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Apple

Now US Customs drops the Blackberry in favour of the iPhone

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

October 23, 2012 | 2 min read

In another big blow to Blackberry, the U.S. Immigration and Customs service intends to buy iPhones for more than 17,600 employees -- a purchase worth $2.1 million.

Blackberry: US Customs say no

The agency has said it will end its contract with BlackBerry maker Research In Motion in favour of the iPhone, according to a Reuters report in the San Jose Mercury News .

The Customs service said it had relied on RIM for eight years, but the company "can no longer meet the mobile technology needs of the agency."

It analysed Apple's iOS-based devices and the Android operating system from Google and concluded that, for now, Apple's iPhone services offer the best technology for the agency because of Apple's tight controls of the hardware platform and operating system, said the report.

Last week, consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton who provide services for the US Government said it was dropping BlackBerry and switching to iPhone and Android smartphones for staff whom they provide with phones.

RIM's new BB10 smartphone, due in early 2013, is expected to l compete with iPhones and Android phones with a revised operating system.

RIM vice president of government solutions Paul Lucier said in an emailed statement said they were disappointed by the Customs decision. "We are working hard to make our new mobile computing platform, BlackBerry 10, meets the future needs of government customers."

The Canadian company said that, after accounting for the ICE move, it had one million government customers in North America.

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