NSA concerns, Target data breaches, and the list goes on. Concerns about the security of information for consumers (at least at the individual level) might be a relatively new phenomenon, but security for enterprise has been around as long as IT has been in existence. Is now the time where privacy concerns are so great that consumer demand for secure data might eclipse that of enterprise?
And conveniently here comes the
Blackphone, a new mobile phone from a small company partnership (Silent Circle and Geeksphone). The hook? What they claim is a mobile device with the ultimate in user privacy and control with a familiar Android based operating system (dubbed PrivatOS).
The Blackphone website says, “Blackphone is unlocked and works with any GSM carrier. Performance benchmarks put it among the top performers from any manufacturer.”
Also, while the website has very minimal information otherwise, the words that keep appearing are over and over again are “privacy and control.” Other than the company’s PrivatOS operating system, how will the company accomplish this? They don’t say, just that pre-orders will begin at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain this February.
There are so many questions still left unanswered and until we get more information, further speculation is practically worthless. However, maybe the best thing the Blackphone has going for it is timing. If they can figure out the perfect combination of making a profit, end user acceptance and becoming the owner of the “secure” phone mobile category, they may just have a huge hit on their hands.
And finally, why didn’t BlackBerry take this approach? With their enterprise reputation they would have had a potential smash. Even the name Blackphone fits perfectly for them. Oh well.
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