InformationWeek Stories by Peter Rysavy

InformationWeek Stories by Peter Rysavyhttp://www.informationweek.comInformationWeeken-usCopyright 2012, UBM LLC.2013-06-10T16:26:00ZResearch: 2013 Mobile Commerce Surveyhttp://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/83/10616/IT-Business-Strategy/Research:-2013-Mobile-Commerce-Survey.html?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_2013-05-20T08:00:00ZMobile Commerce: Time For LiftoffMost companies will launch mobile commerce within a year, our survey shows. What's your holdup?http://www.informationweek.com/internet/ebusiness/mobile-commerce-time-for-liftoff/240155082?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_<div id="inlineGreenPromoTop"> <div class="greenBand"></div> <div class="inlineGreenPromoContent"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/052013s?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os"><img align="left" class="greenIssueImage" title="InformationWeek - May 2013 Supplemental Issue" alt="InformationWeek - May 2013 Supplemental Issue" src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/supplement/057/smallcov.jpg"></a> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/052013s?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os"><img align="right" class="greenLeaf" title="InformationWeek Green" alt="InformationWeek Green" src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/graphics_library/misc/Green_leaf_88x88.jpg"></a> <div class="greenPromoText"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/052013s?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os">Download the entire May 2013 supplemental issue of InformationWeek on Mobile Commerce</a>, distributed in an all-digital format (registration required). </div> </div> <div class="greenBand"></div> </div> <img width="110" height="110" class="artInlineTopImage" title="Mobile Commerce" alt="Mobile Commerce" src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/supplement/057/057CScoverart_flat_110.jpg"> Think you have time to idle over your mobile commerce launch? Not so. Seventy-one percent of companies see m-commerce as very or extremely important to the future of their organizations, according to nearly 900 qualified respondents to our InformationWeek and Mobile Commerce World survey. Companies such as MGM Resorts International see mobile as a new way to drive revenue. In a press event during the recent Interop show in Las Vegas, MGM chief digital officer John Bollen didn't showcase a big data or security initiative. Instead, Bollen demonstrated a Bellagio casino mobile app that runs on iOS and Android. Guests can be alerted to discounts and loyalty programs and, for example, can purchase last-minute show tickets using the app while at dinner. "If seats are empty, we're not making money," says Bollen. The app lets the resort collect data to dynamically price goods ranging from bottles of wine to spa treatments. Mobile commerce isn't some far-off pilot project. One-third of qualified respondents anticipate implementing a comprehensive m-commerce strategy within a year; an additional 26% already have one in place. About one-third say m-commerce represents the future, and they're enthusiastically embracing it, and an additional 40% say it will help them reach new customers and be more efficient. IT budgets reflect this commitment, with greater than half of m-commerce-involved IT respondents with budgets in place indicating allocations are up compared with a year ago. Companies are chasing growth: Digital marketing analyst eMarketer states that U.S. retail mobile commerce sales grew by 81% to nearly $25 billion in 2012 and constituted 11% of U.S. e-commerce sales, a percentage that the firm expects will grow to 15% this year and 24% in 2016, when total mobile retail sales could hit $86.6 billion, excluding travel and event tickets. IBM says m-commerce transactions grew by 31% in the first quarter compared with just a 3.7% overall rise in retail sales. To gauge adoption of mobile commerce, we conducted a wide-ranging survey that reached three stakeholder groups: IT professionals not in financial services, payments or telecom; banking and payments professionals; and telecommunications professionals. We focus on IT respondents here; you can find complete survey results in our full report. The Time Is Now So if mobile commerce is growing, the question for IT is, "How do we do it right?" First and foremost, understand that mobile commerce isn't just about transactions on mobile devices; mobile offers a means to engage with customers in richer, more individualized ways, by incorporating loyalty programs, incentives and location. M-commerce examples include shopping on a tablet, paying via a smartphone, receiving discount coupons when close to a particular store and paying a roaming salesperson who's using an iPhone as a point-of-sale terminal. Second, IT must help the business sort through critical decisions, such as whether to build a mobile Web page or apps for various platforms, and how to integrate with existing e-commerce and other back-end systems. Survey respondents worry about compliance, consumer perception that mobile commerce is unsafe, confusion over business models, slow connectivity and integration with existing systems. They should also be wary about the fragmented smartphone platform market and the not-yet-mature HTML5 specification. Third, IT needs to help companies understand the huge cast of characters all wanting a piece of the action. Mobile commerce spans mobile OS platform vendors, such as Apple and Google; online retailers; the major credit card issuers; banks; mobile application platform vendors; and, increasingly, handset vendors as they implement enabling technologies such as NFC (near field communication). Among these stakeholders, mobile device and OS vendors are taking the lead in m-commerce, according to 45% of IT pro respondents at organizations with m-commerce strategies in place or timelines for adoption. Next are banks and credit card issuers, cited by 22%. <center>To read the rest of the article, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/052013s?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os">download the May 2013 supplemental issue of InformationWeek</a></center> <div style="border-top:dotted 1px #008bb3; border-bottom:dotted 1px #008bb3;"> <a href="http://www.mcommworld.com/sanfrancisco/" target="_blank"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/supplement/057/mobile-commerce-world-promo-110.gif" width="110" height="110" alt="Mobile Commerce World" title="Mobile Commerce World" style="float:left;" /></a> <div style="margin:10px 0 10px 130px;">Mobile Commerce World is the event for retail and enterprise executives charged with developing their organizations' mobile commerce strategies. On June 24 - 26, 2013, the industry's top innovators will convene in San Francisco to explore the latest technologies and trends shaping the marketplace. Attendees will hear from 110 world-class experts from companies such as Google, Wal-Mart, Facebook, GroupOn, PayPal, 1-800-FLOWERS, StubHub, Zappos and MasterCard in 50+ sessions and leave with the necessary tools to drive top-line goals. <a href="http://www.mcommworld.com/sanfrancisco/" target="_blank">Register with code WEMCW13118 to save $200 or for a free expo pass.</a></div> </div>2013-04-17T22:56:00ZMobile Commerce: State of the Markethttp://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/10095/Mobility-Wireless/Mobile-Commerce:-State-of-the-Market.html?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_2012-12-26T19:53:00ZResearch: 4G: Carriers, IT Pros Square Offhttp://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/9595/Mobility-Wireless/research-4g-carriers-it-pros-square-off.html?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_2012-10-31T09:28:00Z4G World: The Need For More SpectrumThe wireless industry may run out of spectrum in three years, and it needs government help to find more to realize the promise of mobile broadband.http://www.informationweek.com/news/240012599?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_<a href="http://www.4gworld.com/chicago/">4G World in Chicago</a> this week is highlighting many of the wonders that the fourth-generation of mobile broadband technology is bringing us. But it also bringing to sharp focus the capacity and spectrum issues that are bedeviling the industry. At the spectrum summit on October 29, Chris Pearson, president of <a href="http://www.4gamericas.org">4G Americas</a> contrasted the mobile industry with the auto industry. The latter is deeply concerned because it only has fifty-four years of proven oil reserves. In contrast, the wireless industry is lucky if it has three years of spectrum resources. The demand for additional for spectrum-based services is only accelerating. A panelist at the spectrum summit stated, that according to <a href="http://www.bytemobile.com">ByteMobile</a>, tablets consume three times more data than smartphones. That's easy to believe with the bigger screens and the longer interaction times users have with tablets. A common argument made by skeptics of the spectrum crisis, and one made at the spectrum summit, is that the industry is simply not investing sufficiently in infrastructure to increase capacity. The counter from one national operator was that it invested $20 billion in infrastructure in 2011, and that building out of the crunch is simply not possible -- additional demand can only be addressed through more spectrum. Fortunately, the FCC has been aggressive about its plan for the next major wave of auctions, which are known as The Incentive Auctions. The frequencies in question are in the 600 MHz band, which are currently UHF channels licensed to TV broadcasters. Since only 10% of the population relies on over-the-air television broadcast, it makes sense to make this spectrum available to an industry that is desperate for more capacity. These incentive auctions were discussed at length at the conference, including with new FCC commissioner Ajit Pai who was thwarted by Hurricane Sandy from attending the conference in person, but participated in a keynote interview by video link. The good news is that these auctions could provide an additional 60 MHz to 120 MHz of badly-needed spectrum for the industry by 2014. The bad news is that these will be the most complicated auctions ever held. This stems from a three-step process that will comprise the auction. In the past the FCC simply reassigned or designated spectrum for commercial mobile use and then conducted an auction. As explained by Ajit Pai, this time, in the first of the three steps, the FCC will first conduct a reverse auction to determine what broadcasters might wish to relinquish their spectrum in exchange for compensation. The amount of compensation will depend on the amount of spectrum the FCC is trying to carve out in each market and how many broadcasters wish to vacate spectrum. It is unclear how many broadcasters and in what markets spectrum will be relinquished. The reverse auction is supposed to provide answers to all these unknowns, making it an unprecedented auction design, and how it will be done exactly is under discussion. The second step is to completely reorganize and repack the relinquished channels as well as channels needed for broadcasters that want to keep broadcasting so as to make useful blocks of spectrum for mobile broadband. This itself will also be complicated, and is likely to result in varying amounts of spectrum in each market available for auction to commercial operators. In the third and final step, mobile operators will bid for spectrum in a forward auction, similar to past spectrum auctions. As Commissioner Pai said, doing any one of these steps would be a challenge, but "doing them in conjunction will be daunting indeed." For those who want to wade in the mind-boggling complexity of this process, there is a 205-page <a href="http://www.fcc.gov/document/broadcast-television-spectrum-incentive-auction-nprm">Notice of Proposed Rulemaking</a> released late last month that explains the FCC's proposed process. The 2014 timeline for completing these auctions is thus optimistic, although it is hoped that having an aggressive date will move things along as quickly as possible. The other big spectrum issue discussed at the conference is spectrum sharing. The idea is that rather than clearing bands used by government applications, government users may share their spectrum with commercial licensees. Such an approach was proposed by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology when it issued a report earlier this year titled, "Realizing the Full Potential of Government-Held Spectrum to Spur Economic Growth." Spectrum sharing has become a controversial issue. I have argued <a href="http://www.rysavy.com">in multiple pieces</a> that making sharing work is going to be extremely complex and time-consuming. Commissioner Pai expressed a similar position when he said that nothing beats clearing. The band that will get the most immediate scrutiny as possibly ripe for sharing rather than clearing is 1755 MHz to 1780 MHz, currently used by multiple government applications. The mobile industry as well as the FCC wants to see this band paired with 2155 MHz to 2180 MHz, a band already available for mobile. By law, this band must be auctioned by 2015. The government, however, wishes the 1755 MHz to 1780 MHz portion to be shared. Whether this is possible or not is under investigation and nobody yet knows the answer. The lessons learned in this process, however, will provide valuable insight on spectrum sharing in other bands. Bottom line -- there are no easy spectrum answers. But there is a huge amount of activity trying to address the problem. It is clear that all options -- including advanced technology, more cells, smaller cells, offload and various spectrum approaches -- must be employed to allow the promise of mobile broadband to continue to be realized.2012-05-11T01:08:00ZStrategy: LTE: Huge Technology, Huge Challengeshttp://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/8754/Mobility-Wireless/strategy-lte-huge-technology-huge-challenges.html?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_2012-04-02T08:00:00ZHow LTE Changes MobilityLong Term Evolution is global, it's fast, and it's available now on 57 networks in 34 countries. Too bad it faces significant obstacles.http://www.informationweek.com/news/232700538?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_  <div id="inlineGreenPromoTop"> <div class="greenBand"></div> <div class="inlineGreenPromoContent"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/040212/?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/1329/smallcov2.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Green - Apr. 2, 2012" title="InformationWeek Green - Apr. 2, 2012 " align="left" class="greenIssueImage" /></a> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/040212/?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/graphics_library/misc/Green_leaf_88x88.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Green" title="InformationWeek Green" align="right" class="greenLeaf" /></a> <div class="greenPromoText"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/040212/?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os">Download the entire Apr. 2, 2012 issue of InformationWeek</a>, distributed in an all-digital format as part of our <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/green/">Green Initiative</a> (Registration required.) <center><div class="innerGreenPromoText" align="center">We will plant a tree for each of the first 5,000 downloads.</div></center> </div> </div> <div class="greenBand"></div> </div>    The mobile broadband industry is becoming a victim of its own success as an unprecedented number of bytes flow across the airwaves. Yet efforts to free up additional spectrum are going nowhere fast, putting carriers between an extremely slow-moving government and enterprise and consumer customers who want their apps and data--now. LTE, by making more efficient use of spectrum and offering impressive features to increase capacity, promises to help operators meet demand. By itself, though, it won't be enough, so enterprise IT teams need to shore up two areas: First, choose your mobile carriers carefully. Among respondents to our latest <a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/8484/Mobility-Wireless/research-mobile-device-management.html">InformationWeek Mobile Device Management and Security Survey</a>, Verizon (68%) and AT&T (58%) are the top choices, but neither offers an unlimited data plan for new customers. Whichever carrier your organization selects must have a strategy to blend technology such as LTE and eventually LTE-Advanced with efforts to obtain more spectrum. It must also have a plan to increase its number of cell sites, including incorporating small cells such as femtocells and picocells. And it must have the capability to off-load data onto Wi-Fi, a process we discuss in more depth in our recent <a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/8497/Mobility-Wireless/strategy-3g-4g-wi-fi-convergence.html">report on 3G/4G and Wi-Fi convergence</a>. Second, keep bandwidth limitations in mind when considering your organization's mobility initiatives. For example, 68% of respondents to our MDM survey say they use or plan to deploy virtual desktop technologies on tablets. Fifty-nine percent say they have enabled or will enable access to cloud services via mobile devices. All that requires a lot of bandwidth. Fortunately, LTE can help address not only capacity concerns, but also quality of service, voice over IP, and fragmented radio bands. How? First, it's blazing fast--much faster than any previous wide area wireless technology. Following the "underpromise and overdeliver" business plan--and anticipating slowdowns as their networks become saturated--operators quote more modest rates; Verizon, for example, promises an average of 5 Mbps to 12 Mbps on the downlink and 2 Mbps to 5 Mbps on the uplink. But the reality is often much better. Signals Research Group measured an average downlink speed of 23.6 Mbps and uplink speed of 15.2 Mbps on AT&T's network in Houston. Metrico Wireless reported an average downlink speed of 13 Mbps on AT&T's LTE network and 10 Mbps on Verizon's LTE network. In the future, speeds will go even higher. That's because current networks use either 5-MHz or 10-MHz radio channels. However, LTE supports 20-MHz radio channels. Operators would love to deploy in such a wide radio channel because it not only boosts performance, it also doubles capacity for the same amount of network infrastructure. The problem is, they just don't have enough spectrum.  <center>To read the rest of the article, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/040212/?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os">Download the Apr. 2, 2012 issue of InformationWeek</a></center>   <center> <div id="inlineReportPromo"> <div class="inlineReportPromo_headline"><a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/8754/Mobility-Wireless/strategy-lte-huge-technology-huge-challenges.html?cid=pub_analyt__iwk_20120402" target="_blank" style="color:#ffffff;">Strategy: LTE: Huge Technology, Huge Challenges</a></div> <div class="inlineReportPromo_inner"> <center>Dark Side of Mobility </center> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/1329/329F2Ite_reportcover.jpg" width="175" height="103" style="float:right;"> Our full report on <a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/8754/Mobility-Wireless/strategy-lte-huge-technology-huge-challenges.html?cid=pub_analyt__iwk_20120402">LTE</a> is free with registration. This report includes 14 pages of action-oriented analysis, packed with 7 charts. What you'll find: <ul class="normalUL"><li>A rundown of eight important LTE features</li> <li>Discussion of global LTE and tips for IT teams charged with supporting overseas users</li> </ul> <center><a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/8754/Mobility-Wireless/strategy-lte-huge-technology-huge-challenges.html?cid=pub_analyt__iwk_20120402">Get This</a> And <a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/">All Our Reports</a></center> </div> </div> </center> 2012-01-17T13:25:00ZWireless Spectrum Doomsday LoomsFor now, tiered plans are keeping carrier networks from melting down. But demand for mobile broadband means the current system is unsustainable.http://www.informationweek.com/news/232400472?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_People desperately want bigger, better, faster smartphones. In Beijing last week, frustrated would-be owners <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/technology/apple-suspends-iphone-4s-sales-in-mainland-china-stores.html"> threw eggs at the Apple store because they couldn't get iPhones</a>. Hundreds of thousands of applications, voice interaction, social networking on the go, video-enabled applications, multimegabit data throughput rates, and dazzling displays are making mobile broadband one of the most dynamic, exciting, job-creating, and transformational industries ever created. Too bad it's about to go over a cliff for lack of spectrum. Radio spectrum, the core enabler for mobile broadband, translates directly to the number of bits per second available to each user. Demand for those bits keeps going up as devices become more powerful and capable. According to a recent <a href="http://www.arieso.com/news-article.html?id=89">report by Arieso</a>, iPhone 4S users consume twice as much data as iPhone 4 users and three times as much data as iPhone 3G users. Sharper displays are one reason--the hot new Android-powered Nexus Galaxy has a display with 720 by 1,280 pixels, not that different from a laptop display. Video at this resolution, even using the best-available encoding technology, such as H.264, can exceed 3 million bits per second. Yep, you read that right: 3 Mb per second, comparable to what a Netflix user in a higher-quality viewing mode might consume. What's wrong with this picture? Nothing if you're the user--it's beautiful. But for operators, it's a horror movie. Consider that a voice call takes about 10,000 bits per second. That high-quality video stream is consuming hundreds of times the capacity of a voice call. The math is simple. The most efficient wireless technology ever developed, 4G LTE, has sector capacity (imagine three city blocks in a downtown area with more than 1,000 subscribers) of 14 Mbps on the downlink. Just five demanding users can consume an entire sector capacity block. It's no wonder operators are scrambling. Witness AT&T's failed bid to merge with T-Mobile to achieve greater efficiency in spectrum assets, Verizon's attempt to gobble up spectrum owned by the cable companies, or Sprint trying to work with LightSquared to obtain additional capacity for its new LTE network. This is why unlimited data plans have largely fallen by the wayside. Replacing them are tiered plans that, in round numbers, cost about $10 per gigabyte. Operators intend this pricing level to permit reasonable use of the network but discourage excessive or abusive use. That's working for the moment, but I don't believe it's a sustainable model. Current smartphone plans allow almost any amount of email and browsing of typical Web pages, and users can easily consume the monthly plan in a matter of days. See for yourself. Go to Verizon's <a href="http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/datacalculatorPopup.jsp">data-usage calculator</a> and plug in values. Want to stream two hours of music a day? Oops, you've consumed 3.52 GB of data in a month, exceeding the typical 2-GB monthly plan for smartphones. How about 30 minutes of video streaming per day, not unreasonable for a salesperson demonstrating a new product? That's 5.13 GB per month. Going back to that Galaxy Nexus at 3 Mbps, now you're consuming data at 1.35 GB per hour. That 2-GB plan is gone in 89 minutes. That's just one movie or extended high-quality videoconference. New technologies such as 4G LTE deliver amazing throughput rates, but the problem is that they allow users to consume data just that much faster. IT needs to understand that these limits apply just as much to business applications, especially if it embeds video, whether for telemedicine, field service, collaboration, videoconferencing, or training. You can't blame the operators. Pricing is their best (and practically only) tool for managing network congestion created by a growing percentage of very heavy data users. Even so, in real terms, pricing is on the decline. Ten dollars per gigabyte is 10,000 times cheaper than the first packet IP networks, such as Cellular Digital Packet Data, for which usage-based pricing was 10 cents per kilobyte ($100,000 per gigabyte) in the mid 1990s. This is not the point, however. The point is that broadband use is growing faster than capacity. Capacity is a function of technology and spectrum, and as quickly as technology is improving, our ability to extract more capacity from spectrum is reaching the theoretical limits of physics. Thus, more spectrum must also be part of the equation. The Federal Communications Commission in its 2010 National Broadband Plan projected that the industry will need an additional 300 MHz in the next four years (above the existing total 500 MHz spectrum base), growing to a total additional amount of 500 MHz in the next 10 years. Are we on track to deliver this amount of spectrum? Not even close. For a multitude of reasons, including politics and massive resistance by affected parties, efforts to free up spectrum via, for example, incentive auctions that might transfer spectrum from the broadcast industry to the mobile industry are moving at a glacial pace. This is one reason operators are trying to take matters into their own hands, but there is no easy answer. Technologies such as LTE will get better over time, through new versions. For example, LTE-Advanced has innovations such as heterogeneous networks, enabling femtocells and picocells to seamlessly blend with the macro network, thus increasing capacity. But that is a decade-long effort due to immense complexity and dependence on standards that haven't even been finished yet. Right now, we absolutely must have more spectrum. Without it, the industry will stall. Tiered pricing is not really a solution, it just slightly delays the inevitable. If people can't do what they want to do at rates they can afford, they'll spend their money elsewhere. The bottom line for IT is to set realistic expectations for throughput and capacity. In the absence of new spectrum, networks will be congested at times--slower, with higher latency. As I discuss in <a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/8497/Mobility-Wireless/strategy-3g-4g-wi-fi-convergence.html">my recent report on 3G/4G and Wi-Fi convergence</a>, judiciously off-load onto Wi-Fi whenever and wherever it makes sense. Longer term, technologists need to be unanimous in supporting efforts to speed the political process toward a swift and sustainable spectrum-allocation process. Without more clean spectrum resources, innovation and growth will suffer. Peter Rysavy is the president of wireless consulting company <a href="http://www.rysavy.com">Rysavy Research</a> and the executive director of the <a href="http://www.pcca.org">Portable Computer and Communications Association</a>, which will hold a <a href="http://www.pcca.org/news/Agendas/ag2012-02.htm"> workshop on LTE-Advanced</a> on Feb. 1.2011-10-31T08:00:00ZThe Convergence Of 3G/4G And Wi-FiWi-Fi, convergence, 3G/4G, Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, Peter Rysavy, mobility, WLAN, hotspots http://www.informationweek.com/news/231901241?