Update: Barack Obama now has choices for a cell phone.

From Engadget.com

NSA-approved smartphones leaves Obama with some ugly choices

by Ross Miller, posted Jan 13th 2009 at 6:33PM

Next week's US presidential inauguration of Barack Obama will have one sour note for the Illinois senator. Sure, he's gonna be the leader of the free world, but the notorious BlackBerry addict will have to give up his smartphone -- and frankly, if given the choice, we'd probably choose cellphone over country. There is hope, however, as CNET outlines two Windows Mobile devices that met the NSA's seal of approval for governmental use back in 2007: General Dynamics' Sectera Edge and L-3 Communications'Guardian. Unfortunately, both options look about as dated as the Treo 650, with exceptionally large antennas to boot. Hey NSA, any chance we can get something a bit sexier on the approval list?

Steven: So it now comes to light that since 2007 the NSA has approved thse 2 devices for government use. I would assume they have secure link ups for transmittance of data and several other protocols which separate it from the normal stuff we can buy. These devices all run on  the US government's Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet) and Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNet), so I suppose President Obama is going to LOVE being around Wi-Fi hotspots and Starbucks. My question I suppose is this: what are the new devices available that we haven't seen? And to reader Matthew, you were probably correct about the assumption that a big obstacle to the President keeping his Blackberry was the fact that it is supported and made by RIM, a Canadian company, Both of the companies which made the devices above are STRICTLY USA defense contractors completely based here in the States.