BlackBerry smartwatch – entirely possible

It’s getting crazy out there, you have to admit. We get new wearable announcements each day, from different developers, starting at the bottom and right to the top. The smartwatch market is already pretty saturated with hundreds of options, but there is always room for improvement. That’s what my grandma used to say, and it seem like BlackBerry has the same ideology. The BlackBerry smartwatch has now officially become a possibility, confirmed by John Sims, the company’s president of enterprise solutions.

Smartwatches have been around for years now, but only recently has the trend taken up speed in the news and among customers, as well. Samsung already has 6 smartwatches on the market, the most recent being the Gear S, which is also the most outstanding of their wearables since it sports a 3G radio, making it possible for its wearers to leave their phones at home. LG and Motorola have jumped on the wagon as well with the LG G line and latest LG G Watch R (R stands for round) and Moto 360 (360 stands for round, too). Others like Sony and Asus have also released timepieces that can do almost everything your phone can, including calling people in the case of Sony’s SmartBand Talk. 

BlackBerry, on the other hand, is considered by many to be a struggling company trying to get back on their feet. The company has announced the launch of the BlackBerry Passport and a new BlackBerry Classic line, which has got many people riled up to see the new devices. According to sources, the BlackBerry Passport will be officially announced on September 24 at a BlackBerry event entitled See The Bigger Picture. A smartwatch reveal is unlikely at the event, but we might found out more about BlackBerry’s plans for the wearable market either way. 

John Sims declared that BlackBerry was doing internal research on wearable device but nothing was set in stone at the time. He also mentioned that smartglasses and smartwatches were both in the minds of BlackBerry so we should expect the company to bring novelty to the market. If they decide to go against Google Glass in the smartglasses department, I would be curious to see at least a patent of what the company is planning. 

These are big plans from BlackBerry, but the company will probably hold them off a bit to see how the Passport fares after its launch, because many have said that the device will make or break the company’s future. We should tune in to BlackBerry’s upcoming event and keep an eye out for anything regarding wearable devices. 

Update: Since we’ve learned about BlackBerry getting into the mobile business, we’ve been updated that the company has bought Movirto in the meantime. Movirto is a virtual SIM platform which allows users to have separate numbers for business and for personal calls, data and messages. These numbers will be billed, used and administered separately. Movirto allows companies to administer the business line, whilst the personal communications line is left in the care of the owner. The two lines, according to Movirto, cannot interact with each other, allowing users to keep their work issues and contacts separate from their personal affairs. 

“The acquisition of Movirtu complements our core strategy of providing additional value added services, and it will leverage our key assets, including our BES platform, along with our existing global infrastructure which is connected to a large number of mobile operators around the world.” said the CEO of BlackBerry, John Chen. BlackBerry’s new acquisition’s details haven’t been revealed, but the company said that it will share Movirtu’s mobile identity system with all mobile operating systems. Smart move.