Switching on to a new world of business

Smartphones are definitely all the rage at the moment.

Whereas once these devices cemented your reputation as either a total geek or a high-flying executive type, nowadays smartphones have become de rigueur, a badge of honour, serving as an admission ticket to a rapidly expanding club of people colloquially known as the digerati.

One only has to look at the runaway success of Apple’s instant classic iPhone to see how a blend of high-tech gadgetry, the magic of wireless and a very clever marketing campaign can create mass hysteria and fuel insatiable demand.

Apple is not the only company to have cottoned on to the fact that smart now equals cool and therefore desirable.

An increasing number of manufacturers are jostling for top dog status in the smart device arena.

The market is locked in a scuffle between RIM, HTC, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Palm, O2 and another handful of vendors who are salivating between blows over the increasing demand for smart devices outside the traditional road warrior customerbase.

The demand for push email, the ability to use and edit office documents, GPS functionality and web browsing are all must-haves for the latest generation of smartphone users.

And let’s not forget touch screens.

Though Palm devices have been touchy-feely for quite a long time, it was again the iPhone juggernaut that really propelled our touch-lust to its present position.

The latest BlackBerry Storm is set to be RIM’s first foray into tactile territory and HTC has also jumped on the bandwagon, unveiling three touchscreen models over the past two weeks.

Even Google has thrown its hat into the ring, set to unveil its Android operating system on a smartphone – undoubtedly sporting a touchscreen – by the time you read this.

CRN recently spoke to several companies about the role that smartphones will play in changing the way businesses operate over the coming years.

ISPs such as Internode told us they are excited about the maturity and flexibility of a new range of web applications built for smart phones.

Service providers such as Brennan IT are already putting a strong focus on providing managed services offerings around mobile solutions.

The SMB market is set to drive adoption of smartphones in Australia.

As the price of smart devices and mobile data costs continues to fall and 3G coverage continues to increase, the opportunities for those with any type of mobility play are looking increasingly promising.

While the enterprise sector has traditionally been the hungriest consumer of smart devices, SMB customers are increasingly looking to smarten up their communication to boost their productivity and response times.

Knowing this is just around the corner, I can’t help but wonder how people will communicate once smartphones become the norm.

A leading linguist, David Crystal, said this month that 80 percent of misspelt words in phone messages are sent by business users rather than children.

It’s a scary thought that a six-year-old child has better spelling than an average business person!

a business mobility new of on switching to world