back to article White House may ditch BlackBerry, adopt LG or Samsung, ignore Apple

What BlackBerry and new CEO John Chen definitely don't need right now is bad publicity, but that's exactly what The Wall Street Journal has provided them, with a report that one of its remaining high-profile customers, the White House, is mulling over a switch from the formerly high-flying Canuckphone to devices from Samsung or …

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  1. boondox
    Paris Hilton

    Don't really see a big deal here for BB...

    I mean, they're only "testing" alternatives. That doesn't mean that they'll win out over Blackberry in the end. Tests can and do fail.

    I see the "apparent" Apple snub in a similar light. It could also be that these tests are solely to check the appropriateness of Samsung, LG, etc., for use by the White House. Just because they're said to be testing "X"... that doesn't mean that "Y" had failed to get a nod or wasn't being considered.

    Besides, its never a good thing to put all one's eggs in one basket, not so?

    Paris, cuz apparently the English language is confusing!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Don't really see a big deal here for BB...

      When the US invades Canuckistan to make up for the Russian takeover of Crimea, and prevent the Russian invasion of the Yukon, they will need to be using a non-Canadian phone system for their secure communications.

      1. Hit Snooze
        Joke

        Re: Don't really see a big deal here for BB...

        When the US invades Canuckistan...

        I thought the plan was to invade so we wouldn't have to pay roaming charges and to secure our supply of sandpaper?

      2. Simon R. Bone

        Re: Don't really see a big deal here for BB...

        weirdly enough they planned to do this in the 1930s

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Plan_Red

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Don't really see a big deal here for BB...

      Surprised there is no mention of Windows Phone - it's far more secure and suitable than the LG or Samsung options.

  2. goldcd

    My own view

    is that nothing of any great worth was ever sent from a handheld device of any brand/OS.

    You simply cannot work from a phone sized device.

    Blackberry got their devices out first and allowed VPs to roam the earth banging out sentences of such utter banality that they were noticed and ridiculed by all " *bollocks* from the Blackberry of xyz" etc. Impressive status symbol for them, hated by the rest of us.

    What they were actually useful for, was just to allow people to keep in touch when we all got one, what critical mail has come in, what meeting has just appeared whilst I was mid-lunch etc. This was BB's golden age.

    This basic stuff we all actually need is now available everywhere and BB is now just tilting at windmills - I'm sure the Q10 is the best device out there to write a poly-paragraph diatribe on how your company should address the market - but step back, and you simply shouldn't be writing stuff like this on something you just pulled out of your pocket whilst pondering your next duty-free swiss luxury watch.

    1. Daniel B.
      Boffin

      Re: My own view

      Except they are still relevant, and are still the only ones with "Authority to Operate" by the DoD. As long as the competition doesn't get this, BB will remain in government and military sectors. Of course, there's also the Sectera Edge, but I wonder how many people in the DoD actually have one of those...

    2. fandom

      Re: My own view

      "You simply cannot work from a phone sized device."

      They are pretty good for work related phone calls though.

  3. Pirate Dave Silver badge

    The WH is considering

    replacing a BB with a Windows Phone? Wut? April 1 is still more than a week away...

  4. Frank N. Stein

    Chen makes a good point. BB10 is already security certified by the government. It's hard to imagine Windows Phone being as secure or more secure than Blackberry 10. Given that Microsoft bends over backwards to share personal data with the government, how can they secure a platform that is already apparently full of holes?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Windows Phone is already way more secure than BB10 - about 30 known vulnerabilities in BB10 so far versus zero in WP8. And is government certified: http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2013/09/18/windows-phone-8-gets-key-us-government-security-certification/#!A4kkI

      1. Daniel B.
        Boffin

        Bummer

        WP8 got FIPS 140-2 certified. While it is commendable (IIRC other non-BB devices haven't got that yet), WP8 still needs the other cert, the one from DoD mentioned in the article. And well, vulns can and will be patched, while having 0 known vulns doesn't mean there aren't any.

      2. Omniaural

        Zero WP8 users?

        Does anybody care enough to find vulnerabilities in WP8?

        Is there enough users worth exploiting when those who have opted for the platform are obviously susceptible to more traditional cons and don't need anything too sophisticated to get access to the family jewels?

  5. AMBxx Silver badge

    Open Source Android

    Would get interesting if the government decided to create its own secure fork of Android. No idea of the practicalities, but they'd have complete control

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Right...

    The media, especially American ones have been bashing BB since what, 2007? Maybe earlier?

    I'm not sure what sort of beef they have with Blackberry, but let's see here. A report that the Americans may adopt S.Korean hardware as opposed to Canadians...

    I don't know much about the world, but I do know LG/Samsung both sucks as much or maybe more than Apple on security. BB's the only firm really focuses on security first.

    I also know Canadians are friendlier to the Americans than S.Korea, and I'm sure S.Korea is pretty much full of spies from the north, China and Japan. So really. News? Errgh, pointless speculations to drive BB stocks down more likely. Wallstreet's been playing with BB's stock with the media quite well over the past few years.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Right...

      "BB's the only firm really focuses on security first."

      And Microsoft.

      1. Daniel B.

        Re: Right...

        Dear MS shills, if you're trying to pass off as actual users, stop using the AC flag.

  7. Zot

    Perhaps one reason why they don't want an Apple phone.

    You can't take the battery out of an iPhone, so you can never be sure that it's not transmitting.

    (Also that LG Curve looks really nice!)

    1. Vince

      Re: Perhaps one reason why they don't want an Apple phone.

      IIRC you can't out of many Lumia's running Windows Phone or the Blackberry Z30 - granted there are variants in both case, but I suspect your thought is nonsense. Like most of the comments & the article itself.

      1. AMBxx Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: Perhaps one reason why they don't want an Apple phone.

        I can take the battery out of my Lumia 520. Can't see POTUS using a cheap phone in a nasty shade of orange though. ;)

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Let me get this right

    The White House, being somewhat careful with security, is evaluating Samsung/Android - possibly the most insecure and hacked mobile platform ever. Really? Why?

    1. Zot

      Re: Let me get this right

      I guess they'll find out from all the testing they're going to do in the evaluation?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "ever-loquacious "person familiar with the matter," "

    I know that guy. Real jerk - never knows when to keep his mouth shut!

  10. Daniel B.
    Meh

    Meh

    So the "news" is actually hearsay. Haven't these rumors been doing the rounds for a couple of years now? And yet, Blackberry does seem to keep the edge on security, being the only ones with "Authority to Operate" by the DoD. If the White House were to switch smartphones, they should use their own NSA-approved Sectera Edge handsets, instead of going for stuff from other parts of the globe. At least most of my Blackberry handsets are made in Mexico, which at least is within the US's vicinity vs. "somewhere in China".

  11. JaitcH
    WTF?

    What about Boeing's super glued, super secure ...

    cell handset that self-destructs when opened?

    A bargain at $650!

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