The U.S. Department of Defense is planning on purchasing more than 650,000 iOS devices to upgrade its existing digital ecosystem, an unconfirmed report claims.
The huge pending order for Apple hardware is apparently a result of a mobile platform testing program currently underway at the Department of Defense, Electronista reports. "Following completion of the first phases of the project, as well as a few other initiatives coming to fruition, the Department of Defense will be ordering just over 650,000 iOS devices from the Cupertino manufacturer following conclusion of the sequester," the report claims.
Quoting sources familiar with the matter, the report states that the department will order 120,000 iPads; 100,000 iPad minis; 200,000 iPod touches; and the remaining 210,000 will be various iPhones. Although the ultimate destination of the hardware may vary, the source said that "more than half are headed to the battlefield, afloat, and to associated support commands. Most of the rest will stay [at the Pentagon]."
Things are definitely not looking so great for Blackberry as another source reveals the iOS devices were intended to replace nearly all the older BlackBerry devices. Although the Canadian company has launched its new BlackBerry 10 operating system recently, none of the 470,000 BlackBerry devices in use by the DoD are equipped with the new software.
The department recently announced that Pentagon will largely open its network to Apple's iPhones and iPads and to other smartphones and tablets running Google's Android OS by February 2014. Releasing its new plan for speedy adoption of mobile devices, the Pentagon says the goal is to establish wireless voice, video, and data capabilities by October of 2013, with wider device availability beginning next year. A major part of the new policy was reported to be a possible departure from its current BlackBerry standard toward a more 'platform agnostic' policy, which would see an integration of devices running Apple's iOS as well as Google's Android operating system.
