The new Blackberry Classic smartphone is shown during a display at the launch event in New York, December 17, 2014. BlackBerry Ltd launched its long-awaited Classic on Wednesday, a smartphone it hopes will help it win back market share and woo those still
The new Blackberry Classic smartphone is shown during a display at the launch event in New York, December 17, 2014. BlackBerry Ltd launched its long-awaited Classic on Wednesday, a smartphone it hopes will help it win back market share and woo those still using older versions of its physical keyboard devices. Reuters/Brendan McDermid

Canada's Blackberry and U.S. defense contractor Boeing have disclosed a collaboration that seeks to invent a smartphone that self-destructs once it gets tampered with. However, it may not be available for commercial use.

John Chen, chairman and chief executive officer of Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry, said on Friday the two companies are developing an "Android-based black phone" with a level of "high-security" because it will encrypt calls. The product is geared more towards government agencies and others that need to keep communications and data secure, according to Reuters. It is believed Boeing has started offering the phone to potential customers.

"We're pleased to announce that Boeing is collaborating with BlackBerry to provide a secure mobile solution for Android devices utilizing our BlackBerry Enterprise Service or BES 12, platform," Chen said on a conference call held to discuss its quarterly results. "That, by the way, is all they allow me to say."

Corporations and government agencies, assured by the platform, will get to manage and secure not just BlackBerry devices on internal networks. The Canadian company said it will also run on rival operating systems, including Google's Android and Apple's iOS.

The Boeing Black, according to an FCC filing leaked earlier in the year, will feature a HDMI port to allow it to be connected to a TV, as well as USB, WiFi and Bluetooth. It will utilise dual micro SIM cards to access multiple cell networks. These can be constructed to work with biometric sensors, such as fingerprint scanners and satellites.

Andy Lee, Boeing spokesman, quoted by Pioneer News, said the confirmed the company is "pursuing a number of opportunities" that can pair a Boeing device with the Blackberry server. "Boeing has decades of experience providing defense and security customers with secure communications. We are working with BlackBerry to help them ensure the BES12 operating system is compatible with, and optimized for use by, the ultra-secure mobile devices favored by the defense and security community." The Boeing Black will be sold only to "approved" purchasers, including "government agencies and companies engaged in contractual activities with those agencies that are related to defense and homeland security."