Corporate America: it's time to take another look at the Palm Pre Plus 85
We said in our Palm Pre Plus review that the device is this close to being a very compelling device for Enterprise users. There's a cold, hard truth to face, though: it's not there yet. It still lacks document editing, for one. For two, the fact of the matter is that for most corporate users you can take their BlackBerrys when you pry them from their cold, dead hands - it's not for nothing that our sister site is called CrackBerry.com
But let's face it: corporate users with BlackBerrys are likely looking for a few things that their main company phones don't offer: tethering, apps, and a decent web browser. Now that the Palm Pre Plus is a paltry $49.99 after rebate and Mobile Hotspot is free, it's time for Corporate America to take another look at the Palm Pre Plus.
Let's break it down
Tethering
There are definitely solutions for tethering for the BlackBerry, but for many companies that's not a viable option. Many BlackBerrys are locked down tight and installing an app like TetherBerry isn't possible.
The next option is a Verizon MiFi or laptop card. These run anywhere from $9.99 to $49.99 - well within the price range of the Palm Pre Plus right now. However with the Palm Pre Plus, there is a Buy One, Get One Free option, so there are potential savings there if you are buying for multiple employees. If you go with the Palm Pixi Plus, the price is only $29.99 - again with BOGO.
The Mobile Broadband plan for a MiFi or laptop card is $59.99 per month. A base plan for a Palm Pre Plus with 450 minutes, unlimited data, and Mobile Hotspot clocks in at $69.98 per month - a mere $9.99 more.
On top of that, the Palm Pre Plus doesn't require software on the laptop in order to function, potentially reducing support costs.
Apps & Browsing
Let's face it, plenty of your employees are sporting two phones right now: likely a BlackBerry and an iPhone. Why? The iPhone offers at least two things that the BlackBerry doesn't: a first-class web browsing experience and a second-to-none selection of apps.
In both categories, we have to admit that the Palm Pre Plus doesn't measure up to the iPhone, but it does beat the iPhone in one critical category: it's available now on the network you're using - Verizon. Compared to other Verizon phones, webOS simply has the best selection of 3D games available on any device on The Network. Palm's App Catalog is rapidly growing, too, having just surpassed 2,000 apps worldwide.
It also has a web browser that's as good as what can be found on the Motorola Droid or any other Android phone. Full multitouch, pinch-to-zoom, and the ability to have multiple web pages open all at once are some of the topline features.
Palm Pre Plus: an excellent 2nd phone for corporate BlackBerry users
That's the story. Your employees are looking to get their laptop (and other devices) online when they're on the go. The cost of doing that with a Palm Pre Plus instead of a MiFi or laptop card isn't significantly more. For that small extra cost, your users will also get a device with a first-class web browser, a rapidly growing list of 3rd party apps, and plenty of other benefits. They'll have a spare phone for when they're in a pinch, another device with very good Exchange integration out-of-the-box, and much more.
Someday the Pre Plus may get to a point where it can replace the BlackBerry for Enterprise. Until then, it could make an excellent tethering device for corporations.
85 Comments
The corporate world would most likely be more likely to use a Pre but won't want to overpay as they would on at&t or Verizon. Sprint needs to add Mobile HotSpot Asap!
Corporate would most likely pay extra for better service. Corporate also gets huge discounts.
In contrast, my company (Fortune 100) is considering doing somewhat of the opposite of what is proposed here -- rather than deciding what new batch of phones they will procure, they are considering letting personally-owned smartphones access our Exchange server...and we are often not on the vanguard of such initiatives.
We are at a point where many folks have a personally-owned iPhone, Android-based handset, or Pre...and some companies are starting to wonder why they are paying for an additional handset when the risk exposure for Exchange connectivity is fairly low.
BTW, the survey that asked "would you be interested in receiving company email on your personally-owned smartphone?" had a selection option for phone model...and WebOS device was an option. :)
Corporate world is happy enough with the fees of ATT/VZ. They can leverage discounts that improve the value of commercial efforts. Different world than the consumer's market.