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_U.S. carriers see Wi-Fi as necessary to manage rapidly escalating data demand, and they're shifting users to 802.11 networks when possible. As they do, enterprise IT teams must keep tabs on unified security and encryption, how these handoffs can cut costs, and the way the still-crude movement between 3G/4G and Wi-Fi affects employees. Yes, it's one more thing on an already crowded plate of concerns, but mobile broadband use is increasing faster than carriers can keep up. More than 500,000 mobile applications are available across superfast networks, and Cisco projects data demand will almost double annually for the next five years. The problem is that today's cellular networks simply don't have sufficient capacity to handle all this traffic. So, to motivate users to limit their data use over cellular 3G and 4G networks, operators have introduced tiered plans where pricing is usage-based on cellular connections but free on Wi-Fi. For companies that are paying by the gigabyte, using Wi-Fi instead of 3G/4G should translate to lower costs--and potentially let them adopt less expensive plans--if some questions can be resolved. They include: What happens when users switch networks in midsession? Which networks should different applications have access to? How do we address security and management? It's also an evolving environment, with the way cellular networks hand off to Wi-Fi poised to change over the next several years as vendors implement new standards like the Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) initiative, a.k.a. Hotspot 2.0. We discuss these in depth in our <a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/8497/Mobility-Wireless/strategy-3g-4g-wi-fi-convergence.html?cid=pub_analyt__iwk_201110341">full report on 3G/4G and Wi-Fi convergence</a>, available free with registration. Control Issues Operators don't particularly want to off-load to Wi-Fi. It's easier to manage the user experience when all traffic is on their cellular networks, but they don't have a choice. The nature of wireless is that it has inherently lower capacity than wire, and wireline is what's setting broadband expectations. Streaming content, in particular, generates massive amounts of traffic. In response, operators are using more efficient 4G technologies, deploying as many cell sites as possible, acquiring spectrum as it's doled out, and consolidating (as in the case of the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger) in pursuit of greater system efficiency. Yet, even all this isn't enough. So Wi-Fi, which provides a tremendous capacity boost via a significant amount of radio spectrum that's separate from expensive cellular spectrum, is the answer for now. AT&T is particularly aggressive with off-loading data to Wi-Fi. On smartphones, if Wi-Fi is turned on, the devices will automatically connect to AT&T hotspots at locations such as Starbucks or certain airports. T-Mobile also has a large hotspot network, as does Verizon. However, only AT&T and T-Mobile include hotspot service for free with both laptop modems and smartphones. Verizon's Wi-Fi hotspot service is free for laptops with its 3G/4G service but isn't available for smartphones. Sprint doesn't offer hotspot service, though with its announced move from WiMax to LTE, that may be on the horizon. On the enterprise side, our InformationWeek 2010 Wireless LAN survey showed little interest in fixed-mobile convergence systems that seamlessly hand off calls. Just 4% had deployed FMC in their companies, and 11% were testing it.  <center> <div id="inlineReportPromo"> <div class="inlineReportPromo_headline"><a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/8497/Mobility-Wireless/strategy-3g-4g-wi-fi-convergence.html?cid=pub_analyt__iwk_201110341" target="_blank" style="color:#ffffff;">Strategy: 3G/4G & Wi-Fi Convergence</a></div> <div class="inlineReportPromo_inner"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/1314/314F2_reportcover_art.jpg" width="175" height="110" style="float:right;"/> Our <a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/8497/Mobility-Wireless/strategy-3g-4g-wi-fi-convergence.html?cid=pub_analyt__iwk_201110341"> full report on 3G/4G and Wi-Fi convergence</a> is free with registration. This report includes 15 pages of action-oriented analysis. What you'll find: <ul class="normalUL"> <li>Why enterprise IT teams should keep an eye on the 3GPP IFOM specification</li> <li>The lowdown on Sprint's move from WiMax to LTE</li> </ul> <center><a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/8497/Mobility-Wireless/strategy-3g-4g-wi-fi-convergence.html?cid=pub_analyt__iwk_201110341">Get This</a> And <a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/">All Our Reports</a></center> </div> </div> </center>  Static On The Line The good news is, to protect their network capacity, most operators offer a variety of tiered pricing plans. Since business applications typically don't generate that much data, you may be able to shift employees to less-pricey service plans, especially if they have access to the enterprise WLAN for much of their work. Be aware, however, that data usage varies tremendously. In our experience, there's no such thing as a "typical" user. So, before deciding whether a 2-GB-per-month service plan is sufficient, IT must understand its applications. Email, Office document downloads, database lookups, and static Web pages won't add up to much data. But throw in video-based training, field service procedures, or video-enhanced VoIP, and use can skyrocket. That's when select use of Wi-Fi makes a lot of sense. As good as the savings yielded by increased use of WLANs may be, though, matters aren't that simple. The WLAN or hotspot is essentially a separate network, which means performance and security differ and data sessions are separate. What's more, an employee may not even be connecting to the Wi-Fi network you expect. Consider this scenario: Your CFO is at the airport waiting for a flight. She sees that the Dow Jones has gone up 300 points that morning and decides it's a good time to unload some stock. She's got 15 minutes before she must board the plane--plenty of time to whip out her laptop, connect to the airport's free Wi-Fi, and execute the transaction, right? But every page takes a minute to load. When she tries to finalize the transaction, the page freezes. It's now five minutes before boarding, so she terminates the Wi-Fi link and brings up a 3G connection via her Android smartphone, with the phone acting as a Wi-Fi hotspot for the laptop. In two minutes she easily completes the transaction. Then she fires off an email to IT complaining about the laptop's poor performance. Your first thought: I hope no one was eavesdropping on that airport hotspot. Let's begin with the performance issue. It used to be that a Wi-Fi connection was always preferable to a 3G connection. But 3G/4G networks are much faster than they used to be, and many Wi-Fi networks are slower than they once were because of congestion. 4G LTE networks today can easily deliver 5 Mbps to 10 Mbps downlink speeds. Meanwhile, many hotspots, including at a Starbucks where we did some ad hoc testing, are constrained by T1 backhaul circuits that limit throughput to 1.5 Mbps. Add to the mix a dozen caffeine-buzzed smartphone, tablet, and laptop users, and performance can go down from there in a hurry. Contributing to this problem, the Wi-Fi implementations in smartphones and tablets tend to be no-frills. Even if they support 802.11n, throughputs are well below the 100- Mbps and higher rates that users might get with their laptops. A typical tablet achieved a maximum transmission rate of only 15 Mbps. That means IT must ensure that the infrastructure compensates for the limitations of mobile devices. This could mean either installing access points that have improved radio performance (such as better interference rejection) to enable more reliable connections over longer distances or installing more access points to alleviate congestion, particularly in places where mobile workers congregate. Safety First As for hotspot networks, they don't offer any form of encryption, so traffic is vulnerable to eavesdropping and other attacks, such as session hijacking. Cellular networks aren't necessarily the best when it comes to security, but they're generally far better than Wi-Fi. Most 3G connections employ 128-bit encryption as well as mutual authentication between devices and networks. The catch is that 2G networks are much less secure, and enterprises have no control over whether employees are connected via 2G or 3G. Even if the air link is encrypted, data is encrypted only to a node within the operator network, after which it flows in the clear. For these reasons, establishing secure communications over cellular networks generally requires use of a VPN. The same VPN link that protects the cellular connection can protect the Wi-Fi connection. But this leads directly to another complication. When a device hands off from cellular to Wi-Fi, it has to drop the data session and re-establish one with a different IP address. For some applications, such as Web browsing or email, this isn't a big problem, except if it happens mid-download. But for session-oriented communications, such as a VoIP call, it will likely cause the call to terminate. This disruption will also break most VPN connections, requiring the user to reconnect. Fixing this problem requires a special mobile VPN, such as Mobility from NetMotion Wireless, where the VPN provides a separate IP address to the computer than the one the network provides, and allows persistent connections even as the underlying network changes. Because applications are insulated from the network, this architectural approach also allows application sessions to persist even if devices are temporarily beyond network coverage. <center><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/1314/314f2chart.jpg" width="550" height="452" alt="How interested are you in these wireless technologies?" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" style="margin-bottom:7px;" /> </center>Burning Through Bandwidth Another question is how to control what application accesses what access medium. Enterprise applications like email don't consume that much data, but what's to stop an employee from watching The Walking Dead over 3G during lunch on his smartphone? Short of an actual zombie apocalypse, not a thing. To control costs, some IT teams we work with restrict bandwidth-hogging applications such as video to Wi-Fi connections. Otherwise, users could quickly burn through their data plans. Without some form of policy enforcement, though, like that provided by mobile device management systems from Good Technology, MobileIron, NetMotion Mobility, and Sybase Afaria, IT has little control over how users consume data, or on what network. Even with MDM, policy enforcement is complicated when IT has to support employee-provided devices that span multiple platforms. And even if we could get all data traffic off 3G and onto enterprise WLANs when employees are on site, that still wouldn't solve all of our problems. 3G data consumption may go down, but now there's an increased load on the WLAN. If the enterprise network was designed with the minimum number of access points, or 100- Mbps Ethernet instead of 1-Gbps Ethernet for backhaul, IT might have to beef up the WLAN to accommodate new mobile device traffic. Still, we expect most IT teams would rather invest in their own networks than hand those dollars over to an operator in overage charges. Finally, as Wi-Fi networks proliferate and operators implement automatic handoffs to hotspots, a new type of problem could emerge: Namely, what Wi-Fi network should the device connect with, especially when several are available? The device could see an operator-provided hotspot and automatically connect with it, even though there might be an alternate Wi-Fi network that IT would prefer using. Perhaps that alternate network has better security or performance. We don't see this as much of a problem yet, but be aware of the algorithms devices use to connect to ensure that they're compatible with IT requirements. For now, the answer is education; usually the order in which Wi-Fi networks are presented in the connection management configuration screen is the order in which connections are made. Ensure that users know to avoid potentially insecure links. Today's challenges with 3G/4G and Wi-Fi may be annoying, but they're largely manageable. And, thanks to various new specifications, things could get a lot better. The bad news is that it may take years for these improvements, which we discuss in our full report, to fully come online. In the meantime, forward-looking IT teams should plan accordingly. Wi-Fi integration will become more seamless and more secure, and connectivity may consume less power. Until then, pay attention to policies, consider an MDM suite if you don't have one, educate users, and provide mobile VPNs where appropriate. <center><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/1314/314f2chart2.jpg" width="550" height="322" alt="How interested are you in these wireless technologies?" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" style="margin-bottom:7px;" /> </center>  <center> <div id="printfeaturePDFpromo"><div class="printfeaturePDFCover"><a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/25/8507/Virtualization/informationweek-october-31-2011.html?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1314/smallcov.jpg" alt="InformationWeek: Oct. 31, 2011 Issue" title="InformationWeek: Oct. 31, 2011 Issue" /></a></div> <div class="printfeaturePDFCopy"><a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/25/8507/Virtualization/informationweek-october-31-2011.html?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os">Download a free PDF of InformationWeek magazine</a> (registration required)</div> <div class="clearBoth"></div> </div> </center>  2011-10-11T14:16:00ZWhy Sprint's WiMAX Dump Was InevitableLTE's on an unstoppable roll, and the carrier needed to get on board before it was too late.http://www.informationweek.com/news/231900556?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_On Friday, Sprint announced that it would deploy a <a href="http://newsroom.sprint.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=2064">nationwide 4G Long Term Evolution network</a>. The plan: launch service midyear 2012 and by the end of 2013 extend coverage to 250 million people in the U.S. This decision has far-reaching implications, including the further ascendancy of LTE and the relegation of WiMAX to niche status. Previous to this, Sprint's 4G solution was WiMAX, delivered on a network operated by Clearwire. <a href="http://developer.sprint.com/site/global/home/4g/sprint_clearwire/sprint_clearwire.jsp">Sprint is a majority owner of Clearwire</a>, along with Clearwire itself, Intel, and Comcast. WiMAX technology, driven heavily by Intel investment, was intended as a disruptive and superior successor to 3G technologies. Using a wireless approach called Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), WiMAX promised faster speeds and lower network costs than 3G technologies that were based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). WiMAX has seen some success, primarily in greenfield deployments, with the WiMAX Forum boasting 583 networks in 150 countries. This sounds impressive, but it represents only a tiny percentage of global mobile broadband. Research firm Maravedis anticipates 50 million subscribers by 2015, less than 2% of the 2.96 billion 3G subscribers that Informa predicts. Clearwire was a big hope for WiMAX investors. With more spectrum available than other wireless operators and with burgeoning mobile-broadband demand, enthusiasts expected it to become the leading 4G wireless technology. But that was not to be, for a number of reasons. WiMAX looked strong out of the gate. For a while, it was able to position itself as the only 4G technology with a two-year head start. But companies threatened by WiMAX, including Qualcomm and major 3G operators such as AT&T and Verizon, responded aggressively in two ways. First, by participating in enhancements to CDMA-based 3G technologies, and then by accelerating LTE, the "official" cellular industry OFDMA-based 4G technology. This squeezed WiMAX from two sides and limited its window of opportunity. Enhanced 3G, especially High Speed Packet Access Evolved, not only now largely matches WiMAX performance, but HSPA+ operators AT&T and T-Mobile also successfully applied the "4G" label to these technologies, winning over consumers. Meanwhile, Verizon last year declared it would be the first in the U.S. to have a nationwide LTE network. LTE, a newer technology than WiMax, outperforms WiMAX. Responding to competitive pressure, AT&T also accelerated its own LTE deployment plans. Sprint, which had the most advanced mobile-broadband technology via Clearwire, no longer had that much to show for itself. A slow overall rollout of Clearwire's network didn't help. Still, Sprint could have stuck with WiMAX, especially since the new version, called WiMAX 2, is faster than today's LTE (though that will be matched by LTE Advanced). But there's just one other problem: scale. Today's wireless technologies such as LTE are so complex that they consume the entire planetary engineering capability. It’s not just the radio interface. The specifications for LTE cover an entire new network architecture that spans the access network, core network, interworking with other networks, VoIP, quality of service, IPv6, and on and on. If you could somehow envision it, it would be a huge, towering structure in the sky of immense complexity and beauty, one of mankind's greatest creations. Cellular operators globally have chosen LTE. It's only that global scale of hundreds of networks and, eventually, billions of subscribers that makes LTE practical--something an ordinary person can afford to have on a smartphone. That simply cannot be done with another technology, so no other method, no matter how capable, can compete with that. Clearwire itself has announced it will do LTE. However, for various reasons--including having no control over Clearwire--Sprint has decided to do its own LTE network, in conjunction with outsourcing some capacity to LightSquared. Bottom line, Sprint had no choice--it's jumping on the LTE train before it's too late. Peter Rysavy is the president of wireless consulting company <a href="http://www.rysavy.com">Rysavy Research</a> and the executive director of the <a href="http://www.pcca.org">Portable Computer and Communications Association</a>, a nonprofit industry association that addresses key wireless technology developments. Get lessons from five companies on the front lines of implementing unified communications. Also in the all-digital supplement of Network Computing: Mike Fratto on how to make the case for UC. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/nwcdigital/nwcaug1511/?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os">Download the supplement now</a>. (Free registration required.) 2010-02-13T00:00:00ZNew Platforms Go Beyond SmartphonesThey go by a variety of names: netbooks, smartbooks, mobile Internet devices, and booklets. Here's what you need to consider in evaluating these next-gen mobile platforms.http://www.informationweek.com/news/222900077?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_  <div style="margin:0; padding:0; border-top:dotted 2px #56a643;"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/021510/index.jhtml?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1257/smallcov.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Green - Feb. 15, 2010" width="65" height="87" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" align="left" style="margin:12px 33px 8px 15px;" /></a> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/021510/index.jhtml?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/graphics_library/misc/Green_leaf_88x88.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Green" width="88" height="88" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" align="right" style="margin:8px 10px 8px 10px;" /></a> <div style="margin:10px 0 0 0; font-size:1.1em;" align="center"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/021510/index.jhtml?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os">Download the entire Feb. 15, 2010 issue of InformationWeek</a>, distributed in an all-digital format as part of our <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/green/">Green Initiative</a> (Registration required.) <div style="margin:6px 0 0 0; color:#56a643; font-weight:bold; font-size:1em;">We will plant a tree for each of the first 5,000 downloads.</div> </div> </div> <div style="clear:both; margin:0; padding:0 0 0 0; border-bottom:dotted 2px #56a643;"></div>    <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/1257/Lenovo_Skylight_Smartbook_110.jpg" width="110" height="110" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" alt="Lenovo Skylight Smartbook" title="Lenovo Skylight Smartbook" align="right" style="margin:0 0 10px 10px" /> Smartphones pack a whole lot of computing power into a small device. But no matter how smart these phones get, they have their limitations, small screens and unwieldy user interfaces among the most obvious. At the other end of the mobile spectrum, notebooks sport the perfect user interface, but they're heavy and cumbersome. Enter the in-between platforms: devices that are smaller and lighter than notebooks and more capable than phones. Netbooks are the first success story here, but other devices, with names like smartbooks and mobile Internet devices, are about to be released. As you evaluate these new platforms, ask these basic questions: Which operating system will you use? Whom will you buy from? What kind of service plan is right for your business? Should you use 3G, Wi-Fi, or both? How does phone tethering figure in? And what kind of security do you need? InformationWeek Analytics' "<a href="http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/18/2253/Mobile-Wireless/mobile-broadband-beyond-smartphones.html">Mobile Broadband: Beyond Smartphones</a>" report provides insight into all of these areas to help you decide which device is best for your company. How To Pick Your Mobile Platform A useful way to think of these platforms is either as supersized smartphones or downsized notebooks. If you're downsizing from a notebook to a netbook, there's a good chance you'll use some of the same apps, like Microsoft Office and Lotus Notes, on a Windows device. But if you're upsizing from a smartphone, you'll expect an instant-on capability and a battery life that gets you through the day, and you'll likely be OK with a non-Windows OS. Netbooks weigh about three pounds--half as much as notebooks. They typically don't have CD/DVD drives. Their processors aren't as powerful as notebooks, so you won't be editing photos and videos; you may even have difficulty playing videos. And don't expect to work on a large number of applications simultaneously. Wi-Fi functionality is standard on netbooks, and many models have an embedded 3G modem. They typically have 10-inch screens with 1,024-by-600 resolution. Hard drives range from 80 GB to 250 GB, and solid-state drives will become increasingly common. Though SSDs cost more and have lower capacity, currently maxing out at 64 GB, they use less power and make for more durable systems. Netbook keyboards are more compact than those on notebooks, but they're still highly usable. Battery life varies. With continual but light usage, you might make it through the day. Prices range from $300 to $600. Intel's Atom chip, designed for netbooks, is driving most of the ones on the market. It consumes very little power and costs less than notebook processors. Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset is aimed at smartbooks, which should start to show up this year. Smartbooks combine key attributes of smartphones, notebooks, and netbooks to produce a device that's always connected, ultraportable, and Web-centric. They'll be smaller than netbooks and have longer battery lives and instant-on capabilities. Linux and Google Chrome are the likely operating systems, though Windows will be prevalent as well. Vendors are giving these devices different names. Intel is calling them "mobile Internet devices," Qualcomm is using the term "smartbook," and Nokia has coined the term "booklet." With the Atom chip, Intel is pursuing a dual-stack strategy, including both Windows and the Moblin Linux implementation. Linux will be used in a tangled weave of other implementations, including the Open Handset Alliance's Android, Sun Microsystems' JavaFX, Palm's WebOS, Adobe's Flash, and Nokia's Maemo and Trolltech QTopia. Because Linux is highly fragmented, expect versions backed by giants like Google and Intel to be the ones that dominate. Apple has just introduced its iPad tablet and could become a strong presence in the subnetbook world as well. In deciding which type of device to use, consider whether you need to run local applications or can work via the Web. Local apps will in most cases favor netbooks and Windows, whereas cloud-based computing will make Linux devices more feasible. As for size, the more users have to "create" on the device, the larger a display and keyboard they'll need.  <center>To read the rest of the article, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/021510/index.jhtml?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os">Download the Feb. 15, 2010 issue of InformationWeek</a></center>   <center> <div style="margin:0; padding:8px; border:solid 1px #cc0000; width:460px; text-align:left;"> <div style="margin:0; padding:5px; background-color:#CC0000; text-align:center; font-size:1.3em; color:#ffffff; font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/18/2253/Mobile-Wireless/mobile-broadband-beyond-smartphones.html" target="_blank" style="color:#ffffff;">Download Our Beyond Smartphones Report</a></div> <div style="margin:8px;"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/1257/257F2Reportcover_110.jpg" width="110" height="110" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" align="right" alt="Beyond Smartphones Report" title="Beyond Smartphones Report" style="margin:8px 0 8px 20px;" /> <center> You'll get even more insight into what to consider in picking your company's next mobile platform. <a href="http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/18/2253/Mobile-Wireless/mobile-broadband-beyond-smartphones.html">Download Our Beyond Smartphones Report </a> </center> What you'll find: <ul> <li style="margin: 0 0 7px 0;"> More analysis of options available in this emerging category</li> <li style="margin: 0 0 7px 0;"> A look at whether Windows 7 is suitable for these platforms</li> <li style="margin: 0 0 7px 0;"> Detailed information of services plans being offered by major mobile operators</li> <li> Additional research from InformationWeek Analytics.</li> </ul> <center><a href="http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/18/2253/Mobile-Wireless/mobile-broadband-beyond-smartphones.html">Download this Analytics Report: $99 for a Limited Time</a> </center> </div> </div> </center>  2010-02-13T00:00:00ZNew Platforms Go Beyond SmartphonesThey go by a variety of names: netbooks, smartbooks, mobile Internet devices, and booklets. Here's what you need to consider in evaluating these next-gen mobile platforms.http://www.informationweek.com/news/222900080?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_Smartphones pack a whole lot of computing power into a small device. But no matter how smart these phones get, they have their limitations, small screens and unwieldy user interfaces among the most obvious. At the other end of the mobile spectrum, notebooks sport the perfect user interface, but they're heavy and cumbersome. Enter the in-between platforms: devices that are smaller and lighter than notebooks and more capable than phones. Netbooks are the first success story here, but other devices, with names like smartbooks and mobile Internet devices, are about to be released. As you evaluate these new platforms, ask these basic questions: Which operating system will you use? Whom will you buy from? What kind of service plan is right for your business? Should you use 3G, Wi-Fi, or both? How does phone tethering figure in? And what kind of security do you need? InformationWeek Analytics' "Mobile Broadband: Beyond Smartphones" report provides insight into all of these areas to help you decide which device is best for your company. How To Pick Your Mobile Platform A useful way to think of these platforms is either as supersized smartphones or downsized notebooks. If you're downsizing from a notebook to a netbook, there's a good chance you'll use some of the same apps, like Microsoft Office and Lotus Notes, on a Windows device. But if you're upsizing from a smartphone, you'll expect an instant-on capability and a battery life that gets you through the day, and you'll likely be OK with a non-Windows OS. Netbooks weigh about three pounds--half as much as notebooks. They typically don't have CD/DVD drives. Their processors aren't as powerful as notebooks, so you won't be editing photos and videos; you may even have difficulty playing videos. And don't expect to work on a large number of applications simultaneously. Wi-Fi functionality is standard on netbooks, and many models have an embedded 3G modem. They typically have 10-inch screens with 1,024-by-600 resolution. Hard drives range from 80 GB to 250 GB, and solid-state drives will become increasingly common. Though SSDs cost more and have lower capacity, currently maxing out at 64 GB, they use less power and make for more durable systems. Netbook keyboards are more compact than those on notebooks, but they're still highly usable. Battery life varies. With continual but light usage, you might make it through the day. Prices range from $300 to $600. Intel's Atom chip, designed for netbooks, is driving most of the ones on the market. It consumes very little power and costs less than notebook processors. Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset is aimed at smartbooks, which should start to show up this year. Smartbooks combine key attributes of smartphones, notebooks, and netbooks to produce a device that's always connected, ultraportable, and Web-centric. They'll be smaller than netbooks and have longer battery lives and instant-on capabilities. Linux and Google Chrome are the likely operating systems, though Windows will be prevalent as well. Vendors are giving these devices different names. Intel is calling them "mobile Internet devices," Qualcomm is using the term "smartbook," and Nokia has coined the term "booklet." With the Atom chip, Intel is pursuing a dual-stack strategy, including both Windows and the Moblin Linux implementation. Linux will be used in a tangled weave of other implementations, including the Open Handset Alliance's Android, Sun Microsystems' JavaFX, Palm's WebOS, Adobe's Flash, and Nokia's Maemo and Trolltech QTopia. Because Linux is highly fragmented, expect versions backed by giants like Google and Intel to be the ones that dominate. Apple has just introduced its iPad tablet and could become a strong presence in the subnetbook world as well. In deciding which type of device to use, consider whether you need to run local applications or can work via the Web. Local apps will in most cases favor netbooks and Windows, whereas cloud-based computing will make Linux devices more feasible. As for size, the more users have to "create" on the device, the larger a display and keyboard they'll need. Where To Buy? You can buy netbooks from wireless operators. If you commit to a two-year service contract, you'll get a discount on the device. For example, the Hewlett-Packard Mini 110 from AT&T is priced at $199, compared with $299 from HP. Of course, two years of service will set you back at least $840. But businesses are likely to require more flexible customization options and professional-grade versions of the devices than the wireless operators offer. For example, the HP Mini 110 from AT&T only comes with Windows 7 Starter Edition, Microsoft Works, and Microsoft Outlook Express. Business users will need to view PowerPoint files and use Outlook for e-mail. Service plans from the major mobile operators are relatively expensive--a netbook data plan with a 5-GB cap runs twice as much as a comparable smartphone plan. AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon charge $60 per month, while T-Mobile charges $50. These prices are high, especially compared with overseas rates. In the United Kingdom, you can get a 5-GB capped plan for 15 pounds ($23) per month. U.S. rates go even higher when overage charges are added. AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon recently rolled out lower-priced netbook plans. AT&T offers $35 per month for a 200-MB plan, T-Mobile charges $30 for 200 MB, and Verizon has a $40 plan for 250 MB. A 200-MB plan is reasonable for e-mail (not too many PowerPoint attachments, please) and some enterprise applications. But data-intensive apps, especially video, will consume this allotment very quickly. Our recommendation: Install bandwidth measuring tools, such as Hagel Technologies' DU Meter, to assess usage before you commit to a lower-priced plan. Operators provide monthly usage stats, but this information lags by a day or more. In our experience, prudent use of e-mail will consume no more than 5 MB to 10 MB per day. Active Web access can bump usage up to 10 MB per hour, and video will have you using 200 MB to 1 GB an hour, depending on resolution. Wi-Fi Or 3G? It's becoming the norm that all devices, from smartphones to netbooks, support Wi-Fi and mobile broadband. With the mobile broadband capacity crunch, cellular operators are more than happy to off-load heavy data users onto Wi-Fi. AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon all provide free access to their Wi-Fi hotspot networks for customers paying the $60 a month for a wide area mobile broadband plan. Sprint doesn't offer anything comparable. If you can find enough Wi-Fi coverage for your netbooks and smartbooks, then by all means ditch the mobile broadband plan and save a heap of money using Wi-Fi. But be aware that highly mobile devices will be prisoners to their enterprise network and hotspots. And many hotspots will require additional service plans from the likes of iPass and Boingo Wireless, though these are considerably less expensive than 3G plans. Wi-Fi is going to play an important role whether you're working in Wi-Fi-only mode or combining wide area and Wi-Fi. 3G is fast, but Wi-Fi is almost always faster. And for users on constrained-usage plans, Wi-Fi will be useful for bulk transfers of data and huge items like Windows service packs. The bottom line is that using Wi-Fi only is much less expensive, but for the broadest coverage, you'll need a wide area plan. What About Tethering And Security? Tethering, where you connect your phone to your computer via USB or Bluetooth, can help make these new mobile devices really pay off. Many of the connection managers that operators provide to control PC cards and embedded modems in these devices also manage tethered connections. It's not something end users will figure out, but it's well within the capabilities of the average IT manager. Tethering can be as fast as dedicated modems, though performance improvements usually roll into modems before phones, so speeds might be different. Be sure to check tethered-connection throughput so you're not surprised. AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon all support tethering. T-Mobile doesn't officially support it but also doesn't do anything to prevent it. As for the cost, when adding a 5-GB tethering option to the phone, the monthly cost will be the same as for a modem plan--$60 a month. But this can represent a huge savings if users already need data plans for their phones, because the same data plan can support both the phone's data usage and the computer's usage. Tethering is particularly useful if users only occasionally need 3G for their devices. When it comes to security, smartphones are complicated, and emerging mobile platforms will be even worse since they hold so much more data and can access a wider range of enterprise data. If your mobile users are already using VPNs to secure their laptops, then consider using the same software on Windows-based netbooks. As non-Windows platforms become established, VPN clients for them are likely to become available. For Web-based applications, a Secure Sockets Layer-based VPN is effective because it only needs the SSL capability found in all browsers. You can also expect various mobile management platforms to support these new devices with features like software updates, end-point control, and the ability to neutralize lost devices. Security, tethering, Wi-Fi or 3G, Windows or Linux, whom to buy from, what to buy--there's a lot to consider when planning your company's next mobile platform. But it's worth the effort. You'll be able to provide mobile employees with devices that are smaller and lighter than notebooks but way more functional than smartphones. There's a lot to consider, but also a lot of potential payoffs. Peter Rysavy is a wireless technology consultant and president of Rysavy Research, (<a href="http://www.rysavy.com" target="_blank">www.rysavy.com</a>)2009-12-05T00:00:00ZAir Pressure: Why IT Must Sort Out App Mobilization ChallengesEquipping mobile employees with the feature-rich applications and highly functional devices they need to maximize productivity has never been easy. But if you wait for market forces to impose a clearer road map, you risk falling behind competitors. http://www.informationweek.com/news/222000504?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_<a href="http://www.informationweekanalytics.com"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/graphics_library/network_logos/logos/IW_Analytics.gif" alt="InformationWeek Analytics" width="175" height="39" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" align="right" style="margin:0 0 10px 10px;" /></a>The path to application mobilization is more confusing than ever. Today's smartphones are powerful computers with substantial processing power and storage. They represent the cutting edge of the computing industry, incorporating innovations in form factors, user interfaces, applications, and operating systems. And therein lies the problem: Intense innovation has led us to multiple smartphone platforms, more than 100,000 applications for the iPhone alone, mobile support from enterprise application vendors, a variety of 3GL and 4GL development environments, powerful browser technologies, and various mobile middleware platforms. It's one thing to deploy wireless e-mail to your workers. It's quite another to do so in combination with real-time access to enterprise applications such as CRM. Throw in the need for device management and security, and it's no wonder that IT architects can feel overwhelmed. While every situation is unique, we can provide some guiding principles to streamline the number of options you have to examine. We'll focus particularly on the choice of Web vs. native development.The latter is becoming reasonable even when multiple platforms must be supported, and write once, run anywhere development environments are increasingly mature.  <CENTER> <A HREF="http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/18/1793/Mobile-Wireless/the-mobile-web-imperative.html?cid=IWKRPT" target="_blank"><IMG SRC="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/promo/iwkreports.gif" ALT="InformationWeek Reports" WIDTH="278" HEIGHT="25" BORDER="0"></A></CENTER> One course that's probably not an option: sitting tight until the calculation gets easier. The number of platforms and approaches isn't about to decline. And your best and brightest employees aren't likely to wait patiently. One survey respondent, the CTO of advertising agency 22squared, sums up why we need to figure this out: "People do not wait to sit at their desks to think, have ideas, contact customers," says Robert Isherwood. "Work is a verb." Market Stats Of the 695 business technology pros responding to our November 2009 InformationWeek Analytics Application Mobilization Survey, 42% say their organizations will deploy mobile applications on smartphones within the next 12 months, with an additional 11% saying they will do so in 12 to 24 months. Only 21% of these respondents, however, indicate enterprise-wide adoption, with 42% pointing to department-specific deployments. In some cases, the economy is to blame for delays. "The cost of PC phones/smartphones and unlimited services is still too high to allow everyone who can benefit from the devices" to have one, says one public-sector IT director. "It's hard to justify with the budget being so tight." As for the market leaders, BlackBerry continues to dominate in business settings, with 61% of the respondents who are deploying smartphone applications citing widespread BlackBerry usage. What shocked us, however, is how quickly the iPhone has penetrated enterprises: 27% say the iPhone has widespread use. Windows Mobile (which we expected to be in second place) is at 24%, and Google Android is at 6%. Symbian, the world's leading smartphone OS, continues to struggle to get U.S. business attention, accounting for only 3%, with Palm Pre doing marginally better at 5%. E-mail has long been the most popular smartphone app, and that's still the case, with 85% of the survey respondents who are deploying smartphone applications citing widespread e-mail use, followed by general-purpose Internet access at 54%, instant messaging at 44%, PIM functions at 33%, and CRM at 23%.  <center> <div style="margin:0; padding:8px; border:solid 1px #cc0000; width:460px; text-align:left;"> <div style="margin:0; padding:5px; background-color:#CC0000; text-align:center; font-size:1.3em; color:#ffffff; font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://mobile-applications.informationweek.com" target="_blank" style="color:#ffffff;">Download Our App Mobilization Report</a></div> <div style="margin:8px;"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1251/IWA_App_Mobilization_110.jpg" alt="" title="" width="110" height="110" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" align="left" style="margin:8px 20px 8px 0;" /> <center>This article is based on an InformationWeek Analytics Report, <a href="http://mobile-applications.informationweek.com">free for a limited time</a>. </center> What you'll find: • A deeper dive into mobility plans for 695 respondents • Our exclusive mobile browser feature comparison chart <a href="http://mobile-applications.informationweek.com">Download this Analytics Report</a> </div> </div> </center> Browsers Rising Companies flummoxed by the array of choices can take comfort in one fact: We're finally at the dawn of the true mobile Web. Apple's iPhone, with its highly capable Safari browser, has shown the world that the Web really can be delivered effectively to a phone, and that a huge number of people will pay for the privilege of browsing from anywhere. And the iPhone isn't the only game in town--other Web players, including Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla, are ramping up their mobilization efforts. The implications are significant and will change how applications are mobilized by both independent software vendors and businesses. Fortunately, we seem to be ready for the transition. In our poll, 28% of respondents say they plan a mobile browser approach, the next most common choice after a native client. We expect this number to keep growing, and that the Web will become an increasingly important avenue for deploying mobile apps--one reason we cover the topic extensively in our report, available free for a limited time at <a href="http://mobile-applications.informationweek.com" target="_blank">mobile-applications.informationweek.com</a>. The mobile Web is finally hitting its stride for a number of reasons. The greatest enabler is fast throughput, such as what's offered by 3G networks. It also doesn't hurt that so many devices nowadays are Wi-Fi enabled. With typical 3G speeds of 1 Mbps, and latency of 100 to 200 milliseconds, small screens can update in five seconds or less, compared with 10 seconds or more on 2G networks. Sure, five seconds is slower than the sub-second screen updates achieved with local native apps, but it's still usable. And technologies such as Ajax and Gears allow interaction with locally stored content, significantly improving the user experience even when network responses aren't instantaneous. Moreover, networks are getting faster. WiMax providers claim to offer 2-Mbps to 4-Mbps throughput rates. HSPA networks are also being upgraded, and "approaching 4G" platforms like Long Term Evolution will start to be deployed over the next year. Latency is going down, meaning today's five-second typical screen update will be cut in half within a year or two. Device capability is playing a huge role as well. Today's high-end handhelds have more computing punch than desktops of a decade ago. Larger high-resolution screens also make a big difference, as do touch screens. Finally, a number of vendors are offering highly capable smartphone browsers that can render almost any Web content. The leading browsers include Apple's iPhone Safari, Google's Android, Microsoft's Mobile Internet Explorer, Mozilla's forthcoming mobile Firefox, and Nokia's S60. Note that some browsers, such as IE, Safari, and S60, come with handheld platforms, while others, such as Opera, Firefox, NetFront and SkyFire, are third-party browsers installable by the user. Just as with desktops, developers must ensure that their applications work correctly with their browsers of interest; features can vary, as do the HTML rendering engines in use.c <center><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1251/251AB_AppMobil_chart4.gif" alt="chart: How Will You Use These Platforms For Mobile Apps?" title="chart: How Will You Use These Platforms For Mobile Apps?" width="390" height="318" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" /></center>Native Vs. Web So which way should companies go? Native applications--those built using languages such as C++ or Java that execute locally on the device--provide the most responsive user experience while allowing offline operation. However, native applications come with a hefty price--namely, coding environments that are generally more difficult to debug compared with desktop environments. In addition, the application will work only for one particular platform, meaning that companies need to build or buy different versions for BlackBerry, Google, and iPhone devices. In contrast, the browser model simplifies software sales and distribution considerably, as otherwise application vendors must work with multiple application stores, such as the iPhone and Android stores, and then break apps down further for each platform. Simpler mobile application distribution will encourage greater innovation and development, ultimately benefiting both businesses and consumers. Furthermore, the average IT department has in-house Web content management skills, including authoring expertise. However, not as many departments have the sophisticated skills needed to develop--and debug--native applications. One survey respondent is sold on the Web approach. "We use BES server to give us relatively secure access to our internal network," says Alfons Schermaier, senior architect at chemicals manufacturer PPG Industries. "From that point on, we use standard Web app development techniques and a design approach for the application that makes maximum use of the reduced screen real estate. These applications can also be used from a PC browser if needed. Testing is a bit more involved with the multiple target clients, but the applications have greater utility, and once you get the hang of this, you can really start to deliver more quickly." Speed is the name of the game for many IT groups, making the native vs. Web calculation that much easier. Peter Rysavy is a wireless technology expert and president of <a href="http://www.rysavy.com">Rysavy Research</a> <center><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/1251/ABsybase_assessment.jhtml"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1251/impact_asseeement_sybase_440.gif" alt="Impact Assessment: Mobilized Applications" width="440" height="260" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" style="margin-bottom:7px;" /></a> (click image for larger view)</center>2009-10-24T00:02:00ZWhat CIOs Must Know About The Wireless 'Spectrum Crisis'Wireless is becoming an increasingly important piece of the enterprise architecture.http://www.informationweek.com/news/220900168?