Welcome to my blog

Welcome and thank you for visiting my blog....

This is where I will pen my thoughts on Enterprise Mobility and other wireless technologies based on my learning’s/ experience over the course of my IT career.

The wireless world has been a very exciting place to be over the last few years. We have seen the introduction of ground breaking products and technologies have reached a never-before-seen level of maturity. The rate of enterprise adaptation to wireless technology is only accelerating day by day.

This is a personal blog and will focus on my thoughts and perspectives on wireless technology. Please feel free to share your opinions and viewpoints so that it can be discussed and debated. Though I would like to, I won't be able to post to this blog each day. Will try my best to write whenever I get time.

I hope that you will return often to this blog. Thanks again.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Six things that may disappoint business users in iPhone 3GS

Here are the 6 things that may disappoint business users in iPhone 3GS.
1. Battery life
For business users one of the top priorities in a smartphone is a good battery life. Though Apple iPhone 3GS has improved battery life, many analysts still feel that the model fails to match up to most BlackBerry models.
iPhone 3GS provides up to 5 hours of 3G talk time or Internet use. Apple claims that the new model supports up to 12 hours of talk time, 30 hours of audio, 9 hours of Wi-Fi and 10 hours on video playback.
BlackBerry Storm supports battery life of up to 15 days (standby time) and up to 5.5 hours (talk time).
2. Security weaknesses
In terms of security too iPhone 3GS has gone several notches up over its predecessor, however, the new device still leaves lot for improvement.
According to many web reviews, iPhone has been hacked far too many times to be considered a secure platform. iPhone's new operating system, OS 3.0, reportedly includes 46 security patches. The majority of the patches are for the iPhone's Safari browser and the WebKit open source browser engine.
On security front, one of the most loved features in the new device is the Remote Wipe which allows users to erase all data from an iPhone that has got lost.
3. No physical keyboard
Another big miss for corporate users is the absence of a physical keyboard. Though the new software includes a landscape keyboard for Mail, Messages and Notes, however, most business users feel that a slider-style QWERTY keyboard would have been more handy.
Research In Motion's (RIM's) BlackBerry phones pack QWERTY keyboard for easy typing.
4. Video conferencing
Though Apple has fulfilled a long time wish by enabling the device to record videos, however, iPhone 3GS still lacks front-facing camera for video conferencing.
This means the device is not capable of sending videos across a Wi-Fi or cellular network in real time. This comes as a big disappointment especially for business users in the age of video conferencing.
5. No editing in Word Document
Another dampener for business users is absence of editing support for Word documents. This means while iPhone users can read Word documents, they cannot edit it. This again is an area where Apple needs a bit of rethink especially while targeting the device in the business segment.
Unlike iPhone 3GS, most smartphones let users edit Word documents to make changes and send them. However, there are a couple of third-party solutions that may solve this issue.
6. No Flash
iPhone 3GS also disappoints corporate users looking forward to Flash support in the new version. The latest iPhone too offers no Flash support.
This is a big miss for users who may want to see those multimedia files that require Flash or browse through Web pages with Flash on their iPhones. Earlier, Apple had said that Flash would run too slowly on the iPhone.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Mobile Applications for all your different needs

Popular Mobile Apps

by Purushottam Darshankar

Social networking-
If you are an intrepid Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Photobucket, YouTube or Friendster fan, wish to blog, share video or geotag photos, want BBC or CNN, iTV or NowPublic on your phone...make the ShoZu mobile app (http://m.shozu.com) your single-window social media hub.

Check out Fring (www.fring. com) too. It’s a dependable app for instant messaging (IM) and free calls across Skype, MSN Messenger, GoogleTalk, ICQ, SIP, Twitter, Yahoo! and AIM. As backup, you can also install Nimbuzz (www.nimbuzz. com). It’s a neat mobile messenger that allows you IM as well as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) across several services.

Google mobile app
www.google.com/mobile/default/app.html You’ve probably heard of all the apps from this stable—Gmail, Search, Maps, News, YouTube, Latitude and other Google gurgle. But did you know that some of these are directly accessible from your phone without any browser bumming? You can download the mobile Gmail to quickly check your mail on the go. You can also use Google Sync on several phones to synchronize your Google Contacts and Calendar with your hand-held. Latitude will let you broadcast your current location on a map to friends and family.

