BlackBerry has just rebranded Alcatel's Idol 4 Android phone as the DTEK50

BlackBerry has been doing bad business and though their investors and the public share holders were asking the company to give up the smartphone business completely. However, BlackBerry decided against them to go ahead and launch an Android-based secure smartphone instead of a device with their own operating system BBOS. BlackBerry launched the DTEK50 on July 26, which is based on Google’s Android, but toughened by BlackBerry’s well-known security. Also, this is BlackBerry’s thinnest device ever.

However, shockingly, BlackBerry’s new Android release is not a new smartphone at all—in fact; it is a rebranded Alcatel product which has been enhanced by BlackBerry.

TCL manufactured OEM device Alcatel Idol 4

The BlackBerry DTEK50 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 chipset with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. A 5.2-inch HD display and a 13MP camera along with a whopping 2TB of additional microSD card support and Android 6.0 Marshmallow are its highlights. On the other hand, the Alcatel Idol 4 is also having the same features as far as the hardware is concerned.

BlackBerry DTEK50 retails at $299 (around Rs 20,000), which seems to be cheaper than its predecessors, making it a good mid-range package. Shipping starts from August 8, 2016.

BlackBerry is banking on the DTEK50 by implementing its security featutres as the main core and USP of the device. It features a hardened kernel, end-to-end encryption hardware "Root of Trust," full disk encryption, a highly secure bootloader, along with a bunch of other features, which are destined to keep you feeling safer as compared to a regular Android handset.

The phone also comes with BlackBerry’s DTEK app that will give you a quick security preview along with detailed feedback on which apps are handling your details and data, and when.

By ditching the iconic QWERTY keyboard, BlackBerry is completely leaning on the software prowess. By launching an Android-based secure device, BlackBerry plans to penetrate the smartphone market with a ‘tougher’ plan, in a hope to revive its falling business. Though a risky move, by turning away from hardware and concentrating on software BlackBerry plans to focus on enterprise customers.

What is BlackBerry banking on with the launch of an Android smartphone?

Rapid Security Patching: BlackBerry has a record of being the quickest to deliver security patches, setting the bar in incident response and patch management to protect your device from malicious threats.

DTEK by BlackBerry App: Enables users to automatically monitor their OS and apps to know when their privacy could be at risk and to take action to improve it. The DTEK app also tracks applications and notifies you when someone is: taking pictures or videos without your knowledge, turning your microphone on, sending a text message, or accessing your contacts or location.

Hardware Root of Trust: BlackBerry’s manufacturing process uses a proprietary technique that adds security from the start, allowing for the tracking, verification and provisioning of DTEK50.

Secure Boot Process: Starting with the root of trust, each stage of DTEK50’s secure boot chain must first verify that the next component is fully intact before proceeding, ensuring your device has not been tampered with since the last restart.

Android OS hardening: BlackBerry provides 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.

FIPS 140-2 Compliant Full Disk Encryption: Protects your private information, like pictures or bank information, from being stolen if you were to lose your phone.

Android for Work and Google Play for Work: Allows for fast, simple and secure integration with an enterprise environment as well as easy access to numerous rich business and IT-managed apps.

Full Enterprise Mobility Management Support: DTEK50 supports BlackBerry’s powerful suite of EMM applications and secure productivity solutions, including: WatchDox by BlackBerry for secure file-sharing, Good Work for business-class email and collaboration tools, Strong Authentication by BlackBerry as a VPN solution, SecuSUITE for Enterprise for secure voice and instant messaging communication, BBM Protected for encrypted messaging and BES12 for secure cross-platform management.

BlackBerry Intelligent Keyboard: DTEK50 has a smart keyboard designed to learn from users and increase typing accuracy and speed. It provides word suggestions as you type and includes up to three languages, letting you flick them into place for faster conversations.

BlackBerry Hub: This unified inbox is an irreplaceable tool for consolidating all of your messages in one place – whether it’s email, calendar, social or phone calls.

Customizable BlackBerry Convenience Key: With the press of a button, the Convenience Key provides quick access to your most used applications and more.