Research in Motion Ltd. (BBRY) Bringing Balance to Android and iOS?

Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:BBRY) – er, BlackBerry Ltd. – has been getting some buzz in the last few weeks as techies and tech writers and analysts take a long look at the new Z10 smartphone running the BlackBerry 10 operating system in preparation for the U.S. debut next week in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) retail stores. In general, the feedback has been positive for the BB10 OS, but there are questions whether the company can become a viable option in the smartphone market space where Android by Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and iOS by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) swallow 90 percent of the market currently.

Other than unbridled loyalty to a brand, many consumers seems to be looking for the next big innovation in smartphones, not just an evolution. And though BB 10 is kinda late to the game in terms of smartphone OSs that meet needs, Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:BBRY) seems to have hit on one particular innovation that just might help it secure some sales in the enterprise realm, where Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has become prevalent. The innovation is a security feature called Balance, and it appears that BlackBerry is willing to share ts innovation advantage with other platforms to make more smartphones serve as good business phones.

Balance is a partitioning system that allows Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:BBRY) to create separate profiles on the same smartphone – one for personal use and one for business/work use. These profiles are completely exclusive of each other, with their own settings, folders, passwords, encryptions, etc. The personal profile is controlled by the user, while the business/work profile is controlled by the employer’s IT officer. This partitioning allows for sensitive work information and emails to be secure when the user is using the phone personally, and there is no way to access the business profile until it is needed.

What makes this so innovative, and why share such an innovation?