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is worried. Not today, or even this year, but soon, he thinks the United States won't be able to meet the demand for broadband wireless data. "The biggest threat to the future of mobile in America is the looming spectrum crisis," he told a wireless conference earlier this month. You should be worried, too--or, at the least, be paying attention. Mobile data will be an increasingly important piece of the enterprise IT architecture, and also part of more products that companies provide. CIOs need to identify network-centric trouble spots today, as new wireless opportunities arise and well before anything resembling a "crisis" hits. <CENTER> <A HREF="http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/18/1458/Mobile-Wireless/is-there-a-wireless-spectrum-crisis%2A.html?cid=IWKRPT" target="_blank"><IMG SRC="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/promo/iwkreports.gif" ALT="InformationWeek Reports" WIDTH="278" HEIGHT="25" BORDER="0"></A></CENTER> Blame the iPhone. The first widespread use of wireless data began with the RIM BlackBerry in the mid-1990s, but it's the iPhone that's made wireless data a mass-market phenomenon. It's changing what people--employees and customers--expect to be able to do with their smartphones and how they interact with companies. This one blockbuster device has generated enough of a network load that iPhone owners complain about resulting poor service, including dropped calls, delayed messages, and slow download speeds. Yet it's more than smartphone apps that should have CIOs thinking about wireless spectrum. Sprint this month created a business unit to sell use of its spectrum for devices other than phones to share data. Those devices include anything from Amazon's Kindle book reader, to a water meter that sends usage data, to a cash register (see story, "<a href="http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/83/1455/IT-Business-Strategy/informationweek-full-issue-oct-26-2009.html">Follett Runs Some Stores On 3G Networks</a>", available via download of our free PDF of <a href="http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/83/1455/IT-Business-Strategy/informationweek-full-issue-oct-26-2009.html">this week's InformationWeek magazine</a> registration required). But there are limitations to today's wireless networks, and they're going to get bigger. Don't count on so-called 4G technologies to save the day, at least not for many years. Until then, CIOs must understand the effect on applications when the network gets overloaded, and plan accordingly.  <div style="width:210px; float:right; margin:0; padding:0 0 10px 10px;"> <div style="border:solid 1px #000000; background-color:#ffffff;"> <div style="margin:0; padding:5px; background-color:#CC0000; text-align:center; font-size:1.3em; color:#ffffff; font-weight:bold;">DIG DEEPER</div> <center><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1245/ID_triple_report.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="175" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" style="margin:10px 0 10px 0;"/></center> <div style="margin:0 8px 8px 8px; text-align:center;"> <a href="http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/18/751/Mobile-Wireless/the-push-is-on-to-mobilize-business-apps.html">Enterprise Mobility</a> How companies are pushing to mobilize business applications. </div> <div style="margin:0 8px 8px 8px; text-align:center;"> <a href="http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/18/722/Mobile-Wireless/lte-vs-wimax.html">LTE Vs. WiMax</a> This won't be a typical winner-take-all duel. </div> <div style="margin:0 8px 10px 8px; text-align:center;"> <a href="http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/18/736/Mobile-Wireless/802-11v-moves-wlan-control-down-the-line.html">802.11v Ahead</a> Upcoming standard could help companies get a grip on wireless network usage. </div> <div style="margin:0; padding:5px; background-color:#000000; text-align:center; font-size:1em; font-weight:bold; color:#ffffff;"><a href="http://analytics.informationweek.com">See all our InformationWeek Analytic Reports</a></div> </div> </div>  Demands On The Network A good place to start is the actual demand compared with network capacity. Cisco, in a January report, predicted that mobile data traffic will more than double every year through 2013, at which time it will reach 2 exabytes-- 2 billion GB--per month. Think Cisco believes its own numbers? This month, it struck a $2.9 billion deal to buy Starent Networks, whose equipment helps wireless carriers deliver multimedia and other data-intensive features. The wireless industry is petitioning the FCC to allocate additional spectrum over the next six years to more than double the industry's licensed spectrum. FCC Chairman Genachowski sounds sympathetic. "Even with innovative spectrum policies and innovative new technologies, experts believe we are way too likely to be caught short," he said at the CTIA conference this month. IT managers should care because congested networks are slow and, worse, unpredictable. As throughput rates decrease and packet delays increase, some applications start behaving erratically, as we'll discuss. It's not panic time. We haven't yet reached widespread saturation on today's 3G networks, but given current market growth, it will likely happen without the timely addition of new spectrum. And given the multiyear process for identifying, auctioning, and deploying new wireless spectrum, spectrum might not become available fast enough to accommodate the rising tide of smartphones and data-hogging applications. The Cisco report states that smartphones generate more than 30 times the traffic of basic cell phones; laptops with wireless modems 450 times the traffic. <center> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6" style="border:solid 1px #cc0000; background-color:#e1e1e1; width:300px;"> <tr valign="middle" align="center"> <td> <a href="http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/7/1373/Enterprise-Software/informationweek-full-issue-oct-12-2009.html"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1245/smallcov.jpg" alt="InformationWeek: October 26, 2009 Issue" title="InformationWeek: October 26, 2009 Issue" width="65" height="87" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" align="left" style="margin:0 10px 0 0;" /></a> To read the rest of the article, <a href="http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/83/1455/IT-Business-Strategy/informationweek-full-issue-oct-26-2009.html">download a free PDF of InformationWeek magazine</a> (registration required) </td> </tr> </table> </center> 2009-10-24T00:02:00ZWhat CIOs Must Know About The Wireless 'Spectrum Crisis'Wireless is becoming an increasingly important piece of the enterprise architecture.http://www.informationweek.com/news/220900186?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is worried. Not today, or even this year, but soon, he thinks the United States won't be able to meet the demand for broadband wireless data. "The biggest threat to the future of mobile in America is the looming spectrum crisis," he told a wireless conference earlier this month. You should be worried, too--or, at the least, be paying attention. Mobile data will be an increasingly important piece of the enterprise IT architecture, and also part of more products that companies provide. CIOs need to identify network-centric trouble spots today, as new wireless opportunities arise and well before anything resembling a "crisis" hits. Blame the iPhone. The first widespread use of wireless data began with the RIM BlackBerry in the mid-1990s, but it's the iPhone that's made wireless data a mass-market phenomenon. It's changing what people--employees and customers--expect to be able to do with their smartphones and how they interact with companies. This one blockbuster device has generated enough of a network load that iPhone owners complain about resulting poor service, including dropped calls, delayed messages, and slow download speeds. Yet it's more than smartphone apps that should have CIOs thinking about wireless spectrum. Sprint this month created a business unit to sell use of its spectrum for devices other than phones to share data. Those devices include anything from Amazon's Kindle book reader, to a water meter that sends usage data, to a cash register (see story, "<a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/business_intelligence/analytics/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220900169">Why Follett Runs Some Stores On 3G Networks</a>"). But there are limitations to today's wireless networks, and they're going to get bigger. Don't count on so-called 4G technologies to save the day, at least not for many years. Until then, CIOs must understand the effect on applications when the network gets overloaded, and plan accordingly. Demands On The Network A good place to start is the actual demand compared with network capacity. Cisco, in a January report, predicted that mobile data traffic will more than double every year through 2013, at which time it will reach 2 exabytes-- 2 billion GB--per month. Think Cisco believes its own numbers? This month, it struck a $2.9 billion deal to buy Starent Networks, whose equipment helps wireless carriers deliver multimedia and other data-intensive features. The wireless industry is petitioning the FCC to allocate additional spectrum over the next six years to more than double the industry's licensed spectrum. FCC Chairman Genachowski sounds sympathetic. "Even with innovative spectrum policies and innovative new technologies, experts believe we are way too likely to be caught short," he said at the CTIA conference this month. IT managers should care because congested networks are slow and, worse, unpredictable. As throughput rates decrease and packet delays increase, some applications start behaving erratically, as we'll discuss. It's not panic time. We haven't yet reached widespread saturation on today's 3G networks, but given current market growth, it will likely happen without the timely addition of new spectrum. And given the multiyear process for identifying, auctioning, and deploying new wireless spectrum, spectrum might not become available fast enough to accommodate the rising tide of smartphones and data-hogging applications. The Cisco report states that smartphones generate more than 30 times the traffic of basic cell phones; laptops with wireless modems 450 times the traffic. Operator Strategies Data traffic now represents 25% of the revenues of wireless network operators globally, and it's a more profitable and faster-growing business than voice, so operators such as AT&T and Verizon are highly motivated to find technological ways to squeeze data capacity out of their existing networks. One is to deploy new networks in spectrum that they already own. Both AT&T and Verizon have spectrum in the 700-MHz band, previously used for UHF TV channels, where they will deploy a technology called Long Term Evolution. Verizon, for instance, plans to start deploying LTE next year and AT&T in 2011. However, LTE isn't enough. While it could more than double operators' current mobile broadband capacity, it won't be fully deployed until about 2014. The operator in the strongest spectrum position right now to provide mobile broadband, and the one with the least amount of fine print about what customers can do on its network, is Clearwire and its WiMax network. That network, however, also has the smallest footprint since deployment began only recently. Operators also are upgrading 2G systems to 3G LTE to wring more capacity out of the same spectrum. Over time, probably sometime in the middle of the next decade, these same 3G networks will be upgraded to some more highly evolved versions of LTE or WiMax, what's envisioned as 4G. But near term, unfortunately, wireless technologies are approaching their theoretical limits, limited by what's called the Shannon Bound, which dictates the maximum spectral efficiency relative to noise. Beyond spectrum and efficiency, operators also can increase the number of base stations. Smaller coverage areas equate to more available spectrum per person, the reason Wi-Fi can offer such high throughputs. Operators not only are deploying more large-area cells, called macrocells, but they're also deploying more microcells and picocells that cover a highly localized area--for example, a shopping mall. A promising option in its earliest stages is femtocells, which cover very small areas and use ultra-low power via access points in homes or businesses that plug into subscribers' broadband Internet connections. Operators see femtocells as a great way to off-load data onto wired networks when people are in their homes or businesses. Likewise, you may have noticed operators encouraging Wi-Fi use. Letting 3G subscribers use hotspots free isn't benevolence; operators are trying to off-load as much data as they can onto Wi-Fi. Finally, one of the most important dials operators can turn to control volume is pricing. Wireless plans for laptop connectivity remain high, at about $60 per month. Smartphone plans are lower, at $30, since phone usage usually consumes less data, but the iPhone is challenging that assumption. Use a phone as a modem and the operator will promptly require the higher-priced laptop plan. There is also the somewhat controversial 5-GB monthly cap on most U.S. laptop plans. Business technology managers should be encouraged that operators are so active in managing demand and in continuing to invest in their networks. Wireless networks often work reasonably well. But the toughest issue is lack of predictability. It's problematic as companies push more applications over smartphones to critical mobile workers such as service personnel and salespeople. Enterprise Implications An employee working with a wireless application once a day, perhaps uploading or downloading a batch file, may not care too much about delays or retries. But a worker with a productivity application accessing the network continually throughout the day needs a dependable system. This can be achieved, but not without targeted effort, and generally only with applications that were specifically designed for mobile connectivity. Though defined in wireless specifications, no wireless operators today offer quality-of-service guarantees, such as guaranteed bit rates, maximum latency, or traffic priority. So performance is purely best efforts. U.S. operators quote typical throughput rates, which means that some reasonable percentage of users--perhaps 80% or even 90%--will experience that range. Business technology managers must realize that leaves as much as one in five users out of the typical range--higher or lower--with some getting relatively low throughput. Most TCP/IP-based networking applications weren't made to operate over wireless connections. While today's 3G and tomorrow's 4G networks can deliver IP packets reliably and efficiently in a congested situation, or even with just a very weak radio signal, throughput rates can decrease significantly, delays can increase, packets can drop, and connections can be lost entirely. Getting reconnected might require a different IP address, which can confuse an application in midtransaction. Moving rapidly in a train or car also can stress the connection since the quality of the radio signal fluctuates widely. There are ways to minimize the pain of such difficulties. Those include background synchronization so users don't have to wait as the application communicates with the server; longer time-outs to tolerate wireless network variations; restarting previous data exchanges from the point of failure; and local caching and data compression to minimize the amount of data communicated. To get those kind of robust communication methods is to build an application from the start to run over a wireless network, the way wireless e-mail on RIM's BlackBerry or the thousands of iPhone apps were. But for legacy apps, mobile middleware is usually the answer. Some mobile middleware can be installed to work with existing applications, such as mobile VPNs from companies such as NetMotion Wireless. Others, from companies such as Antenna or Sybase, provide a development environment with which to build wireless-optimized applications. Benefits of middleware include not only the more robust communications transports mentioned above, but with some packages, the ability to target multiple smartphone platforms with the same application code base. Middleware, however, comes with trade-offs. It adds to the cost and system complexity, and it involves a learning curve for IT departments and integrators. And any applications developed using the middleware tend to be tightly bound with it, making it difficult to change middleware vendors down the road. IT managers must understand what makes some applications inherently better for wireless than others. For example, SQL-based database applications can involve a large number of SQL statements traversing the air, and with wireless latency much higher than wireline, this can translate to very sluggish performance. On the other hand, a database mobility extension via middleware, or from the database companies themselves, generally involves an architecture where the mobile system uses efficient and resilient protocols to communicate with a mobile server, which then acts as a proxy for communication with the end server. With the move to cloud computing, IT managers may wonder if Web applications will take care of many of these problems. Unlike native applications, Web apps are highly dependent on solid network performance for a good user experience. On the other hand, Web interactions are relatively stateless, meaning TCP connections don't remain open after the browser accesses a page. So network interruptions between page loads shouldn't affect user sessions. The result is that pages may load more slowly in the event of network congestion, but overall, sessions should be fairly resilient. Of course, in really congested situations, page loads themselves will time out. Applications that require constant high bandwidth are particularly vulnerable to disruption and thus a poor fit for wireless delivery today. A file download can tolerate variation in throughput fairly well, but streaming video (e.g., training, a repair procedure) is more susceptible, especially if the video viewer doesn't buffer data. Audio streaming, though, is practical--radio station streaming is very popular on the iPhone. Bottom line, the more real-time and high-bandwidth the app is, the more vulnerable it is. IT managers really have two fundamental approaches available to them. For lightly used or noncritical applications, standard apps that aren't optimized for wireless probably will work sufficiently well to be viable. For critical applications, however, IT managers should consider optimizing their apps for wireless. Field testing in representative coverage areas also is a must. Given variations in network performance, tests should be done across multiple iterations, in multiple locations, and during different times of the day. While there's no rule of thumb, testing projects I have conducted used six to 10 iterations of each application test case in at least six to 10 locations in a single metropolitan area to model expected performance. Usually, it's a good idea to test in more than one city if the application will be used in multiple cities. Testing should be with both 2G and 3G connections. Where Things Are Heading Networks will get faster and capacity will increase, but neither will necessarily keep up with escalating demand. So this state of affairs will remain with us for a long time to come. There are plenty of great reasons to use mobile broadband to improve productivity. But radio will never be the same as wire. In the short term, IT managers should monitor the net neutrality debate, which has recently shot back into the political agenda. The strictest interpretation of net neutrality, for example, would effectively let any user do anything on the network, no matter how bandwidth-intensive. That would let businesses experiment with high-bandwidth uses but could also prevent operators from implementing quality-of-service guarantees, since QoS can be used to give some packets higher priority than others. These issues are being hotly debated. Some net neutrality backers say quality-of-service guarantees can be accommodated within the reasonable limits of net neutrality regulation. The wireless industry is lobbying hard for measures such as network management that would let them throttle back users who are making excessive demands on the network. The resolution of these issues could affect how predictable network performance ends up. Another problem to anticipate is that, as networks get faster, the variation in throughput will increase. This is because technologies such as LTE and WiMax can exploit good radio conditions for extremely high throughputs, using high-order modulation and advanced antenna techniques. But with a weak signal, they have to fall back significantly in throughput to get data across reliably. A report by this author for 3G Americas, a 3G advocacy group for HSPA/LTE technologies that includes vendors and operators, projected that LTE speeds will range from 2 Mbps to 12 Mbps in typical 10-MHz deployments. Should a user be out of a metro area on a 2G network like EDGE, throughputs could be as low as 100 Kbps. Not always having access to the fastest technology in all desired coverage areas will remain a common condition indefinitely. Even today, 3G isn't ubiquitous despite initial deployments that started at the beginning of the decade. One area that may bring improvement is quality-of-service agreements, assuming operators decide to and can make them available. Technologies such as LTE can readily provide different classes of service, including traffic prioritization and even guaranteed bit rates. But that will all take time and regulation, and even then you could roam onto a partner network, or 3G, or even 2G networks, where the same options won't exist. So IT managers should take matters into their own hands now and deploy systems and applications with realistic expectations of performance, and appropriate protective measures. Peter Rysavy is the president of <a href="http://www.rysavy.com" target="_blank">Rysavy Research</a>, a consulting firm specializing in wireless. <center>Continue to the sidebar: <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/business_intelligence/analytics/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220900169">Why Follett Runs Some Stores On 3G Networks</a></center>2009-05-23T00:00:19ZTech Road Map: 3G Security Is Getting Better, But It's Still IncompleteSafeguarding wireless traffic in transit is only part of the equation. Pay attention to devices and endpoints, too.http://www.informationweek.com/news/217600492?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_With more organizations using mobile broadband networks, IT managers should be very concerned about security. Safeguarding data as it travels the airwaves may be only part of a mobile security policy -- enterprises must secure their devices and the data they store -- but the airwaves are a good place to start. The good news about wireless security is that today's mobile broadband networks have some enhanced security functions built in. The latest 3G technologies, including WiMax, have robust encryption options. AT&T and T-Mobile provide High Speed Packet Access with a 128-bit Kasumi encryption algorithm. CDMA2000, offered by Sprint and Verizon, sports 128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard encryption. WiMax also uses AES. <CENTER> <A HREF="http://informationweekreports.com/shared/download.jhtml?id=176500045&cat=iwkr_security&doc_id=217600492?cid=IWKRPT" target="_blank"><IMG SRC="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/promo/iwkreports.gif" ALT="InformationWeek Reports" WIDTH="278" HEIGHT="25" BORDER="0"></A></CENTER> Encryption Not Guaranteed The bad news is that there are major shortfalls with AES. One is that AES activation is largely optional on the part of operators. AT&T says its Kasumi encryption is always on, but Verizon wouldn't say whether that's the case for its encryption option. Moreover, even if your operator uses encryption, your users may roam onto a network that doesn't. And a 2G connection has much less robust encryption mechanisms than 3G, which are considered easy to defeat. Finally, channel encryption only extends to an intermediate point within the cellular network. After that, data travels unencrypted until it reaches the far end of a connection, where most communication is again locked down.  <div style="width:210px; float:right; margin:0; padding:0 0 10px 10px;"> <div style="border:solid 1px #000000; background-color:#ffffff;"> <div style="margin:0; padding:5px; background-color:#2a45a9; text-align:center; font-size:1.3em; color:#ffffff; font-weight:bold;">DIG DEEPER</div> <div style="margin:8px 8px 6px 8px; font-weight:bold; font-size:1.2em; text-align:center; color:#cc0000;">Go Mobile</div> <div style="margin:0 8px 8px 8px; font-weight:bold; text-align:center;">Figuring out 3G/4G mobile broadband is worth the effort.</div> <div style="margin:0 8px 10px 8px; font-weight:bold; text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.informationweekreports.com/shared/download.jhtml?id=171000015&cat=iwkr_messaging&doc_id=207600933">Find out how</a></div> <div style="margin:0; padding:5px; background-color:#000000; text-align:center; font-size:1em; font-weight:bold; color:#ffffff;"><a href="http://www.informationweekreports.com">See all InformationWeek Reports</a></div> </div> </div>  Some operators offer network VPNs or private circuits, e.g., frame relay, for the unencrypted portion of your data's journey, so there are some options on the back end if you have a lot of data business with an operator. But these options can be complicated. Even if your radio link is reasonably secure, there's the problem of users connecting via other access networks, such as unprotected Wi-Fi hotspots. Wi-Fi capability is the norm for laptops and increasingly is available on smartphones.End-To-End Security One approach used by the security-conscious is to implement an end-to-end security system, either using mobile middleware or a VPN. Both of these address the airlink and protect the Internet connection. In a white paper titled "Comparison Of Airlink Encryptions," Qualcomm states: "User data is best secured with a well tested end-to-end solution like VPN regardless of airlink encryption." Your VPN choices are IP Security VPNs, Secure Sockets Layer VPNs, or mobile VPNs. Many companies already use IPsec or SSL VPNs for remote access, although an increasing number are turning to mobile VPNs, especially for workers who are often out of the office. Mobile broadband networks are based on IP networking, so VPNs, even those designed for wireline networks, will work. As long as users operate devices while stationary -- i.e., not moving in a car -- existing business IPsec or SSL VPNs should work fairly well as long as signals are good. VPNs impose some tunneling overhead, but with typical throughput rates of 1 Mbps and large-bucket pricing plans, overhead isn't a big factor. Some wireless networks issue private IP addresses unless your account provides for have a plan for public IP addresses. Private IP addresses do require IPsec to operate in what is called a Network Address Translation (NAT) traversal mode. Fortunately, NAT traversal mode is automatic for most modern IPsec VPNs. One parameter to consider changing is keep-alive messages. These messages allow VPN concentrators to terminate sessions with clients that are no longer connected. But if a user is temporarily out of coverage (while driving through a tunnel, for example), you can achieve better connection resiliency by disabling keep-alive messages. If the VPN employs a more sophisticated keep-alive method called Dead Peer Detection, you should adjust this to the largest permissible value. Although these changes can make VPNs more stable, it's important to understand that maintaining sessions for phantom clients results in a higher concentrator load. At 3G speeds, VPN data compression options usually are a net gain. You may not want to turn on compression for high-speed wireline broadband users -- at some point, the time necessary to decompress data is greater than the time saved by sending less of it -- so you may want to have VPN profiles for mobile users that differ from those for wireline users. Your keep-alive management can also be handled in these profiles. Another problem you may run into is that your VPN provider may not offer clients for your particular platform. For example, Cisco doesn't have Symbian or Windows Mobile clients that interoperate with Cisco VPN concentrators. These are available from third parties such as NCP Engineering, which may also provide concentrators, enabling IT managers to enforce endpoint policy, such as checking for up-to-date antivirus protection and correct versions of software. Noncompliant devices can be directed to a specific subnet to download needed files. Many concentrators support both SSL and IPsec. SSL VPNs have one advantage for mobile users: They can support almost any phone for browser-based applications, thus supporting more mobile platforms. SSL VPN vendors, among them SonicWall (via its Aventail acquisition), support mobile-specific Web portals that direct mobile users to appropriate resources. Supporting nonbrowser applications with SSL VPNs typically requires additional client code, so enterprises that need to support a wide range of applications on handheld devices still have to consider platforms for which SSL VPN client code is available.  <center> <div style="margin:0; padding:10px; width:421px; background-color:#E3DDD1; text-align:center;"> Protection Varies As Data Travels <img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1231/231TechStrategy_diagram.gif" alt="diagram: Protection Varies As Data Travels" width="401" height="234" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" style="margin:8px 0 8px 0; padding:0;" /> Radio encryption extends only from mobile devices to the support node within the operator network. Public Wi-Fi access points generally have no security at all. Enterprises will need to install VPNs for end-to-end wireless data protection. </div> </center>  Go Configure Beyond securing connections, companies might want to control what's allowed on the corporate mobile device fleet. Configuration management systems from companies like Trellis and others make this possible. These products can control settings such as enforcement of corporate VPN restrictions, preventing network bridging (e.g., 3G to corporate LAN) and ensuring proper proxy configuration. Mobile VPNs, designed from the ground up for mobile usage, can maintain sessions while disconnected and provide seamless roaming across network types (e.g., Wi-Fi to 3G), and can optimize data traffic. Dealing with disconnects and IP address changes are major challenges with IPsec VPNs. Beyond connectivity, new features found in NetMotion Wireless' Mobility XE, for example, emphasize capabilities such as policy management, endpoint control, network access control, and support for two-factor authentication. If you need to develop applications for handheld platforms, consider mobile middleware with complete development environments, letting you target multiple mobile platforms with the same application code. These systems, from Antenna Software, Dexterra, MobileAware, Sybase, and others, have comprehensive management capabilities, robust security options such as communications encryption, storage encryption, access policies, and the ability to disable lost or stolen devices. Turnkey e-mail and synchronization products like Research In Motion's BlackBerry and Microsoft Exchange Direct Push also have similar robust security features. All In One Alcatel Lucent's approach to mobile security is to put security functions directly in the modem card. The card actually implements the VPN client, as well as a policy management client. And requires an Alcatel Lucent VPN concentrator. Even with the laptop off, the card stays on with a battery, and can receive software patches, which it can then install on the laptop once the laptop is turned back on. When connecting via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, packets are still processed on the card to implement the VPN function. The card also implements smart-card functions for two-factor authentication (with a password as the other factor). The bottom line is this: Today's mobile broadband networks have some enhanced security functions built in, but most companies should take responsibility for both the security of their devices and how those devices communicate. Fortunately, a rich set of options is now available. Peter Rysavy is president of <a href="http://www.rysavy.com" target="_blank">Rysavy Research</a>, a company specializing in wireless technology.  <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1"> <tr bgcolor="#000000"> <td colspan="3" align="center">The Essentials</td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#CC0000"> <td colspan="3" align="center">3G Wireless VPN Security: Trade-offs</td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#CCCCCC" valign="top" align="center"> <td bgcolor="#666666"> </td> <td bgcolor="#CCCCCC">Strengths</td> <td bgcolor="#CCCCCC">Weaknesses</td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF" align="left" valign="top"> <td bgcolor="#666666" align="center">IPsec VPNs</td> <td> Many organizations are already using these for site-to-site and for remote access Compatible with 3G, and works well for stationary users with a good signal </td> <td> Not well suited for demanding mobil eenvironments Limited features for controlling end point </td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF" align="left" valign="top"> <td bgcolor="#666666" align="center">SSL VPNs</td> <td> Compatible with 3G Allows support for wider mobile environments Vendors provide mobile-specific features </td> <td> Like IPsec, not well suited for demanding range of handheld devices in clientles smodes </td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF" align="left"> <td bgcolor="#666666" align="center">Mobile VPNs</td> <td> Wide range of features provided for mobile use, including security, policy management, ability to roam across different networks </td> <td> Requires additional VPN infrastructure for organizations already using other VPNs, such as IPsec </td> </tr> </table>  2009-01-31T00:00:10ZFemtocell Is Edging Toward The EnterpriseGrowing vendor support and new standards will bring femto to more offices -- but support headaches and costs are still major issues.http://www.informationweek.com/news/212903489?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_<table width="185" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" align="right"><tr><td rowspan="3" width="10"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/spacer.gif" width="10" height="5" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0"> </td><td width="175"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1219/219TS_networkextender_full.jpg" ALT="Verizon's Wireless Network Extender" WIDTH="175" HEIGHT="175" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BORDER="0"></td></tr><tr><td width="175" class="artCaption" align="center"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/spacer.gif" width="175" height="4" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0"> Verizon's Wireless Network Extender</td></tr><tr><td width="175"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/spacer.gif" width="175" height="7" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0"></td></tr></table> Femtocells are edging closer to the office. The technology provides a path to fixed-mobile convergence, in which one wireless phone can be used in the office and on the road. Femtocells are small cellular base stations that are installed in homes and offices and connect to a service provider's network via broadband. They work with any kind of cell device and use the same standards and protocols as external "macro" cells. When users are indoors, their cell phone or data card connects to the femtocell instead of searching for an external base station. Calls are smoothly handed off between inside and outside cells as the user moves. New standards, increasing vendor support, and new heavier-duty networks make femto more suitable for enterprise use. The questions now are how businesses will integrate femtocells, and how quickly. The answers will depend on the emphasis operators place on business deployments and how attractive they can make the price. <CENTER> <A HREF="http://informationweekreports.com/shared/download.jhtml?id=174200004&cat=iwkr_buscontinuity&doc_id=212903489?cid=IWKRPT" target="_blank"><IMG SRC="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/promo/iwkreports.gif" ALT="InformationWeek Reports" WIDTH="278" HEIGHT="25" BORDER="0"></A></CENTER> Although femtocells are simple architecturally, enterprise femto networks aren't. For network operators, management of femtocells, including cell provisioning and traffic prioritization, must be handled carefully. Customers must plan femtocell placement to avoid interference and may need to address issues with Wi-Fi and finicky VPN configurations in their existing networks. Furthermore, the costs of a large-scale deployment will be much higher than a consumer plan, because businesses require higher quality of service from their Internet service providers, and providers must be able to carry more data as well as voice. Loud And Clear This makes femto very different from Wi-Fi-enabled handsets, which require not only the Wi-Fi radio, but also support of specific cellular tunneling protocols such as defined in Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA). There are also some similarities between femto and Wi-Fi: A femtocell's backhaul connection is via the customer's Internet connection, be it DSL, cable modem, T1, or fiber. The femtocell uses the Internet to communicate with a femto gateway managed by the ISP. This central gateway connects to the cellular operator core network, and the femtocells look like so many additional base stations on the operator network. A central configuration server performs management and security functions, including femtocell configuration. <div style="width:210px; float:right; margin:0; padding:0 0 10px 10px;"> <div style="border:solid 1px #000000; background-color:#ffffff;"> <div style="margin:0; padding:5px; background-color:#2a45a9; text-align:center; font-size:1.3em; color:#ffffff; font-weight:bold;">DIG DEEPER</div> <div style="margin:8px 8px 6px 8px; font-weight:bold; font-size:1.2em; text-align:center; color:#cc0000;">Securing an IP PBX?</div> <div style="margin:0 8px 8px 8px; font-weight:bold; text-align:center;"></div> <div style="margin:0 8px 10px 8px; font-weight:bold; text-align:center;"><a href="http://informationweekreports.com/shared/download.jhtml?id=173600010&cat=iwkr_security&doc_id=212200539">Download this InformationWeek Report</a></div> <div style="margin:0; padding:5px; background-color:#000000; text-align:center; font-size:1em; font-weight:bold; color:#ffffff;">>> <a href="http://www.informationweekreports.com">See all our Reports</a> <<</div> </div> </div> Femtocells transmit at very low power levels -- typically, tens of milliwatts versus multiple watts for a large cell -- so the same frequencies can be reused from one building to the next, and fewer users share bandwidth. This might not make much difference for voice quality, but it will mean a huge difference for data throughput. With mobile broadband traffic expected to more than double every year for the next five years (as projected in Cisco's "Approaching The Zettabtye Era" white paper), any capacity relief will be crucial to keep WANs humming. New standards will aid network interoperability. Mobile specifications group 3GPP recently approved a standardized core network interface that's based on existing circuit-switched and packet-switched base-station-to-core-network standards. This interface will standardize communications between femtocells and the femtocell gateway. Industry associations such as the Femto Forum also are weighing in. Femto Forum members have agreed to use the Broadband Forum's TR-069 CPE WAN management protocol -- the same protocol used for DSL equipment -- to manage customer femtocells in real time. <center><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/1219/TSfemto_impact.jhtml"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1219/TSfemto_impact_440.gif" ALT="Impact Assessment: Femtocell Technology" WIDTH="440" HEIGHT="205" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BORDER="0"></a> <img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/spacer.gif" width="1" height="7" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0"> (click image for larger view)</center>Who's Doing It As more vendors offer femtocell devices, more operators are ramping up femto networks. Globally, more than 20 such trials are under way, according to Yankee Group. Sprint was the first vendor to try femto in the United States, launching its Airave femtocell program, now a nationwide service, in September 2007. However, Airave is voice-oriented and doesn't support the high-speed EV-DO data service, considered a key enabler of enterprise femtocell networks. AT&T is validating High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) femtocells, with broader scale deployment slated for the second quarter of 2009. AT&T is working with Cisco and Cisco's partner IP.access on a home integrated gateway. Meanwhile, Verizon has announced its CDMA femtocell product called Wireless Network Extender, and is also considering femtocells to accompany its LTE rollout. Comcast, as part of its investment in Clearwire, has indicated it will deploy WiMax femtocells, leveraging its cable network for backhaul. The Verizon and Comcast developments highlight the use of femtocells with emerging wireless technologies where wide area deployment will be limited for some time. The theory is that users may tolerate wide area coverage limitations if they can get the service in key locations. Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, and Nokia Siemens Networks are some of the bigger vendors targeting this space, while the list of smaller specialists includes Airvana, AirWalk Communications, AirWave, IP.access, RadioFrame, and Ubiquisys. Expect major consumer networking gear players, such as Linksys (Cisco), Netgear, Sagem, Thomson, 2Wire, and Comtrend, to get in on the act. Small offices and home offices will likely leverage consumer-oriented solutions, just as they do today with Wi-Fi access points. But now Alcatel-Lucent, AirWalk, Tango Networks, and Tatara Systems, among others, are targeting the enterprise space. Enterprise systems are more complicated because most businesses want systems that integrate with their existing PBXs and IP-PBXs -- which are anything but standardized in their interfaces.  <div style="margin:0; padding:0 0 10px 10px; width:230px; float:right;"> <div style="border:1px solid #3399ff; padding:10px;"> <div style="margin:0 0 8px 0; padding:0; text-align:center;"> The Essentials </div> <div style="margin:0 0 8px 0; padding:3px; text-align:center; background-color:#3399ff; color:#ffffff; font-size:1.2em;">ENTERPRISE FEMTOCELL NETWORKS </div> <div style="margin:0 0 4px 0; padding:0; font-size:1.2em; color:#CC0000; font-weight:bold;">PROS</div> <ul style="margin-top:0;"> <li style="margin-bottom:5px;">Enables workers to have a single phone number that works in the office as well as on the road</li> <li style="margin-bottom:5px;">Seamless handoffs between cells</li> <li style="margin-bottom:5px;">Femtocells will work with any cellular device</li> <li>Low up-front cost for small businesses</li> </ul> <div style="margin:8px 0 8px 0; padding:0; border-bottom:solid 1px #3399ff;"></div> <div style="margin:0 0 4px 0; padding:0; font-size:1.2em; color:#CC0000; font-weight:bold;">CONS</div> <ul style="margin-top:0;"> <li style="margin-bottom:5px;">Cell management is difficult</li> <li style="margin-bottom:5px;">Quality of service is lacking</li> <li style="margin-bottom:5px;">High up-front implementation costsdevice</li> <li>Lack of flexibility in changing providers</li> </div></div>  Policy management in enterprise-oriented femtocell systems will allow organizations to enforce rules such as keeping on-campus calling local to the enterprise network and controlling which users have access to long-distance networks, conferencing, messaging, and short-code dialing. Enterprise systems will use Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for control. Enterprise femtocells will support a larger number of simultaneous callers (e.g., 16 instead of four) and smooth handover between femtocells. They will enable a single number for both desk phones and mobile phones, along with PBX features such as abbreviated dialing from the mobile phone and a single voice mailbox. However, such tight integration will require specialized gateways between the enterprise PBX that communicate with matching gateways in the operator network. You can also expect femtocells to incorporate Wi-Fi capability, providing a universal wireless gateway for homes. This will help address the issue of how and when to give voice traffic priority over data traffic on a user's Internet connection. Quality of service will be needed to provide voice priority, and this will be problematic if there's a separate Wi-Fi access point soaking up capacity on the ISP connection. Trials have shown this to already be a concern. The quality of the broadband Internet connection will be paramount, because good voice quality will require low latency and few dropped packets, neither of which is guaranteed by ISPs today. Providing accurate location information for 911 calls is also tricky.Land Lines, Away For small businesses, femtocells will make it that much easier to cut the cord entirely, since they can get reliable operation indoors and looser constraints on monthly voice minutes. For instance, the Sprint plan provides unlimited voice calling after paying a monthly charge fee of $4.99 for the Airave femtocell service and $10 for a single-line unlimited calling plan. The femtocell access point costs $99.99. We'll have to wait and see what the AT&T and Verizon plans look like, but we expect them to be similar. High-speed data networks such as HSPA and LTE provide the greatest throughput speeds when users don't have to share the radio with a lot of other users, and when there is a high-quality radio signal. Femtocells can provide both, although the location of the femtocell(s) in a building will be important. Moreover, the current typical 3G caps of 5 GB per month are unlikely to apply to femtocells. This makes using your laptop modem at work or at home much more attractive, and further facilitates mobile-broadband always-connected operation. The benefits will apply to voice-centric mobile phones, smartphones, mobile-Internet devices, and laptops. Best yet, femtocell works with existing devices, and its low-power operation will extend their battery life. Operators benefit by offloading data-intensive traffic from their macro networks, meaning fewer macro cells are needed. However, there are complications that operators and vendors have to overcome before femtocells really become prevalent. Small Cells, Big Headaches  <div style="margin:0; padding:0 0 10px 10px; width:230px; float:right;"> <div style="border:1px solid #339933; padding:10px; text-align:center;"> <div style="margin:0 0 8px 0; padding:0; text-align:center;"> The Short List </div> <div style="margin:0 0 8px 0; padding:3px; text-align:center; background-color:#339933; color:#ffffff; font-size:1.2em;">PROVIDERS AND FEMTOCELL PLANS </div> <div style="margin:0 0 8px 0; padding:0; font-weight:bold;"> AT&T Working with Cisco/IP.access on femtocell gateway; testing HSPA network </div> <div style="margin:0 0 8px 0; padding:0; font-weight:bold;"> Comcast Has said it will deploy WiMax femtocells, is leveraging cable network </div> <div style="margin:0 0 8px 0; padding:0; font-weight:bold;"> Sprint Airave network is up and running </div> <div style="font-weight:bold;"> Verizon Offers Wireless Network Extender CDMA femtocell; femtocells may be part of LTE cellular technology rollout </div> </div></div>  Management is perhaps the biggest issue that operators will face as enterprise femto networks come online. Operators today manage tens of thousands of cell sites, but femtocells will number in the millions, and each one will need to be provisioned correctly and given ongoing firmware updates. Femtocells must be simple enough that an average user can install them -- and as Wi-Fi has shown, this is a challenge in itself. Operators will have to control where customers operate the femtocell, in case a user moves to a different city where the operator doesn't have a license. Interference management for femtocells also will be complex, including femtocell-to-femtocell interference in adjacent buildings, and femtocell-to-macrocell interference. Operators will have to decide whether to dedicate radio channels to femtocells in a coverage area, or to use the same frequencies as the WAN. Finally, although businesses will likely tolerate higher prices than consumers, operators will need to offer enterprise femtocell networks at a reasonable price point—possibly in the $500 range, similar to enterprise Wi-Fi APs. A small business using consumer-oriented equipment may be happy to switch femtocell access points if it changes carriers, but a larger business will be making a significant commitment to a specific cellular operator, with potentially a large number of femtocell APs throughout the organization. In contrast, a Wi-Fi approach for voice delivers a more operator-independent infrastructure, although ultimately the gateways must integrate with specific operator services. Businesses will have to decide whether a femtocell plan makes more sense than a distributed antenna system (DAS) that extends the macro cellular signal into the enterprise environment. DAS is simpler, but femtocells provide higher capacity and potentially greater benefits for the cost. Peter Rysavy is a wireless technology consultant and president of <a href="http://www.rysavy.com" target="_blank">Rysavy Research</a>.2008-10-04T00:00:00ZHSUPA Gets Uploads Almost Up To Download Speeds Technology promises to increase throughput and decrease latency.http://www.informationweek.com/news/210605170?