOLED

RAM: 1.5 GB

Memory: 8 GB + MicroSD 32 GB

main 5 MP, autofocus, LED flash

front 1.1 MPix.

Communications: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS

Battery: 2500 mAh

Dimensions: 140×72.8×9.26 mm

Supplier: ASBIS-Ukraine

Grade:

Good performance

Optimization in the new OS

Autonomy

- no usual applications

All major electronics brands have their ups and downs. BlackBerry Company lately is in a state of decline, which has now been somewhat slowed down and losses have been reduced, but there is no talk of profitability and former popularity yet. Most users who are somehow interested in gadgets associate BlackBerry with high-quality and reliable business-class devices. The company has always been famous for a lot of its own developments in terms of secure exchange of mail and messages with the corresponding proprietary infrastructure for encrypting the data of its users. These features have repeatedly become a problem for distribution in some countries and have been criticized. BlackBerry products were most popular in North America and Western Europe, mainly among corporate users. In our latitudes there have always been problems with the full implementation of BlackBerry services, and simply with the availability of the devices themselves. Nowadays, buying a BlackBerry smartphone is absolutely not a problem, but the specificity makes the product quite niche.

How it all began

Manufacturing company BlackBerry smartphones, which until 2013 was called Research in Motion (RIM) , was founded in 1984 student at the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) Mike Lazaridis of Turkish origin. Initially the company was engaged engineering activities in the field of devices for wireless data transmission, and in the early 1990s began collaborating with Ericsson and RAM Mobile Data, providing technologies for wireless text transmission in paging networks. It is not surprising that the company's first device was a pager. Inter@ctive pager 900 (Bullfrog) with a QWERTY keyboard and the ability to send messages in 1996:

It was followed by a more compact Inter@ctive pager 950 (Leapfrog):

RIM released the first device under the BlackBerry brand in 1997 at the instigation of Lexicon Branding, which launched the Pentium and Zune brands. The keyboard of those RIM devices was associated with Lexicon Branding with blackberries, that’s what they called it. The first smartphone was BlackBerry 957 Proton, it was equipped with a QWERTY keyboard, a black and white display and supported calls only with a headset connected. Worked on the first version of Blackberry OS:

The evolutionary development was the BlackBerry 5810. It was released in 2002 and supported all mobile phone functions, text input, web surfing, push e-mail and so on. It already worked on BlackBerry OS 3.x with Java support:

Further development

2004 was marked by several events in the history of BlackBerry: a new version was released BlackBerry OS 4.x, which supported color screens, acquired more convenient browser, Gallery application and many other innovations. Used until 2008 and received several significant updates for this period. The same year was marked by increased popularity, the first million devices sold, experiments in producing devices without a QWERTY keyboard, and the first color smartphone BlackBerry 7210:

Here it is worth mentioning the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 model, released in 2006. BlackBerry went to the masses: it used a simplified keyboard, a trackball, a built-in camera and a music player:

And the BlackBerry Curve 8300, released in 2007, which used a trackball and a QWERTY keyboard, which is considered one of the most convenient:

In 2008, BlackBerry OS 5.x was released, and the company began its most successful years of existence. The new OS version brings support touch screens, appeared his own file manager, wireless synchronization of contacts, BlackBerry Maps, support for Gmail, GPS navigation and a host of other innovations. Then a very successful model BlackBerry Bold 9000 came out:

And the company's first touch model - BlackBerry Storm 9500:

In 2009 RIM sold more than 50 million smartphones worldwide and was second only to Nokia in terms of this indicator, and in terms of financial growth, it overtook all competitors and in 2010 crossed the mark of 100 million mobile terminals sold. The same year, the BlackBerry World mobile app store opened.

In 2010, BlackBerry OS 6.x was released, in which the interface was once again updated, browser and integrated search and native app for Youtube. Starting with this version, integration with social services Facebook, Twitter, BlackBerry Messenger, LinkedIn appeared. The company is experimenting with form factors, in particular the BlackBerry Torch 9800 QWERTY slider with a touch screen appears:

And the QWERTY clamshell BlackBerry Style 9670:

BlackBerry OS 7.x released in 2011 and did not bring any radical changes, support appeared in it creating Wi-Fi access points, NFC modules And radio plus other small changes. A number of models were released on it, in particular the BlackBerry Bold 9930:

Dramatic changes and the beginning of a black streak

With the growing popularity of devices running Android and iOS, as well as a relatively new class of devices in the form of tablets, the company decided that something radically needed to change. Back in 2010, RIM bought the QNX real-time OS , on the basis of which they made BlackBerry Tablet OS. Used it the first and only tablet BlackBerry Playbook:

It was equipped with a 7-inch IPS screen 1024x600, dual-core processor TI OMAP4430 with clock frequency 1 GHz and 1 GB of RAM. It was not particularly popular: the number of native applications was very small, and emulation Android applications did not work adequately. RIM shares fell five times over the year, which the board of directors was not at all happy about, the company's founder and CEO Mike Lazaridis left his post, and his place was taken by COO Thorsten Heyns, who previously worked at Siemens.

