Apple's mobile handset, announced recently as the iPhone, has a
strong consumer attraction, playing on the demand for music tracks
and a wide screen for video playback, with Web browsing and Wi-Fi
for the mobile Internet. A human interface design that moves away
from today's keypad, with its annoyingly smaller and smaller keys,
makes smartphone progress. It may not be quite as revolutionary as
some people think, however. The first iTunes-compatible mobile
phone was the less-than-successful Motorola ROKR model, and the
first to ship with just a touch-screen and no keypad was a design
from Korea's LG.
But just what is there for the business user here? A quick
features briefing for the business user may be useful for IT
managers, who will be besieged by requests for this neat product
when it surfaces around June.
iPhone - Problems for the business user
Not only is this a new operating system to support (some version of
Mac OS X with a new GUI) but the maximum memory today is just 8GB
of non-expandable storage for everything from tunes to new
applications. The only option here is the cheaper 4GB model. Any
new applications that could help the business user -- verticals for
the financial or insurance sectors, for instance -- must be
shoehorned into this, and the iPhone has no slot for a memory
card.
Perhaps the lack of storage reflects Apple's typical approach –
buy a neat box from us, but it is fairly closed system, and we can
control the consumer experience. It also reflects the fact that
Apple may not really be considering the business market, where the
successful smartphone becomes a handheld computing platform for
third-party applications and not just a feature-phone with
email.
For third-party developers, support announced so far has not
been very development friendly. This is a problem for business
users because without a software development kit (SDK) -- none
announced so far -- business user add-on software and verticals
will appear only slowly. There is no support yet for Java or Flash.
Even the microprocessor seems to be a mystery, although there are
rumors that the CPU is made by Samsung -- or Intel -- but whether
to its own or an industry-standard ARM design is not clear.
Overall, this means that it will not be easy to add a suite of
applications that connect remote users into the key
line-of-business applications and databases inside the company,
except for fairly primitive networking. Email and Web access may be
about it. Mac OS X has several development frameworks, such as
Carbon and CoCoa, as well as open source tools that could be used
in a development system for the iPhone, but there is no real news
on this so far.
Also, Apple has many applications in its desktop world that it
could transfer to the mobile world, but they are not included --
yet -- perhaps to avoid upsetting the mobile operators. One is
Apple's iChat, which could provide a lower-cost chat-messaging
service than SMS.
On the connectivity side, this is a 2.5G phone with quad-band
GSM, and although using EDGE for data transfer and Wi-Fi may be
good enough for many business users today, it would need HSDPA,
meaning a 3G mode, to be a really useful handheld for the nomadic
worker.
Running a Mac OS X version might also have certain security
implications, though it should be less vulnerable than current
smartphone operating systems because it is not so well known.
Problems here could include potential misuse of wireless
connectivity and Apple-targeted malware.
More immediately, Apple has chosen an exclusive carrier deal,
with Cingular, to distribute it for the first two years. This seems
to be an "interesting" channel strategy because it limits the
market, especially business usage. It is rather like saying we will
sell TVs through only one department store, one that covers only
certain geographic markets. The outcome is really a consumer
strategy, aimed at those who do not travel much.
To encourage business applications, Apple would have to change
its strategy with an explicit support framework for developers --
not just an SDK but also an application approvals program for new
software (and hardware) products to check compatibility at the
processor and network levels. Apple has never been keen on
licensing its operating systems, and this strategy seems to apply
to the whole iPhone.
In summary, Apple has built a closed machine, taking the line
that the customer does not want an open platform for the phone. To
underline the closed strategy, Apple has even noted that an open
platform could cause the network to go down if an application on
the iPhone crashes. This may be possible, but worldwide it has
happened rarely and only through malicious intent using many
phones. It has never happened in the U.S. with the current set of
smartphones.
About the author: Simon Forge applies more than 20 years
of experience in information industries to his current projects in
telecommunications and computing, specifically exploring new
wireless and computing technologies and potential futures, outcomes
and strategies for markets, products, companies, countries and
regions. Previously, he was Director of IT Development for Consumer
and Business Products for Hutchison 3G UK, managing creation of
software applications for third-generation mobile products,
covering the whole range of multimedia products. He has also
managed a wide range of teams and assignments – from acting as
interim Director of IT Development for the largest utility in the
U.K., to developing one of the largest B2B e-commerce trading
systems in Europe, to bringing 19 disparate acquisitions together
with a unified business architecture, customer management system
and billing system for a European telecommunications company. Forge
has a PhD in digital signal processing, as well as an MSC and BSc
in Control Engineering, all from the University of Sussex, U.K. He
is a Chartered Engineer and M.IEE and sits on the editorial board
of the Journal Info.
About Ptak, Noel & Associates
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