AT&T to Target iPhone to Business Customers?

[jicon]

As said by others...

Worthless to corporations running Exchange. I don't know of any businesses who utilize yahoo mail.
3rd Party Apps are a must.
Removable battery a must.
Some sort of tactile feel of the keys is needed for frequent use of the keyboard. I can see many getting frustrated with the phone.

 

[tutubibi]

I get the feeling that this Apple/AT&T relationship will end up in a messy divorce, sooner than anybody expected.

The good side of it: Apple will probably offer iPhone without MNO ties and unlocked sooner that expected.

 

[tribulation]

An SDK and training at developer conference I think is coming.

There's nothing scheduled as of today, the only thing related is a session called "Developing Sites for iPhone" [http://developer.apple.com/wwdc/sessions/].

It mentions "hosted web application". But that's hardly anything worthwhile and a far cry from a local full fledge application. Too bad

I agree with concern of a more open device is a less-secure device argument. But it can be both. Again, look at OSX. The User/Admin approach in OSX has thus far kept the system more secure than just about anything else. Of course there are vulnerabilities in everything, the iphone will most certainly have system updates as well and could/will have security updates too.

Would a checkbox in the Admin user/mode that allows or disallows foreign applications really be that insecure or difficult? Click it, a warning comes up saying that it can make your system insecure, unstable, blah blah...
Then if the user proceeds, it is just the same ballpark as any other computer. If not, the user is safe with apple only apps. Seems like this would fit all users perfectly and since the Admin user in a corporate environment would be password protected, the employee wouldn't be able to do anything with it anyways that the employer didn't want.

 

[tribulation]

Microsoft is gonna make themselves look stupid in a few months when there are indeed apps that'll open/create word files & when other 3rd party apps are released for iPhone.

Saying that the user "cannot install applications on" the device is just stupid of them to even say. Oh, really Microsoft?? Last time I checked, no one said you wont be able to install apps on the phone, just that they will have to pass Apple's tests, like the iPod games are now.

How 'bout shuttin' up until we know the specifics, MS??

This will not end up being much better than the default Apple supplied apps. As it stands now, the iPod is barely, barely open to developers, and only then a very small subset with money. There is absolutely no way for smaller developers to get a foothold in it.

Look at the selection you have now. There are currently 12 official games available for the iPod. That's ridiculous. Apple has very publicly chosen the select few developers to make those games, and not let anyone else in the race - even very skilled and accomplished companies that would have made killer games 50 times what they have now.

Plus Apple takes care of the sale of these apps. I can only image the petty share the developer gets out of that $4.99 for an iPod game.

So no, an Apple-controlled "marketplace" or approved apps will not make it a platform that people will develop for. Anyone that does anything besides email and web browsing on a normal Mac uses umpteen shareware type products daily. Really, look through your computer and check out the number of shareware apps you have and use all the time that were created by a smaller company with less than a million-dollar annual income [figure picked from the sky, you know what I mean]. Some of the best programs available and most used programs on the Mac were and are made by small developers with 1-5 people. Those companies would not stand a chance in an Apple-controlled iPhone world...

 

[dashiel]

I can see this for small businesses but not for large businesses.

Corporations need to be able to encrypt the content of the device, they need to comunicate over encrypted channels (end to end with their internal email server) and need to comunicate via email with outsiders via some other form of secured email.

Last but not least, entering the wrong code should wipe the device after n number of bad tries.

Based on what little we know so far, these capabilites are not in the iPhone making it like any other phone other than blackberry. Blackberry phone and their server software that runs on the Corporate email server has these capabilities and more.

we don't know one way or the other. apple has let very little about the phone other than the gee-whiz features be known, all else is speculation. considering it's running leopard, and os x has had file vault, secure erase, etc... for some time now it's not difficult to imagine the iphone either will have those features on launch, or could easily have them enabled.

also keep in mind several of the new communication features of leopard server. encrpyed ichat server, server side logging of chats, caldav, exchange support, open directory etc... and that's the stuff they've announced. i'm fairly confident that come june we'll start hearing a lot more about a leopard server/iphone integration, things like push imap, that will make exchange look like... well windows xp to os x.

 

[sinstoic]

Apple iPhone is a camera phone and many workplaces do not allow camera phones! Does your workplace allow camera phones?

 

[Xapplimatic]

Battery? Smattery!

