The date has been set for the long awaited and anticipated MS Exchange support (Activesync) to hit the iPhone. Today at the iPhone SDK (Software Developer Kit) Conference, Steve Jobs broke the news that the wait is almost over. The support for MS Exchange will come with the iPhone software update 2.0 which is set for a tentative release date of June 2008, but the big question is can we actually wait that long? The iPhone was released in June of 2007 and a year in the mobile industry seems to be decades in traditional markets. The biggest anticipation with the iPhone has and still remains to be the announcement on an official launch date for a 3G iPhone variant which will undoubtedly see world appeal with the growing international iPhone carrier contracts with Apple.
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Beyond the MS Exchange support the other big news in the SDK Conference is the select developers will have their own chance to try the beta 2.0 software update for themselves as they work on designing and preparing their applications for the official June 2008 2.0 launch. The 3rd party applications designed and developed with the SDK will become available in the AppStore on the new software update and will also be available for purchase through iTunes while the iPhone is docked.
At this point we must ask if anyone is convinced to buy an iPhone simply for the iPhone 2.0 update or if jailbreaking and the existing 3rd party unofficial software is solid enough for your heart’s content. We would also like to know if any IT administrators would actually consider deploying iPhones with MS Exchange Activesync support to their workforce or if a Blackberry with BES backbone would still be the only option?
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Jon Griffith 05.27.08 at 1:33 pm
As a REALTOR, I am fairly responsible for all of my technology. Thankfully I am proficient enough to deploy my own Exchange server, although I abandoned it for the likes of a hosted exchange account. One can’t be everything all the time. I grew very spoiled by the ActiveSync features on my Treo 700W and to this day still rely on the wireless synchronization. Since Exchange server centrallizes all of my data on a private server, I don’t have to plug anything into anything or pair any bluetooth devices to ensure that my calendar, contacts, and e-mail (whether they’re read or not, deleted, sorted, etc.,) are identical across all platforms.
Nothing else does this to my knowledge. No public servers, or free services, etc. The problem I currently have is that the Windows based phones are simply the largest piles of GARBAGE on the planet. They constantly crash, crash, crash in the middle of important tasks, like oh, making a phone call? Come on!!!! What a waste of money.
I have been very pleased with Verizon’s service so far, and I’ve heard nothing but bad things about AT&T…which leaves me, a professional in a sea of technology that doesn’t work right everywhere all the time. Unfortunately, my clients are alive 24/7 and when they need to contact me and when I need to contact them, it just needs to happen without troubles.
I hope the iPhone proves to be a better solution…even though my gripe about it is that there are no touch buttons that can be safely used while looking away from the phone…and my fat fingers don’t have an easy time connecting with the touch screen technology.
Nick Marshall 05.27.08 at 1:53 pm
You are definitely not alone in your dislikes for Windows Mobile and even with Windows Mobile 6.1, phone calls seem to be the last priority of the devices. The only positive side for upcoming WM devices running 6.1 is that the Operating System is more stable than current version of Windows Mobile. I don’t believe the Treo 700w ever received the Windows Mobile 6 upgrade, but there are some improvements there. Also the Treo 700wx was a much better device than the 700w in both performance and reliability from my experiences.
The things that you have heard about At&t service being less than optimal are really dependent on the area you use your phone. On a national level I would have to agree that Verizon Wireless has the best service possible, on the negative side you are limited to the phones offered by the carrier. Since At&t is GSM based you can use a greater variety of phones and are not limited to US phone releases.
The iPhone’s lack of a physical keyboard is definitely a downer for most, but with a few weeks practice it can be a worthy device in June when full Exchange Activesync support is included in the latest build. An iPhone with a physical keyboard is a possibility, but with the success of the first generation I don’t expect Apple to consider releasing a physical keyboard version until 2009 if at all.
Based on your needs, have you considered looking into the Blackberry Bold (9000 Series) launching Verizon, Sprint, At&t and T-mobile next month? You still have the high resolution display of the iPhone, but with the stability of the new Blackberry Operating System. Definitely better reliability and call quality than a Windows Mobile device, but you can keep your service with Verizon Wireless. The extra data charges for Blackberry Data and the BES account will be the downside, but most hosted Exchange companies offer a Blackberry Add-on.