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_Downstream has always been faster than upstream. This has been particularly true with 3G networks, where the typical downlink speed of 1 Mbps has greatly exceeded typical uplink speed of approximately 250 Kbps. But faster uplink speeds are on the way with the advent of High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), an enhancement to Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) networks. AT&T and T-Mobile are the major UMTS carriers in the United States. HSUPA not only boosts uplink speeds to almost match downlink speeds, it also reduces latency. It's the first step in a series of improvements to UMTS that will give other technologies, including WiMax, serious competition. When UMTS-based 3G networks were first deployed several years ago, performance expectations ran high. But initial networks delivered average downlink speeds of only 200 to 300 Kbps--not that much faster than 2G networks based on Edge (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution). Things improved with the High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) upgrade that rolled out in 2006: Users experienced downlink speeds faster than 1 Mbps. Many apps need more speed on the downlink, so it made sense to rev that up first. Now HSUPA promises almost a balanced link, meaning that rates of 1 Mbps or higher are possible on the uplink as well. The innovations include a dedicated physical channel for data, a short transmission time interval that allows faster responses to changing conditions and errors, fast scheduling for the base station to effectively allocate resources, and more efficient correction of radio transmission failures.  <div style="float:right; width:260px; padding-left:10px; padding-bottom:10px;"> <div style="width:250px; border:1px solid #999999; background-color:#fffacd;"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="8" border="0"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#000000"> <div style="color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center; font-size:1.2em;">THE LOWDOWN</div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> THE PROMISE: HSUPA aims to increase uplink speeds on UMTS networks to almost match HSDPA downlink speeds. The result is a balanced link that not only increases throughput but also decreases latency. Data-heavy traffic, such as video, database updates, and e-mail attachments, can be uploaded much faster with no performance hit, and all applications will be more responsive. THE PLAYERS: HSUPA has support from major worldwide infrastructure vendors (Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Nortel, NSN, among others), modem vendors (Sierra Wireless, Novatel Wireless), and UMTS 3G operators (AT&T and T-Mobile in the United States). Eventually, handset vendors will likely sign on as well. THE PROSPECTS: The outlook for HSUPA is very positive, because of its widespread support among major vendors, and its edge over technologies such as EV-DO. Most UMTS networks that support HSDPA will be upgraded to support HSUPA, and other enhancements--under the HSPA banner--are expected to follow. </td> </tr> </table> </div> </div>  Web-browsing employees aren't the only ones who'll benefit from faster upload speeds--think of mobile workers sending e-mails with large attachments (PowerPoint, anybody?) or insurance adjusters uploading video files. In many cases, faster uplinks will translate directly into improved productivity. HSUPA reduces latency, which is just as important as uplink speed. With HSDPA, 3G network latency fell to around 100 milliseconds, round-trip time. With the addition of HSUPA, latencies fall another 20 ms or so. The combination of faster uplink and lower latency makes all applications operate more efficiently. AT&T has quietly upgraded most of its 3G network to support HSUPA, and it now claims typical downlink speeds of 700 Kbps to 1.7 Mbps, and 500 Kbps to 1.2 Mbps on the uplink. It's not just AT&T. According to industry association 3G Americas, as of September, 47 networks globally have HSUPA. Moving forward, UMTS networks with both HSDPA and HSUPA will use the term High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) to refer to the combination. HSPA isn't the first technology to provide a high-speed uplink. Sprint and Verizon upgraded their networks last year to CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev A, which also enhances uplink speeds. This puts all 3G networks on relatively equal footing. The only drawback is that pricing for 3G remains high: AT&T, for example, charges $60 for 5 GB per month (previously "unlimited") plans, or $30 per month for smartphone plans. Also, current devices don't necessarily support HSUPA, so read specs carefully if you're looking for this feature. Peter Rysavy is a wireless technology consultant and president of <a href="http://www.rysavy.com" target="_blank">Rysavy Research</a>.2008-08-09T00:01:50ZThink Beyond Basic Apps For SmartphonesWeb 2.0 technologies, including Google Gears, are making it easier than ever to mobilize your business applications.http://www.informationweek.com/news/209903836?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_Your employees and customers hold in their hands devices with computing power and storage that dwarf the desktops of just a decade ago. If you're not developing applications beyond e-mail and calendar synchronization for these smartphones, your company is bound to miss out. Handheld device prices have fallen from $500 at the high end a couple of years ago to $100 for a Research In Motion BlackBerry Pearl or Samsung BlackJack II running Windows Mobile today. Meanwhile, technologies to port complex business apps to mobile devices are developing nicely, though complexity and fragmentation continue to be a problem. <center> <a href="http://informationweekreports.com/shared/download.jhtml?id=172100032&cat=iwkr_wireless&doc_id=198ID2_mobileapps_report?cid=IWKRPT" target="_blank"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/promo/iwkreports.gif" alt="InformationWeek Reports" width="278" height="25" border="0"></a></center> Mobile platform choices aren't as clear cut as for desktop systems, and cutthroat competition rages among the leading smartphone platforms, including RIM BlackBerry, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Mac OS X, and now mobile Linux. In addition, there are higher-level application frameworks such as Java and Qualcomm Binary Runtime for Wireless (Brew). Anybody developing mobile applications must make hard choices as to which platforms and devices to target, as well as what application architecture to use. Fragmentation contributes to the complexity, as do other issues, including variable screen sizes and user input mechanisms, the vagaries of wireless connections, limited battery power, the need for management systems to facilitate software deployments and updates, and security requirements. <div style="width:210px; float:right; margin:0; padding:0 0 10px 10px;"> <div style="border:solid 1px #000000; background-color:#ffffff;"> <div style="margin:0; padding:5px; background-color:#CC0000; text-align:center; font-size:1.3em; color:#ffffff; font-weight:bold;">DIG DEEPER</div> <div style="margin:8px 8px 6px 8px; font-weight:bold; font-size:1.3em; text-align:center; color:#cc0000;">MOBILE APPS</div> <div style="margin:0 8px 8px 6px; font-weight:bold; text-align:center;">Find out the facts and figures from our study on how businesses are using smartphones for much more than e-mail.</div> <div style="margin:0 8px 8px 10px; font-weight:bold; text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.informationweekreports.com/shared/download.jhtml?id=172100032&cat=iwkr_wireless&doc_id=198ID2_mobileapps_report">Download this InformationWeek Report</a></div> <div style="margin:0; padding:5px; background-color:#000000; text-align:center; font-size:1em; font-weight:bold; color:#ffffff;">>> <a href="http://www.informationweekreports.com">See all our Reports</a> <<</div> </div> </div> Fortunately, vendors are focused on solving the complexity problem with architectures that facilitate the creation of apps that can easily access enterprise back-end systems and operate over a large number of devices. These include Web 2.0 developments and rich Internet application environments, new Java and synchronization technologies, and advances in mobile middleware platforms. Each has gotchas, but together they represent a powerful toolset for mobile application development. And judging by our poll, IT pros are taking notice. Of the nearly 400 surveyed, 33% have isolated projects under way, 37% have business units deploying mobile apps, and 30% have company-wide deployments. That's serious adoption. RIM dominates among the devices, with 57% of organizations developing for the BlackBerry, 44% for Windows Mobile, 25% Palm OS, 5% (already) iPhone, and only 4% Symbian. And in-house mobile development expertise is strong, with 30% of respondents keeping work close to home.GOING NATIVE Developing apps in native environments using languages such as C, C++, and Objective C isn't new, but it remains the way to make the most powerful and responsive mobile apps. Companies such as Microsoft, Apple, and Symbian have rich development environments with debuggers and emulation environments. BlackBerry apps are built using Java with a combination of standardized Java and RIM-specific interfaces. RIM also provides complete toolsets. Microsoft shops can develop natively in C/C++ or use the .Net Compact Framework, which provides a simplified, managed development environment that has powerful capabilities. The learning curve is steep using languages such as C/C++ along with platform-specific APIs, and your application will run only on that particular platform. This approach is often beyond what an average IT group can do, making the new application architectures attractive. Nevertheless, our poll showed 43% of respondents doing in-house mobile app development with Microsoft tools, followed by 27% using Java, and 26% mobile middleware. When it comes to Web 2.0 and rich Internet applications, there's a lot happening that applies to mobility. We define Web 2.0 to mean highly compelling and interactive applications that often let users participate in content generation. Opera, a leading third-party mobile browser provider, says its Opera Mini browser is displaying 2.5 billion pages per month across its user base, showing that the mobile Web is going mainstream. Forty-nine percent of respondents to our poll favor a Web-based model for mobile applications. A Web-based application or service is fundamentally different from a local app. With mobile devices, the biggest complicating factor is that users aren't always connected. They may have driven out of the coverage area or be on a plane. In the past, mobile Web applications were sluggish because of slow wireless network speeds and high latency. But today's 3G networks are much faster, frequently providing throughput around 1 Mbps, and latency is heading south to 100 milliseconds and lower. Enhancements to 3G and new networks such as WiMax will further improve Web app performance. Reasons to consider a Web application include simpler app development compared with a native app, the ability to target content across a range of devices, no need to install and maintain apps on mobile devices, and simpler security through options such as SSL VPNs that readily support HTTP traffic. Other recent developments provide further impetus to a Web approach. These include technologies--such as Ajax, Web widgets, Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, and Google Gears--that were developed for desktop environments but are becoming available for mobile platforms and provide important benefits. Take Ajax. Being able to selectively update a page without having to refresh the whole screen is extremely attractive on mobile devices that may be bandwidth-challenged, as is the ability to allow for limited interaction with downloaded data. Most smartphone browsers support Ajax, making Web applications more responsive to users and more bandwidth efficient. Moreover, technologies such as Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, and Scalable Vector Graphics, available on Java-based systems, support animated content. While hugely popular for consumer applications--think YouTube --this richer content can also enhance enterprise apps, letting service technicians or medical professionals remotely view work procedures, for example. Finally, technologies that provide automatic synchronization with a local data store, such as Google Gears, help browser-based applications work when connectivity is lost--a fundamental problem with the mobile Web. Should you develop content specifically for mobile browsers? The Apple iPhone Safari and Opera Micro and Mini browsers have demonstrated that almost any page can be rendered reasonably well on a mobile device. However, the most effective format still requires that you design content for the smaller display and minimize the number of objects the browser must retrieve.While many of these Web technologies are in their infancies, they point to a rich mobile future. A Web-based application will never outperform a native one, but it can be a much faster way of making data available to mobile workers, with less management overhead. And unlike native apps, developing Web-based ones is well within the reach of most IT organizations.JAVA EVOLUTION While most mobile phones have Java Virtual Machines installed, these are best suited for games--with the exception of the RIM BlackBerry, mobile JVMs haven't generally been powerful enough for enterprise apps. This is about to change with new mobile Java developments. First, some background: Mobile Java architecture consists of the Java Platform Micro Edition; configurations that are either the Connected Limited Device Configuration or the more powerful Connected Device Configuration; and profiles which for most phones consist of the Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP). Specific JME capabilities and programming interfaces are defined in Java Specification Requests (JSRs). The first major development is a new mobile Java platform, being supported by IBM, Sprint Nextel, and Nokia, that's based on a management framework defined by the OSGi Alliance and enabled by a runtime platform from the Eclipse Foundation, called the Embedded Rich Client Platform, or eRCP. IBM's J9 JVM for Windows Mobile implements OSGi/eRCP. This combo results in a powerful Java environment with multitasking and a rich user interface capable of running many enterprise applications, though currently only on high-end smartphones. Nokia also is making OSGI/eRCP available on its more powerful Symbian OS phones, though not many that are available in the United States. Still, given the many programmers conversant with Java development, this could be an attractive option. An alternative that largely matches the OSGi approach in capability is based on the forthcoming MIDP 3.0 profile, likely to be available on some devices in the next 12 months. MIDP 3.0 can be combined with JSR 320, a management framework similar to OSGi that allows installation/uninstallation and control of services. Sprint Nextel appears to be going the OSGi route via a program it calls Titan. AT&T is supporting MIDP 3.0. Verizon hasn't gone with Java, preferring Brew, though you can always install Java capabilities on Verizon phones. Meanwhile, Sun Microsystems is working on a new Java version, called JavaFX, that will span a variety of devices from phones to desktops. JavaFX's runtime leverages Java Standard Edition and is a more powerful environment than Java ME. It also adds scripting and Flash-like animation capabilities to support rich Internet applications. There are few technical details, and we wonder whether the mobile industry can support yet another Java approach, especially since the Google Android programming environment is also based on Java, albeit with its own APIs. We were surprised by how many respondents expressed enthusiasm for Java, with 89% saying it can provide an effective handheld platform that can support multiple device types, echoing our sentiments exactly. Bottom line, mobile Java is growing up, and legions of Java programmers can start applying their skills to much more powerful mobile platforms for business apps. <center><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/1198/198ID2_impact.jhtml" target="_blank"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/1198/198ID2_impact440.gif" width="440" height="247" alt="Impact Assessment: Emerging Mobile Application Architectures" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0"></a> <img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/spacer.gif" width="1" height="7" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0"> (click image for larger view)</center>MOBILE MIDDLEWARE Mobile middleware has been a building block for mobile applications since wireless data networks became available over a decade ago, though the functions today emphasize application integration, and not the data transport functions of the past. Mobile middleware requires the addition of client software and server platforms, but it addresses many aspects of mobile application development, including integration with back-end services and applications, efficient wireless communications protocols, management functions, and security. Nearly 80% of respondents to our survey considered a mobile middleware approach to be effective. Key innovations in new middleware products include use of Web services to integrate with back-end applications, composite apps where the same client application can simultaneously interact with multiple back-end apps (e.g., user interface displaying both Oracle and SAP data), development environments that don't require software coding, interactive tools for creating user interfaces, and the ability for the same mobile middleware application to operate across multiple mobile device types. This last is particularly attractive because most organizations have to support multiple mobile devices. Mobile middleware consists of a component on the mobile client, a mobile server, development tools, and management and security tools (see diagram, "<a href="#stuck_diagram">Stuck in the Middleware</a>" below). The client is specific to each mobile platform, with the middleware vendor providing different clients for each mobile OS. The client provides a platform that interacts with the user and runs the program created with the development tools. Since the middleware client provides a higher level of abstraction than the native OS, the enterprise-created program can run on multiple device types, with the mobile middleware client handling low-level details of connection management, file systems, and user interfaces. IN SYNC The concept of synchronization is to automatically coordinate select data between two systems, in our case, mobile devices and servers. One can think of wireless e-mail systems such as RIM BlackBerry as a form of synchronization. Microsoft's wireless e-mail system uses its ActiveSync protocols. Various vendors are enhancing their synchronization abilities; one that we looked at is Microsoft Sync Framework, currently in a preview stage. Microsoft intends MSF to be a comprehensive sync platform for applications, services, and devices, working across flexible network topologies. For instance, it syncs up ADO.Net-enabled databases, as well as files and folders. Enterprises will need some level of programming expertise since programs must be written in C++ or within Microsoft's .Net Compact Framework. Database vendors also have sync solutions that extend to mobile devices (e.g., Sybase One Bridge, Sybase iAnywhere, Oracle Mobile Collaboration 10g). Third-party sync solutions such as Nokia Intellisync also are popular.Bottom line, tools for developing mobile apps are becoming sophisticated, and many are suitable for enterprises and address the challenges of developing for multiple device types. The hardest problem is figuring out which one makes sense for you--a good problem to have. <a name="stuck" id="stuck_diagram"></a> <center><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/1198/198ID2_diagram.jhtml" target="_blank"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/1198/198ID2_diagram.gif" width="442" height="262" alt="diagram: Stuck in the Middleware" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0"></a> <img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/spacer.gif" width="1" height="7" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0"> (click image for larger view)</center> Peter Rysavy is the president of <a href="http://www.rysavy.com" target="_blank">Rysavy Research</a>, a consulting firm specializing in wireless technology assessment and integration. Illustration by Sek Leung <center>Continue to the sidebar: <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/business/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210200221">DirecTV Gets Truly Mobile CRM </a></center>2008-05-10T00:01:50ZYour On-The-Go Employees Need Mobile BroadbandFiguring out the 3G and 4G connectivity market is only slightly easier than learning to speak Swahili. But the rewards of providing nomadic employees with broadband connectivity make the effort worthwhile.http://www.informationweek.com/news/207600933?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_IT can finally provide reliable mobile broadband coverage for employees who spend a lot of time on the move, thanks to 3G wireless networks available on a global basis. But don't get too comfortable--now the buzz is all 4G all the time. As we discuss at greater length in our Analytics Report, which is for sale at <a href="http://www.informationweekanalytics.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=41" target="_blank">informationweekanalytics.com</a>, market dynamics are shifting as new entrants, including Google, begin to support open standards and launch ambitious plans to participate in the wireless market. Carriers around the world are announcing support for WiMax, and there's mounting vendor anticipation that mobile broadband will be a source of huge new revenue from a variety of applications, both consumer and business oriented. Before you sign on with any carrier, however, arm yourself with some facts. First, there's no official agreement on 4G technical requirements, so no wireless technology can today claim to be 4G. Rather, the industry refers to "4G platforms" based on their ability to adapt to meet expected 4G requirements--namely, extremely high throughput rates of up to 1 Gbps peak in very wide radio channels of up to 100 MHz. <CENTER> <A HREF="http://informationweekreports.com/shared/download.jhtml?id=171000015&cat=iwkr_wireless&doc_id=207600933" target="_blank"><IMG SRC="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/promo/iwkreports.gif" ALT="InformationWeek Reports" WIDTH="278" HEIGHT="25" BORDER="0"></A></CENTER> As for where to expect 2G vs. 3G globally, most developed countries now have 3G networks in place, with UMTS enjoying a wide lead over EV-DO. UMTS is common throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia, while EV-DO is also available in the Americas and Asia, as well as Eastern Europe. In countries with high population densities, it's not uncommon for 3G to be available throughout the cellular coverage area, but in the United States, it favors urban locales. And while China has awarded licenses for 3G, deployment to date has been limited to trials. A word on WiMax: There are relatively few WiMax networks today, and many of them are fixed. In the United States, Clearwire operates a network that will transition to WiMax, but its subscriber count is modest. The biggest hope for widespread deployment is with Sprint Nextel, so keep an eye on what the company does. If it deploys nationwide this year, the service could be an attractive alternative, especially if it delivers promised speeds two to four times faster than current cellular data services. However, while 3G networks are getting faster, mileage varies, so do your own tests. While the percentage of cellular carriers' revenue from data plans remains relatively low--less than 20%, even including lucrative text messaging services--the expected year-over-year growth rate is high. Primary drivers are higher data throughput, averaging close to 1 Mbps for many networks; low latency of around 100 milliseconds; availability in most major metropolitan areas; multiple device options, including smartphones, PC Card modems and embedded options for laptops; flat-rate pricing; and an increasing selection of mobile applications and middleware. Barriers include relatively high pricing, up to $60 per month for unlimited data plans for laptops and $20 to $40 for smartphones; confusion stemming from the large number of carriers and swiftly evolving technology options that now include WiMax; and the fact that radio is not wire, meaning that the most effective wireless applications are the ones specially designed for that medium. <div style="width:210px; float:right; margin:0; padding:0 0 10px 10px;"> <div style="border:solid 1px #000000; background-color:#ffffff;"> <div style="margin:0; padding:5px; background-color:#CC0000; text-align:center; font-size:1.3em; color:#ffffff; font-weight:bold;">DIG DEEPER</div> <div style="margin:8px 8px 6px 8px; font-weight:bold; font-size:1.3em; text-align:center; color:#cc0000;">WANT TO KNOW MORE?