iPhone For Me

Sort of. I will be getting an iPhone from AT&T so I can test in our corporate environment. I’ll have 30 days to give it a real workout and then decide whether to support it in our company or go exclusively with the Blackberry as we do now. In general, these are the features I will be looking at:

• Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync
• Push email, calendar, and contacts
• Cisco IPSec VPN
• Wireless network services
• Global Address List (GAL) support
• Certificates and identities
• Enforced security policies
• Device configuration
• Remote wipe

Specifically, I will be testing how these features work in “our” environment. Having these features are great but meaningless if they don’t work the way we do. The iPhone must do well in these areas for me to be able to justify the introduction into our company. The Blackberry does, so we will see how it stacks up. Not so much against the Blackberry but rather is it a viable alternative considering it does have consumer features that are attractive. Stay tuned.

Blackberry Bold vs iPhone 2.0

As my job as IT Director for my company, I need to decide which new mobile device to purchase for my use. I am listing what I believe are the pros and cons of the Blackberry Bold* and iPhone for use in our Exchange corporate environment. Do I go with the tried and true Blackberry or the iPhone with its promising new features?  So, based on the info below, and using as little bias as possible, which would you choose?

Blackberry Bold

They’ve been doing the smartphone thing the longest. I have used a Blackberry for the past five years. While some devices were better than others, they all did one thing well—work in a corporate email environment.

features/attributes:

• release date: mid-August
• display: 2.5″, 480 x 320-pixel, Transmissive TFT LCD, HVGA
• 65k color display
• Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g)
• Bluetooth 2.0 with full A2DP support GPS (enhanced and assisted), BB Maps is standard
• 1GB of flash memory
• microSD memory expansion (supports up to 16GB cards)
• 2MP camera, 5 x digital zoom (with flash)
• 4.5″ tall x 2.6″ wide x 1.5″ deep
• weight: 4.7 oz
• quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) HSDPA/UMTS (850/1900/2100)
• BlackBerry Media Sync allows you to transfer your desktop iTunes music to your BlackBerry
• browser allows full html support and allows user to view movies/clips from websites built for mobile streaming, RSS feed support
• battery: standby: up to 310hrs, talk: up to 5hrs

pros:

• Blackberry name.
• full QWERTY keyboard, the faster to text you with
• 3G
• brilliant display (same number of pixels as the iPhone 3G, but 1″ smaller screen = sharper image)
• Proven success with Exchange

cons:

• delay due to battery concerns
• delay due to overheating issues
• least open SDK (less cool apps unless directly from RIM)
• Web browser does a less than stellar job of rendering full HTML websites
• an inch deeper than the iPhone 3G

iPhone 3G (2.0)

New territory here for me but has intriguing new features. But is it ready for the corporate world enough for me to give it a try? If its possible, I can make just about anything work if its worth it. Note: I am a Mac, iPod and iTunes user.

features:

• 4.5″ tall x 2.4″ wide x 0.48″ deep
• 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display
• 480-by-320-pixel resolution at 163 ppi
• 16M color display
• weight: 4.7 oz
• 16GB model: Black or white
• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
• Assisted GPS
• camera: 2.0 megapixels, geotagging enabled
• battery life: talk time: up to 5hrs on 3G, up to 10hrs on 2G, standby: up to 300hrs, internet: up to 5hrs on 3G, up to 6hrs on Wi-Fi, video: up to 7hrs, audio: up to 24hrs

pros:

• the real internet,  with support for web standards, SSL, and Cisco IPSec VPN (really shines here)
• with the SDK out there, the iPhone will evolve feature sets rapidly (within the bounds of the hardware)
• 3G
• big screen
• awesome photo interface
• compatible with iTunes
• highly rated call clarity
• an inch shallower than the Bold

cons:

• Exchange support is not fully tested, by me
• battery not removable
• the screen smudges because it gets touched all the time
• touch typing is different and new = scary, real QWERTY > virtual QWERTY
• no streaming video on the internet
• no voice dialing (not good here in California)
• no MMS messaging (think text messaging with pictures)
• no flash on camera

*I was thinking of waiting for the Blackberry Thunder, their first touchscreen attempt, but it is going to be a Verizon exclusive and we have an AT&T corporate account. So that is not an option unless I buy it myself—highly unlikely.

iPhone: What’s On Yours?

iPhone: What’s on Yours?
New Features, Reviews, Sites, Apps, Specs, Help, Questions, Answers, Support

Found this site that lets iPhone lovers submit their favorite apps and then people can vote them up or down. Good place to see what apps are out there and what others think about them. Click on Twitter bird to check it out.