Pentagon to approve Apple, Samsung devices in coming weeks

As expected, the Pentagon is said to be preparing to approve the use of various Apple and Samsung devices by employees of the US Department of Defense. The US government's Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) will reportedly rule that Samsung Galaxy smartphones and iOS devices running iOS 6 meet standards to allow them to be used in the Pentagon.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon will approve Samsung and Apple devices separately, as it's said that Samsung devices will be approved for internal email use, while iOS devices will be approved for other "nonclassified communication" methods. This seems that the Pentagon is dealing the approval with slight caution, which is unsurprising since they've relied on BlackBerry for so many years.

The Pentagon isn't a huge market for Apple or Samsung, but the approval could give both Apple and Samsung permission to boast about the security of their two platforms, which in turn could result in more sales for the two companies. And while the Pentagon isn't pushing out BlackBerry, we could see a drop in BlackBerry devices being used in the Pentagon.

When Samsung announced its GALAXY S 4 smartphone, it also announced a new security platform called Knox, which is made to secure your sensitive work information, but while also keeping your personal life separate and readily available. The Pentagon could be looking at this as a crucial feature in their approval process.

[via Wall Street Journal]