Sorry for the bad gramar...
and spelling ;)
Surpassed 2000 apps? On my Sprint Pre, I see only 1861.
k qualified that a bit - it's over 2k apps if you count all apps in all countries.
1691 apps on my sprint pixi =_="
2418 on my Sprint Pre. Of course I use preware :-)
dang. they deleted my first first lol.
but i do agree with this article. instead of buying a phone and an aircard/mifi device, the palm is like 2 in 1.
Verizon and ATT are both bigger in the corporate world than Sprint. So the carrier issue is not such a worry.
I am a corporate user and tethering is not something I need. That is more of a road warrior type of need and all hotels I stay in have free WiFi, coffee shops etc...so not such a huge issue for me personally, but I could see a road warrior wanting something like hot spot.
Not being able to edit documents is the only thing I miss from my WinMo phone. Truthfully, I only miss it occasionally, but get be document editing and I am all set.
As soon as the double key entry and GPS problems are fixed then I will get a Pre+ on my corporate account and encourage others to do the same. Until then, no way.
One thing this phone lacks, as a business phone, is the ability to schedule a calendar meeting and invite attendees. I find myself out of the office or on the road and needing to schedule an internal meeting, and I cannot invite anyone. I honestly don't see a lot of people mentioning this as a missing feature, but it's really big for me and others that I've spoke with that use a Pre for work. Anyone else?
Good point about the calendar invite. This is an issue for sure.
And crappy handling of multiparty calls. Do we even have a hold button? I only see a mute.
In fairness... that is a limitation of CDMA (not webOS/Pre)
I know of CDMA limits, I want this phone to function as cleanly as the Treo. The current interface and menus are two steps backwards from the "glass" interface the Treo presented. And the virtual buttons are way too small when they do have functional options.
gotta agree on the calender issue.. i hate having to come back to the office or do it at home at night.. pain the ...
Yep, that has been the one issue for me from day one. Everything else that people gripe about I see as bugs that I can accommodate. And as bugs, Palm has mostly addressed them. Palm has also added some interesting features like video, but there has been little to no enhancement of business features. I don't need document editing, but it should be high on the list. Meeting invite, however, is a fundamental difference between a business calendar and a personal calendar. It is a necessary feature for this to be a true business phone.
A few good points made there: needs mobile hotspot for all carriers, more apps, needs to bump the web experience up a little more, and a need to have document editing and more business apps (Microsoft Office Mobile or Lotus would be spectacular). But here is an issue that has been posed as being a problem for all: better hardware. How about something a little more durable and powerful? I think if they built a sturdier, faster Pre I would buy them for my whole office. Until then I cannot tell anyone to buy the Pre. It works for me, but I need a little more before it becomes that 'it' phone for workers on the go. Come on Palm and everyone making apps for Palm, just a little more...
there is a fix for ouble key entry. Don't have link, but some other Pre website has a list of issues and methods to correct (general idea is to push every key twice, and then slide over each row like piano keys.
regardless, double key entry only happens occasionally, I haven't found it to be a big ddeal ;)
Good luck convincing a business to switch over to a phone/company that may not exist in a year.
It's also too buggy, slow, and the already miserable battery life would take a beating with the wifi hotspot app.
Palm has stated that this is meant for the mass consumer and has spent the past months focused on games. Verizon has said its for Moms. Sprint said they can't sell it to the wrong people. If they want to sell it to corporate, then they have work to do and focus on what they want to be..
Can you use Classic and have access to Docs To Go?
There is no way I would recommend this device for corporate use and I know my wife won't recommend developing an app for Webos at the large online financial company she works for.
#1 reason... because core functionality can still be shut down with heavy usage of some other apps. Its happened on my Pre with Preware with 1.4.1 installed, but under 1.4 I had it happen with a few browser windows open and others reported it happening with the Sims game.
