BlackBerry penning open letter of reassurance for customers [UPDATE]

There is a future for customers hoping to stay inside the BlackBerry family – at least that's what BlackBerry wants the public to believe as they send out an open letter this week for reassurance. This letter comes from BlackBerry itself and is being pushed by BlackBerry's chief marketing officer Frank Boulben. He's made clear that this letter is being sent to major media outlets in order to "set the record straight" about what's been going on and on what's about to be going on in the near future for the company as a consumer-ready hardware and software creator. UPDATE: Full PDF now available.

While the full letter has not yet been released, it's not secret what's inside. Word on the abilities BlackBerry continues to possess for future smartphone sales, reassurance that the company will indeed be focusing on future products, and a general message on one-ness for the BlackBerry 10 user platform. Boulben has spoken with the Washington Post on how this letter will be assuring users of BlackBerry 10 that their operating system is safe, and that they'll continue to research and support handsets running BlackBerry 10 into the future.

"We have very competitive and differentiated products and services," Boulben said. "They have a lot of value for all stakeholders ... and the company, financially, is strengthening. ...

It's important that they hear that message of focus. We're not trying to be everything for everyone." – Boulben for BlackBerry

Boulben also spoke on BlackBerry's behalf in the realm of future products. He suggested that the company's overall focus will continue to show how both their hardware and software stand out from the pack, both in productivity and security. He'll be attempting to push this message to a select set of peoples across the United States and abroad this week, with special emphasis on Washington.

In Washington, government agencies have been using BlackBerry products for some time – but that connection is currently on the downturn. Boulben says that security will be of particular importance in keeping this crowd around. This means reassuring the safety of not only BlackBerry smartphone hardware, but on software for iPhones and Android smartphones as well.

You've no doubt seen the headlines about BlackBerry. You're probably wondering what they mean for you as one of the tens of millions of users who count on BlackBerry every single day. We have one important message for you:

You can continue to count on BlackBerry.

How do we know? We have substantial cash on hand and a balance sheet that is debt free.

We are restructuring with a goal to cut our expenses by 50 percent in order to run a very efficient, customer-oriented organization. These are no doubt challenging times for us and we don't underestimate the situation or ignore the challenges. We are making the difficult changes necessary to strengthen BlackBerry. One thing we will never change is our commitment to those of you who helped build BlackBerry into the most trusted tool for the world's business professional.

And speaking of those dramatic headlines, it's important that we set the record straight on a few things."

The letter itself begins as you see above. We'll be checking in again when it's published – likely by Thursday of this week in full. Stay tuned, BlackBerry fans!

Yes, there is a lot of competition out there and we know that BlackBerry is not for everyone. That's OK. You have always known that BlackBerry is different, that BlackBerry can set you apart. Countless world-changing decisions have been finalized, deals closed and critical communications made via BlackBerry. And for many of you that created a bond, a connection that goes back more than a decade.

We believe in BlackBerry – our people, our technology and our ability to adapt. More importantly, we believe in you.

We focus every day on what it takes to make sure that you can take care of business.

You trust your BlackBerry to deliver your most important messages, so trust us when we deliver one of our own: You can continue to count on us.

UPDATE: You can now read the entire BlackBerry Open Letter PDF if you wish, a couple of passages of which are included above.