BlackBerry has begun pushing out an update for BlackBerry OS 10, bringing camera and calendar enhancements in a 369MB software package that brings the OS to version 10.3.2.440.
For the rear camera on BlackBerry 10 devices, the update improves face detection and boosts performance in dimly lit environments. The update also reduces motion blur.
For BlackBerry Calendar, the update enables users to customize events, and those set in Meeting Mode automatically puts the phone in silent. Also, BlackBerry has revived the scalable month view so that the calendar's entries shrink and grow based on how busy users are on a given day.
As the update, which was spotted by OurBerries, evidences BlackBerry's ongoing commitment to BlackBerry OS 10, the company has had to reaffirm that the OS is indeed still a priority. There have been reports indicating that the company is thinking about using Google's Android for a new BlackBerry device.
"We don't comment on rumors and speculation, but we remain committed to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, which provides security and productivity benefits that are unmatched," said BlackBerry in response to a Reuters query.
The use of Google software could, ironically, further prove just how much effort the company is looking to put into its own applications, according to unnamed sources cited in a Reuters report.
BlackBerry wants to demonstrate its BlackBerry Enterprise Server 12 (BES12) is secure and open enough to support hardware running on rival software.
As its hardware sales continue to turn modest profits and with the mobile OS market locked down, BlackBerry has been slowly pivoting away from hardware and focusing on enterprise software solutions. The best thing it has to offer in that category is BES12.
Pointing out the increasing frequency of cyber attacks and growing concerns in corporate boardrooms, John Sims, president of BlackBerry's Global Enterprise Solutions, said BES12 was built on the foundation security and sophistication that users have come to know and learned to trust.
"BlackBerry pioneered the capability to securely manage smartphones within the enterprise," said Sims when he introduced BES12 last November. "Now, with these new value-added services, we're focusing on taking our offering beyond EMM to enable customers to solve real security and productivity challenges associated with the use of mobile technology across their enterprise."
