iPhone Winning Corporate Users

Those who have the iPhone will know what I am talking about. Once you have it, you'd never want to use any other phone. I survived the Blackberry sentence for 2 years, its no fun. The iPhone is the best ever, its a lot of fun, and its like having an iPod as well. Buy the docker/player and you have a good sound system while charging your phone as well. The iPhone's strength is also its main weakness. As app downloads are managed exclusively through the iTunes Store, IT managers can't centralise installation and security updates as with other software. Unlike Blackberry or Windows Mobile devices, each phone must be updated by its end user, even if update prompts are pushed to the device. But, the pull factors of iPhone are so great that more and more senior execs are pushing their IT department to cave in.

Gartner: The uber cool iPhone is making inroads into the business market with new enterprise applications making it hard for IT managers to swim against the phone's popularity tide.

It is now deployed or being piloted by more than 70 per cent of Fortune 100 companies, according to Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief financial officer.

“We're continuing to see a rapidly growing number of enterprise CIOs who have now added the iPhone to their approved device list. This penetration has doubled since the iPhone 3GS first shipped this past (US) summer,” he said at the company's first quarter results presentation on Jan 25.

Yellowfin's iPhone app for business.

According to Gartner, the iPhone operating system is now the third most popular in the world commanding 17 per cent of the smartphone market, behind Nokia's Symbian with 44.6 per cent and Research in Motion (RIM) with 20 per cent.

Glen Rabie, chief executive of business intelligence software maker Yellowfin, says corporations are surrendering to the iPhone's appeal.

Apple's OS share rose 4.2 per cent in the year to October 2009, behind RIM's 4.9 per cent, at the expense of Symbian and Microsoft's Windows Mobile which lost 5.1 and 3.2 per cent respectively. Google's newcomer Android managed to capture 3.5 per cent market share in its first year.

Much of the rise of Apple's share stems from consumer uptake; nevertheless its use in enterprise environments is rising.

“We've certainly seen a massive uptake of the iPhone by the enterprise. Executives just want it and are telling the IT people to just make it work. There are cases where all executives have iPhones and the rest of the staff have Blackberries. Slowly it filters down,” Rabie says.

Yellowfin counts Telstra, Levi's and government agencies as clients. It recently joined the likes of Salesforce.com in launching an iPhone app to allow access to it server-based business intelligence packages.

“The iPhone has built a mindset to make everything simpler. Each app only does one thing, which is good because people just do what they need to do,” Rabie says.

Apps v Security

The iPhone's strength is also its main weakness. As app downloads are managed exclusively through the iTunes Store, IT managers can't centralise installation and security updates as with other software. Unlike Blackberry or Windows Mobile devices, each phone must be updated by its end user, even if update prompts are pushed to the device.

“In my view that's the only thing that is holding it back,” Rabie says.

At the same time, RIM which has a strong enterprise foothold precisely because of its security and all-in-one infrastructure is not letting the app fever pass it by. It recently launched its own app store App World, allowing Blackberry users to search for and download apps directly from a central website, rather than having to search through software vendors' sites or wait for their IT managers to do it.

Small business no brainer

David Campbell, owner for David Campbell Building in Sydney, has a fleet of seven iPhones which staff use on construction sites. They are trialling a “Tradies App” developed by the company to aid onsite supervisors to compile a daily site diary, document variations and issue sub-contractor agreements and purchase orders on the spot. He hopes the app will be available through iTunes soon, maybe even bringing in some extra revenue.

“We had Blackberries and Treos before, but they don't stack up in the ease of use for the guys,” Campbell says.

Enterprise Requirements

While end users and small businesses value user experience more, enterprise IT managers have a different wish list. Anthony Petts, sales and marketing manager, HTC which manufacturers Windows Mobile and Android phones, says they want:

- email exchange functionality

- centralised security

- calendar and contact synchronisation

- keyboard input

- a range of hardware models to suit different staff levels/requirements

“When I ask people why they want an iPhone they say because it's the latest. There's hype, buzz and a notion of status affecting the buying decision, but in the enterprise when they look at security and functionality (other phones) become a real consideration for them,” Petts says.

