The latest chapter in the ongoing Obama BlackBerry saga emerged from a , who pointed out that it isn't clear that the encryption in question is anything new. Nor is it clear what it will allow the president to do. The and the White House would not comment to Ambinder and could not be reached by Computerworld for comment.

Obama has said repeatedly that he wants to keep his BlackBerry as a way to stay in touch with all sorts of people outside the presidential bubble, something he was used to doing before being elected president. remarked on the need to reach outside of the White House to average people outside of his staff.

A number of security concerns have been raised about his using a BlackBerry device, but most analysts have told Computerworld that the biggest security threat . That concern, which would include e-mails sent from a laptop, for instance, centers around the fact that someone could claim to have gotten a message from the president when, in fact, Obama had sent nothing.

Despite new talk about encryption, a security expert said the main issue about how the president would use his super-encrypted BlackBerry is whether it was being used for contact with people outside government. If Obama wanted to reach an outsider via the BlackBerry, then the person getting his messages would need to have a BlackBerry equipped with super-de-cryption capabilities.

That's not likely to happen because of the cost -- and inherent loss of security -- involved in sharing encryption technology for public use, said Daniel Castro, a senior analyst for security matters for the Washington-based non-profit Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.