Nokia Beta Labs
http://betalabs.nokia.com/betas The Nokia Beta Labs’ landing page has several interesting Symbian S60 tools. The best of these include Wellness Diary, a personal journal that helps you record and track health parameters such as weight, eating habits, exercise, blood pressure, etc., and Sports Tracker, a phone-centric GPS-based activity log that automatically records workout distance, routes, speeds and time in your training diary. It even allows you to share the information with others via a website.

You may also want to try Handwriting Calculator, and Ovi Contacts applications from this stable. But remember, before you download these; check out if they are compatible with your handset.

Web browsers
The Opera Mini (www.opera.com/mini/) browser is fast and furious. It features several advanced and user-friendly features, including personalized skins, YouTube video playback, bookmark sync, page saving for offline browsing and user-defined shortcuts, etc.

If you have a Sony Ericsson handset, try the full-fat, albeit slower Ozone (www.o3mobi.com) Web browser. Though it runs on a very limited number of handsets, Ozone offers a more desktop-like browsing experience.

Internet radio and podcasts
One of the best things about listening to Internet radio over your phone is not having to use those constantly tangling earphone sets. Small and easy to install and run, Nokia Internet Radio (http://www.s60.com/life/application/displayDetails.do?appId=320) gives your phone access to hundreds of Internet radio stations over Wi-Fi as well as GPRS. You can pick the quality of your connection according to your ambient network.
Check out Spodtronic (http://www.spodtronic.com/en/specialpage.html?pid=3) too. Another free Internet radio app, it lines up a wide variety of audio entertainment for your phone—including podcasts and mood-based personalized radio. You can also get download-and-play-later podcasts from Nokia Podcasting at http://europe.nokia.com/get-support-and-software/product-support/podcasting.

Reading
If you are an avid reader and don’t mind your mobile phone’s small screen, Wattpad (www.wattpad.com/download) is a good option. Download the app and plunge into community-driven categories ranging from biographies to business, sci-fi to sports, tech to travel. You can also upload your stories, ruminations and essays to jokes, and share it with the Wattpad community.
For audio books, install the Nokia Audiobooks (http://betalabs.nokia.com/betas/view/nokia-audiobooks). For free audio books, go to Librivox.org. You can use the Nokia Audio Books Manager to convert and transfer them to your phone.

WidSets
www.widsets.com WidSets is a collection of around 4,000 widgets (mini apps), including games, fun, news, sports, weather, utilities, games, social content, videos and much more. So, instead of diving in and out of sites looking for interesting apps, you can check out this one-stop site and fire your searches. It’s currently compatible with over 300 phones—we wonder what will happen after WidSets metamorphoses into the Nokia App Store in June.

Dr Jukka apps
www.drjukka.com/index.html This is another stockpile of various Symbian S60 applications available in one place. Most people will be able to make good use of Y-Browser, an uncomplicated phone file manager and Y-Alarms, a multi-alarm utility. 50 Widgets comprises an expansive collection of games and puzzles.

Yahoo Go!
http://mobile.yahoo.com/go If Gmail is not your cup of tea, you can check out Yahoo! Go. This all-in-one download gives you real-time access to email, news, search, stock quotes, Flickr photos, maps, etc. You can build your own menu according to your interests. Depending on whether you are interested in MTV or eBay auctions, Hollywood gossip or bull runs in the market, you can add or delete what you want.
Not convinced? Visit the Yahoo! Go homepage on your PC before downloading it and take the app for a spin through an interactive demo.

Miscellaneous

Money Lite
www.flyingbirdsoft.com/freeware.html
This light app helps you track your expenses, deposits, transfers and other transactions.

FlipSilent
http://flipsilent.com
Stop fumbling for the Silent button. Flip your phone over to mute the ring or refuse a call. Needs an accelerometer and works on limited handsets.

Phling!
www.phling.com
Phling! connects you to all podcasts and pictures stored on your PC.

Pocket Express
http://pocketexpress.com
Get zippy access to news, sports, weather, stocks, travel, entertainment and other updates on your phone without deploying a browser.

Qik
www.qik.com
A video-streaming app that enables you to share your life in real time with family and friends from your mobile phone.

GyPSii

www.gypsii.com
It automatically captures geotagged pictures, video and audio on your phone and lets you share these with friends in real time.

Zyb

www.zyb.com

Terrified of losing the contact numbers on your phone? Zyb backs up and syncs and updates your contacts to the Internet automatically.