On January 30, 2013, BlackBerry OS 10 was announced, which was a modified version BlackBerry Tablet OS, and RIM was renamed BlackBerry. It released the BlackBerry Q10 with a QWERTY keyboard and the first fully touchscreen Z10:

Despite the rather attractive smartphones and a number of interesting ideas In the new OS, the company's financial performance was rapidly falling, and the number of current models was decreasing. In the summer of 2013, attempts were made to sell the company, and by the fourth quarter, options to move exclusively into the corporate segment were considered. In November Thorsten Heyns steps down from his post and is replaced by John Chen, a former head of the company Sybase, a software company. He stated that the company does not intend to abandon production and that radical changes in strategy will be made. Under his leadership, the company released the BlackBerry Z3, a budget device aimed at developing countries:

And the exotic BlackBerry Passport with a square display and a QWERTY keyboard, which also doubles as a touchpad:

In the future, the company plans to release custom smartphones annually. Meanwhile, the tenth version of the OS receives periodic updates, and the increasingly seamless operation of Android applications plays into its favor. At the moment, almost all applications up to Android 4.3 are supported. The company managed to reduce its losses, but it is too early to talk about the future fate of the company.

Whatever your needs, a BlackBerry solution lets you get more done by providing access to necessary information, as well as constant communication with colleagues and friends.

The solution consists of smartphones with built-in software that provides the ability to use a large number communication services, as well as data transmission services and providing access to them.

BlackBerry smartphones let you stay connected to all the information that matters to you, even when you can't use your desktop or laptop.

Email, phone functions, electronic maps, secretarial programs, applications, games, the Internet - BlackBerry smartphones provide access to all this and much more.

Some smartphones are equipped with a multimedia player and/or camera - that is, everything you might need is concentrated in one stylish device.

The BlackBerry solution supports all major corporate platforms email; Moreover, it can be customized to suit the needs of an individual or an entire enterprise, at any scale and in any industry.

BlackBerry smartphone users know exactly what they want to achieve in life. Our task is to help them with this.

Smartphones

BlackBerry smartphones provide connectivity to everything you need in your professional and personal life.
Whatever your needs and requirements, there is sure to be a BlackBerry smartphone that's right for you.

Required Features

BlackBerry smartphones have all the functions necessary for a person who is often on the go:

• While on the go, you can use email, instant messaging systems, and telephone functions
• Some nice touches like a built-in camera, media player, and access features social networks
• Internet access, GPS, BlackBerry Maps and many other features are no longer a problem.
• BlackBerry smartphones come with an easy-to-use QWERTY or SureType® keyboard. In addition, many models are equipped with a trackball, making typing and navigation as easy as possible.

Software

The BlackBerry solution contains all the necessary software - both for an individual and for a corporate user working in a large company with thousands of users.

Software for BlackBerry devices

The BlackBerry Device Software package includes all the applications for your smartphone that you might need - an email client, a secretary, a multimedia player, a browser, a calculator and many others. Depending on the version of software installed on your BlackBerry smartphone, you may have access to new features that were not included in the software package that came with your device.

In addition, it was created for BlackBerry smartphones large number third party applications- games, work applications, instant messaging systems and many others.

BlackBerry Desktop Software

The BlackBerry Desktop Software suite lets you control how your email, secretary software, media files, and other data are synchronized between your computer and your smartphone, and whether these types of information are available on the latter.

Management, collaboration and messaging software

Software BlackBerry can, for example, provide connectivity to internal applications all mobile users of a large enterprise, or access to all electronic postal addresses small company from one smartphone.

Software for enterprise and data applications

The BlackBerry Mobile Data System (BlackBerry MDS) software suite is a suite of tools that includes development tools, administrative services, and BlackBerry Device Software that lets you develop applications that you can deploy on your organization's users' mobile terminals.