“Samsung to Enterprise. Come in Enterprise. Are you there? You’re needed across the Galaxy…. S III.” Yes I just led into this article with a cheesy star trek reference. And I’m not ashamed of it either. Sue me. Anyone who knows android, or uses a device running its software knows that it’s the most popular OS out there. And however much of a dying breed Blackberry may seem to be, (or to me at least it seems that way) they still hold the heavyweight title in business. This is because businesses know the reliability of the way blackberry operates for them. Samsung isn’t having it though. And they want to make waves of change in this field with the launch of an enterprise ready Galaxy S III this summer. Actually, in just a few short weeks probably as they reportedly are launching said device in July. Next month, Samsung is launching a Galaxy S III with S.A.F.E. branding ( or Samsung Approved For Enterprise) which has been designed for “bring your own device” programs. “Bring your own device” basically means that it is more secure which is what businesses like to hear. They don’t want all that sensitive information floating around on mobiles for just anyone to have a chance at cracking. The S.A.F.E. GSIII will come with on-device AES-256 bit encryption, improved support for Microsoft exchange ActiveSync, and to top it all off it will have support for major VPN services and MDM or mobile device management systems such as CISCO and/or Juniper.
This is big news for Samsung and for businesses that would otherwise have made the jump to Android already if they weren’t a tad behind on the security side of things. All Major carriers seem to be picking up and launching this version of the device as well as US cellular. That means anyone on Verizon, T-mobile, Sprint or At&t will be able to hold this device in their hands, and Samsung is even offering a trade-up program for qualifying phones. The device will, as I stated above launch next month in July. A big win for business early in the summer. Samsung first announced the SAFE program for its device last October, and is now leading the android front for business enterprise. They’re not the only manufacturer trying to break ground on this endeavor though as Motorola and LG both have similar programs they are trying to implement for future devices. This could mean more good things in the near future for businesses and ultimately will give them even more variety of choice when choosing a device. As anyone in business will tell you a little healthy competition is never a bad thing.
While Samsung says this is their first SAFE branded phone, there seems to be just a couple of others they have included in the program, like the GSII and the Note. Samsung has also set up a trade in program for users upgrading to a new supported Samsung device and you might even get up to $300 for your old phone. You can check the value of your old device here and see how much skrilla Samsung is willing to pay you.