TAGGED AS JOHN CHEN
BlackBerry launches cybersecurity software for cars
telecom | 01/16/2018 5:01 pm EST
BlackBerry Ltd. is making available a new cybersecurity product initially aimed at carmakers, the company said on Monday.
"Connected and autonomous vehicles require some of the most complex software ever developed, creating a significant challenge for automakers who must...
Cyber security consultation to be ‘launched shortly’: ISED
telecom | 06/30/2016 5:34 pm EDT
The federal government will be moving forward with another consultation in the coming months, this time as it prepares to review cyber security measures. A briefing note prepared in advance of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada Minister Navdeep Bains' spring meeting with BlackBerry Ltd.’s CEO John Chen highlighted the coming review. “I will be working with the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness in a review of the existing measure to protect Canadians and our critical infrastructure from cyber threats,” said one of the listed “key points” for Bains in the document acquired by The Wire Report under Access to Information legislation. “ISED will be engaging in a consultation on the cyber review in the coming...
BlackBerry completes acquisition of Good Technology
Media | 11/02/2015 2:34 pm EST
BlackBerry Ltd. announced Monday it has completed its acquisition of Good Technology Corp. and will begin integrating its software security solutions to its mobile enterprise platform. It said in a press release that the...
Wayne Wouters joins BlackBerry board
telecom | 10/13/2015 2:31 pm EDT
Former clerk of the Privy Council, Wayne Wouters, has joined BlackBerry Ltd.'s board of directors, the company said Tuesday. Wouters was head of the Privy Council between 2009 and 2014, and before that was secretary of the...
BlackBerry completes acquisition of AtHoc
telecom | 09/23/2015 2:09 pm EDT
BlackBerry Ltd. announced Wednesday it has completed its acquisition of AtHoc Inc., a software provider for secure networked crisis communication. It said in the press release that AtHoc will operate as a division of BlackBerry...
BlackBerry to buy AtHoc
Media | 07/22/2015 3:04 pm EDT
BlackBerry Inc. announced Wednesday that it plans to acquire AtHoc Inc., a software provider for secure networked crisis communication. The new platform will be integrated with BlackBerry’s existing secure system and will offer its enterprise customers safe, secure and mission-critical...
Carl Wiese to head BlackBerry’s global sales
telecom | 07/13/2015 2:07 pm EDT
BlackBerry Ltd. said Monday that Carl Wiese has been hired as its president of global sales, replacing John Sims who has left the company. The company said in a press release that Wiese comes from spending more than a decade in senior roles at Cisco Systems Inc., most recently as senior vice-president in charge of global sales and getting products to market. "Carl has extensive experience in enterprise software and emerging technology solutions, which will be instrumental as BlackBerry moves toward stabilizing revenue and sustaining profitability," BlackBerry CEO John Chen said in the release. Sims was announced as BlackBerry's president of global enterprise services in December 2013, coming over from SAP AG, where Chen had also worked before joining BlackBerry....
BlackBerry CEO open to producing another tablet: report
Media | 03/03/2015 7:08 pm EST
BlackBerry Ltd. CEO John Chen said he's open the idea of having the company produce another tablet, according to a report by CNet. "It's not in the works, but it's on my mind,"...
David Kleidermacher joins BlackBerry
Media | 02/10/2015 3:28 pm EST
David Kleidermacher has been appointed chief security officer of BlackBerry Ltd., the company announced Tuesday. Kleidermacher was previously chief technology officer at Green Hills Software, a maker of embedded operating...
BlackBerry boss takes aim at Netflix in neutrality battle
Media | 01/23/2015 3:38 pm EST
BlackBerry Ltd. CEO John Chen said the battle for net neutrality in the United States should not only focus on service providers' traffic management practices, but should also include companies,...
Documents show Samsung interested in BlackBerry: report
Media | 01/22/2015 2:51 pm EST
Documents indicate Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is still interested in buying device maker BlackBerry Ltd. despite denials from both companies that a deal was in the works, the Financial Post...
BlackBerry CEO to Industry Minister: no talks with Samsung on buyout
telecom | 01/19/2015 6:31 pm EST
BlackBerry Inc. CEO John Chen told Industry Minister James Moore on Thursday that reports of talks about a potential acquisition of his company by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. weren’t true,...
Sybase alumnus Mike Daniels joins BlackBerry board
telecom | 10/01/2014 1:52 pm EDT
BlackBerry Ltd. CEO John Chen has brought in another one of his connections from his days leading Sybase Inc. into the BlackBerry fold. On Wednesday, BlackBerry said in a press release that Mike Daniels has been appointed to...
BlackBerry launches Passport, new app
telecom | 09/24/2014 3:49 pm EDT
BlackBerry Ltd. launched a new smartphone, the Passport, on Wednesday, as well as an app that brings content from BlackBerry smartphones to computers and tablets. The Passport, revealed at a launch event in Toronto that featured...