How could any business want a phone where the background apps could get shut down without warning or any way to tell other than with a third party app like Jstop? I've missed important calls, calendar reminders and text messages when I have not noticed in Jstop that these apps had been closed.
And leaving Jstop installed so one can monitor if the apps are actually running or leaving the phone, calendar and messaging apps open to make sure they stay running may be a solution, but its not one that any business is going to choose if they know about the issue...
Good points, but I've had much bigger issues with my BB Curve over the last couple of years. I carry both devices now and the Pre is by far the better all around device. The only thing keeping my large company from adopting the Pre is the lack of encryption.
Good points, but I've had much bigger issues with my BB Curve over the last couple of years. I carry both devices now and the Pre is by far the better all around device. The only thing keeping my large company from adopting the Pre is the lack of encryption.
Dieter,
You've taken the words right out of my brain; I was considering writing something like this up as well.
You do, however, underestimate the benefit of the Pre Plus to an IT department; there is *no* integration necessary, neither on the desktop nor as a standalone server, provided the enterprise is already running EAS. No additional licenses, no constant upgrades to iTunes, no Blackberry service, nada. That is *huge*, and is likely already leading to stealth adoption of webOS devices by professionals who simply get them and put in the relevant account data (that's what I've done). Add to that the availability of the devices on two (and soon to be three) of the major US carriers as well as international ones, and the possible freedom from Google apps (with their accompanying privacy and lack of control issues), and the benefit simply grows. Further, professionals are more likely to need to do things like refer to Web pages or documents *while* composing e-mails, another task that webOS makes possible and easy.
This is a serious small/mid-sized businessphone (and will be so even more once Dataviz gets off its hands and finishes/releases Docs2Go), and it boggles my mind why Palm isn't selling it as one. In the consumer market, the Pre is yet another choice, but on the business side, it should be the clear winner in anything but a strict BlackBerry server shop. {Jonathan}
The cost issue is a big one.
The cost at my company for supporting the Blackberry's is much higher than for the Pre (and iPhone users). For each BB we pay our Exchange company a $35 set-up fee and $10/month.
The Pre has no set-up fee and costs $2/month.
The per-phone fees for BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) are out of whack and I think will be changing in the next couple of years. iPhones are becoming too common for corporate IT to ignore, and RIM will see it hit their bottom line.
Most of the engineers I work with are road warriors and they have either BBs or WinMo (with a random Android). I always let them know what new things I can use my Pre for, and I got a couple to switch. I never really got into the crackberry thing because I had a Treo since they came out, so there was never really any attraction to the BB for me.
That is only a huge "Plus" for an IT department, if you have ZERO security concerns and wish to offer no real support for an enterprise device.
webOS is not ready for most "corporate/enterprise users"
And, Bluetooth keyboard! ;-)
No idea how you can "pitch" a phone to corporate/enterprise users and not even touch on security and device control. It is probably the single biggest reason RIM has the market share they do. It's also the primary reason many Blackberry users have a iPhone AND Blackberry.
And the iPhone has better security than the Pre...
The Pre supports the complete EAS security policy functionality, including remote wiping. It can also be separately wiped via the Palm Profile, and the USB drive can carry along an encrypted file plus software like TrueCrypt to access it with the right passphrase. {Jonathan}
From my understanding... There were (and still are?) significant issues with EAS and fairly significant difficulties in getting it to work correctly with the Pre.
Corporate customers typically don't take deals with contract. I have a blackberry from my company and its purchased outright and there are no long term agreements for the line. If i leave tomorrow or get fired, the equipments goes back to inventory or scrapped and the line is canceled without ETF ..
I am currently on a road trip for work. This is the first time I have done so with the Pre. We use Exchange at work.
During my traveling day, I got an email from my Boss. She needed a document edited and submitted during the time frame I was on the road.
While I was not on my driving shift, I tethered my Sprint Pre with MyTether. This is doing 70 MPH down the road. Booted up the laptop to connect to our VPN. Edited and uploaded the document.
Later, we try to figure out where we want to get gas and eat. Sprint Navigation, search along route. Figured out and pit stop made.
