The World of Mobile Phones – One Man’s Predictions

Let’s face it – for most business professionals, their phone is no longer just a phone.  In fact the “phone” functionality is, oddly enough, becoming less and less important as a feature.  More important to business users now is integration with business applications, ease of use, e-mail compatibility, and wireless synchronization.  Take the iPhone for example.  Through the multiple iterations of the OS, users have remained stubbornly loyal even though the phone service itself was quite poor (a result of AT&T’s service in my opinion).  With the pending release of OS 4.0 for the iPhone, there’s no doubt that Apple will once again make significant improvements on an already excellent product.  Now that the Droid has been released and appears to be holding its own within the market, the market has gotten even tighter for all competitors.  Add to the mix the new Windows Series 7 phone slated for release near the end of the year and the world of phones has clearly grown far more complicated (and interesting) than it was just a few years ago.  So, what does this all mean to us, the business professionals, and moreover, what does this mean for Blackberry (RIM), the once “default” phone for business people? Of course, no one knows for sure, but I’ve got a few predictions…

1. Blackberry’s antiquated pricing model and architecture that requires server software be installed on your network will be a thing of the past. With all the other manufacturers providing functionality without the extra piece of software (or cost) this whole “Blackberry Enterprise Server” nonsense has to go away, doesn’t it?  I say it does – at least for small and medium businesses.
2. The iPhone will continue to gain market share.  Apple just has too big of a lead on some of the other competitors and the “brains” at Apple have been exceptionally successful at addressing the business world’s needs.  The only thing that will hold Apple back will be AT&T.  Anyone hear rumors of a deal with Verizon?  Anyone?
3. The Windows phone will do well, but feel some of the pain any new system/software does. Be prepared for very cool, yet sometimes irritating, and an overall lukewarm experience.
4. The Droid will hang tough, but find it becomes old news very quickly in this ever changing market.  Speed is the need in this fickle market.

Ultimately, I think the innovation within the market will continue to grow – possibly far beyond the true needs of users today (in case we aren’t already there).  I think the differences between the platforms, however, that will begin to dwindle, with each manufacturer stealing the others quality concepts and good ideas.  At the end of the day, I think it will be a benefit to all, providing us with better, more adaptable phones – and we’ll enjoy more choices than ever before.

iphone 3.0 released. Why you should download today if your a lawyer

Here at ITP we make sure we use one of each of the major manufacturer’s mobile devices so that we can make strong recommendations based on actual use to our clients.

For example, did you know the Blackberry Storm is a great device but often mute’s itself accidental when pressed against your ear?

Did you know that the iphone cannot open Wordperfect documents but a Blackberry can?

These might seem small but it is the smaller annoyances that can lead to unsuccessful technology rollouts to your attorneys and professionals.

Back to the iphone. That is my device of choice. With the iphone’s latest FREE release of the 3.0 software which you can get by plugging your device into a computer with itunes. Apple has addressed some of those little nagging issues people had with the iphone. Application developers are excited about more use of GPS and push notifications. For you the professional here is why you should go download it TODAY.

1) Landscape keyboard in email. Finally, flip your iphone and get a much bigger keyboard that you can use your thumbs to type out, just like on a Blackberry.
2) Search your email. Press the “home” button while at the main screen and search all your email/contacts/content on the device. Also find a search box on top of each email folder including for Microsoft Exchange/Gmail and others.
3) ctrl+c ctrl+v ? Sound familiar? Keep looking for those buttons but you can now copy and paste from notes and emails. Select the text. Tap and the options will appear.
4) Here come the physical keyboards. Apple has given us reasons to believe that you will be able to plug in or use Bluetooth for physical add on keyboards.

Small changes but they make a big difference. See the full list of changes here: http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/

The iphone wins the platform award with me every time and thats what I tell our clients. What your iphone is today WILL become better and change with software. I have not seen that kind of feature improvement midstream on a device from any other manufacturer.

Now if only my iphone would stop dropping calls….