Canadian handset maker BlackBerry has unveiled its second Android smartphone, packaging its security features with the popular mobile operating system.
Fully equipped with Android Marshmallow 6.0, the new smartphone DTEK50 is available at a price point that's accessible for consumers and ideal for enterprise deployment, the company said.
DTEK50 is the second smartphone powered by Android from Blackberry after Priv.
BlackBerry claims the new handset to be the world's most secure Android smartphone, due to the combined security, privacy and productivity capabilities from the handset maker and the full Android experience with an all-touch design.
BlackBerry Devices chief operating officer and general manager Ralph Pini said: “We take our customers' privacy seriously.
“That's why we're proud to have all the security and privacy functionality that's built in our newest Android smartphone. DTEK50 merges the unique security and connectivity features BlackBerry is known for with the rich Android ecosystem.”
"DTEK50 adds to BlackBerry's lineup of secure smartphones, providing choices to our customers with different price points on both BlackBerry 10 and Android platforms."
BlackBerry said the 5.2-inch touchscreen-only DTEK50 is available for pre-order at ShopBlackBerry.com in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands for $299.
DTEK50 is designed to encrypt all user information including business critical data and personal data such as pictures, videos and contacts.
The smartphone comes with built-in malware protection along with back-up, wipe and restore capabilities.
The additional software included in the phone offers users visibility and control over which apps get access to personal info or device features such as the microphone or camera.
The smartphone features a DTEK app that enables users to automatically monitor their OS and apps in order to see when their privacy could be at risk and allow them to take action to remedy the situation.
It provides FIPS 140-2 compliant full disk encryption to protect private information.
DTEK50 also features additional security patches, improved random number, address space generation and certificate pinning to make it more difficult for attackers to target a device by scrambling application/system memory.
In November 2015, BlackBerry began a new chapter in its devices business with the release of Priv, its first Android smartphone.
The security-focused device features a slide-out keyboard, as well as bespoke apps aimed to inform the user about security leaks.
