ubiquitous

Editor's Corner

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 19:01:39 -0500

Wave goodbye to the PDA
There's a great industry perspective piece over at Computerworld on why the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA, or aka Palm Pilot) will fall to being a niche mobile device as smart phones take charge in the enterprise. It's an amazing trend outlook, especially for anyone who was around in 1993 when Apples' Newton launched into orbit as the first PDA. The device let users manage tasks, appointments and contacts. Today's versions include great features such as email, phone calls and Web browsing. Then came the ubiquitous PalmPilot, and of course the BlackBerry, way back in 1999, which gave workers a virtual office environment to work from. But now it seems, due to price and the impact of cellular service providers, the future will be the smart phone. Find out why, and how this trend will hit home in your enterprise just as hard as the PDA revolution did. -Judy

Also: As you may have noticed, the IT-Wireless website now features a comment link for each article. To promote this new feature and increase reader participation we are holding a cell phone giveaway contest every week in November called Let Your Voice Be Heard. This week, one lucky participant will receive a Sony Ericsson W810i in a random drawing--and all you have to do is post a relevant comment on any of the stories on the site!

Tracking the advent of mobile email in enterprise

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 20:01:36 -0400

The widespread use of mobile email in enterprises is still more than a few years off, though there have been quite a number of advancements and inroads made by device makers, software creators and services providers who see a bright future for the technology. But it's likely not something that's even hit the 'consider' list for most tech leaders, and there are slew of reasons for that. As with any emerging technology, the best approach is to keep track of what's happening with the developing industry and the issues under scrutiny so that you can determine if and when to bring mobile email into your enterprise. A great starting place is a two-part series on the technology and developments which also provides some unique insight from a vendor who has been working hard for the last decade to make mobile email as ubiquitous as the PC. Article

Editor's Corner

Sun, 30 Apr 2006 20:01:40 -0400

Ever since the dawn of the beeper device, which lets people communicate wherever and whenever, I've had the sneaking suspicion that ubiquitous access was not far off. The emerging communications technologies we all use today in our very mobile lives prove the point. While we can still claim the cell phone was off, the beeper was off or IM was turned off, there will soon come a day when there won't be any excuse for not answering a message or returning a call as the person reaching out will know exactly where we were and what we were doing.

It's called "presence technology," and it's bringing us all closer to the Big Brother syndrome, but this time on the workplace rather than government level. Once companies move to a unified messaging platform the capabilities to know exactly what an employee is doing at any time no matter where they are could very easily become reality. And while I can see the business benefits to having such access and information, I can also see the danger point of losing privacy during our workday.

As a recent article at CIO Insight points out, there is a lot of discussion and planning about expectations and employee education head before the next wave of communications hits the enterprise. - Judy

How to get a strong grip on new technology security

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 19:01:38 -0500

Mobility is so ubiquitous today that even consumers know what PDA stands for, and the basic wireless device, the cell phone, is morphing into a multi-tasking gadget in unprecedented fashion. While it's great that users are getting savvier about new tools and services, they're still committing the huge sin of deploying handhelds and device access without the permission, or even simple notification, of the IT department. That's exactly why you need to get a grip on everything in hand that's being used for business today--from camera phones to those cute portable data storage devices and, of course, wireless computing and emerging peer-to-peer technologies.

As one CIO explains, it's not a matter of getting around to it, it's a matter of doing it as soon as possible thanks to all the vulnerabilities created by the new wireless device army. Find out how to secure and manage each of the four technologies mentioned above, the unique aspects within security tied to each one, and why you also need to stay ahead of your users in learning what's coming next in wireless mobility functions and tools. Article