President Obama may abandon his beloved Blackberry in favor of an Android device before he leaves office.
White House officials are in the early stages of testing new smartphones, including handsets from LG and Samsung, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
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Citing a source familiar with the plans, the report says teams who oversee technology and communications within the White House are in the process of testing new mobile devices for "internal use."
The source said devices from Samsung and LG were being tested but iPhones were not.
"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 in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, though he didn't name specific devices.
The testing is reportedly in early stages and it would be months before any changes are implemented. It isn't clear if the president, who famously uses a specially-made BlackBerry, would be among those at the White House to eventually make the switch.
The news is nonetheless another setback for the already struggling BlackBerry, which has historically relied on government contracts. Company CEO John Chen has said that reestablishing those contracts would be a key emphasis for BlackBerry going forward.
BlackBerry laid off more than 30% of its employees last Fall after posting nearly$1 billion in losses.
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