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BlackBerry Blend, a feature that allows you to access information from your smartphone on tablets or PCs, shows that the company can play well with others.
CNET
The feature, which will be available with the launch of the BlackBerry Passport smartphone, is a dashboard that can display work and personal e-mail accounts, BBM messages, other text messages, and calendars from a BlackBerry device on Macs, PCs, Android tablets or iPads.
BlackBerry Blend for Macs and PCs is available on the company’s website, while apps for Android tablets and iPads are in the Google Play store and Apple App Store, respectively.
Users can remotely access their BlackBerry Passport as long as it is connected to a cellular or Wi-Fi network — so you’re still able to get your emails and notifications if you forget your device at home. Blend also works if the device is plugged into a computer via a USB cable.
BlackBerry Blend is indicative of the company’s renewed focus on software, one of the main goals for CEO John Chen. The company has long touted the advantages of an end-to-end system, which goes from the smartphone itself to the back-end secure network that it runs. But Blend represents a willingness and acknowledgement that its customers use other devices as well.
Macs need to run OS X 10.7 or later, PCs need Windows 7 or later, and Android tablets need Android 4.4 or later. Blend will only work with larger screen PCs and tablets, and there are no plans to bring it to other smartphones. There are also no plans to bring Blend to Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system.
