REPORT BY REUTERS
Chinese electronics maker, TCL Corp has launched a high-end smartphone in the United States that it developed with Canada's BlackBerry Ltd, touting security and privacy features to distinguish it from other devices.
TCL unveiled the Blackberry KEY2, which runs on Alphabet Inc's widely used Android operating system. The KEY2 is the third smartphone that TCL has launched through a partnership with BlackBerry, which decided in 2016 to stop making smartphones and license its software to other manufacturers.
BlackBerry digitally audits phones built through the partnership to make sure no unapproved software is installed on them, and also signs off on all software updates to the phones, which are remotely installed by wireless carriers, the company said.
The KEY2 features a BlackBerry app called DTEK that helps users see and manage how data is used by other apps. A second application, Locker, creates private folders for documents that enable users to prevent them from being uploaded to the cloud. Such features help make KEY2.
TCL also sells low-end phones in the United States under the brand of France's Alcatel, which are mainly used with prepaid carriers. Unlike the BlackBerry deal, TCL controls the software on Alcatel devices.