About this blog
News and analysis of developments in the enterprise communication industry and market with primary focus on Europe.
The author aims to tap into ideas, insights and thoughts of the readers to get varied perspectives.
Views expressed in this blog are solely the author's opinion and in no way reflect those of his employer.
Maybe its the device that I was given. But after using it for several months (less than a year), I have been noticing that my Blackberry curve is failing to keep its antenna active. It searches for network in places where it always found network. Did the T-mobile guys reduce the number of towers they supported in London.
Over the span of my use of the blackberry curve, I have noticed that the software can throw some problems at times. For instance, the Gtalk software installed on my Blackberry Curve throws exception errors so frequently that I have stopped using it.
Saying so, I must admit that RIM's devices still lead the pack in terms of business use. They have clearly thought it out. The idea of an e-mail centric mobile phone is just awesome. I remember the last time I spoke with a reporter from FT on smartphones, she said there was broader agreement that Blackberry is the de-facto choice. However, from my experience it seems that there is still some work to be done.
Guys, have you faced continuity issues with Blackberry. Mine is 15 months old and it is giving me some problems.
1. The antenna doesn't work properly. It continuously searches for network in places where it didn't previously
2. The 'saved messages' folder seems to have lost a number of messages. For instance, a whole set of messages between certain dates have gone missing.
3. The IM chat sessions take ages to open these days. I haven't changed location nor have I changed what I used to do previously
4. The button that on pressing displays "Entering stand-by mode........" doesn't function all the time.
5. The call quality has deteriorated. The sound fidelity seems to have gone down.
Let me know if any of you guys are facing similar problems.
In the beginning of the year, I supervised a colleague's work on open source. I found that the movements in that space fascinating. Towards the end of the year, I wonder how have they performed in 2008 especially because-
a) a number of these companies have been start-ups. A large number of them are SI/VARs etc. How are they managing their working capital in a slowdown
b) How are they raising capital needed to bid for large projects where the client wants to reduce TCO? Are they displacing the big guys in a small number of deals in the SMB space?
In search of answers, I dig into the websites of some of these companies:
1. Fonality led by Chris Lyman seems to doing well. It launched some firmware for mobile and Google integration in September and went on to announce a relationship with salesforce.com last week.
2. Pingtel: I am not sure if I can mention but I had written something about in the report in relation to PingTel (or maybe I had not written!). As the case maybe, Nortel went on to acquire PingTel. I am not surprised.....great news for SIPfoundry guys.
http://www.os-voip.com/2008/08/nortel-buys-open-source-ip-pbx-company-pingtel/
3. Digium: They got a new headquarter. Tom Keating snapped it all up. Follow the link-
http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/asterisk/digium-headquarters-tour.asp
Their battle with sipXecs seems to continue. It appears that Pingtel managed to get one up on them by becoming a part of Nortel.
Who else? There are a number of great players in the market from the large vendors who OEM open-source to small ones like ADDIX, ESCAUX, and Novacom. I wish there was an opportunity to connect and get to know how they have been doing.
Somebody asked me who will win the smartphone war- iPhone or Blackberry. I said, "depends on the turf". Blackberry is a robust, reliable e-mail centric smartphone that can handle voice, multimedia and entertainment (the new versions are better at it). Its primary place of use is in business. iPhone is a awesome looking media and entertainment device that can also communicate.
Can blackberry fight iPhone in the consumer space? Not today at least!
Can iPhone win against Blackberry in the corporate space? No!
However, recent efforts by Blackberry to emulate the iPhone is distressing. I have had only a brief look at the Storm (don't get invited to those parties anymore ever since I changed my job). I will have to say that I wasn't impressed. I wonder where does RIM want to position the storm? In the corporate space?! But typing is such a problem with Storm. I wish I was in the centre of action to know more of these stuff.
Blackberry is the most preferred smartphone in the world. And VoIP is what every aware user wishes to use. Most enterprises use VoIP and most of the voice traffic internationally is IP based. I wish Blackberry would promote more of VoIP. Despite acquiring Ascendant in 2006, we don't hear or read much of Blackberry's VoIP capability that can help users bypass the mobile voice bill-rates. Is it pressure from carriers?
In an article, Nadeem Unuth gives us ways to make use of VoIP on Blackberry. For the complete article, refer to the following link:
http://voip.about.com/od/mobilevoip/a/BlackBerryVoIP.htm
I am taking the liberty to reproduce some of what he wrote:
1. Truphone: Using the web a user can be called and then call the destination. Both the calls (to the originator as well as the called party) originate with Truphone which uses VoIP.
2. VoIP Softphone applications like Yeigo: This application can be installed on blackberry (need to verify!). Voice calls can be made using Blackberry's data plan.
3. Blackberry WLAN solution (Blackberry 7270 handheld)
However that being said, I haven't tried any of these. I know that some of my colleagues have tried to install some applications on mobile phones. Its high time I get in touch with them......
The debate on which is the central application- e-mail or phone-is long over. Studies conducted by various Industry Analyst and market research houses suggest a growing tilt towards e-mail. Most users check their e-mail the first when they get to work and more often than phone. Blackberry took this ability one degree further. It enabled workforce to check their e-mail anywhere, anytime. But in the process it did something else too! It crossed the office boundary and entered the personal space. How often have you checked your Blackberry outside office hours?
Enterprise 2.0 aims to bring personal applications into workplace. It aims to tap into the productivity enhancing capabilities of personal applications such as IM, collaboration type software etc. For example, how can we forget Mayo's Hawthrone experiments that every HR manager learns in MBA school. There is definitely a need for a facebook like application at work as much as their is a need for a cafeteria. But I digress....... While enterprise 2.0 aims to bring consumer grade producticity enhancing applications into corporate world, Blackberry did just the opposite. It took a corporate application into our personal space. Being a user of Blackberry Curve, I must tell you that this transition has been smooth. I use Blackberry wherever I want whenever I want. Is this the beginning of the great blur between corporate and personal spaces?
