push vs. pull email. that’s all you need to know right there for business use.
the iphone is a toy, nothing more. it’s a multimedia phone (and kind a lame one at that when you think about it). it’s got a really cool interface that gets old in about a month, and that’s about it. a bb is designed for a completly different use, and is actually functional.
how is the browser on the BB? is it a mobile web type browser or is it a full browser such as the iphone?
the browser that comes with the bb is ok. it’s not a full html browser, but it gets the job done. i use opera mini when i need full browsing capabilities, never had a problem with it. the new os will have streaming video capabilities, and apparently there’s a mobile flash in the works. once that’s all out (which should be by the end of the summer if rumors are correct) the bb will have the same browser capabilities as the iphone.
That I don’t agree with. In its present form, the iPhone doesn’t have much in the way of tools for IT Professionals but it will over time be a powerful handset. It has a ton of possibilities because of the OS, the hardware and the company behind it.
every phone has possibilities, it’s all about how they’re used. IT professionals are not happy about the idea of iphones being used in professional situations, and in the end they have the final say about what gets used in business, and so far they’re not happy. too many issues with security for their liking. that might change if apple does some tightening up, only time will tell on that one.
comparison of att vs VZW 3g coverage.
I am sure but I think the same thing was said when the first phones came out with cameras on them. “What do we need that for, all I need is for it to take calls, etc…” Now, it’s a standard feature.
On non-corporate phones. Many BlackBerry’s don’t have a camera, like the 8800. You can’t just go anywhere you want with a camera in your hand, there’s sensitive information in a lot of places. That’s why the iPhone is a toy and the BB is a tool.
And the BB browser is whatever you want it to be depending on your settings. i keep it at the bare minimum with just text and images because I don’t feel the need to use my trackball as a mouse and have to pan as well as scroll and load times are much faster. If you want your pages to look exactly like they do on a computer, sounds like you’re more just showing off than actually using the phone. Plus the BB is better suited as a modem than as an actual computer, another thing the iPhone isn’t designed to do.
If you want to show off and look ‘cool’ get an iPhone. If you want a phone that works, get a BB.
LOL at the iphone is a toy comments…
I mean I don’t care if you like the iphone or not, but comments like that leave serious doubts about the credibility of anything you say.
Well there is things that make the iPhone very appealing and not a toy. BB Users chime in and let me know if you can get this on any of theirs.
VPN ability
SSH/Telnet programs
Custom Software - Avaya OneX Mobile (iPhone support) and Office Communicator 2007 (no iPhone support yet)
Full Web Browser ability (A cleaning running Outlook Web Access is a huge one - Account I only check in an emergency that multiple people have access to. Dont need to sync)
Camera isnt a big issue. You bring up a good point but both phones now I carry have cameras and only one place said something about it and told me to keep it in my pocket since we were escorted.
So far the only non-iphone point other than “its a toy” has been that it does not fully support exchange but not every phone in my company is integrated fully with exchange so its not a big issue. i have no problem having my phone sync every 10 minutes. very important emails are followed up with a text message or phone call anyway.
I have the HTC tytn II right now and it works well enough but I might be taking a better look at the iPhone once 3g comes
Thank you for adding a whole bunch of credibility to this thread. I work in sales for VzW and I actually know the products quite well. Working in an industry where people are not loyal to their carrier at all, you want to make sure you sell your customers the correct product the first time, or else you will see the negative results it has on your commissions checks. The area where my store is located I’m centered around some of the largest companies and my store is the busiest in San Diego because of it. Nokia, LG, Motorola, Sony, HP, Geico, NCR, Qualcomm, Keller Williams, (just to name a few) are some of the companies whose employees I deal with on a regular basis. Not to mention the tons of local real estate agencies, law, engineering, and IT firms. I probably see and sell more PDAs than I do regular phones.
I cannot think of a single large corporation that has its employees exclusively carrying around iPhones. I can name about 20 corporations that are carrying around BlackBerrys exclusively. Most of which are UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT jobs with 10,000+ lines. How can you honestly feel comfortable doing business on a phone, or have employees doing business on a phone, that cannot be remotely wiped in the event of you losing it, or it being stolen?