We get a feel for how far we would get that night, so I pull up Travelocity on the Pre. Book the hotel. Worked great.
Downloaded the final edit of the Word document that they boss sent back to review and viewed it on the Pre. All good. Head to bed.
Started driving the next day and using Good Food and Four Square for reviews to decide where to stop for lunch. Great pick in the middle of nowhere.
This phone freakin' rocks.
I agree with you. This phone is amazing and there is nothing that I can do with a blackberry, that I can't do with the pre alone or the pre+tethering. The problem is that most people in corporate America are technologically illiterate. They don't want to have to wade through forums and homebrew apps to figure out how to use their phone for business.
But for the person who is tech savvy, the pre is an excellent phone.
Actually, there is one thing missing that I can't do with my pre that I can with a blackberry. Record telephone conversations. That is missing from my pre.
You should make that into a commercial :)
My buddy and I are working on a four part set of commercials with a premise like that which encompasses what I believe are the 4 killer features that the Palm Pre and WebOS have that makes it better than any other phone hands down.
Part 1, Show a Palm Pre with Mobile Hotspot in the center of table, zoom out and show 5 business users around the table using their laptops connected to the internet (via the pre), zoom out further and show the whole conference table in the middle of a forest or some other remote location.
(Or, a take on the above. A family vacation to anywhere and the whole family sitting in the car on their iPads, netbooks, laptops, iPod touches; all sharing the Pre's internet connection.)
Part 2, WebOS 3D gaming. Only the iPhone and WebOS can do 3D gaming, Droid CANT! (Apps included)
Part 3, Multitasking; WebOS' main killer feature. Show a basic scenario with people using the iPhone, Droid and Pre and show how easy it is to use multiple apps at the same time versus the others.
Part 4, Notifications; The smart notifications that we can swipe to dismiss, leave at the bottom for later, or open while having other things going. On the iPhone if you get a text or email or whatever, sorry, gotta answer it. Can't keep playing your game.
Let me know what you guys think.
That is my life everyday, and my reason for loving the pre.
As far as the Pre having built in wireless teathering, I am sure that the Pre Plus with even more bonuses will be available on S in the fall. Sometime on or near the anniversary of the 1st Pre model! Plus S has a far better rate structure than BB!
Take care, Jay
My friend had a Blackberry & had battery-life for a few days without turning off the email or internet. The Palm Pre is great but the battery-life needs to be improved so we can atleast get through 24 Hrs with normal use.
From what I can tell, there is still no WiFi or other network proxy support. Many corporations, including the one I work for, use proxy servers to secure their networks. Without proxy support, the Pre is useless on my (and probably many others') corporate network. There's no way the Pre can be considered an Enterprise ready device without proxy support!
Device cost isn't a factor in choosing standards. They are free or close to for BB or any other device it in volume contracts.
What made Blackberry a "must have" for corporate users is email integration, pure and simple.
Everything else in this article might make sense for a small company, but corporate america only cares about support for Exchange that is dead-simple. Thats' really the only advantage BlackBerry has. My company will NOT let us connect anything but a Blackberry or a PC over a VPN for e-mail
Once I can do that on my Pre, my BBB Curve goes into the trash. Until then, I have to carry them both.
Exchange wasn't dead simple for you? I can't imagine easier email setup with a device unless it could read my mind.
setting up exchange on a Pre is easier than for a BB. I have done this over and over and it is simply easier on the Pre.
Document editing? Who really wants that on a phone?
Me and with option to use bluetooth keyboard.
Dittoditto. {Jonathan}
Dittodittoditto. I could leave my netbook home most days with that functionality.
Palm needs to take another look at corporations first which means they have to put effort into bringing the PIM up to Garnet standards. How long ago was Derek's article pleading with Palm to just fix the lenghty list of problems with the calendar? It was quite awhile ago & Palm has mad e zero improvements. I still canl3 even do basic things like search for an appt or see week long appts in the month view. The Tasks application is even worse, mostly useless. There is not even a combined Today view. Palm has had zero interest in fixing these features instead focusing on consumer type improvements. This undeniably shows that Palm has no interest in targeting corporate customers.
