It's unclear exactly how or why one of America's largest oil energy companies ever decided to require its employees to use Canadian smartphones, but starting this year, Halliburton is going to switch from BlackBerry to iPhone. Apple Insider's Kasper Jade broke the exclusive story on Monday afternoon:

"Over the next year, we will begin expanding the use of our mobile technology by transitioning from the BlackBerry (RIM) platform that we currently use to smartphone technology via the iPhone," the Houston, Texas-based firm told employees in an internal newsletter this month. 

The move comes after "significant research" into both Apple's mobile platform and Google's Android operating system led Halliburton to "determined that the iOS platform offered the best capabilities, controls and security for application development." For Halliburton, supporting multiple platforms is not currently seen as feasible option.

In case you missed it, BlackBerry devices are by Research in Motion (RIM), a struggling Canadian company. Make jokes about the non-rivalry between the United States and Canada in the comments, at will. But be nice, please.

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Adam Clark Estes