Google's Android operating system may soon receive the US government's seal of security approval, according to a report from CNN.
Citing a source close to the project, CNN says that developers in a government program are working on smartphones that run a customised version of the OS with security improvements. Though the first batch of test devices is authorised only for storing confidential documents, phones and tablets capable of transmitting the documents over wireless networks could arrive in the next few months.
Michael McCarthy, a director for the Army's Brigade Modernization Command, told CNN that the Army has been testing touch-screen smartphones at US bases over the last two years (a fact that CBS News also reported in December 2010). Though the Army has issued 40 of the modified smartphones so far, it will ship an additional 50 handsets and 75 tablets to service members by next month.
For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Military, government officials could get secure Android phones on CNET News.
