As BlackBerry 10 launches, Home Depot has said it's getting rid of the mobile platform and instead is switching to Apple's iPhone for 10,000 employees.
Shares of BlackBerry dropped by 4.6 percent after Home Depot, the world's fifth largest retailer, confirmed the switch. A representative for the home improvement retailer refused to divulge information pertaining to when the replacement process itself commenced.
Responding to the move, BlackBerry didn't address Home Depot's decision but referred to considerable enterprise interest in BlackBerry 10. "We are in the process of launching BlackBerry 10 globally in key markets, and we are seeing positive demand for the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone in countries where it is already available.
"And, for enterprises, we have over 2,700 unique businesses in North America already registered for our BlackBerry 10 Ready Program. We are confident that BlackBerry is, and will continue to be, the best solution for corporations managing large smartphone deployments. In fact, a recent study by Strategy Analytics shows that BlackBerry is more cost-effective and more secure than our competitors."
During October 2012, several large U.S. government agencies decided to switch to Google's Android platform and the iPhone. The Pentagon announced plans to hire a contractor to build a system that will secure at least 162,500 Android devices, as well as iPhone units.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) also terminated its contract with BlackBerry, previously known as Research In Motion. Subsequently, 17,600 employees had their BB devices replaced with the iPhone. Consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton is another firm that dropped BlackBerry in favor of a transition to iPhone and Android smartphones for about 25,000 employees. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, meanwhile, decided to utilize the iPhone 5 instead of BlackBerry for 400 employees.
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classzero I do hope Blackberry takes off, I will myself be upgrading from my HTC android to BB10. Android platform sucks, some phone/carriers let you update, others tough. Hopefully in BB10, Blackberry controls the updates like iOS and leaves the carries out of the equation. I don't want to hear about rooting and customer roms, it should just work.Reply -
aracheb classzeroI do hope Blackberry takes off, I will myself be upgrading from my HTC android to BB10. Android platform sucks, some phone/carriers let you update, others tough. Hopefully in BB10, Blackberry controls the updates like iOS and leaves the carries out of the equation. I don't want to hear about rooting and customer roms, it should just work.Also i really don't give my crap how my users cry for the device being not as cool as the other one, if the security is already pre built in the system why should i hire somebody or a couple of company to try to reinvent the wheel. I know for a fact that Blackberry Security is Top Notch second to none in the Email world. And have those company assure me that they made the best security for the device I'm using to find out 5 or 10 year down the line that their security was crap.!!Reply
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shqtth People at work do not need toys to distract themselves from helping customers. So WTF why they need an iPhone? Also why spend the extra $$$ ?Reply -
pacomac arachebAlso i really don't give my crap how my users cry for the device being not as cool as the other one, if the security is already pre built in the system why should i hire somebody or a couple of company to try to reinvent the wheel. I know for a fact that Blackberry Security is Top Notch second to none in the Email world. And have those company assure me that they made the best security for the device I'm using to find out 5 or 10 year down the line that their security was crap.!!Reply
So exactly how is Blackberry any more secure than say an iPhone? I hear lots of talk about how secure these devices are supposed to e but to my mind the biggest risk to security is loosing your phone. At least the iPhone has a self destruct mechanism to protect your data!
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krowbar I love it when companies give me a reason to not use their services or products.Reply
I tend to stay away from the iAnything stuffs and anything backed with religious cults (especially christian based ones) -
Antimatter79 pacomacSo exactly how is Blackberry any more secure than say an iPhone? I hear lots of talk about how secure these devices are supposed to e but to my mind the biggest risk to security is loosing your phone. At least the iPhone has a self destruct mechanism to protect your data!Reply
Let's see if I remember from all those years ago when I supported BlackBerry customers--If you're a Blackberry Enterprise user, your company has a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) that hosts their email, and it is also tied to your company's MS Exchange server, Lotus Domino, or Groupwise Server. Being that they control the I.T. policies, like our company did/does, device passwords were part of I.T. policy so you couldn't get around it. If someone enters an incorrect password 10 times the BB will wipe itself and not even BlackBerry can help you get around that password, or bypass the wipe. I.T. can also disable the BlackBerry's wireless access, and knock it off the BES. This is all fairly standard ops, however BES's encryption protocols are exceptional. They even used to offer xpress messaging which was even more secure and it was limited to gov't use; politicians, various other dignitaries, by extension that included all their mistresses, secret baby mama's and prostitutes, and of course my support group. If you want more specifics on how it's any more secure, then go to their site and download the white papers on their AES and Triple DES encryption algorithms, and encryption keys that are unique to each device. Also the BES is behind the company's firewall, so it's not in the public domain like standard ISP email. -
deepblue08 classzeroI do hope Blackberry takes off, I will myself be upgrading from my HTC android to BB10. Android platform sucks, some phone/carriers let you update, others tough. Hopefully in BB10, Blackberry controls the updates like iOS and leaves the carries out of the equation. I don't want to hear about rooting and customer roms, it should just work.Reply
I don't see why you are so against rooting your phone, it allows for much more customization; something iPhones and Blackberries cannot provide.