Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Las Vegas-Diversifying from  smartphones and services, BlackBerry is betting big on Internet of Things, connected cars ,and smart health tracking for its future.

BlackBerry held a small breakfast press conference with CEO John Chen here at Las Vegas. The event was small and cozy and took place in a relatively small ballroom. This was a stark contrast to previous BlackBerry CES booths and showcases which involved grandiose exhibit spaces, meeting rooms and elaborate displays of the companies technology.

CES is no longer the preferred staging point for smartphone manufacturers with only ZTE and LG launching notable new handsets at this show. Many companies, including BlackBerry, choose to host their own launch events or they participate in Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

BlackBerry does have an exhibit here but it is for its QNX operating system which is the leading platform in infotainment solutions with installs in over 50 million cars.

In a way, BlackBerry’s low profile here at CES reflects the company’s current recovery mode. Its downsizing on the frills and focusing on the future.

Journalists in attendance got treated to a jovial John Chen who made various jokes and generally kept the mood light as he recalled his first year at the helm of the smartphone and communications company. Aside for talking about the four devices launched during his first year, he also discussed the wide adoption of BlackBerry Messenger which now has 140  new million users from iOS and Android.

While it continues to fight to regain its foothold in mobile, it is clear that BlackBerry is looking elsewhere for the future. The message during the event was that it will continue to make smartphones and services and even announced that its Classic smartphone will come to AT&T in the US.

BlackBerry will also focus on Internet of Things as well as Internet of Medical Things, two emerging and potentially lucrative niches where the company can play to its strengths in scalable, secure and communication focused platforms.

“The BlackBerry IoT Platform blends the technologies that have enabled BlackBerry to become a leader in both the mobile data security and embedded systems industries,” said Matt Hoffman, VP of Strategy and Marketing, BlackBerry Technology Solutions. 

BlackBerry has been making locking in on the Connected Health and Wellness market which is estimated to be worth $8 billion by 2018. The company unveiled its partnership with NantHealth, whose product, the HBox, is a portable medical device that captures and transmits secure medical data between the patient, doctor and hospital. It is powered by BlackBerry’s QNX.

“Combining BlackBerry’s embedded software reliability, mobile device management and security technology with NantHealth’s ability to develop leading health care devices and platform creates a powerful strategic relationship,” said John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO, BlackBerry.

So, the BlackBerry presence in the Internet of Things puts it in a relevant position in a non-smartphone related market. The company had no wearable play to announce but they did demo how they are making BlackBerry Messenger compatible with Android Wear devices, this feature is coming in 2015.