The handheld database manager, HanDBase, just got bumped up to version 4, with a few new bells and whistles, including Vista support. The UI has gotten a bit of a facelift, the OS X client now has searching and sorting functions (which seem pretty vital for database work), 5-way navigation for Palm and Windows Mobile, and a few other things. As ever, HanDBase syncs with Microsoft Access through a bundled utility, although it’s wired only. If you’ve got a boatload of information that you want to keep an eye on from your BlackBerry, you can pick HanDBase up for $39.95 over here.
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HanDBase gets upgrade to version 4
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Yeah, it sounds ridiculous, I know, but there are some companies that are putting iPhone before BlackBerry, such as German software developer SAP. Their latest mobile customer relationship management package will be coming out for iPhone before BlackBerry or Palm. It’s easy to fob this decision off as one company making a poor business decision, but the fact is RIM isn’t completely stone-walling Apple’s progress into the enterprise market. Even if Apple remains the underdog in enterprise mobility, not unlike its status in the computer market, they can still manage to nab a healthy slice of the pie. Nobody’s expecting BlackBerry to be ousted as Corporate King anytime soon, but there will be points where it’s rubbing shoulders with Apple. It’ll be interesting to see who else makes the switch as the iPhone settles in.
Apparently it’s true, according to a recent study from In-Stat. Over the next five years, the OS-based smartphone market is forecasted to make upwards of 30% growth each year (except Palm of course), leaving the standard cell growth rate in the single-digit realm. This boom for feature-rich mobiles is good news for carriers, who can expect to see an increase in average revenue per user who’s making use of all those fancy bells and whistles.
“Because of the value users are finding, organizations are slowly taking ownership of smartphones and data applications used for business purposes,” says Bill Hughes, In-Stat analyst. “Rather than having overcomplicated reimbursement plans, more organizations are finding it more expedient and economical to treat wireless voice and data services as a business expense when they use smartphones.”
The mobile learning software Learning Mobile Author by Hot Lava will be compatible on BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm and other devices as of their latest release. Their platform allows for quick content publishing to a broad group for on-the-fly job training, not unlike Mobile Chalk. The new version also features podcast support, which we could see as having some very handy applications. Need to issue daily updates to a scattered workforce? Hot Lava would let you podcast it out.
While the BlackBerry might still need some work against the iPhone, it’s still kicking tail against other smartphone manufacturers when it comes to keeping enterprise buyers happy. J.D. Power and Associates used a rating system which examined a smartphone’s ease of use, operating system, form factor, audio, battery and utilities, in order of weight. Palm and Samsung tied for second place, with Motorola behind the industry average. Outside of that, the survey also touched on some other trends among smartphone users, such as the 40% who wants GPS versus the mere 26% who want Wi-Fi. The top features folks are looking for in a smartphone are “personal information manager (PIM) functionality (50%), Internet capability (48%), Bluetooth capabilities (46%), general ease of use (44%) and overall design/style (44%).” Funniest thing is that games topped enterprise users’ choice for third-party software – all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, huh?
We’ve heard it all before, but now analysts are backing up Balsillie’s big talk about the iPhone not being competition. A recent report from the NDP Group aimed at guaging Apple’s success in the mobile market has come to the conclusion that while the Treo and Sidekick suffered some converts as a result of the iPhone, the lack of enterprise e-mail kept BlackBerry users from switching. While encouraging, is that the only thing stopping the iPhone from putting a dent in RIM’s armour? Let’s say hypothetically that the iPhone gets Exchange server support – will that be enough to turn the tide? As far as carriers go, T-Mobile and Alltel lost plenty of subscribers to AT&T; the subscribers for both were three times more likely to have switched over for an iPhone.
