06/10/08
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The new iPhone is much more enterprise-friendly and likely will be suitable for law firm use at last. |
The first version of the iPhone — a phone that people actually wanted to use — radically changed the cell phone industry. It differed from the usual fare the big cell phone makers had been issuing, so there was much conversation about the device.
Sadly, while the iPhone had what was clearly recognized as the best web-browsing interface on the market, there were several things that prevented companies from adopting it in the same way that the BlackBerry from the firm Research in Motion has been adopted.
Put bluntly, the iPhone lacked many corporate features, such as Exchange support. This crippled the phone in many ways.
Well, no more! Starting in July, the next version of the iPhone's software will be available, along with the next version of the iPhone itself. The new iPhone is much more enterprise-friendly and likely will be suitable for law firm use at last.
Some of the new features include full Exchange support, built-in GPS, 3G capability (great for taking it to Europe), and a full-scale development environment to build custom applications. Also included is full document support for Microsoft Office applications such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
This ability to have one's own corporate applications opens up a world of possibilities. Firms will be able to implement syncing with their time-keeping applications as well as the email capabilities.
Now, there are still some things the iPhone won't do — at least not this version. It won't do video conferencing out of the box. And its camera isn't the best. But the best web browser and fantastic development market may lead to many iPhones' showing up in law firms soon.
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