BlackBerry Balance Coming to iPhone and Android

BlackBerry Balance Coming to iPhone and Android is a post by Shawn Ingram from Gotta Be Mobile.

Today BlackBerry announced that it will soon bring BlackBerry Balance to both iPhone and Android in an effort to bring its secure services to both competitor platforms.

BlackBerry calls the apps BlackBerry Secure Work Space for iOS and Android. The service includes secure apps for email, calendar, contacts, tasks, memos, secure browsing and document editing. BlackBerry links the apps to BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, companies will have to use the latest BlackBerry services to deploy the apps.

BlackBerry claims the apps use BlackBerry Balance technology, which just means they are separate from the user’s personal apps and files. The BlackBerry apps won’t interfere with personal email or calendars. The technology eliminates the need for two phones, one for work and one for personal use.

The BlackBerry Secure Work Space apps will help BlackBerry compete in the era of “Bring Your Own Device,” where users increasingly want to choose their own smartphone instead of relying on work to give them one. It means that companies can still get the security of BlackBerry services without giving employees phones they probably don’t want.

This is good news for just about everyone, but it also begs the question of why BlackBerry insists on pushing BlackBerry 10 with these new apps. Since iOS and Android took over the mobile industry, it seemed strange that BlackBerry continued to push its own devices, now it seems even stranger.

The new service will give BlackBerry leverage against Samsung which recently started taking shots at the company with its Unicorn Apocalypse ads. Those ads say Samsung phones are secure and great for personal use. Now BlackBerry can make almost any phone, including the iPhone, secure.

BlackBerry Secure Work Space is already in closed beta, and widespread availability will begin in the second quarter of 2013. BlackBerry will talk more about the program at BlackBerry Live in May 2013, so the rollout will likely come shortly after that event.

BlackBerry Balance Coming to iPhone and Android is a post by Shawn Ingram from Gotta Be Mobile.

Facebook begins rolling out updated Timeline

Facebook on Wednesday began rolling out new profile pages redesigned to clear away clutter from Timelines that chronicle member postings at the leading social network. 

"We heard from you that the current timeline layout is sometimes hard to read," Facebook's Rose Yao said in a blog post. 

"Starting today, all posts are on the right side of your timeline, with photos, music and other recent activity on the left." 

Sections at social network pages have been revamped to let people display music, books, films and television shows they are interested in alongside uploaded pictures, according to Yao. 

Pictures from Facebook-owned smartphone photo-sharing service Instagram can be streamed to timelines, and social network users can share their tastes in films by synching with apps from Flixster or Netflix. 

Netflix on Wednesday took the long awaited step of letting US users share with Facebook friends what they have been watching at the film and television show streaming service. 

A change made to the decades-old Video Privacy Protection Act late last year by Congress cleared the way for California-based Netflix to join the slew of music sharing services that have synched with the leading social network. 

Netflix has previously integrated its service with Facebook outside the United States. 

A week ago Facebook began transforming the stream of updates from friends at homepages into a "personalised newspaper," with news ranging from the personal to the global. 

The News Feed on homepages at the leading social network was revamped to get rid of clutter and present "bright, beautiful" stories, such as insights from friends or trending news of the day. 

"I think there is a special place in the world for this sort of personalised newspaper," Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg said in introducing the overhauled News Feed. 

"It should have a front page and top news section or let you drill down into any topic you want." 

Facebook is rolling out the new News Feed "very slowly" at its website reached by desktop or laptop, and will begin adding it to smartphone and tablet applications in the coming weeks.