What does SAFE stand for?

Samsung Approved for Enterprise.

Which phone was first?

The Galaxy S III was the first SAFE-branded smartphone in the United States.

The branding changed over the years. Samsung's current business security tools are described on its own site.

Samsung SAFE: Making Android Ready for Business Email

Archive note. This story reflects what was known when it was first covered. Prices, availability and carrier offers are historical. For the current picture, start with the topic guides.

The BlackBerry habit

The author of the original post told a story familiar to many Canadians. A friend at a large firm asked for an iPhone and the company, after a thorough review, subsidized his own choice instead of issuing a BlackBerry. Years later many firms still said BlackBerry was the only thing that handled corporate email. Only recently had one attendee’s company agreed to allow Android phones.

What SAFE offered

Policy support. The Galaxy S III supported 338 IT policies out of the box.
Encryption. On-device AES-256 encryption.
Email. Better support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync.
Remote management. Support for leading VPN and mobile device management (MDM) tools.
Testing. VPN and MDM vendors used Samsung’s software development kit, and Samsung then tested their support on the device.

Samsung also said the programme was meant to reduce fragmentation by giving IT departments one consistent level of compliance across Android versions from Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich.

Business features of the Galaxy S III

Samsung highlighted AllShare Play Group Cast for sharing presentations and PDFs, S Beam for tap-to-share, Share Shot for photos, and TecTiles, NFC tags for businesses. The 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED screen used Corning Gorilla Glass.

The trade-in offer

Samsung also announced SAFE2SWITCH, a trade-up programme that valued an existing phone in real time for individuals and companies.

What it meant for Canada

The announcement focused on US carriers, but the author expected the same approval to apply in Canada. One practical tip from the post: switching from BlackBerry Enterprise Server to ActiveSync could add a small monthly fee on some plans, so ask the carrier before changing.