Barack Obama looks set to keep full access to his personal inbox, after reports that he will be given a spy-proof smartphone to replace his cherished BlackBerry.

President Obama, a self-confessed BlackBerry addict, famously said that administrators would have to “pry it from my hands” after becoming inaugurated.

But security concerns have delayed a final decision as to whether or not he would be able to keep the device while in office.

According to the blogger Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic, however, government agencies have approved a unique, highly encrypted device through which Mr Obama will be able to use it to check “routine and personal messages”.

Mr Ambinder wrote: “With few exceptions, government BlackBerries aren't designed for encryption that protects messages above the SECRET status, so it's not clear whether Obama is getting something new and special. The exception: the Sectera Edge from General Dynamics, which allows for TOP SECRET voice conversations.”

Mr Ambinder added: “It's not clear whether he yet has the device.”

The Sectera Edge is a heavy-duty, highly secure mobile phone, one of the few certified by National Security Agency for top-secret government usage. It was developed under a Defense Department project called SME-PED or Secure Mobile Environment Portable Electronic Device. It costs around $3,350 (£2,400).

The Obama Administration and General Dynamics have not commented on the reports.

The new Administration has been working through problems surrounding the security of the handheld device and how e-mails and other messages would fit into public record laws. The Secret Service is also thought not to consider the device to meet their highest security standards.

But Mr Obama has always sounded optimistic about keeping his BlackBerry.

He said in a recent CNN interview: "I think we're going to be able to hang on to one of these. I want to be able to have voices, other than the people who are immediately working for me, be able to reach out and – and send me a message about what's happening in America."

It remains unclear whether Mr Obama's messages from a new portable device would be public under the Presidential Records Act, which requires the National Archives to preserve e-mail and other records, if he were to use the device only for personal communications.

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