The IT Nerd

BlackBerry put out their Q4 2015 numbers [Warning: PDF] just a little while ago. Here’s the key points:

•  The company reported a net profit of $28 million, or 5 cents a share, in the quarter ended Feb. 28. That compared with a year-earlier loss of $148 million, or 28 cents a share.

• Excluding one-time items, the company quarterly profit was $20 million, or 4 cents a share.

• Quarterly revenue, however, slid to $660 million from $793 million.

So, BlackBerry made money. At least John Chen was right on that front. The question is, can they keep moving forward to build on this positive news? Though I will admit that investors don’t see it as all that positive as the stock is only up slightly in pre-market trading.

Today BlackBerry announced the new Porsche Design P’9983 Graphite smartphone from BlackBerry. This new member to the P’9983 family will provide exclusive graphite-metallic colored elements and the finest, hand-wrapped leather on the back door cover.

BlackBerry also announced the new BlackBerry Care Protection Plan, an affordable hardware protection plan offering extended coverage, including accidental damage from handling, on the BlackBerry Leap, BlackBerry Classic and BlackBerry Passport for customers in North America.

But the big news comes from a tie up with Samsung and IBM to come out with what I call a “Spy Proof” tablet. Global News brings has the details.

The device – dubbed SecuTABLET – will allow users to access sensitive private data, as well as use personal applications that aren’t as sensitive, such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. It uses BlackBerry 10’s Secusmart Security Card technology to secure user data.

This will add to the security “street cred” that BlackBerry touts whenever possible. Let’s hope it sells better than their last tablet effort, the Playbook. Seeing as that crashed and burned spectacularly.

Besides the Slider and the Leap, BlackBerry also made a couple more announcements at Mobile World Congress:

• BlackBerry will have a new have a high-end luxury phone, designed in partnership with Porsche Design codenamed ‘Keian’ in honour of Keian Blundell.
• The BlackBerry Classic will sport three new colors. Here’s a Tweet from BlackBerry that shows what colors are going to hit the streets:

Ron Louks showcasing the three new colors for #BlackBerryClassic #MWC15 pic.twitter.com/VnLkNfkN6w

— BlackBerry (@BlackBerry) March 3, 2015

I can tell you right now, BlackBerry is making a lot of waves online with everything they did today at Mobile World Congress. Let’s see if the company can turn this buzz into something positive on the balance sheet.

BlackBerry in the last few minutes has announced another smartphone at Mobile World Congress. This one is the BlackBerry Slider. I don’t have any details to share at the moment other than these tweets from BlackBerry:

What a Surprise! Ron just pulled out a dual-curved, all-touch display with a Keyboard – yes a slider device! #MWC15 pic.twitter.com/8VaPUZHo3j

— BlackBerry (@BlackBerry) March 3, 2015

Ron making a splash with #BlackBerrySlider #MWC15 #BBSecurity. Are you excited? pic.twitter.com/rS34VpIUQ6

— BlackBerry (@BlackBerry) March 3, 2015

From the picture, it appears to be an all touch smartphone with a slide out keyboard. It reminds of the BlcakBerry Torch 9800 from days gone by.

As soon as I get specs or any more info, I’ll post it here.

UPDATE: The Slider is apparently due to ship later this year. It is described as a “dual-curved, all-touch display with a keyboard”. I am currently awaiting more details on this smartphone.

BlackBerry in the last few minutes has announced a new smartphone at Mobile World Congress. Dubbed the BlackBerry Leap, it will sport these specs:

• 5″ HD Screen
• 25 Hours of battery life
• 1.5 Ghz processor
• 2GB RAM
• 16 GB Storage with MicroSD slot to expand up to 128 GB of storage
• 8 megapixel rear camera
• 2 megapixel
• 802.11 B/G/N
• LTE

You can find out more here. When I get more info, I’ll update this post. But I think this will be the first of a few announcements today.

UPDATE: A video showing the BlackBerry Leap has just been posted:

UPDATE #2: A video showing a hands on look at the BlackBerry Leap has just been posted:

BlackBerry is clearly busy at Mobile World Congress. Today they have numerous announcements to make. Here’s a list of what was announced. Click each one for more details:

• BlackBerry Announces New Cross-platform EMM Cloud for Enterprises and SMBs
• BlackBerry Partners with interRAI to Deliver Efficient Data Collection Solutions in Healthcare
• BlackBerry and Sprint Partner to Offer New Enterprise Mobility Solutions
• BlackBerry Partners with GSX and ISEC7 to Expand Solutions Portfolio
• Secusmart, a BlackBerry Subsidiary, Develops Vodafone Anti-eavesdropping Secure Call Service
• Global Mobile Operators Announce Support for Enhanced SIM-based Licensing for BES12 by BlackBerry
• Global Application Partners Select BlackBerry Platform to Secure Communication, Collaboration and Productivity Solutions for Healthcare

What do all these announcements have in common? They are meant to showcase BlackBerry’s expanded enterprise portfolio and continued innovation and partnerships with mobile operators and industry partners. With BES12 Cloud, BlackBerry is continuing to innovate its cross-platform EMM offering by giving customers more flexibility and choice in managing their mobile solution. BlackBerry continues to show traction in healthcare, announcing several partner applications and customer support for the BlackBerry platform, as well as an important partnership with interRAI. Today’s announcements also underscore the commitment from BlackBerry partners, mobile operators and customers.

I’m going to guess that BlackBerry might have more announcements tomorrow seeing as they had two straight days of announcements.

BlackBerry made a number of announcements today from Mobile World Congress to demonstrate further execution on its cross-platform strategy.

• BlackBerry Experience Suite: New software and services vision to infuse BlackBerry’s unmatched power of productivity, communication, collaboration and security across all smartphone and tablets running iOS, Android, and Windows operating systems. The Suite will include 3 bundles to give users an unprecedented ability to work securely across any device.
• BlackBerry’s Partnership with Samsung: BlackBerry continues to extend their partnership with Samsung with integration of Samsung KNOX and two new BlackBerry enterprise services: WorkLife by BlackBerry and SecuSUITE.
• New Customization Features for BBM for Android, iOS and BlackBerry 10: The new features give users even more control over the BBM experience by adding new personalization and privacy options including Android Wear support, custom BBM PINs, Password Protection for iOS users and more.

What’s clear to me with these announcements is that BlackBerry appears to be focusing on software on multiple platforms and having its own hardware take a back seat. That’s a very bold move, but one the company thinks it will pay off long term. In my opinion, it just might.

BlackBerry today announced that the BlackBerry Classic will be available online starting February 26 and in Verizon Wireless stores on March 5. BlackBerry Classic through Verizon will be available for $99.99 with a new two-year activation after a $50 mail-in rebate debit card.

This is the second major carrier to announce availability in the U.S. in one week, demonstrating BlackBerry’s growing carrier support and traction in the region. You can consider this a major win for the company.

More details can be found on this Verizon blog entry.

BlackBerry today announced the release of BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.3.1 for existing in-market smartphone users of BlackBerry Passport, Z30, Z3, Z10, Q10, and Q5, as well as the Porsche Design P’9983 and P’9982 smartphones. Subject to carrier approvals, BlackBerry 10 OS 10.3.1 will be available to customers around the world, rolling out initially today in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Additional regions will follow in the coming weeks.

BlackBerry has a blog post on what this new release brings to the table. If you can upgrade, I’d suggest that you do so.