I have had three different iPods.. Not one of them have I had to change the battery on.. and they all still charge fine. I've never needed to change the battery on a cell phone either.. And I've never kept a cell phone longer than 18 months, so battery longevity has never been an issue. If a business would invest in iPhones for their employees (not a cheap phone), would they then become cheap and not also buy the Apple Care extended warrantees which would cover the batteries? I don't see batteries as an issue here.

 

[Rot'nApple]

Currently, Yes, No...

iPhone is not going to sell to business users.

No MS Exchange support
No Blackberry support
No viewing and editing of MS Office docs
No real keyboard for heavy email users

...iPhone support for any of the above.

But the initial iPod, I bet, was not dreamed up as a way to exercise (Nike + iPod) or plug into your car's radio or become integrated into the audio system by auto companies during the manufacturing process of said auto, or seen as an educational device at colleges and possibly public schools or the possiblities of medical related uses let alone the morphing of the device into a audio/visual aid with future possiblities and of course just the word's "iPod" and "podcasting" into the lexicon of our language.

No, the initial iPod came out and I ranted about why the heck a computer company is even wasting it's time and resources with this stuff! Glad someone had better vision then I.

Maybe better business support will come along in the future. Maybe not.

The iPhone will sell to young people with alot of disposable income (or rich parents)

I don't think Steve will worry about the young people and I don't think that's his ultimate target. Most kids today have an iPod in one hand and a cell phone in the other, so merging the two products only made sense with regards to that demographic.

But notice the way Steve talked about the iPhone during it's introduction at MacWorld and compared it's functionality or ease of use with regards to all the other smartphones that one typically thinks of when thinking of a smartphone brand to use for business. If Steve's just wanted to target a lot of rich kids with a married device of an iPod/Cell phone he could have demoed it that way.

I think the Rich kids are already considered in the bag. I think, in some form, the business market is on Apple's radar screen. I won't even begin to possibly fathom how Apple will do it, but then again, I poo-pooed the iPod and never dreamed of the software applications of iTunes jukebox or the advent of the iTunes Music store now selling music, ibooks, podcasts, music videos, tv shows, movies...

So I say, let's just wait until the product is out there. Let's just see what finished software apps are on the phone at the time of release and what's in the pipeline and let's visit this discussion again in five years and see where everything stands.

That's my take at least.

 

[peestandingup]

This will not end up being much better than the default Apple supplied apps. As it stands now, the iPod is barely, barely open to developers, and only then a very small subset with money. There is absolutely no way for smaller developers to get a foothold in it.

Look at the selection you have now. There are currently 12 official games available for the iPod. That's ridiculous. Apple has very publicly chosen the select few developers to make those games, and not let anyone else in the race - even very skilled and accomplished companies that would have made killer games 50 times what they have now.

Plus Apple takes care of the sale of these apps. I can only image the petty share the developer gets out of that $4.99 for an iPod game.

So no, an Apple-controlled "marketplace" or approved apps will not make it a platform that people will develop for. Anyone that does anything besides email and web browsing on a normal Mac uses umpteen shareware type products daily. Really, look through your computer and check out the number of shareware apps you have and use all the time that were created by a smaller company with less than a million-dollar annual income [figure picked from the sky, you know what I mean]. Some of the best programs available and most used programs on the Mac were and are made by small developers with 1-5 people. Those companies would not stand a chance in an Apple-controlled iPhone world...

Agreed. I dont know why there arent more games for the iPod by now. Seems with even the developers they have at this point, they would put more out there.

True, the iPhone will not be able to compete with a high end Windows Mobile device for business use, Exchange, etc. Its just not that type of deal.

However, the quote from the MS rep said it wouldnt be able to open Word files, even though they dont have the slightest clue whether it will or wont. Its an asinine comment. We all know damn well that the phone is running a mobile version of OSX & last I checked, OSX CAN open/create word docs straight outta the box using text editor. Word doc files (not the Word program itself) is a standard, so if Apple doesnt build support in the phone (which im sure they will), then an approved 3rd party will.

Oh, and MS saying "Even using it as a heavy messaging device will be a challenge" just shows they are either blind, stupid, or just plain scared. Messaging is CLEARLY a strong point with this device.

 

[donlphi]

I think these analysts have it wrong. How many people seriously edit, or for that matter even view, an office document on one of these devices?

Of course that goes against what MS is trying to advocate with the whole windows mobile media blitz.

Personally its one of those things, you think you need it, but never use it...

