Government Agency Plays With Kindle Fire

NEW YORK, (TheStreet) -- Necessity's the mother of invention, particularly when you're a government agency trying to innovate in an unforgiving budget climate.

Washington may not be synonymous with cutting-edge mobile working, although this looks set to change, according to Karen White, CEO of cloud-based file management specialist Syncplicity. "I think that cloud and mobility trends will be something that government invests in widely," she said, nodding to one particularly inventive project.

One of the company's government customers, she explained, is exploring the use of Amazon's(AMZN) Kindle Fire as a way to share Microsoft(MSFT) SharePoint information among mobile workers. This, added the CEO, could provide a cost-effective alternative to more expensive tablet hardware such as Apple's(AAPL) iPad.

Amazon initially launched its Kindle family of products as e-readers, but recently debuted the Fire, which also functions as a Google(GOOG) Android tablet. Priced at $199, the Kindle Fire significantly undercuts the $499 iPad.

White declined to name the government customer in question, but explained that Syncplicity's cloud services are an effective way to lock down data on the devices.

The Menlo Park, Calif. -based firm uses SSL technology to encrypt transmitted data and files. Once files reach the company's data center, Syncplicity also uses AES-256 military-grade encryption before the data's stored. The software "key" used in this process is then sent off to a different location as an another security precaution.

Additionally, all data stored with Syncplicity is held within the U.S., something that would be key for a federal organization.

"I would have never guessed a year ago that a federal government agency would be looking to the latest Kindle as a device to access their SharePoint or laptop-stored files through Syncplicity," added White, in a blog posting. "I think customers will continue to surprise us with the innovative ways they are deploying the new technologies and the velocity at which they will adopt new solutions."

Clearly, though, the federal sector has its eye on the mobility market. Earlier this year, for example, Washington approved Research In Motion's(RIMM) PlayBook tablet for use, highlighting agencies' desire to deploy next-generation of mobile devices.

--Written by James Rogers in New York.

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