1. ayngling's Avatar
    perhaps it was a little easier for defense contractors to develop fancy apps on Android OS smartphones and tablets than on legacy BlackBerry OS handsets
    Yeah, you are right I think, that feels like a plausible explanation.

    I really hope a newfound popularity gives BlackBerry the power to slowly gain momentum for BB10. I honestly feel that a reason many people do not even consider the platform is because they think the company will be out of business soon.
    09-19-15 10:20 AM
  2. yhamaie's Avatar
    I think this will be addressed by Android for Work, which Google and BlackBerry have partnered on some time back. It separates work and personal apps and data, just like BlackBerry Balance (which I use, and is awesome, I agree). With BES12, corporate admins can whitelist apps from the Play store to make sure malware does not get into the work partition.
    This is where BlackBerry Limited would like to expand its market share and increase revenue, I suppose.

    http://el.blackberry.com/googleandroid

    Blackberry Safeguard and GrSecurity confirmed on the Slider-img_20150920_002030.png

    Posted via CB10
    ayngling likes this.
    09-19-15 10:24 AM
  3. DaedalusIcarusHelios's Avatar
    It would only be a pr disaster if they stop development of bb10 and only their version of android had the vulnerability. Seeing as how they are using mostly stock android I'm not sure how likely that is to really happen.
    I just don't think BB can be known as a secure solution (and that is their focus) and then also offer unsecured Android. Chen has already stated that they'd go Android only if they could secure it. BB is playing this smart - they know that if they create some big UI layer that people will ***** and complain that it's not Android-enough. By going with a mostly stock experience with subtle tweaks, they have the best chance of being seen in a positive light by Android users. I'm sure that the reality is that the bulk of the changes are behind the scenes and this is their real differentiator. I love BB10 but it's hooked up on life support right now. The BB Android is not going to be as secure as BB10, but over time, it could be, especially if they can work with Google on making sure future versions have security designs as a top priority.

    As long as bb10 exists they can always point to that as the full security solution.
    I cant see it been as secure as bb10 is and that may keep big companies away from it ..........I could be wrong tho
    I agree that it won't be as secure as BB10 because Android wasn't designed from the ground up for security and the monolithic kernel isn't as ideal as what QNX provides. I think it could be sufficiently secured though with enough effort and focus on security practices. The hard part I presume is to be able to apply it to standard Android in a systematic way so that BB doesn't need to maintain a fork but rather simply can make changes or have modules that can easily work with each new version of Android. I suspect there will of course be some expected delays in BB devices getting newer versions of Android since they'll need to do full regression testing. I think it'll get easier over time as Android natively improves its security practices.
    09-19-15 10:27 AM
  4. kbz1960's Avatar
    I agree that it won't be as secure as BB10 because Android wasn't designed from the ground up for security and the monolithic kernel isn't as ideal as what QNX provides. I think it could be sufficiently secured though with enough effort and focus on security practices. The hard part I presume is to be able to apply it to standard Android in a systematic way so that BB doesn't need to maintain a fork but rather simply can make changes or have modules that can easily work with each new version of Android. I suspect there will of course be some expected delays in BB devices getting newer versions of Android since they'll need to do full regression testing. I think it'll get easier over time as Android natively improves its security practices.
    That right there is what I am leery of. BlackBerry takes time, always.
    09-19-15 10:33 AM
  5. Joao Oliveira's Avatar
    well its not plain vanilla android as many smartypants expected. eat it or better yet suck it
    Only some braindead person would expect vanilla Android... The simple fact that the phone has a touch sensitive working keyboard that no other phone has, means that the OS needs some extra coding to get it to work.
    09-19-15 11:01 AM
  6. BCITMike's Avatar
    P.S.

    Grsecurity / PaX-patched kernels are found only for Intel chips at the Arch Linux.

    ----------

    https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=linux-grsec

    Code:
    Arch   Repo      Name        Version              Description                                              Last Updated   Flag Date
    
    x86_64 Community linux-grsec 4.1.7.201509131604-1 The Linux kernel and modules with grsecurity/PaX patches 2015-09-14  
    i686   Community linux-grsec 4.1.7.201509131604-1 The Linux kernel and modules with grsecurity/PaX patches 2015-09-14
    Where is it limited to Intel, as opposed to amd?

