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Canada : BLACKBERRY acquires a stake in NANTHEALTH [TendersInfo (India)]
[April 18, 2014]

Canada : BLACKBERRY acquires a stake in NANTHEALTH [TendersInfo (India)]


(TendersInfo (India) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) BlackBerry is reaching into the health-care sector with the purchase of a minority stake in a technology company NantHealth.

The smartphone company will collaborate on various projects that include a new BlackBerry device designed for the medical industry and an operating system that links medical devices to NantHealth's networks.

All of the infrastructure will be government-level privacy certified and allow health-care professionals to share information securely.

BlackBerry has been tightening its focus on what it considers key sectors that value devices operating on a secure infrastructure. One of those areas is in the medical community, where mobile devices used by doctors can be linked to other equipment.



Financial terms of the NantHealth agreement weren't disclosed, BlackBerry CEO John Chen said this is the type of partnership that's important to the company's goal.

BlackBerry's capabilities align closely with NantHealth's and this investment represents the type of forward-looking opportunities that are vital its future.


Chen was hired last November to turn around BlackBerry, which has seen consumers leave for Apple iPhones and Android smartphones, and many businesses also jump ship. He has moved to reduce costs, partly through layoffs, and find new ways to capitalize on BlackBerry's technology.

It s unclear how the partnership will benefit BlackBerry's financial results, the transaction is a step in the right direction.

NantHealth s cloud-based platform is installed in about 250 hospitals and connects more than 16,000 medical devices.

Medical professionals will be able to use BlackBerry services to communicate. The companies say BlackBerry's QNX division, which developed the BlackBerry 10 operating system, is seen as a key part of diagnostic and monitoring devices in hospitals and home-care environments.

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