"The President has a BlackBerry through a compromise that allows him to stay in touch with senior staff and a small group of personal friends in a way that use will be limited and the security is enhanced to ensure his ability to communicate, but to do so effectively and to do so in a way that's protected."

On that link you can also see the video of the press conference (or just skip ahead to the announcement). The clear winner in this debate today would have to be Sectera Edge and all the free publicity it has received.

President Barack Obama may be getting a souped-up, super secure version of the BlackBerry called the Sectera Edge, recent speculation suggests. The NSA-certified device could allow Obama to fulfill his wish of staying connected, some suspect, while also addressing the numerous security concerns that come with the territory.

He goes on to explain how this would address the personal needs a Blackberry can provide:

The Sectera Edge offers one-touch switching between classified and regular "Joe Dialtone" mode, too -- so if you ever feel like slumming it with the unsecured masses, you're just one click away.

So is this thing really a Blackberry or what? The article goes on to say it runs on a Windows platform, so I guess that's a no. It is compatible with T-Mobile and AT&T, but at a hefty $3350 price tag I doubt i will try to 1up any of my friends with this bad boy.

Image from PCWorld.com

This morning we've been barraged with tips alerting us to the news that President Obama has won his struggle to keep his (apparently deeply loved) BlackBerry -- a device which has historically been verboten in the White House due to security concerns. Unfortunately for the mainstream media outlets, a little conflation here and a little lack of fact-checking there does not a BlackBerry make. Just about everyone -- straight up to CNN and the AP -- are sourcing a post by Marc Ambinder in the Atlantic stating that Obama is "going to get his blackberry [sic]," though the actual news may be far different.

and goes on to say

The problem is that Ambinder (and the mainstream media) doesn't seem to know the difference between some NSA smartphone and an actual RIM BlackBerry... and there's a big difference. Of course, we won't tell MSM (or even solo bloggers) how to do their job, but we think there's some serious air-clearing called for here.

I guess it's time for my "dear diary, mood: apathetic" moment.... and my blog is so new! I was hoping to hold off the emo a bit longer!

"On Monday, a government agency that the Obama administration  -- but that is probably the National Security Agency -- added to a standard blackberry a super-encryption package.... and Obama WILL be able to use it ... still for routine and personal messages."

Awesome. I have had my Curve since Oct 07 and I'm now 100% addicted. If our awesome new President reads this, hit me up with a BB IM PIN request! I'm sure your security can manage to find mine

Image originally used on CBSnews.com