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BlackBerry Still U.S. Government’s First Choice

Politicians and their aides will have to wait a little while longer to blend in with the cool kids. Even though several high profile clients have dropped BlackBerry as the company-issue phone, the U.S...
BlackBerry Still U.S. Government’s First Choice
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  • Politicians and their aides will have to wait a little while longer to blend in with the cool kids. Even though several high profile clients have dropped BlackBerry as the company-issue phone, the U.S. government has pledged to hold on to their BlackBerry devices.

    In other words, no Androids or iPhones for Congress or the White House just yet.

    Even though the rest of the tech community the world over has been trading in their BlackBerry phones, the plan in the Beltway is to remain BlackBuried alive. Despite the way the rest of the world seems to be swaying, Casey Coleman, the chief information officer at the General Services Administration, told the Washington Post that they “appreciate RIM’s focus on security which is paramount for government use.”

    Agencies and big contractors note that the BlackBerry is cheaper than the iPhone and many Android devices. IT departments across the government have years-long contracts with RIM and the wireless carriers that promote the device. And tech staffers at federal agencies are trained to fix BlackBerry products, which makes it harder to switch to new technologies, analysts say.

    Also, given all of the security breaches that iPhones and Androids have had in the past couple of months, it’s hard to really argue that point until some of those issues are fixed.

    [Via Washington Post.]

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