If you are big into business you aren’t shitting around on a cell phones web browser anyway, so these arguments about how great the iPhones web browser is are really pointless. For just about anything that you need a “good” web browser to access information, you can bet your sweet ass there is a program out there that you can download onto your BlackBerry that will access the same information, and eliminate all of the process of having to log onto that information through a web browser. Jobs in such fields as car auctions/sales, stock brokers, real estate, and medicine come to mind when thinking about such applications.
Also, BlackBerry is fully compatible with Lotus notes and Goodlink which is HUGE.
And, to the person who said that in the future the iPhone will have great capabilities:
Why buy an iPhone for what it will do tomorrow, when you can have a BlackBerry that can already do that today?
FYI, I never ripped on BB.
We aren’t massive, but every executive at our $30+ million dollar company rocks an iPhone.
I think RIM has a nice product, I also think that they are concerned about what the iPhone is going to become, and that it is a very big threat. Remember the iPhone is in it’s FIRST iteration, and it has surpassed BB on many fronts. With equivalent or better exchange support coming in v2.0, and a V2 of the hardware itself coming… I don’t blame them for being worried. Noone here has claimed that the iPhone is currently a better business product, or that RIM is in financial trouble, but to say that they aren’t concerned, or making reactive business moves based on the iPhone’s entry into the marketplace is just plain ignorant.
Also, to say that business people don’t use the internet on their phones, is completely ignorant.
Look how long it took BB to support HTML email… which I am not even sure if they ARE supporting yet…
the newer OS’s are.
edit: to rephrase that, I don’t have a newer OS, so I am going by what I have read.
i thought OS 4.5+ had it. I believe 8330 should?
VPN ability bb’s are considered “in” a network when hooked up with BES systems, so they are by default within a VPN. some older bb models had a built-in vpn network program, but the newer ones do not require this
SSH/Telnet programs BES supports this, BIS does not.
Custom Software - Avaya OneX Mobile (iPhone support) and Office Communicator 2007 (no iPhone support yet) of course it does. there are many corporations that will create whatever service you need for your set up, and many large companies have in-house programers to do this as well. they are hosted in a BES network and all bb’s have access to it. for BIS set ups there are tons of 3rd party apps that do pretty much whatever you need them to do.
Full Web Browser ability (A cleaning running Outlook Web Access is a huge one - Account I only check in an emergency that multiple people have access to. Dont need to sync) opera mini does a wonderful job of this. and when the new os is out in a few months it will also have full video capability, although this should not be an issue with business phones.
Camera isnt a big issue. You bring up a good point but both phones now I carry have cameras and only one place said something about it and told me to keep it in my pocket since we were escorted. newer business bb’s still do not have cameras due to security. many larger corporations do not allow phones with cameras on their premises, as well as most government organizations. this is why the 8800 series phones still do not have cameras. the other phones (81xx, 83xx and 90xx) are considered consumer phones and as such have them.
So far the only non-iphone point other than “its a toy” has been that it does not fully support exchange but not every phone in my company is integrated fully with exchange so its not a big issue. i have no problem having my phone sync every 10 minutes. very important emails are followed up with a text message or phone call anyway.
do you work at a small company? i ask because most medium to large companies will have all their phones fully integrated with the servers, as this is how business gets done. that is also why bb’s are the standard in the business world. it’s easy to set a bb up on a BES network. takes about 10 minutes and all the security is already built in, so no need for changing settings or adding firewalls or whatever.
you seem to not have a clear understanding of the differences between the multiple bb’s and their use, and what BIS vs. BES supports. your points seem to be focused on the limitations of BIS networks, which is not used in the business world. there are two segments of RIM, consumer and business orientated. both are doing their jobs equally well. remember that RIM just started getting into the consumer world recently. the 81xx pearls were the first bb’s to even have a camera, much less other multimedia functions and were designed for the everyday, BIS user. overall considering that RIM only started dealing with consumers a little over a year and a half ago, they’re doing pretty good i think.
any os 4.5 or higher will have html support. this os is not out, and will be released on the 9000 bold. the os will be supported on the 83xx phones as well as the 88xx. the 81xx will not get this os from what i understand. so you do not need a bold to get that feature, just upgrade your os when it’s released.
there are two very good programs out to support html email on the older os’s, so we do have it even though rim doesn’t have the software released yet.