Predictions

Gartner predicts it's Android, not iPhone, that will overtake RIM as second biggest smartphone OS in the world by 2012. Windows Mobile will manage to maintain its market share although suffering greater pressure from open source despite the Marketplace app store launch.

However, Petts believes Microsoft will strengthen its grip on the Australian smartphone enterprise market with Windows Mobile 6.5 and HTC's own HD2.

He says the phone combines the finger-sensitive (capacitive) screen that iPhone and Android users prefer with the accuracy of stylus-driven (resistive) screen the enterprise demands.

“We've had very strong enterprise coverage with Windows Mobile predominantly from a security and infrastructure point of view. If companies have Microsoft Exchange set up, there's nothing else they need to do and they'll have all the security that comes with that. No additional investment, no need for another server and they can add Microsoft Sharepoint and Office to it to keep it in the family,” Petts says.

Top smartphone hardware vendors, Asia Pacific (unit sales)

Nokia - 75.3 per cent market share (down from 79.9 per cent in Q1 2009)

Apple - 8.1 per cent (from 3.8 per cent)

HTC - 6 per cent (from 4.6 per cent)

RIM - 3.6 per cent (from 2.9 per cent)

Samsung - 2.9 per cent (from 2.4 per cent)

Source: Gartner, Q3 2009.

p/s photos: Christina Chan Hau Mun

Google's Nexus One vs iPhone3GS

Well, just as I am in line to eagerly get my hands on my iPhone32GS, along comes the new Google phone. Its like you are running Pixar, and then suddenly there is this old guy Jimmy Cameron reinventing the whole platform with Avatar. As much as I dislike posting articles from other sites, I had to cause I do not know enough about phone software or hardware to make intelligent commentary.

WSJ: Google this week is taking two dramatic steps to try to catapult devices using its Android mobile operating system into stronger competition with Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry in the battle for supremacy in the super-smart-phone category.

First, the search giant is bringing out a beautiful, sleek new Android phone, the Nexus One, built to its specifications. Second, it has decided to offer the new phone—and future models—to consumers directly, unlocked, via the Web, and then invite multiple carriers to compete to sell service plans and subsidized versions of the hardware.

Google

The Nexus One has a larger screen than Apple's phone, and is a bit thinner, narrower and lighter—if a tad longer. And it boasts a better camera and longer talk time between battery charges.

The company also plans to sell the costlier, unsubsidized version to consumers in the U.K., Hong Kong and Singapore immediately. Like Americans who buy this unlocked version, these customers will have to purchase carrier service separately, something they should be able to obtain right away by just buying and inserting a SIM card from a carrier with compatible technology. (This initial unlocked phone won't work with Verizon or Sprint in the U.S., nor on AT&T's 3G network, only the latter's slower network.)

I've been testing the Nexus One for a couple of weeks and I like it a lot. It's the best Android phone so far, in my view, and the first I could consider carrying as my everyday hand-held computer. It is a svelte gray device with a 3.7-inch, high-resolution screen; a thin strip of buttons underneath for home, back, menu and search; and a trackball.

The Nexus One finally has the right combination of hardware and software to give Android a champion that might attract more people away from their iconic iPhones and BlackBerrys. It has a larger screen than Apple's phone, and is a bit thinner, narrower and lighter—if a tad longer. And it boasts a better camera and longer talk time between battery charges.

The iPhone still retains some strong advantages. It boasts well over 100,000 third-party apps—around 125,000 by some unofficial estimates—versus around 18,000 for the Android platform. And it has vastly more memory for storing apps, so you can keep many more of them on your phone at any one time. On the Nexus One, only 190 megabytes of its total 4.5 gigabytes of memory is allowed for storing apps. On the $199 iPhone, nearly all of the 16 gigabytes of memory can be used for apps.

In fact, the $199 iPhone 3GS has roughly four times as much user-accessible memory out of the box, though the memory on the Nexus One can be expanded via memory cards. Apple also has a more-fluid user interface, with multitouch gestures for handling photos and Web pages.