Blackberry buying German encryption specialists
telecom | 07/29/2014 3:44 pm EDT
Blackberry Ltd. announced Tuesday that it is buying Secusmart GmbH, a German company that specializes in communications security and encryption. The companies had an existing partnership, providing smartphones to governments and...
Marty Beard named BlackBerry COO
telecom | 07/21/2014 2:31 pm EDT
BlackBerry Ltd. on Monday said it has made Marty Beard its new chief operating officer. The company said in a press release Beard was most recently chairman and CEO of LiveOps Inc., a maker of cloud-based applications for customer service. Prior to that, he was president of Sybase 365, the mobile messaging and mobile commerce unit of Sybase Inc. Beard's LinkedIn profile shows he worked in different positions at Sybase between 2000 and 2011. That would have placed him there for much of the time BlackBerry CEO John Chen was chairman and CEO of Sybase, between 1998 and 2012, according to a bio of Chen on Forbes' website. Beard fills a position vacated in November by Kristian Tear. It was unclear if Beard would be moving to BlackBerry's headquarters in Waterloo, Ont., or remain in San Francisco, where his LinkedIn profile...
BlackBerry posts first-quarter profit
telecom | 06/19/2014 2:14 pm EDT
Blackberry Ltd. on Thursday posted a profit for its first quarter of $23 million US, up from a loss of $84 million US one year earlier. The company said in a press release that it had reduced operating expenses by 57 per cent...
Netflix for BlackBerry, among other things
Media | 06/18/2014 3:25 pm EDT
BlackBerry users will gain access to several applications this fall, including Netflix, as a result of making Amazon.com Inc.'s Appstore part of the BlackBerry 10.3 operating system that becomes available this fall, BlackBerry...
BlackBerry might make phablets: report
telecom | 06/11/2014 9:12 pm EDT
BlackBerry Ltd. chief executive John Chen said the company might get into the business of making so-called phablets, or smartphones with extra-large screens, according to an article in an Indonesian publication. In an interview...
BlackBerry launches Internet of Things project
telecom | 05/22/2014 5:16 pm EDT
BlackBerry Ltd. announced Wednesday a number of initiatives it said will be the “cornerstone” of its “vision to offer end-to-end solutions for the Internet of Things.” The company said in a press release...
BlackBerry plans collaboration with health-tech company
telecom | 04/15/2014 3:57 pm EDT
BlackBerry Ltd. on Tuesday said it had made an investment in and was planning to collaborate with a heath-technology company in the United States. The Canadian smartphone maker did not disclose the amount it invested in NantHealth LLC, though it did say in a press release it would work with NantHealth on heath-care networks that meet guildelines under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) in the U.S. This act, according the website of the U.S. Department of Health, sets “national standards for electronic health care transactions and code sets, unique...
BlackBerry CEO says no plans to sell handset business
telecom | 04/10/2014 3:43 pm EDT
BlackBerry Ltd. CEO John Chen wrote a blog post on the company’s website Thursday that said an article suggesting he would consider getting out of the handset business took his comments “out of context.” A...
BlackBerry won’t renew contract with T-Mobile
telecom | 04/02/2014 1:58 pm EDT
BlackBerry Ltd. said in a release issued late Tuesday that it will not renew T-Mobile US Inc.’s licence to sell BlackBerry products after it expires on April 25. BlackBerry CEO John Chen said in the release:...
Chen meets with White House as part of BlackBerry ‘customer outreach’
telecom | 03/07/2014 6:12 pm EST
Blackberry Ltd. CEO John Chen has met with White House staff as part of a wider series of meetings he’s held with customers since taking over as chief executive of the company last November, Bloomberg reported Friday. The news service quoted Chen as saying that he “briefed the White House from an IT...
BlackBerry CEO would consider selling BBM: reports
Media | 02/25/2014 8:10 pm EST
BlackBerry Ltd. CEO John Chen said Tuesday he would consider selling BBM, the company’s messaging service, according to different media reports Tuesday. CNBC quoted Chen in an interview as saying: "If somebody comes to...
Blackberry CEO John Chen slams “inappropriate” T-Mobile offer
telecom | 02/18/2014 9:13 pm EST
BlackBerry Ltd. CEO John Chen said in a blog post Tuesday he was “outraged” at T-Mobile US Inc. after the U.S. carrier sent a targeted email to BlackBerry users last week offering them a...
BlackBerry names Eric Johnson to head global sales
telecom | 01/13/2014 3:01 pm EST
BlackBerry Ltd. said Monday it has named Eric Johnson as president of global sales. This announcement follows a series of other executive appointments in recent weeks, including Ron Louks as president of devices and emerging...
BlackBerry announces changes to management, board
telecom | 11/25/2013 5:12 pm EST
BlackBerry Ltd. on Monday announced it was making changes to three top management positions and a board seat. It said Kristian Tear is leaving the position of chief operating officer, and Frank Boulben is departing from the job of chief marketing officer, without giving a reason for their departures. BNN reported that BlackBerry is not replacing them...