New devices
The choice of devices suitable for running business applications has been fairly limited in the past. Only the BlackBerry and possibly the Treo have offered the sort of form factor that have made mobile working a possibility. But now things are really hotting up with models coming from HP, Nokia and Motorola and the launch of the Windows mobile based Treo.
What makes a great business mobile device? …
Well for a start it has to have a usable screen and keyboard, which counted out many devices until recently. So this now includes the BlackBerry 8700 series, the Mobile Messengers from HP, Motorola’s Moto Q and the E61 from Nokia.
These devices have also got to have great connectivity. No longer can the mobile worker do with simply tri-band, now they have to also have bluetooth and wi-fi as a minimum. Some of the very latest models are also quad-band and have 3G capabilities.
Push email support is also a must. Clearly the BlackBerry devices support only their own flavour of push email but the Nokia, for instance, will not only support BlackBerry Connect but also it’s own intellisync and other 3rd party solutions such as that from Good.
Finally, a good browser is also needed, not just to be able to run your apps via AppSwing, but so much information is available on the web that to not have access is to miss out. Clearly this could lead to concerns from the IT department about just what the user has access to but I believe that the gains outweigh any negatives.
The increasing choice of devices also means an increasing choice of operating systems with devices now coming with Windows Mobile, Symbian and BlackBerry’s own OS. Once again it should now be possible to choose what meets the business needs.
I look forward to seeing many more devices being launched over the coming year to extend the choices for the enterprise even further.
RSS Feed