I agree. I have a sprint pocket PC with MS word, excel, etc. and I can count on 1 hand how many times I've NEEDED to use these apps. I have used these apps because I was bored, but I thought trying to type a letter on the device was just annoying. Squinting is not the a good way to do work.

The only thing I could see holding me back from buying an iPHONE is the lack of a "SLINGBOX" like app. It is a travel necessity. I'm hoping with Leopard coming out and Apple TV entering living rooms around the world, they will allow users to stream all of that media (it would certainly make up for the lack of HD space).

The pieces are in place. Keep your fingers crossed.

 

[phillipjfry]

Apple iPhone is a camera phone and many workplaces do not allow camera phones! Does your workplace allow camera phones?

I haven't heard that the iPhone will have a camera in it? I haven't heard alot of the things that people have mentioned.
Can't we just wait till the thing comes out, or at the very least WWDC, until we start deciding how bad what direction the iPhone is going??

Everything about every product from every company is up in the air until it sits right there on your desk.
Unless my gf gets a job at cingular (why do i have to leave my job?? ) I see myself watching everyone else with the iPhone rev1 for the first year or so. That's when things will get interesting seeing how Apple handles itself working with AT&T, yahoo, google, and 3rd parties trying to keep up with this thing.

 

[quandmeme]

You're right, is Apple listening?

As a whole I think you are on target, with the issues and the solutions. I just hope (1) Apple is listening, and (2) there is time to have this addressed to at least and announceble degree by June.

I'm just getting out of grad school so I won't be in on the iPhone 1.0, but I hope it doesn't Newton/Zune before 2.0 is out. I'm in love. (I'm not sure if Newton is a verb, but I'm sure zune will be )

 

[TheBobcat]

I don't know why this ability to edit MS Documents keeps coming up. I mean, yeah, read them as attachments, I can see that, but who really does any editing on a phone? I know a lot of people with the ability, but most just read. If they want to edit it, they either call the person who made it and tell them to or make a note of it and deal with it when they get to their laptop. I don't think its a deal breaker.

But iPhone is definitely not made with large-scale business in mind. It could work for it, but it is designed as a smartphone for the average person who normally wouldn't care about MS Exchange servers. AT&T marketing it to a group that it wasn't intended for just further proves the complete incompetence of AT&T and their marketing department (for starters, things such as dropping Cingular's name).

 

[Analog Kid]

I think most businesses would be happy to not have non-essential apps loaded on the phone. I don't know of any reason TextEdit wouldn't run on an iPhone to read basic Word docs, and I don't think opening Office docs is a big deal. I'm using my Mac with an Exchange server right now, and I don't understand why everyone seems to think the iPhone won't be able to. Push? Maybe that's something.

This will probably change, but I have no doubt that AT&T will find a way to completely f**k this up the way they always do. They are a reactive company, not proactive.

Not true. AT&T has proactively screwed me over on several occasions...

 

[TheBobcat]

Not true. AT&T has proactively screwed me over on several occasions...

I think everyone has a story on why they loathe a telcom. Unfortunately, they're all pretty much equal opportunity offenders.

 

[Curtis72]

No camera...

My company doesn't allow camera's at work. A lot of companies have the same rule. So no iPhone for me until Apple produces a version of it without one. And 24GB would be nice!

 

[csubear]

Something just dawned on me as to why the iphone is not going to allow un-approved 3rd party app.

Apple wants to iphone to be easy to use right? This means no username/password. This means the default log in is running as root (or some approximation). This means that any app 'installed' could have complete controller over the system. Is this why apple is not allowing 3rd party? To control potential malware?

 

[Stella]

The vast majority of companies have Exchange servers ( or compatible ) already.

Exchange is expensive. Start with $700 for the application itself. Then add about $67 per user for the CALs. Then add another $3000 - $4000 for a nice server to run it on. Depending on the size of your company, that's some serious money.

Reliability has nothing to do with Apple restricting the third party iPhone environment.

I've *never* had dropped / missed calls due to third party software on my smartphone ( Symbian device ). The only time I have lost data is of the very rare occurrence that an application crashes. Apple doesn't restrict 3rd party applications for Macs over reliability concerns and people lose data every day on their Macs due to an application crash. Losing data on your Mac is more likely to have more of an impact than losing data on your iPhone.

Apple's reasoning for not allowing 3rd party applications has little merit. To even suggest that you can take down an entire cell network due to 3rd party smartphone like SJ said is totally BS. Likewise, to suggest you'll have dropped / missed calls too is total BS. If the iPhone is affected in this way by 3rd party software then you have to question the quality of the iPhone software itself - i.e., Mobile OSX.

