USA President Barack Obama's long standing use of a BlackBerry smartphone may be coming to an end as the White House tests phones from other manufacturers for security compliance.
President Obama's use of the BlackBerry phone became a topic of considerable interest during the original campaign for the Presidency and he was closely associated with the Canadian brand.
Despite some concerns that he would have to ditch the phone as US President due to the need for communications to go through approved channels, he has held doggedly onto the handset.
However, the White House communications team is now reportedly testing Samsung and LG handsets as possible replacements for the entire White House staff, including the US President.
Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal said that any decision was still months away.
"We can confirm that the White House Communications Agency, consistent with the rest of the Department of Defense, is piloting and using a variety of mobile devices," a Defense Department spokesman said.
The US President already uses an Apple tablet for reading, but the company's iPhone is not part of the latest security screening.
Responding to the news, a BlackBerry spokesperson said that "only BlackBerry is designed to meet the high-security needs of U.S. and allied government agencies,"
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