The Pentagon has reportedly cleared Samsung and BlackBerry devices for use on Defense Department networks, with Apple soon to follow.
Reuters reported that Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Damien Pickart said the department had cleared BlackBerry 10 smartphones and PlayBook tablets with the Enterprise Service 10 system, for use, as well as Samsung’s Android Knox security feature.
The Pentagon said Apple devices using the iOS 6 operating system were likely to be cleared in early May, Reuters said.
Pickart said the clearance of BlackBerry and Android devices was a significant step towards a multi-vendor environment which supported a variety of devices and operating systems; so the duopoly of Apple and Android has got even the military watching.
Pickart said the clearance, given after mobile devices and operating systems are reviewed by the Defense Information Systems Agency, meant groups within the Pentagon could now purchase the devices most appropriate for their work, Reuters reported.
It said the move to open pu the networks to a broader array of mobile devices was part of an effort to ensure the military had access to the latest communications technology, without locking itself into to any particular company.
The Guardian reported the Pentagon currently had around 600,000 smartphone users, mostly using BlackBerrys, but that it ultimately aimed to have as many as 8 million smartphones and tablets.
The struggle for the third ecosystem, or which company can become a major player rivalling Apple and Google, has been a hot topic in the mobile world for some time now, with BlackBerry, Microsoft and even Mozilla struggling for dominance.