The iPhone will only be enriched by having an open 3rd party developer environment. There are a lot of companies that would support the iPhone, but whom cannot. You aren't forced to install 3rd party applications, and indeed, not many people do. However, this will change in the future.

The Apple Phone will be reliable because Apple locked it down. The unreliable business phone OS from Microsoft isn't good for business. Possible data loss and dropped phone calls isn't acceptable.

As many people have already point out, the iPhone simply lacks the functionality required for businesses, such as Exchange and Blackberry support, for starters. Currently the only use it is for business is a piece of eye candy.

To even ship a phone that doesn't have a replaceable battery is just unbelievable. Cell phone batteries rarely last for 2 years or more, and a lot of people keep their phones longer than the original battery. I'm more likely to have missed calls due to having to send in my iPhone into Apple ( or authorised dealer) for a battery replacement than due to dodgy 3rd party software!!!!

 

[Stella]

Apple iPhone is a camera phone and many workplaces do not allow camera phones! Does your workplace allow camera phones?

I think these type of companies are still in the very minority. How many people on here are in a workplace that disallow camera phones?

 

[jbernie]

Does anyone work for a company that buys them a US$400 or $500 ipod?

The users will scream for an iphone, the corporate purchasing people will be laughing that people think they need it and crying for putting up with people continually asking for it.

The internet part I would rate higher than most other phone devices simply because it appears to have the bigger screen which makes surfing easier. However, the battery life kills that fast.

The device is 'cool' for now, Apple to my knowledge has been wise and not been proclaiming the iphone as the must have device for the business world. The ipod portion alone says it is consumer orientated only. However, we all know that once a device is must have people will want one for work.

Unfortunately the lack of integration with existing business software makes this an over glorified phone with a stand alone calendar feature.

Apple should go with the same format for an ipod only device, and likewise an ipod free device to appeal to the corporate folks who buy devices. Also, US$500 phones aren't the greatest thing in the corporate world when you can buy 3 blackberrys for the same price.

 

[Fukui]

3rd party apps are more than just MS Office viewer/editors. If you've ever owned a Palm you know what I mean. Games, scientific applications, finance utilities, etc etc etc etc. There are limitless possibilities if they opened up the API for the phone.

Asynchronous XML + Javascript is quite satisfactory for many projects, as corporations move their custom apps web-based.It has the added benefit of making more applications device agnostic, perhaps something apple thought about when designing their device.

 

[csubear]

I've *never* had dropped / missed calls due to third party software on my smartphone ( Symbian device ).

I have. Nokia 3650. Didn't like taking calls while i played doom.

 

[GregA]

How many people seriously edit, or for that matter even view, an office document on one of these devices?

I wonder if we could "synchronise" our documents to the iPhone, but have the Mac automatically "convert for iPhone" (like it can with movies) by creating a pdf version of the word document?

also keep in mind several of the new communication features of leopard server. encrpyed ichat server, server side logging of chats, caldav, exchange support, open directory etc... and that's the stuff they've announced.

Ultimately we need some better "exchange-like" services for calendaring, contacts, & email management. I believe Apple is working on that for the Mac (check out Apple's Teams info from
http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.php/archive/of_the_enterprise_leopard_and_teams/ ), but I'm not sure what Apple could do on Windows.

The ipod portion alone says it is consumer orientated only. <snip>
Apple should go with the same format for an ipod only device, and likewise an ipod free device to appeal to the corporate folks who buy devices.

I'd like to see an iPod widescreen video with the same form factor as the iPhone. This would also divert some of the demand for the iPhone which would be useful if there is huge demand (as some articles are saying!)

 

[koobcamuk]

Microsoft is gonna make themselves look stupid in a few months ...

I thought they've looked stupid for years...

 

[panamajack]

Replaceable batteries a no-brainer

As the battery is CHARGABLE, who cares whether or not it's removable?

Your joking right ? Even the causal business user would quickly use most of the iPhone's juice during their transit commute to work, let alone making it useful for business trips, when one would expect to be far away from their charger for extended periods of time.

My Powerbook has a replaceable battery; assuming the iPhone's battery will have a similar capacity (while using the devices full capacities ) then having a replacable battery makes tons of sense! Hell, cell phones that hold a charge for three days have replaceable battteries ! What a ridiculous comment.