iPhone OS 4.0 Could Make iPad a Business Thin Client
Jennifer LeClaire, Mobile Tech Today, 4/6/2010
Apple’s upcoming iPhone OS 4.0 update could pull business users to the new iPad. Expected to include multitasking, iPhone OS 4.0 would make the iPad a true thin client for enterprises. The iPad is still missing a camera, but iPhone OS 4.0 may pave the way for future iPads to feature cameras. The iPad could be ideal for the insurance industry.
The tech world is still buzzing about Apple’s iPad. As user complaints about Wi-Fi issues and news of jailbreaks are released, business users are exploring the potential of the new tablet device that sold 300,000 units at launch.
iSuppli predicts early adopters and others attracted to the iPad’s unique touchscreen-based user interface will drive iPad sales in 2010. In 2011 and 2012, the firm said, iPad sales will be driven up by a range of factors, including a flood of new applications, improved functionality, and declining prices.
But what about business adoption? Mike Disabato, a senior analyst at the Burton Group, a division of Gartner, said the iPad is missing some important enterprise functions.
“The iPad is the world’s first literal 100 percent thin client. Look at the size of that device and you can imagine what an enterprise user could do with it. The downside is that it doesn’t multitask,” Disabato said. “With that much screen real estate, I need to be able to have an IM open, a VPN open, an e-mail open, and work on a document while I am on a phone call. But where is the camera? Where is the webcam so I can do my Skype video call?”
The Future of iPhone OS
Apple is offering details on iPhone OS 4.0 on Thursday. The new version of Apple’s mobile operating system is expected to include multitasking. The iPad runs on the same operating system as the iPhone. That would allow users to run multiple applications simultaneously on the iPhone, and the iPad when the OS is updated.
“Even if Apple doesn’t offer a camera, if the iPad gets to the multitasking functions with the new OS update and Apple makes the iPad enterprise-class ready where you can encrypt the content, you actually have enough screen real estate there to do some decent stuff,” Disabato said. “Businesses would start looking.”
Apple has been tight-lipped about what new features and capabilities will be included in “the future of iPhone OS.” But multitasking capabilities are widely expected. Analysts also anticipate support for a second camera, higher resolution, a unified inbox, stronger voice-to-text features, and some features from its Lala acquisition that lets iTunes stream to the device from the web.
Pending Business Applications
Beyond the corporate road warriors who may want to adopt the iPad as a cool new alternative to a netbook, Disabato expects the insurance industry to adopt tablet devices once some improvements are made. Insurance companies have previously built applications for the iPhone that let consumers take photos and send them to their carrier in the wake of an accident, he noted.
“How much better would it be for an insurance agent, when they come out to see the damage on your house, if they could take a picture on the same device, integrate into the form, hit a button, and send it off?” Disabato asked. “You no longer have a little screen. Now you are holding up this big screen to take a large-format photo of the damage. This is good. That’s just the first application. Now let’s see what health care thinks.”
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In: iPhone, Mobile Technology · Tagged with: IM, JailBreak, Skype, WiFi
on April 6, 2010 at 6:55 pm
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