U.S. approves BlackBerry 10 platform

WATERLOO, Ont. - Research In Motion has won U.S. security clearance for devices based on its yet-to-be launched BlackBerry 10 platform.

The Waterloo, Ont.,-based company announced early today that it had received the crucial Federal Information Processing Standard certification, known as FIPS 140-2.

RIM (TSX:RIM) says the certification will enable government agencies to deploy the new devices. It says this is the first time BlackBerry products have been FIPS certified ahead of launch.

The announcement came a day after RIM stock fell by more than eight per cent to $8.23 after a report from an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities warned the BlackBerry 10 software may be "dead on arrival."

The company's stock had been on a rally of late, lifting steadily in the past week to a four-month high. Wednesday's tumble nearly wiped out all of those gains.

But RIM played down the analyst's comments, saying the software had received positive reviews elsewhere.

The company said earlier this month that its new smartphones were being tested by 50 phone carriers around the world, ahead of their launch early next year.

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