Northern, WI 05/06/2013 (usmarketsdaily) - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd (KRX:005930) (Closed: 1514,000.00 KRW, Down by 1.37%)’ mobile devices will now be used on the Pentagon networks. This heralds the beginning of a tussle amongst the big smartphone makers for a share in the military market. The Defense Department has now approved the use of Samsung devices that run on a secure version of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (Closed: $845.72, Up by 1.94%)’ Android OS. To date the Waterloo, Ontario-based Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (Closed: $15.63, Down by 0.45%) has been the dominant player in the field for providing mobile devices to the military.
The other lucky ones
With this move, Samsung now has the capacity to compete with it in that market as well. At the moment, Samsung holds top spot in the commercial-use smartphone market. According to a Pentagon spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Damien Pickart, Apple devices too may receive similar clearance very soon. In a statement, he said that this is an important step towards ensuring that a multi-vendor environment is created which uses an array of modern devices that operate on different operating systems. According to the statement, the Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (Closed: $15.63, Down by 0.45%)’s Blackberry 10 devices and PlayBook tablets have also been given security approval.
Secure mode
Samsung vice president and general manager of enterprise, Tim Wagner said that that the U.S National Agency has worked closely with Samsung to create a Google OS version called Knox which is a “Secure Enhanced Android” which had been built with multiple layers of hardware and software protection. It will permit employers to keep all their military and corporate applications as well as data in secure mode in a tablet or smartphone. The information can also be erased remotely if required. If an employee happens to lose a device or leave the organization the Pentagon does not have to be concerned about the data being lost or misused.
Opening up other markets…
Samsung is the largest technology company in Asia. It said that the Galaxy S4 which had been released last month will be very first smartphone that will be using Knox. This also means that other regulated industries and government agencies such as financial and health care services can start using the Samsung Galaxy tablets and smartphones. To date the Pentagon relied almost entirely on Blackberry’s it wanted its employees to have the flexibility to use those that work on iOS and Android as well.
