RIM have published an IT Policy update for BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4.1.2 and later, allowing administrators to control some of the new functionality available in version 7.1 of the Smartphone operating system. This update does not apply to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express product.

New features include:

• Disable FM Radio
• Application Installation Methods
• Application Installation from Specific URLs Only
• SecureKey Browser Plug-in.
• IETF WebSocket Connections in Browser
• Override Hotspot APN Information

The IT Policy update itself can be downloaded here as a ZIP file - http://btsc.webapps.blackberry.com/btsc/dynamickc.do?externalId=KB29510&...

To install the new definitions, extract the contents of the ZIP file.

BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5

• Open the BlackBerry Administration Service.
• From the BlackBerry Solution Management panel, expand Policy.
• Click Manage IT Policy Rules.
• Click Import IT Policy Definitions.
• Browse to the temporary folder where the ITPolicyPackHH710.zip file was unzipped.
• Select the ITPolicyPackHH710.xml file.
• Click Save.

BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4

• Open BlackBerry Manager.
• Select BlackBerry Domain.
• Select the Global tab.
• From the Tasks list, select Service Control and Customization.
• Select Import IT Policy Definitions.
• In the File Open dialog box, navigate to the temporary folder where the ITPolicyPackHH710.zip file was unzipped.
• Select the ITPolicyPackHH710.xml file.
• Click Open to import the IT policy rules definitions.

Once installed, any devices activated on the BES running the 7.1 device software, will have a number of additional configuration options available in the IT Policy:

Under Common Settings:

Disable FM Radio:

Allows you to enable or disable use of the device's FM Radio capability.

Under WiFi Settings:

Override Hotspot APN Information:

Allows you to override the name given to the wireless network created by the BlackBerry Smartphone when being used as a portable wireless hotspot.

Under Browser Settings:

SecureKey Browser Plug-In
IETF WebSocket Connections in Browser:

SecureKey is an NFC-based form of user authentication. When enables, as well as entering a username and password to access sensitive resources, they must also use the NFC capabilities of their BlackBerry Smartphone to tap a keyfob or other form of physical security device.

The WebSocket standard defined by the Internet Engineering TaskForce (IETF), is a means of tunneling connections to non-standard browser ports (ie other than HTTP-80 and HTTPS-443) over permitted ports using a single TCP socket. See Wikipedia for more information - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebSocket

Under Security Settings:

Application Installation Methods
Application Installation from Specific URLs Only:

Allows you to control what sources users can install applications from.