Completely agree. I don't travel as much as before, but if I did, mobile hotspot along could make me want to move to Verizon.
Sprint needs to act now and for corporations, mobile hotspot on the most reliable network is hard to beat. Quit looking at the fancy shnanegans about Androids, Pre Plus is a phone that people can be productive with today. And it is at a very low cost.
Completely agree. I don't travel as much as before, but if I did, mobile hotspot along could make me want to move to Verizon.
Sprint needs to act now and for corporations, mobile hotspot on the most reliable network is hard to beat. Quick looking at the fancy shnanegans about Androids, Pre Plus is a phone that people can be productive with today. And it is at a very low cost.
Completely agree. I don't travel as much as before, but if I did, mobile hotspot along could make me want to move to Verizon.
Sprint needs to act now and for corporations, mobile hotspot on the most reliable network is hard to beat. Quick looking at the fancy shnanegans about Androids, Pre Plus is a phone that people can be productive with today. And it is at a very low cost.
You completely agree 3 times! ;)
I'm sorry, but if I was running a business I would not even consider a Palm phone until they made real strides in bug prevention.
Every update I get, there are soooo many bugs, the phone becomes unuseful for a few weeks. After 1.4, some calls were not coming to my phone, same with texts. Freeze/restart issues.
I know its a nice thought, but the Palm needs to do better testing before releasing updates if they want to be taken seriously for corporate usage.
Has anyone noticed that in laptopmag.com the Pre-Plus is WINNING against the competition. This has got to mean that people are AWARE of the potential the Pre has. There is no doubt now that the Pre has a fanbase. That just needs to be stoked.
Oh and where is the article about the Palm Pre Plus beating the HTC!!!! STEP UP PEOPLE!!! Our journalists need a quick kick in the butt....this is GREAT advertising for the Palm Pre. It shows that people KNOW the Pre's potential!!!
WRITE THE ARTICLE ALREADY!!!
Give me VPN access. once the Pre has say, ATT Net Client or Cisco VPN access then Corporate America will start looking at the Pre.
Being a Pre owner and a power-business user, the Pre is the last thing I would give to someone. I bought this to actually help with my productivity, and it's done nothing but the opposite. It's is very unreliable, and I don't know with each update what is not going to work next. No Docs2go, no editing tools, the damn Doc View and PDF view dont even have landscape mode implemented yet, and just finally fixed pinch to zoom. These are features anyone would expect in an 2010 phone with doc readers and not something you can really "do your homework on". Ive been disappointed by this phone over and over again, and I really like Palm, but they just keep dropping the ball. I mean until last major update, this device didn't even have video capture. It's 2010 already. There's no sync feature with windows outlook. I'm not talking exchange, but Outlook. With 90% of companies using Windows, everyone in 2010 should be able to plug in their device and have it syc with their calendar. Huge lack of apps in the catalog etc. A cheap Blackberry, I'm talking low-end is mountains over this phone for business use. It almost seems like the Pre doesnt know what it wants to be, a business tool, a kids toy to play games and music, a momn phone. It's not great at any of them, just average or below at all. Very disappointed.
As much as I like my Pre, it
Poorly written (thought out) article... Almost in-line with a poorly thought out blog spot by a random enamored user. One that has very little actual insight into what factors are important in a "corporate environment" outside of possibly tethering and document editing...
Even though the Blackberrys have a small screen and an out of date UI, the big corporations don't really care, all the want in a phone is the ability to keep their little soldiers on a electronic leash with email and texting.
Does the Pre have a "first class web browser" or not?
You cite the iPhone for having a first class web browsing "experience" then say the Pre Plus fails to deliver on that in the next parahraph.
Then, in the second to last paragraph you come back and say the Pre Plus does have a first class browser.
Which is it?