    Posted via CB10
    09-19-15 11:05 AM
  7. BCITMike's Avatar
    Only some braindead person would expect vanilla Android... The simple fact that the phone has a touch sensitive working keyboard that no other phone has, means that the OS needs some extra coding to get it to work.
    You mean a keyboard change? That would be userspace, not kernel. Careful with the brain dead assumptions.

    Windows doesn't get special changes to support special keyboards and mice. It's just a driver add on in most cases.

    Of course it wouldn't be a vanilla kernel/Android. They'll make sane changes, such as grsecurity/PAX type stuff.

    Posted via CB10
    09-19-15 11:11 AM
  8. Joao Oliveira's Avatar
    You mean a keyboard change? That would be userspace, not kernel. Careful with the brain dead assumptions.

    Windows doesn't get special changes to support special keyboards and mice. It's just a driver add on in most cases.

    Of course it wouldn't be a vanilla kernel/Android. They'll make sane changes, such as grsecurity/PAX type stuff.

    Posted via CB10
    "Vanilla Android" is simply an install of Android without any customizations, doesn't have to at kernel level at all. HTC for example, will put Sense on their phones. Motorola might put Blur on some of theirs. Vanilla is what is straight from Google and has none of those customized interfaces or apps that the carriers put on the phone.

    If you launch an android phone with a different skin to google's ones, it's not vanilla.
    09-19-15 11:15 AM
  9. BCITMike's Avatar
    P.S.

    Grsecurity / PaX-patched kernels are found only for Intel chips at the Arch Linux.

    ----------

    https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=linux-grsec

    Code:
    Arch   Repo      Name        Version              Description                                              Last Updated   Flag Date
    
    x86_64 Community linux-grsec 4.1.7.201509131604-1 The Linux kernel and modules with grsecurity/PaX patches 2015-09-14  
    i686   Community linux-grsec 4.1.7.201509131604-1 The Linux kernel and modules with grsecurity/PaX patches 2015-09-14
    You have to be a sponsor to access the stable kernel patches as of late.

    http://grsecurity.net/announce.php

    Posted via CB10
    09-19-15 11:17 AM
  10. yhamaie's Avatar
    You have to be a sponsor to access the stable kernel patches as of late.

    http://grsecurity.net/announce.php
    Noted with many thanks.

    Posted via CB10
    09-19-15 12:01 PM
  11. ptpete's Avatar
    Can someone explain in lay terms what this means?

    I thought BlackBerry had found a way to use qnx as the kernel, what's this grsec about?

    Posted via CB10
    Yea, so is this thing not QNX. That would suck!
    09-19-15 12:01 PM
  12. yhamaie's Avatar
    The following article popped up in the XDA Developers site.

    BlackBerry Venice: Hardware Keyboard Done Right at the Perfect Time - Old and New collide in the best of ways

    Posted via CB10
    09-19-15 12:29 PM
  13. spiller's Avatar
    5MP front cam full HD @ 30 fps ? Can't complain about that. If true, is there anything this phone doesn't have? I guess battery life is the question.
    09-19-15 12:43 PM
  14. evodevo69's Avatar
    The following article popped up in the XDA Developers site.

    BlackBerry Venice: Hardware Keyboard Done Right at the Perfect Time - Old and New collide in the best of ways

    Posted via CB10
    Interesting article.

    If you check out the comments someone noted that the most recent android flagships have been disappointing.

    It's so obvious people are getting bored the market is RIPE for some new toys to play with.

    I'd totally be buying a ton of shares if I had money to invest in stocks.

    Posted via CB10
    ayngling likes this.
    09-19-15 12:43 PM
  15. Joao Oliveira's Avatar
    The following article popped up in the XDA Developers site.

    BlackBerry Venice: Hardware Keyboard Done Right at the Perfect Time - Old and New collide in the best of ways

    Posted via CB10
    Great article... This phone comes in a good time where is started to being perceived that new releses of phone are "more of the same". The Slider brings something new, a breath of fresh air to the smartphone comunity, no wonder why it's getting so much attention by the press
    ayngling likes this.
    09-19-15 12:44 PM
  16. Ment's Avatar
    QNX isn't pure fantasy, the scenario of an Android using the QNX kernel was.

