Tablet Devices

Keep taking the tablets?

You’ve probably seen or heard a lot about the latest technology hitting the market, tablet devices.  Apple launched the iPad back in May 2010 and sales have been very strong with over 6 million devices sold worldwide.  

Initially people viewed the device as a consumer gadget but now many businesses are seeing the benefits.  The financial, health and technology sectors have been the early adopters but with so many developers producing vertical sector applications, we believe they (tablets) could become a rival to the laptop very soon.

The device that will really accelerate growth in the business market is the eagerly awaited BlackBerry Playbook.  

This tablet is due for UK launch around February 2011 and will come in an Enterprise ready format.  This means for the first time IT Managers can securely control documents, applications, downloads and web browsing simply by deploying the Playbook through their BlackBerry environment.  The playbook also comes with the internet industry standard Flash Player as well as HD cameras on the front and back making it great for video conferencing.

Other tablet variants have been launched by Samsung, Dell, Nokia and others, so plenty see the massive potential growth in this area.

Why would I be interested in a tablet device?

The answer is simple – they could offer you a competitive advantage through more effective mobile working.

It is inevitable that comparisons are drawn with laptops, web books and smartphones so here are examples of the features that offer significant improvements:

•    The screen and interface – the good sized touch screen means that viewing documents, web pages, pictures or video is all easy and of excellent quality. Touch screen technology offers a clear improvement in usability and navigation over a laptop mouse.

•  Connectivity –unlike most laptops, tablet devices do not require an additional USB dongle to connect to the web over the 3G mobile networks.

They also have all the functionality that you might expect such as:

•    Email
•    Calendar and contacts
•   Web browsing
• Word processing
•   Spreadsheets
•    Presentation creation

Similarly to smartphones, applications, or apps as we now know them can be downloaded, making these devices limitless in their potential functionality. They are fast becoming a must have for business people to stay ahead of the competition. 

For advice on any aspect of your business communications, contact 8020 Ltd on 01387 250008.

November 2011

Andrew Edgar

Managing Director

8020 Ltd

www.8020ltd.com

Blackberry or iPhone, which is best for business use?

iPhone 3GS 16GB

If you like touch screen devices the iPhone is right up your street.  It comes with an intuitive menu which is very easy to get used to, so immediately making calls and sending texts are no problem.  There’s a great email wizard too that lets you set up POP3 and IMAP internet accounts as well as a Microsoft Exchange email interface for business users allowing you to easily synchronise with Outlook contacts, calendar and your inbox.

Fantastic for personal stuff like music, videos and photos through iTunes so if you use an iPod regularly you’ll get on well with the iPhone.

Applications or apps as they’re known as in the Apple world are endless; you can download an app for just about anything.  Most of them are personal/leisure oriented and whilst there are some good industry specific apps the typical business wouldn’t get much benefit from them in terms of increasing sales or efficiency, reducing business costs or improving customer service.

The iPhone isn’t a great device for multitasking as you can only do one thing at a time, to move from one application to another you need to come out of what you’re doing, back to the home screen and start again.  Battery life not great, particularly with 3G enabled.  Browsing and applications can have significant drain on battery too.  Call quality/signal strength can be poorer in comparison to other phone models.

From a business point of view there’s nothing you can do to restrict, control or monitor what end users do with the device particularly where applications and web browsing are concerned.

Blackberry Bold 9700

This has to be the best Blackberry device RIM has made to date.  With its larger Qwerty keyboard you’ll find typing  on the device easy and once you’ve got used to Blackberry’s menu, which is essentially all controlled from the new trackpad and two keys, you’ll realise what a powerful device it is.

If you want some of the personal stuff that iPhone offers then Blackberry can now sync with your iTunes, and with an expandable Micro SD card you can have up to 16GB of music, photos and videos on a single card.  There’s also Blackberry App World, a whole host of free and paid for Apps to download for your Blackberry.

As an email device it’s second to none, and with the recent release of BES Express which offers full email server integration for businesses you can have total control over your devices, wherever they are.  The BES Express software is free and the data running costs in the UK are typically the same as the iPhone, around £8.00 per month.

Finally battery life and signal strength are both phenomenal on the Blackberry, plus for really heavy users you can always carry a spare battery which isn’t an option on the iPhone. 

Summary: IPhone is a great gadget but if you’re serious about business and don’t want to compromise on voice quality and battery life then we’re recommending the Blackberry. 

For advice on any aspect of your business communications, contact 8020 Ltd on 01387 250008.

Andrew Edgar

Managing Director

8020 Ltd

01387 250008

www.8020ltd.com