As for the BlackBerry, its user interface looks older and clumsier with each passing day, but it has a beautiful physical keyboard many users love, while the Nexus One has a virtual, onscreen keyboard.

Google

The Nexus One is packed with its own tricks. Its version of Android is essentially the same improved edition as the one that appeared on the Motorola Droid back in November. But it has a few new features, including an experimental dictation capability. You just press a microphone icon on the keyboard and start talking, and the words appear. In my tests, this worked only adequately at best, and very poorly at worst, but Google insists it will learn and improve.

The phone also has handsome new visual features, including "live wallpaper," with waving grass or pulsing colored lines; and a new zooming effect when you want to view icons that aren't on your main screens. In addition, you can now view miniatures of your five main screens to help you navigate to the one you want.

The Nexus One also has all the key software features introduced in the Droid, including free turn-by-turn voice-prompted navigation.

In my tests, overall, the Nexus One worked very well. The latency I had seen in earlier Android phones is gone, due to a slicker version of the operating system and faster chips. The phone feels good in the hand and the screen is magnificent, with much greater resolution than the iPhone's.

I like very much the way social-networking information, including status messages, is integrated into the contacts app. One tap on a person's picture in Contacts lets you quickly choose whether to call, email or message her, or map her address—all without opening the contact card itself.

I also liked the pictures and videos I was able to take with the five-megapixel camera and flash, which I preferred to my iPhone's camera. You can even view a photo slideshow or listen to music when the phone is in the optional desktop dock.

But there are some downsides to the Nexus One. Like all Android phones, it relies too much, in my view, on menus that create extra steps, including some menus that have a built-in "more" button to display a secondary menu of choices.

I also found the four buttons etched into the phone's bottom panel sticky and hard to press. In addition, although the Nexus One claims seven hours of talk time versus five hours for the iPhone, most of its battery-life claims for other functions are weaker than Apple's.

For instance, Google claims just 6.5 hours of Wi-Fi Web use per charge, versus nine for the iPhone, and 20 for music playback versus 30. Google claims this is because, unlike Apple, it allows the simultaneous use of third-party apps, which can drain the battery faster.

In addition, the Nexus One, and other Android devices, still pale beside the iPhone for playing music, video and games. The apps available for these functions aren't nearly as sophisticated as on the Apple devices.

Finally, the iPhone is still a better apps platform. Not only are there more apps, but, in my experience, iPhone apps are generally more polished and come in more varieties.

But, with its fresh phone and bold business model, Google is taking Android to a new level, and that should ramp up the competition in the super-smart-phone space.

Feature	Google Nexus One	Apple iPhone 3GS
U.S. carrier	T-Mobile at launch, Verizon later.	AT&T
Price	$529 unlocked; $179 with T-Mobile contract	$199 or $299 with AT&T contract, depending on memory
User-accessible memory	4 gigabytes, expandable to 32 gigabytes	16 or 32 gigabytes, fixed
Minimum monthly service fee*	$79.99	$69.95
Available 3rd-party apps	Around 18,000	Over 100,000
Memory for application storage	190 megabytes	Nearly the full capacity of phone
Syncs media files with PC or Mac	No, manual copying only	Yes, iTunes
Multitasking of apps	Yes	Only Apple apps
Screen size	3.7 inches	3.5 inches
Screen resolution	480 x 800	480 x 320
Removable battery	Yes	No
Camera	5 megapixel, flash	3 megapixel, no flash
Length	4.68 inches	4.5 inches
Width	2.35 inches	2.4 inches
Thickness	.45 inches	.48 inches
Weight	4.58 ounces	4.8 ounces
Claimed voice-calling battery life on 3G	7 hours	5 hours
Claimed Internet battery life on Wi-Fi	6.5 hours	9 hours
Claimed music-playback battery life	20 hours	30 hours
Claimed video-playback battery life	7 hours	10 hours

Sources: Google, Apple, T-Mobile, AT&T

*Nexus One plan on T-Mobile includes 500 voice minutes, unlimited data and unlimited text messaging. IPhone plan on AT&T includes 450 voice minutes and unlimited data, but no text messages, which cost at least $5 a month extra.