    We haven't discarded yet the light hypervisor scenario: QNX Hypervisor running Android as its only guest OS. This could bring to the table two things that are badly needed in Android phones: true work/personal containerization, and FAST SYSTEM UPDATES. The first one allows features like Balance. The second one is crucial to get more security.

    Wide vision, from Chile.
    Also pure fantasy. NO EVIDENCE OF IT EXISTING. Thats my point. People need to excise any connection of QNX and Android, thats not the direction BB is going.
    PygmySurfer, LazyEvul and kbz1960 like this.
    09-19-15 02:30 PM
  17. RigoMonster's Avatar
    I think this will be addressed by Android for Work, which Google and BlackBerry have partnered on some time back. It separates work and personal apps and data, just like BlackBerry Balance (which I use, and is awesome, I agree). With BES12, corporate admins can whitelist apps from the Play store to make sure malware does not get into the work partition.

    If you looked at the first leaked renders from evleaks you can see that some apps having a briefcase icon on them, these are from the work partition (I like the Balance way better, with a completely different view but this way works as well): http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/blackberry_...ak_evleaks.jpg
    Only glitch is that my employer is on BES 10, so they would need to upgrade to BES 12 to get the Android for Work features working. I work for a large multinational corporation so it would be a huge win for BlackBerry if they did. But, I wouldn't hold my breath, at least for anytime soon. Hopefully BlackBerry is aggressive trying to sell in BES 12! But definitely seeing other security solutions being employed cross-platform that are not BlackBerry.

    Passport on AT&T
    09-19-15 04:37 PM
  18. ayngling's Avatar
    Only glitch is that my employer is on BES 10, so they would need to upgrade to BES 12 to get the Android for Work features working. I work for a large multinational corporation so it would be a huge win for BlackBerry if they did. But, I wouldn't hold my breath, at least for anytime soon. Hopefully BlackBerry is aggressive trying to sell in BES 12! But definitely seeing other security solutions being employed cross-platform that are not BlackBerry.
    Aha, I see. I hope they upgrade to BES12!
    rcab likes this.
    09-19-15 04:42 PM
  19. tickerguy's Avatar
    The biggest reason to root is to be able to adblock via the hosts file.

    Yes, losing that makes Android a LOT less attractive -- unless BlackBerry gives us an api to write it....

    Posted via CB10
    09-19-15 05:12 PM
  20. Bla1ze's Avatar
    The biggest reason to root is to be able to adblock via the hosts file.

    Yes, losing that makes Android a LOT less attractive -- unless BlackBerry gives us an api to write it....

    Posted via CB10
    Even that's not really needed now that browsers exist on Android which do it with no root.
    09-19-15 06:19 PM
  21. yhamaie's Avatar
    Only glitch is that my employer is on BES 10, so they would need to upgrade to BES 12 to get the Android for Work features working. I work for a large multinational corporation so it would be a huge win for BlackBerry if they did. But, I wouldn't hold my breath, at least for anytime soon. Hopefully BlackBerry is aggressive trying to sell in BES 12! But definitely seeing other security solutions being employed cross-platform that are not BlackBerry.
    Meanwhile, some customers ( https://www1.good.com/customers/ ) of Good Technology, which will soon become a subsidiary of BlackBerry Limited, might consider placing orders for BlackBerry-branded Android devices.

    http://media.www1.good.com/documents...iedDevices.pdf
    Last edited by yhamaie; 09-20-15 at 12:40 AM.
    09-20-15 12:06 AM
  22. will308's Avatar
    I feel misquoted You are only quoting the guy I quoted.
    sorry about that ......
    ayngling likes this.
    09-20-15 12:34 AM
  23. Rasheed White's Avatar
    love the fact that satellite navigation would be a option

    Posted via CB10
    09-20-15 12:56 AM
  24. d3ac0n's Avatar
    Even that's not really needed now that browsers exist on Android which do it with no root.
    adblocking is not limited to browsers
    09-20-15 01:26 AM
  25. BoldMaverick's Avatar
    I'm enjoying the discussion and links that have been posted here, so far. Much thanks for everyone's contributions.

     Posted via CB10 on my Q10 
    09-20-15 11:11 AM
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