BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) will no longer be a part of the Nasdaq 100 index, the market operator announced Saturday on its website. Nasdaq 100 index includes the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the electronic exchange. According to an AFP report, RIM is one of the 10 companies to be removed from the index in its annual revision process.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which had recently dropped BlackBerry in favour of Apple's iPhone, said it will test the new BlackBerry 10 platform and smartphones in January. The news came in at a time when RIM's shares rallied to their highest close in seven months and the Canadian smartphone maker hopes the new line of devices - to be launched on Jan. 30 - will revive its fortunes.
"The agency plans to launch a pilot program to test BlackBerry 10 devices and the BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 to see if the new operating system can meet its needs for security and mobility. ICE will be among the first government agencies to give BB10 a spin," a CNET report said.
"ICE has been a valued BlackBerry customer for years, and our commitment to government agencies has influenced the development of the BlackBerry 10 platform," Scott Totzke, RIM's senior vice president for BlackBerry Security, said in a statement. "We look forward to sharing more features of the BlackBerry 10 platform at our global launch event on January 30."
RIM has been facing stiff competition over the past few years from high-end smartphones such as iPhone and others running on Google's Android operating system. In its renewed efforts, RIM is banking heavily on BlackBerry 10, its latest smartphone, to persuade both corporations and government users to stick with it. While holding on to its strong security features, the new device, powered by the BlackBerry 10 operating system, promises to be faster and smoother than previous BlackBerry phones.
"The BlackBerry 10 platform has received FIPS 140-2 certification, meeting the criteria for secure encryption set by the U.S. and Canadian Governments. This certification enables government agencies to deploy both BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 and BlackBerry 10 smartphones from the day of launch," Totzke said.
