Mobile security on Android devices has come along way since a few years ago, and with the release of Android 5.0 Lollipop Google took some new measures to increase the security of the Android platform with the introduction of automatic device encryption. For years the king of security was Blackberry, and a new report from Reuters states that Blackberry has announced today that they will be working with Google to bring some of that security based expertise to the Android platform moving forward. This announcement will see Blackberry expand on their software offerings past their own devices, and those of the devices that see the fruits of the announced partnership between themselves and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. which was announced last November.
With Blackberry having a hard time competing on the hardware front when it comes to mobile devices, seeking out partnerships to work with other top companies like Google for the Android platform itself, and Samsung for their range of mobile devices allows them more reach, even if it isn’t from hardware. Blackberry’s partnership with Google will aim for building off of Google’s own announcement today which revolves around a more work oriented Android platform for businesses and corporations, dubbed Android for Work. This initiative from Google is not unlike that of what Samsung has already been building with their own KNOX security solutions.
The idea is to help bring a more secure mobile platform to businesses that allows employees to use handsets with essentially partitioned off sections for both business/professional apps and data and personal apps and data. Although for the moment details are unclear exactly what Blackberry’s role will be in this partnership with Google, they have years of experience under their belt in dealing with corporations and enterprise devices, and have been trusted by businesses for years. This move could help to better position the Android platform as a whole as a more formidable solution in the enterprise sector, where Samsung devices, Blackberries, and iPhones are already commonly being used as a solution for business specific devices. Google has already made headway with their Google Apps for Work platform so they’ve shown they can handle taking on the task of a more corporate focused offering, now they just have to implement that same mindset and drive towards the mobile portion of things.