enterprise application

Four new Verizon phones

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 06:59:58 -0400

Unwilling to let AT&T run away with the "cool phone" title, Verizon is keeping up the phone flood, with four new instruments aimed at diverse groups, from music lovers to enterprise application and email users. The Verizon Wireless Juke, from Samsung, has a keyboard and Bluetooth plus support for multi-format music files. The Blackberry Pearl 8130 is a road-warrior's companion, with EV-DO network support, GPS, and the familiar Blackberry interface. LG's Voyager has a full QWERTY keypad, a web browser, and full media capabilities for a package that makes it the most direct competitor to the iPhone. Finally, the LG Venus hits the street with dual screens and vibrating feedback for keyclicks. The phone wars are heating up, and that can be nothing but good for consumers.

For more on Verizon's new phone lineup:
- read the complete news story at DailyTechRag
- and check out a slideshow of the new phones

iPhone out as enterprise device?

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 20:01:36 -0400

It's coming. Apple's iPhone will hit the market this week, and it's a big event--AT&T has added 2,000 employees to handle the anticipated rush. The Big Deal for consumers may be No Deal for the enterprise: Gartner says it's prepared to recommend its customers not allow iPhones into the network. Why the enterprise-class antipathy? A lack of enterprise application capabilities and the possibility of serious security problems are combining to make corporate IT professionals cautious at best. How will you and your company deal with the iPhone? Your time for pre-release decision-making is drawing short.

For more on the iPhone's enterprise potential:
- Read the expert opinion at eWeek

A whole new mobile way

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 20:01:39 -0400

A whole new mobile way
Ahh, the Foleo. If you haven't seen any industry news for the last week, then you've missed the discussion around the latest platform from the mind of Jeff Hawkins, the man who brought us the Palm Pilot and the Treo. The new "smart phone companion" may be another in a long line of technology misfires--or it may be a platform that ends up changing the way a lot of us work. I'm betting that it's closer to the second than the first. If you're like me, you depend on constant access to e-mail, documents, and the web, but you're tired of carrying around a desktop-replacement laptop and your thumbs aren't quite quick enough to use a Treo as your main word processor. The Foleo brings just enough functionality with just enough keyboard and screen--and it may well bring just enough difference to your enterprise application platform to change the way you work.

802.11n will be another technology that changes the way your networks are built. If you're interested in learning more about the new WiFi and how it will change wireless LAN deployments, sign up for a free webinar on June 12. -Curtis

After Interop

Mon, 28 May 2007 20:01:39 -0400

After Interop
At last week's Interop trade show in Las Vegas, there were two main topics of conversation: wireless computing and security. The greatest change I heard discussed is the new realization that a wireless platform is going to be part of the enterprise infrastructure from now on. As wireless becomes part of the infrastructure, the target will be an environment in which the user doesn't know (and doesn't need to care about) what sort of network they're connecting to--they'll simply connect to the enterprise application wherever they are, over the network that is most appropriate at the time. The challenge for IT is creating the security and application delivery infrastructure to create a seamless user experience regardless of where the user is when they access the application. The challenge for users? Understanding that enterprise information is only as secure as their least secure method of accessing the network. The takeaway from Interop is that networking is going to change dramatically in the next two years. The good news is that many of the tools that will create the new environment are already in place--we just have to understand how to put them together in the new enterprise. - Curtis