Boeing And Blackberry Working On Ultra-Secretive Smartphone

Despite losing much of its market share to Apple and Android devices, Blackberry is now planning to team up with Boeing to create a self-destructing smartphone specifically intended for employees and contractors at the United States Defense and Homeland Security.

As commercial sales decline, Blackberry will now target new ventures such as these to boost revenue. The partnership with Boeing, the second largest U.S. defense contractor, is a welcoming sign of progress by Blackberry.

Chairman and chief executive officer of Blackberry, John Chen, spoke of the new partnership.

“We’re pleased to announce that Boeing is collaborating with BlackBerry to provide a secure mobile solution for Android devices utilizing our BES12 platform.”

However, Chen was understandably tight-lipped given the nature of the project, remarking, “That by the way is all they allow me to say.” The partnership with Blackberry demonstrates the motivation of Boeing to enter into software development, as sales decreased for its military hardware sector amid Pentagon budget cuts.

A Boeing spokesman, Andy Lee, spoke of the partnership with Blackberry and what it means for the future of defense telecommunication.”Boeing has decades of experience providing defense and security customers with secure communications,” Lee said.

“We are working with BlackBerry to help them ensure the BES12 operating system is compatible with, and optimized for use by, the ultra-secure mobile devices favored by the defense and security community.”

So far, the “spy phone” is only known as the Boeing Black. The phone will feature dual SIM slots and will be powered by Android, while also utilizing the BlackBerry Enterprise Service 12.

The Boeing Black is manufactured as a sealed device with epoxy around its casing and screws, and a tamper-proof covering over the screw-heads “to identify attempted disassembly”. Bruce Olcott, outside counsel to Boeing, said in a February 24 letter to the Federal Communications Commission requesting that confidential design details be kept under wraps.

“Any attempt to break open the casing of the device would trigger functions that would delete the data and software contained within the device and make the device inoperable,” Olcott wrote. Blackberry has focused on providing software and security for governments and corporations, while also introducing new phones that cater to business users, like the Passport and the Classic, which was introduced earlier this week.

Features such as a trigger to arm self-destruction and voice and data are encrypted via Boeing’s PureSecure architecture, a multilayered security system created for mobile devices along the lines of Samsung Electronics Co.’s Knox offering.

The Boeing Black is not far from production, and the innovative partnership of Blackberry and Boeing will certainly mark a new era for both parties in security and telecommunication.

[Image via Gizmodo]