Can Apple and Google Win This New Market?

Once the go-to mobile device for modern business professionals, the BlackBerry line from Research In Motion (NASDAQ:BBRY) has taken a back seat to other manufacturers, who can now offer similar services on their respective platforms.

The BlackBerry OS was once heralded as secure and stable, and as a result, favored by large businesses and government agencies who would employ the BlackBerry smartphone for their employees. However, a string of companies — including Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) — have dropped BlackBerry, and instead allow employees to use their own devices for business purposes. The latest organization to make this switch is the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Pentagon put out a news release this week announcing a “commercial mobile device implementation plan” that would allow Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android devices to be used on its communications networks come February 2014.

“It is going to a multi-vendor policy from an approach that was highly centered on BlackBerry devices,” as Forbes explained…