</div> <div style="margin:0 8px 6px 8px; font-weight:bold; text-align:center;">Read Peter Rysavy's in-depth look at the mobile broadband market.</div> <div style="margin:0 8px 10px 8px; font-weight:bold; text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.informationweekanalytics.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=41">Purchase this Analytics Report</a></div> <div style="margin:0; padding:5px; background-color:#000000; text-align:center; font-size:1em; font-weight:bold; color:#ffffff;">>> <a href="http://www.informationweekanalytics.com">See all our Analytics</a> <<</div> </div> </div> Carriers recognize that lower prices would bring increased usage, but that's precisely what they would like to avoid: 3G networks have relatively limited capacity, so carriers are keeping prices at a level that limits traffic volume. We don't expect substantive cost decreases over the next couple of years. Another challenge for wireless carriers: The broadband market has become a moving target. Five or 10 years ago, a 1-Mbps wireless-data service would have been most welcome, but with wireline services now five to 10 times faster than mobile offerings, and affordable 100-Mbps throughput forthcoming through fiber-to-the-home services, wireless-data rates will continue to lag wireline services. This shouldn't impact most business applications, for which 1 Mbps or so is more than sufficient. Still, many applications on 3G wireless networks will "feel" slower to users than on high-speed LANs. SUNNY LONG-RANGE FORECAST Long term, we're bullish on mobile broadband for both business and consumer markets, despite the relatively slow adoption thus far. With Internet and media companies increasingly targeting the mobile market, and strong pressure to open up carrier networks to more devices and applications, we see a bright future--but one that will take a lot of work for carriers and IT groups alike. While most enterprises have designs for their enterprise networks that include comprehensive security policies and management, the same can't be said about their wide area wireless implementations, which today remain relatively ad hoc. In a reader poll we conducted last fall, some 70% of respondents report that they're using mobile or wireless apps, but only 18% say that this is widespread within their organizations. Most usage, 40%, was an isolated tactical adoption, perhaps because of price: 65% of respondents say that current unlimited usage plans are too expensive. As far as whether today's networks are meeting expectations, slightly more than half say yes, with the balance asking for throughput rates of 2 Mbps or more. It's also important to understand what platforms companies are using. Our poll shows about half of current deployments to be on laptops, a quarter on handhelds, and the rest on a combination of the two. E-mail remains the dominant application, as it has been for years, followed by general-purpose Internet access, instant messaging (a surprise to us), Web-based applications hosted at the enterprise, field service, CRM (including sales force automation), and dispatch. <div style="margin:0; padding:8px; background-color:#e0eee5; border:solid 1px #000000;"> <div style="margin:0 0 5px 0; padding:0; text-align:center; font-weight:bold; font-size:1.4em; color:#000000;">Mobile's Alphabet Soup</div> <div style="margin:0 0 8px 0; padding:0; text-align:center; font-weight:bold; font-size:1.1em; color:#000000;">The wide area wireless industry is divided into three major technology groups: GSM, CDMA2000, and WiMax. GSM and CDMA span 2G to 4G, while WiMax spans 3G to 4G.</div> <table border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="5" bgcolor="#000000"> <tr align="center" valign="top" bgcolor="#7d9986"> <td>Technology Group</td> <td>Data Technology</td> <td>Availability</td> <td>Typical Downlink Rates*</td> <td>Typical Uplink Rates*</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#e9f3ed"> <td rowspan="5">GSM, UMTS, LTE</td> <td>Edge</td> <td>Now</td> <td>100 Kbps to 130 Kbps</td> <td>100 Kbps to 130 Kbps</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#e9f3ed"> <td>Evolved Edge</td> <td>2008 to 2009</td> <td>1 Mbps</td> <td>500 Kbps</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#e9f3ed"> <td>HSPA (assumes HSUPA uplink capability)</td> <td>Now</td> <td>600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps</td> <td>500 Kbps to 800 Kbps</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#e9f3ed"> <td>HSPA+</td> <td>Late 2008 to 2009</td> <td>3 Mbps to 5 Mbps achievable</td> <td>1 Mbps to 3 Mbps achievable</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#e9f3ed"> <td>LTE </td> <td>2010 or later</td> <td>10 Mbps or higher</td> <td>5 Mbps or higher</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#e9f3ed"> <td rowspan="4">CDMA, CDMA2000, UMB</td> <td>1xRTT</td> <td>Now</td> <td>50 Kbps to 70 Kbps</td> <td>50 Kbps to 70 Kbps</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#e9f3ed"> <td>EV-DO Rev A</td> <td>Now</td> <td>600 Mbps to 1.4 Mbps</td> <td>500 to 800 Kbps</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#e9f3ed"> <td>EV-DO Rev B</td> <td>2009</td> <td>3 Mbps to 5 Mbps achievable</td> <td>1 Mbps to 3 Mbps achievable</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#e9f3ed"> <td>Ultra Mobile Broadband</td> <td>2010 or later</td> <td>10 Mbps or higher</td> <td>5 Mbps or higher</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#e9f3ed"> <td>WiMax</td> <td>Wave 2 in 10 MHz</td> <td>Now</td> <td>3 Mbps to 5 Mbps</td> <td>1 Mbps to 3 Mbps</td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#e9f3ed"> <td colspan="5">*Quoted by carriers or expected</td> </tr> </table> </div> WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR US NOW? The table above shows both advertised and expected user throughputs for the major wireless technology groups, GSM/UMTS, CDMA, and WiMax. What is quickly apparent is that there's relative parity across these technologies. The same is true for WiMax. Vendors are positioning WiMax as a next-generation technology that outperforms 3G networks. That may be true of initial WiMax networks, but enhancements will allow 3G capabilities to largely match WiMax by the time it's widely deployed, and the evolution of cellular beyond 3G will be based on technical approaches that are almost the same as WiMax. <div style="margin:0; padding:0 0 10px 10px; float:right; width:340px;"> <table border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="5" bgcolor="#000000"> <tr bgcolor="#000000"> <td colspan="3" align="center">Mobile Broadband Balance Sheet</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td bgcolor="#7d9986"> </td> <td bgcolor="#e0eee5">The Good</td> <td bgcolor="#eae5cf">The Bad</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td align="center" bgcolor="#7d9986">1</td> <td bgcolor="#e0eee5">Broadband speeds with high throughput and low latency</td> <td bgcolor="#eae5cf">Relatively high usage costs, up to $60 per month for a typical unlimited plan</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td align="center" bgcolor="#7d9986">2</td> <td bgcolor="#e0eee5">Good coverage with 3G in most major metro areas</td> <td bgcolor="#eae5cf">Patchwork of 2G and 3G makes it difficult to know what to expect in nonurban areas</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td align="center" bgcolor="#7d9986">3</td> <td bgcolor="#e0eee5">Wide device choices, including smartphones and laptops with PC Card and USB modems</td> <td bgcolor="#eae5cf">Confusion factor with multiple 3G technologies and now WiMax in the mix</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td align="center" bgcolor="#7d9986">4</td> <td bgcolor="#e0eee5">Many enterprise applications work well over today's faster wireless networks</td> <td bgcolor="#eae5cf">But then again, some critical apps are woefully unsuited to wireless connections</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td align="center" bgcolor="#7d9986">5</td> <td bgcolor="#e0eee5">Number of mobile middleware options is rapidly increasing</td> <td bgcolor="#eae5cf">The only thing trickier than picking the right mobile middleware is learning how to use it</td> </tr> </table> </div> In the 3G world, neither HSPA (AT&T and T-Mobile) nor EV-DO (Sprint, Verizon) has a clear advantage over the other; in fact, the operators quote identical throughput capabilities. Still, there are differences. For example, UMTS/HSPA allows simultaneous voice and data sessions, whereas EV-DO doesn't. But from a raw throughput perspective, there isn't significant variation. Bottom line, wireless technology has become pervasive, especially for voice communications, but wireless data still has a long way to go before it's an essential component of most companies' networking infrastructures. But despite the challenges that are inherent in implementing a comprehensive mobile computing policy, we don't see any significant roadblocks that could stall continued business adoption, especially as an increasing number of enterprise applications either come with "off-the-shelf" mobility extensions or will function via mobile middleware systems facilitated by developments such as Web services. Companies able to integrate wireless technology on a strategic basis for key job functions are likely to achieve a competitive advantage through greater responsiveness and efficiency. Peter Rysavy is the president of Rysavy Research, a consulting firm that specializes in wireless networking. Find the firm at <a href="http://www.rysavy.com" target="_blank">www.rysavy.com</a>. <center>Continue to the story: <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207600934">Trouble Ahead: Most Companies Don't Have A Mobile Device Management Plan</a></center>2005-10-21T00:00:00ZProduct Analysis: Wireless DevicesTo determine which device can best deliver wireless data access, we evaluated three PC Card modems and four smartphones, all using various wireless services. The right device depends on your users, area, applications and carriers.http://www.informationweek.com/news/172900878?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Mobile_ PCs vs. Phones In our reader poll for this article, we asked which cellular data services offer the greatest value for mobile employees. PC Card cellular modems that provide wireless service for notebook users got only 40 percent of the vote, while smartphones with integrated data services received 60 percent.  <TABLE WIDTH="500" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="8" BORDER="0" hspace="5" vspace="5"> <tr> <td width="50">   </td> <td width="400"> <a href="http://www.networkcomputingreports.com/shared/download.jhtml?id=160200015&cat=nwcr_wireless" target="_new"> <img SRC="http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/nwcreports/freefeature.gif" border="0"></a> </td> <td width="50">   </td> </tr> </table>  There's reason for this smartphone dominance: These phones are quite capable, with computing and networking capabilities exceeding those of early PCs. With fast connectivity from just about anywhere, they are becoming indispensable tools. And in some cases, they can be used as wireless modems for laptops, getting the best of both worlds. However, no smartphone is perfect. Each excels in different areas, many are more consumer-focused than enterprise IT would like, and choosing among them can be an agonizing process. Integrating smartphones into your enterprise network also can be a complex undertaking, with significant security and management implications. Companies concerned with being able to secure and centrally manage mobile devices will still find laptops a better choice.  <TABLE WIDTH="120" ALIGN="left" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="8" BORDER="0" hspace="5" vspace="5"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> <div align="center"> <a href="http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/1622/graphics/1622f2a.gif" target="new"> <img SRC="http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/1622/graphics/1622f2a_tn.gif" border="0"></a> Smartphone Performance Results <a href="http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/1622/graphics/1622f2a.gif" target="new" class="blue10"> Click to enlarge in another window </a> </td> </tr> </table>  E-mail remains the undisputed king of mobile applications, followed closely by calendar and contact synchronization. Indeed, 60 percent of respondents to our poll said they expect smartphones to be used for multiple data applications within two years. We expect many of these hot application areas for smartphones to be more vertical--think salesforce automation, couriers, real estate and instant messaging. Many current mobile applications are enabled by vendors that started in wireless e-mail gateways and are now expanding to support other types of applications (see "<a href="http://www.networkcomputing.com/showitem.jhtml?docid=1614f2">BlackBerrys and Treos and iPAQs, Oh My!</a>" our recent review of mobile messaging gateways). To get an overview of smartphone adoption for business applications, we spoke with Cingular and Verizon. Both stressed that they offer a variety of smartphones and said they seek to nurture the ecosystem for each platform type through developer support and close partnerships with wireless middleware vendors and by providing technical assistance to customers in defining their mobile deployment strategies. We're sure, but we'd also note that carriers are in a position to pressure device manufacturers and discourage certain developments, so it pays to keep an eye on how well your carrier supports new technologies, such as Bluetooth DUN (Dial-Up Networking), richer integration of Wi-Fi and dual-mode VoWi-Fi (voice over Wi-Fi) capabilities. We're happy to see increased adoption of these advances. We define smartphones as both devices in a phone form factor that run operating systems like Symbian or Windows Mobile and devices that look and feel more like PDAs. Some in the industry separate these into distinct camps, but there's sufficient blurring between the two--especially with units like the Nokia 9300 that looks like a phone when closed and a PDA when open--that we think it's time to group them into a single category. Network Testing We tested the data performance of the Nokia 9300, Sprint Treo 650, RIM BlackBerry 7290 and Samsung i730 on the following networks: EDGE from Cingular Wireless, 1XRTT from Sprint and EV-DO from Verizon. We also examined their features and general usability as well as the ability to use them as modems for laptops. To test performance, we measured both throughput and Web page downloads. In throughput tests, Wi-Fi for the i730 scored the highest--no surprise--followed by EV-DO for the i730, then the Nokia 9300, which supports EDGE. However, results varied significantly from test to test, and by geography and time of day as well. Although Wi-Fi was consistent, EV-DO ranged from a low of 88 Kbps to a high of 360 Kbps. The same goes for the 9300, with a low of 51 Kbps and a high of 187 Kbps. This is not surprising given that both EV-DO and EDGE adapt their modulation and error coding based on the quality of the radio signal. Network loading moment by moment is another huge factor. As for throughput with the phone as a modem (available for the Nokia 9300 and Treo 650), we noted speeds similar to the download test on the device itself. Limitations to Consider One consideration in using any phone as a modem with Bluetooth is whether the technology might be a limiting factor. In researching this question with the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, we learned that the Bluetooth link should have no problem supporting speeds up to 500 Kbps and should not be a bottleneck for any of the devices we tested. We did a long series of browser tests, measuring download times for busy Web pages such as www. cnn.com and www.nytimes.com. We also tried simpler Web pages, like www.rysavy.com. We found considerable variability from test to test due to variations in cellular network throughput. Predictably, the faster the throughput capabilities of the device, the less time it took to render Web pages. However, even with EV-DO on the i730, the CNN page took an average of a minute to load, and some two minutes with the Nokia 9300 and Treo 650. The Nokia 9300 browser demonstrated good caching, which greatly sped up reload speeds on previously visited sites. We didn't see any caching with the other devices. To evaluate keyboards, we measured how long it took to type the following sentence: "Shipments of smart handhelds pale in comparison with those of notebooks (roughly 60 million annually) or cell phones (more than 700 million worldwide), but they're growing fast." We found the RIM 7290 easiest to type on, followed by the Nokia 9300, then the Treo 650 and finally the Samsung device. As for preferred smartphone platform, our reader poll confirmed our gut feeling that through RIM remains the most popular platform, both Palm OS and Windows Mobile have considerable support. Although Symbian rules the smartphone scene in Europe, it has barely any visibility in the United States. Maybe the highly capable Nokia 9300 will help change that. The bottom line on these smartphones is that each one is a miniature workhorse, but one size does not fit all. All the smartphones we tested are packed with capabilities and features. Of course, a feature that might be crucial to one user or company might not be of any importance to another. Here are the factors we deem most important in selecting a device.<blockquote> » Connectivity. This is the place to start. All the smartphones tested offer voice and cellular data support. But only the Samsung i730 and Nokia 9300 support cellular 3G data services, and only the Samsung i730 supports Wi-Fi. Speed is not generally a concern for e-mail, but it could be for other applications. All four phones support Bluetooth for some level of hands-free operation and syncing with PCs, but only the Nokia 9300 and the Treo 650 support the Bluetooth DUN profile. » Platform. The dominant operating system platforms are Palm OS, RIM BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile. Although all support a rich computing experience on small-form-factor devices, this choice more than any other will determine the scope of available applications. Palm OS and Windows Mobile have the greatest range of available applications, but many also are available for RIM and Symbian. You must do your homework to find out what applications are available for which platform. Look at the vendors' device-specific Web pages, operating system vendor Web pages and application vendor sites. » Computing capability. Devices can readily support their included applications, but does your company depend on a computationally intensive app? Do you need multitasking, for example, downloading data while a user interacts with another application? All the platforms we tested support multithreaded multitasking, with the exception of Palm OS. » Memory. How much data and application memory comes with the device? Is it nonvolatile? How easily can you expand it? The devices we tested varied widely in this area. The Nokia 9300 and Samsung i730 had the greatest amount of available memory. » User experience. Some devices are easier to use than others, and as with any technology, ease of use will directly impact helpdesk calls. The Treo 650 is popular for a reason--practically every aspect of its design, including keyboard, display, location of controls and software interaction, have been refined to provide a pleasant user experience. BlackBerry users also are passionate about their devices. Items that boost the user experience include backlit keyboards, well-placed keys, high screen resolutions, convenient controls and well-designed applications. We liked the BlackBerry and Treo devices, which let us access all common functions using just one hand. » Expandability. Most devices provide an expansion slot, usually SDIO (Secure Digitial I/O Card) or MMC (MultiMediaCard). Research In Motion is the exception. Make sure the expansion slot supports the functions you really need. Memory is a given, but Wi-Fi may not be an option. » Device management. If you intend to deploy these devices broadly, it's a must to have management systems that can centrally maintain software configurations and provide security features, such as remotely wiping or disabling devices if they are lost. Only RIM provides a comprehensive management system for its products. With other devices you may need to add a third-party management system, which can get expensive--$40 to $110 per device or user, as we found in our review of these products (see "<a href="http://www.networkcomputing.com/showitem.jhtml?docid=1516f3">Herding Highly Mobile Cats</a>").</blockquote> Stay Connected One recent innovation that's included in all these smartphones is the ability to maintain network connectivity even when the phone is in dormant mode. This is a crucial enabler for push applications like wireless e-mail. Finally, consider extras such as whether the phone has a camera or the ability to play audio files. Real estate pros, for example, will want camera functionality. See "<a href="http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/1622/graphics/1622f2b.gif" target="new">Smartphone Features</a>", for information on how the devices stack up in these areas.  <TABLE WIDTH="120" ALIGN="right" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="8" BORDER="0" hspace="5" vspace="5"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> <div align="center"> <a href="http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/1622/graphics/1622f2b.gif" target="new"> <img SRC="http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/1622/graphics/1622f2b_tn.gif" border="0"></a> Smartphone Features <a href="http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/1622/graphics/1622f2b.gif" target="new" class="blue10"> Click to enlarge in another window </a> </td> </tr> </table>  The best device for you is dependent on your company's location and unique needs. Our detailed impressions are listed below. In a nutshell, we liked the Nokia 9300's rich user interface, wide screen, large keyboard and separate phone functionality with the unit closed. However, screen updates were slow at times, and the lack of a vibrate option will limit its use in some settings. The RIM 7290 provides the best overall e-mail experience. It also has a comfortable keyboard and is easy to use and carry, and enterprises should evaluate the included management system. The Samsung i730 shines when it comes to connectivity, with its Wi-Fi and EV-DO support. We also like its large amount of memory. Last but not least, the Treo 650 provides an excellent user experience and good connectivity options, and its large application base will be a plus for corporate deployments. However, non-multithreaded operation and limited included memory are downfalls. The latest member of the Nokia Communicator series was not available from any operator at testing time (after we completed our testing, Cingular announced it will be selling this phone; general availability is expected next month). Our version came directly from Nokia, provisioned for use on the Cingular network. What distinguishes this product is its clamshell design that provides a phone when closed, but opens to reveal a large display (640x200) and well-spaced keyboard, which addresses the difficulty we had dialing numbers using the other devices' small keyboards. The Nokia 9300 is a Symbian device, though it runs a Nokia version of Symbian as part of Nokia's Series 80 platform. This means you can't necessarily run all Symbian applications on this device. However, a rich set of applications is available (see <a href="http://www.forum.nokia.com/catalogs" target="new">www.forum.nokia.com/catalogs</a>). We found the device easy to use, thanks to detailed menus and four available soft keys. However, the 9300 was sluggish at times; we waited several seconds for some menus to update. We also wished the device had a vibrate alert option. On the bright side, we liked the display's power-management capabilities. After a time-out period, the screen backlight goes to a dim setting, which is less annoying than other devices, such as the Treo 650, where the display turns off after a short time-out period. For communications, the Nokia 9300 is an EDGE Class 10 device, capable of handling four time slots for the downlink and two slots for the uplink. Each EDGE time slot has a peak throughput rate of 50 Kbps, making it as fast as PC Card modems on the downlink, but only half as fast on the uplink. Peak downlink throughput rates were close to 190 Kbps with a good signal. The browser performed well, and our complex Web pages were rendered in a reasonable time frame. The wide screen helps here; it was easier than with the other devices to view complex Web pages because we could often see the full width. The 9300 is the only device we tested that sports a browser with caching, which dramatically helped when revisiting sites. We also liked Nokia's PC Suite, which gave us complete control of the device from a USB/Bluetooth/IR-connected computer for transferring information and setting up Internet connections. The 9300 supports ActiveSync for connectivity to Microsoft Exchange and will be one of the first non-RIM devices to include a BlackBerry client. Bottom line, this is a highly capable, well-designed smartphone that's suited for a broad range of business applications. Nokia 9300, $299.99. Nokia, (800) 456-5553. <a href="http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/9300" target="new">www.nokiausa.com/phones/9300</a> RIM pioneered the wireless e-mail device category and thumb-style keyboard and has continued to refine its devices and add to their capabilities. The 7290, in our case provisioned through T-Mobile, is an attractive, easy-to-use and intuitive device, and with the integrated back-end support for e-mail through the RIM network operations center, it provided by far the best out-of-box e-mail experience. RIM packages its devices for global use and was the only vendor to provide multiple AC plug adapters for different countries. It also provides four-band support on its GSM model. With the four-band support, you can use the phone both on the two common U.S. mobile phone bands and on the two common Asian and European bands. From a networking perspective, however, this was the most sluggish device. It supports only GPRS, which is slower than the EDGE, 1XRTT and 1xEV-DO networks used by rivals. The peak speed we measured was 38 Kbps. If your users mainly access e-mail, they may never know what they're missing because e-mail is processed in the background and they receive notification once it's available. However, Web browsing was slower than with other devices we tested, though the browser still performed quite well for us because of optimization that RIM performs on Web content in its network operations center. Speeds will increase significantly with upcoming EDGE and EV-DO versions. Bluetooth support is included primarily for headset use. There aren't as many applications available for the RIM platform as there are for Palm OS or Windows Mobile, but you're not limited to the applications on the device. Options include third-party Java apps or the ability to push general corporate information over a BlackBerry Enterprise Server using the RIM Mobile Data Service--something RIM told us many enterprise customers are doing. The device packs 32 MB of flash memory, more than enough for most typical uses, though less than the Nokia 9300 and Samsung i730. There is no means of memory expansion. The 7290 has no touchscreen, but we liked the very effective thumbwheel that can be clicked to make selections and another button that serves as an escape key. The device also is optimized for one-handed use. The screen is smaller in pixels than the other devices we tested, but this translates to a more compact and lighter device. Companies that buy the BlackBerry Enterprise Server also get an extremely capable management platform for provisioning and managing devices, including features such as disabling lost devices and deleting their contents. Bottom line, the 7290 is our top choice if you're mainly looking for a wireless e-mail and PIM synchronization unit, but don't count it out for other applications as well. BlackBerry 7290, $349 but varies with plan. Research In Motion, (519) 888-7465. <a href="http://www.rim.com/products/handhelds/index.shtml" target="new">www.rim.com/products/handhelds/index.shtml</a> The Samsung i730, sold by Verizon, is based on Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2003. It has a clever slide-out keyboard, which allows a nice-size display in a compact unit. The keyboard was narrower than the other devices we tested, and this slowed us down a bit on our typing tests. We found the buttons on the side of the unit frustrating because they were easy to press by accident, and we frequently activated them just by picking up the device. Samsung includes an extra, high-capacity battery, and the processor, at 520 MHz, is quite powerful for a phone device. We also liked the 128 MB of nonvolatile storage ROM, most of which is available. However, the rest of the memory is volatile, so make sure users keep the unit charged and back up regularly. Nonvolatile-memory support will come with Windows Mobile 5, the successor to this current system (see "<a href="http://www.networkcomputing.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=172900878&pgno=12">Preview: Windows Mobile 5</a>"). The i730's strongest point is its connectivity. Not only does it support Verizon's 1X service, but also EV-DO and Wi-Fi. We measured fast throughput tests with EV-DO, with a peak rate of 360 Kbps. Wi-Fi performed well, and we had no problem connecting to the Internet at a public hotspot. WPA security is not supported on the phone, possibly limiting its enterprise use. One other important item: With Wi-Fi running, your users cannot make or receive calls, other than emergency calls, which disable the Wi-Fi connection. Bluetooth is available for ActiveSync and for headsets, but Verizon does not support the Bluetooth DUN, so we could not use this phone as a modem. SCH-i730, $599.99, but varies with plan. Samsung Electronics, (201) 229-4000. <a href="http://www.samsung.com" target="new">www.samsung.com</a> Our test Treo 650 came from Sprint and works on its 1X network. However, this popular product is available from all the major carriers except T-Mobile. And it's no wonder: The Treo 650 provides a pleasing blend of capability and ease of use. The Treo 600 was a good product, but the 650 significantly improves on a good thing with its higher-resolution display, improved keyboard, addition of Bluetooth, support for EDGE in GSM versions, removable battery, nonvolatile memory and updated applications. The Blazer browser was tops at rendering complex Web pages. Versamail, the included e-mail application, has a strong feature set and supports Microsoft ActiveSync, which lets it access Exchange servers, and it was the only e-mail client we tested flexible enough to let us access a particular SMTP server that required a port address change. As for ease of use, we could access nearly all functions with one hand and rarely had to pull out the stylus. With respect to connectivity, Bluetooth worked well and we were able to use the phone as a modem. Sprint allows this, as does Cingular. However, configuring phones as Bluetooth modems can be an involved process, requiring assistance by IT unless your users can install the latest firmware from the Palm site to get the Bluetooth DUN feature. The Treo 650 has less available nonvolatile memory than some of the other products we tested. Though not a true multitasking system, the Treo saves application states so that when we returned to an application, it was exactly where we left it. One gripe about Palm OS: There's no escape key for backing out of menus and operations. The future of Palm OS changed dramatically when PalmSource announced it would not pursue its Palm OS Cobalt strategy (the previous successor version to its current OS 5, aka OS Garnet), and would instead pursue a Linux kernel (see "<a href="http://www.linuxpipeline.com/168600327" target="new">PalmSource, MontaVista Team Up On Mobile Linux</a>"). Presumably, the user interface will stay largely the same. Treo 650, $599.99, but varies by plan. Palm, (888) 223-4817, (408) 617-7000. <a href="http://www.palm.com/us/products/smartphones/treo650/" target="new">www.palm.com/us/products/smartphones/treo650/</a> Smartphones ship with embedded 2.5G or 3G wireless modems, but if you want to enable your notebook users to take advantage of cellular data services, you'll probably have to buy and install a PC Card wireless modem. These cards are produced by Kyocera, Novatel Wireless, Sierra Wireless and Sony/Ericsson, among others. In most cases, consumers buy the cards directly from carriers, often at a subsidized cost in conjunction with a service contract; sometimes carriers offer multiple card choices. Sony offers its T-series notebook with an embedded EDGE modem, while Lenova and Panasonic offer a model with embedded EV-DO. Meanwhile, Dell and Hewlett-Packard have announced plans to integrate EV-DO into select models of their notebook computers by the end of 2005 or early 2006. But unlike Wi-Fi NICs, which are bundled without additional charge, limited volumes on these cards mean you can expect to pay a significant price premium for notebook models equipped with cellular NICs. For those who want to use their phones as modems, our testing showed performance almost as good as wireless WAN PC Cards. Compared with the EDGE-capable Treo 650, the Sierra Wireless EDGE PC Card has better latency performance and supports faster uplinks, but downlink throughput is the same. For 1XRTT, we didn't see any difference. As for EV-DO, Bluetooth DUN was not enabled on the Samsung i730, so we couldn't compare. Bottom line, you'll find the best performance with PC Cards (or future embedded modems), but for companies that want to combine accounts and devices, tethered performance is good enough for many usages.  <TABLE WIDTH="120" ALIGN="left" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="8" BORDER="0" hspace="5" vspace="5"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> <div align="center"> <a href="http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/1622/graphics/1622f2c.gif" target="new"> <img SRC="http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/1622/graphics/1622f2c_tn.gif" border="0"></a> Cellular Data Service Vendors at a Glance <a href="http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/1622/graphics/1622f2c.gif" target="new" class="blue10"> Click to enlarge in another window </a> </td> </tr> </table>  Some carriers aren't too excited about enabling Bluetooth DUN because they often price their smartphone data plans below those for notebook computers and they're worried about customers beating the system. Given the ugliness associated with configuring notebooks and smartphones for Bluetooth DUN, we're not sure how many users would care to go this route, but for IT organizations willing to preprovision devices, it could be a concern. We tested three WWAN cards provided by three different wireless operators. Cingular sent us the Sierra Wireless AirCard 775, which we tested on its EDGE network. Sprint provided the Sierra Wireless AirCard 580, which we tested mainly on its CDMA2000 1XRTT network. Finally, Verizon shipped the Novatel Wireless V620, which we tested on its EV-DO network. T-Mobile supported only GPRS at testing time, so we didn't test on its network. T-Mobile now offers EDGE services on 90 percent of its network. We put these WWAN cards to work in and around our Syracuse University Real-World Labs® to evaluate them for throughput, latency and overall user experience (for more testing details, see "<a href="http://www.networkcomputing.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=172900878&pgno=13">How We Tested WAN PC Cards and Smartphones</a>"). Our primary goal was to provide a comparative assessment of 3G technologies rather than the carrier networks, which vary from area to area. Although we weren't able to test Sprint's new EV-DO service in Syracuse, we did ship a card to a colleague in the Washington, D.C., area. Sprint's EV-DO throughput there was about 20 percent less than what we experienced on Verizon's EV-DO network in Syracuse. Our evaluation provides real-world tests of the three most commonly used cellular data services: EDGE, CDMA2000 1XRTT, and CDMA2000 EV-DO.  <TABLE WIDTH="120" ALIGN="left" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="8" BORDER="0" hspace="5" vspace="5"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> <div align="center"> <a href="http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/1622/graphics/1622f2d.gif" target="new"> <img SRC="http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/1622/graphics/1622f2d_tn.gif" border="0"></a> Wireless WAN PC Card Performance <a href="http://i.cmpnet.com/nc/1622/graphics/1622f2d.gif" target="new" class="blue10"> Click to enlarge in another window </a> </td> </tr> </table>  Independent field measurements for HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) are not yet available, but various operators and vendors have disclosed preliminary information. For example, in August, Vodafone Italy and Nokia announced HSDPA test results of 1.5-Mbps peak throughput. Actual downstream throughput for first-generation HSDPA networks is expected to be somewhere between 550 Kbps and 800 Kbps. Test results for EDGE and EV-DO were generally consistent with our expectations, but 1x performance was less than we anticipated, though still within Sprint's advertised performance range. Verizon's EV-DO service offered the best average downstream throughput (589 Kbps), followed by EDGE (119 Kbps) and 1XRTT (69 Kbps). Upstream, EV-DO (97 Kbps) and EDGE (95 Kbps) were roughly comparable, followed by 1XRTT (66 Kbps). For latency, EV-DO turned in an average of 242 ms, followed by EDGE at 457 ms and 1XRTT at 503 Kbps. All latency numbers are quite high when compared with typical WLAN connections and have a detrimental effect on the perceived quality of network connections, so be sure to educate end users about what to expect. Most WWAN cards are configured as dial-up networking adapters and use Connection Manager utilities provided by the carriers to initiate connections, either manually or automatically. Novatel also supports a native NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specification) driver interface to provide a more LAN-like experience, and Sierra Wireless offers automated connection tools for its cards that deliver a similar user experience. All of the carriers support Web acceleration technology. Although we did not systematically evaluate these tools, our impression was that they deliver an enhanced user experience, albeit at the expense of graphics resolution on Web images. For our content-rich Web-page tests, EV-DO loaded the page in 21 seconds, besting EDGE at 75 seconds and 1XRTT at 90 seconds. For comparison, we saw an average load time of 4.5 seconds on the Syracuse University wireless network using an 802.11b connection on the same notebook computer. Card: Sierra Wireless AirCard 775; Carrier: Cingular Wireless; Access Method: EDGE, GSM/GPRS Cingular Wireless now offers EDGE services across its U.S. network, providing a significant improvement over its earlier-generation GPRS service. We tested the Cingular network using a Sierra Wireless AirCard 775. This PCMCIA card is broadly supported on all Microsoft Windows desktop platforms from Windows 98 to the present. After installing Cingular's Communication Manager application, we were able to manage both our EDGE and Wi-Fi connections. Cingular's utility also provides access to SMS (Short Message Service) messaging. Cingular has bundled the ByteMobile Acceleration Client with this product, which let us optimize performance by dynamically reducing image quality. Although the Cingular Communication Manager is aware of both WWAN and Wi-Fi interfaces, it didn't let us easily roam between networks. Instead, we were notified when we came within Wi-Fi coverage, at which point we could switch to a Wi-Fi network manually, provided we had defined appropriate security credentials within Windows. However, the WWAN connection was maintained until we manually disconnected it. Cingular Wireless offers several pricing plans. The unlimited access plan runs $59.99 per month. More budget-conscious options include the $49.99-per-month plan for 50 MB, $39.99 per month for 20 MB, $29.99 per month for 10 MB and $19.99 per month for 5 MB of data. Card: Sierra Wireless AirCard 580; Carrier: Sprint Wireless; Access Method: CDMA/CDMA 2000 (EV-DO/1XRTT) Sprint launched its EV-DO network in July and currently offers service in 75 metro areas. We tested a Sierra Wireless AirCard 580 provided by Sprint that supports EV-DO and 1XRTT networks, but because EV-DO service is not yet available in Syracuse, the bulk of our testing focused on its 1XRTT service. We performed a subset of our tests on Sprint's network in Washington, D.C. The AirCard 580 supports Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Like the other cards we tested, the AirCard 580 functions as a dial-up modem, which means that we could use the Windows Dial-Up Networking utilities to manage connections. However, Sprint provides the Sprint PCS Connection Manager, its client utility designed to facilitate connections to Sprint's WWAN services. Sprint's utility is solely focused on this task and does not include the ability to manage Wi-Fi connections, like the others we tested. Sprint supports WWAN optimization using the Bytemobile accelerator. We found significant variability in 1x performance on Sprint's network. In some locations we experienced throughput of approximately 120 Kbps, while in other places we got about half that number, a result that illustrates the trade-offs carriers face when allocating limited resources between voice and data users. In addition, some large FTP file transfers timed out before completion. We suspect these performance issues are capacity-related, but Sprint couldn't provide a technical explanation. It did note that our overall performance results fell within its advertised performance range. Sprint Wireless offers several pricing plans. Unlimited access runs $79.99 per month, discounted to $59.99 if you also have a Sprint voice plan. Another option includes the $39.99-per-month plan for 40 MB of data. Card: Novatel Wireless V620; Carrier: Verizon Wireless; Access Method: CDMA/EV-DO Verizon Wireless is in the process of rolling out its nationwide EV-DO network as part of its BroadbandAccess WWAN offering. Mobile professionals who want to access this EV-DO network have multiple PC Card options. Verizon sent us the Novatel Wireless V620 card, which supports EV-DO and is backward-compatible with CDMA-2000 1XRTT. The Novatel product is designed to work on all Windows desktop platforms from Windows 98 on. Like the Sierra Wireless cards we received from Sprint and Cingular, the Novatel card functions as a dial-up modem, but it also can be configured as an NDIS network device, as long as you use drivers provided by Novatel. We used the client utility provided by Verizon--VZAccess Manager--to connect to its EV-DO network. The utility offers a number of useful features. For example, VZAccess Manager is designed to manage both WWAN and WLAN connections, which let us effectively choose the best connectivity option. When we were connected to the EV-DO WWAN and came within range of a Wi-Fi network, the application notified us that a WLAN connection was available via a popup on the Windows task bar. If we switched to WiFi, the utility prompted us to disconnect from the WWAN. In addition, VZAccess Manager gave us WWAN usage statistics that let us track cumulative connection activity, an important feature for those not on an unlimited data plan. The VZAccess Manager also provides access to SMS messaging services and quick-launch features for regularly accessed applications, including VPN software. Verizon has bundled the Venturi Wireless compression and optimization client with the VZAccess Manager. This client, which can be configured in the VZAccess Manager, provides several settings for optimizing WLAN connections, based on a chosen image quality. Verizon's BroadbandAccess WWAN service comes in several flavors. The unlimited data plan runs $59.99 per month. Dave Molta is Network Computing's senior technology editor. Write to him at <A HREF="mailto:dmolta@nwc.com">dmolta@nwc.com</a> Peter Rysavy is president of <a href="http://www.rysavy.com" target="new">Rysavy Research</a>, a consulting firm specializing in wireless networking. <hr> Bearing Fruit: Cingular Wireless and Research in Motion announced last month that BlackBerry Connect will be available on the Nokia 9300 to provide BlackBerry functions for Symbian OS. We couldn't obtain a Windows Mobile 5 device, but this system was close enough to being available in new smartphones that we wanted to report on some imminent enhancements. We <a href="http://www.nwc.com/showitem.jhtml?articleID=165701547&pgno=11">interviewed John Starkweather</a>, group product manager in the Mobile and Embedded Devices division at Microsoft. Starkweather says important features of Windows Mobile 5 include client support for close coupling with Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 for an enhanced push e-mail experience, nonvolatile memory, an improved browser and the ability to flip between landscape and portrait modes on all devices. He adds that Microsoft intends to continue supporting both smartphone (single-handed, no stylus) and PDA (two-handed, stylus-oriented) form factors, but Windows Mobile 5 will offer greater code compatibility between the two platforms, making it more likely that the applications will run across both. Other improvements include support for USB 2.0, hard drives and enhanced multimedia support. Some newer Windows Mobile devices based on Pocket PC 2003 will be upgradable to Windows Mobile 5, but this will vary by vendor. We were unable to confirm whether the Samsung i730 would be upgradable to Windows Mobile 5. WAN PC Cards We took three WWAN (wireless WAN) cards for a test drive around the Syracuse, N.Y., metropolitan area, home to our Syracuse University Real-World Labs®. With a population of 732,000 people, Syracuse is the 59th largest metropolitan area in the United States--second-tier when it comes to cellular data services, though Verizon did add Syracuse to its list of EV-DO-capable metro areas this year. Our primary goal was to evaluate these systems for throughput, latency and overall user experience. We installed each card in an identically configured Toshiba Satellite notebook computer equipped with a 1200-MHz Celeron processor and 256 MB of RAM running Windows XP Professional. We also loaded the client connection utilities provided by the wireless operators. To control for location variations, we performed all of our tests in seven different locations around the Syracuse metro area, including Syracuse University, the airport, downtown and in major suburbs where businesses exist. We performed multiple iterations of each test at each location and averaged our results. To evaluate throughput, we conducted FTP transfers of a 1.67-MB Word document, both upstream and downstream. To evaluate latency, we performed ping tests on three different Web sites, which included a server in our lab, Yahoo and Google. Because the initial ping requires the radio to shift from dormant to active mode, a process that takes about a second, we performed 11 pings and averaged the results of the last 10. To provide a sense of performance on a media-rich Web site, we arranged to access an unloaded test version of the www.suathletics.com Web site, which contains 701 KB of content on its home page. Using a stopwatch, we measured the amount of time it took to load the entire page, clearing the browser cache between visits. We also disabled Web acceleration clients, where provided, though we did find that these clients significantly improve performance for typical Web activities. Smartphones Our testing measured throughput involved with accessing a <a href="http://www.dslreports.com/mspeed" target="new">specific Web test page</a>, that provides a steady 200-KB download size. We tested in several locations, including a rural site in Idaho, a Los Angeles suburb, and an urban area, Los Angeles International Airport. For our browser tests, we measured download times for a variety of Web pages, including <a href="www.nytimes.com" target="new">www.nytimes.com</a>, <a href="www.cnn.com" target="new">www.cnn.com</a> and <a href="www.rysavy.com" target="new">www.rysavy.com</a>. The CNN home page was particularly demanding, at over 200 KBs with some 100 separate objects, and presented our worst-case scenarios of how these devices would handle broadband-oriented Web sites. To evaluate keyboards, we measured how long it took to type a long sentence. We used these keyboards long enough to get familiar with each of them. In reality, people will adapt to whatever keyboard they use and become more proficient over time. All Network Computing product reviews are conducted by current or former IT professionals in our Real-World Labs® or partner labs, according to our own test criteria. Vendor involvement is limited to assistance in configuration and troubleshooting. Network Computing schedules reviews based solely on our editorial judgment of reader needs, and we conduct tests and publish results without vendor influence.