As of now, the Too Many Cards error is the only thing hampering the browsing experience, but that's a system-wide issue, not just for the browser.
The Palm devices need to meet a number of encryption standards before even be considered in a number of environments.
To note, I have one for personal use, but cannot use it at all for work :(
You mention that the Blackberry lacks a decent browser, which is true for now, but about to change as they replace their current browser with a Webkit-based browser.
WebOS has plenty of potential as a corporate platform, and the Pre could do fine for many business users, but true road warriors need:
- a faster processor: 1.5 GHz Snapdragon recommended
- a larger screen: 5" (yes, 5") 800x600
- a slide-out keyboard
- a microSD card slot is a MUST for large corporate databases
- a mobile office suite - word processing, spreadsheet, presentations - is a MUST
- external HD video port for those office apps
- support for bluetooth keyboards and mice for use with both of the above >> note that this combination (office suite, external video, keyboard/mouse support) makes the device a replacement for a basic laptop! >> NOW you're getting IT's attention...
Potential. So did the Dreamcast gaming console.
Just curious, are all of you with opinions actually business users? I don't know anyone at my fortune 100 company that would care about most of this stuff. The deal breakers for users are battery life, email integration and PIM functions. Everything else is gravy. But the users are not the ones that pick the phones/carriers. That's done by execs and the only thing they seem to care about is cost of ownership.
battery life. nuff said.
it's the biggest complaint I have about my Pre+, luckily (or unluckily), I'm stuck in a cubicle all day so it's not a problem. But if I were out and about all the time I would hate to be constantly concerned about my phone's battery running dry.
My battery experience with my Blackberry is completely different with my Pre+.
RIM should just buy Palm. Then Enterprise users would have the best of both worlds. I'm surprised this hasn't, or isn't, being looked into by RIM execs.
What security issues are some of you talking about? Just VPN access?
Quoting Jonathan who is completely correct:
The Pre supports the complete EAS security policy functionality, including remote wiping. It can also be separately wiped via the Palm Profile, and the USB drive can carry along an encrypted file plus software like TrueCrypt to access it with the right passphrase. {Jonathan}
Battery Life: Is an issue, but there are bigger batteries available and it is a trade off for a bigger screen.
Have you ever tried looking at a WAP page, Web page or a Word or Excel document on a Blackberry? Seriously? Even on the 9700 with its slightly bigger screen this is frustrating to no end.
I have actually missed calls waiting for the phone app to launch. For children this is an annoyance. For an adult it might mean missed business.
This phone will be a killer corporate phone once the next hardware is released (Faster CPU, higher resolution, larger keyboard, larger battery, etc.) and some of the missing features (already discussed) are solved in software.
From a business user's perspective the Pre is a very impressive beta. But not quite ready for prime time.
I actually trust that WebOS will be the best mobile OS solution eventually but for now it's a second phone.
how when we can't even get our subfolders from our exchange emails to sync!
Really? All my sub-folders sync just fine.
My company did take a look, and decided the cost of supporting the Pre would outweigh any advantages.
I'm a business user and carry a corporate Blackberry and a personal Pre. As someone involved in decisions about what devices to support, the Blackberry wins hands down because the BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) offers so much by way of security and manageability. Yes, we're on the hook for license fees, but the security advantages are worth it.
For the Pre, or any other smartphone, to make it in the enterprise, it must support the EAS policy of device encryption. Encryption gets a company off the hook (for the most part) in terms of privacy regulation and customer notification if a device with customer data is lost. That simply is the bottom line. The iPhone 3GS now supports this, and WinMo, but that's about it unless 3rd party applications are considered as far as I can recall
My two cents....
My company (one of the biggest food companies in the US) now allows users to BYOM (bring your own mobile) and connect it to the Exchange Server. I was one of the 1st trying it (6 months before the official rollout) My Palm Pre connected ok. Security policies were added.. the Pre doesn't handle them all, so now it doesn't work
iPhone 3gs does, WM 6.5 does, heck even Android does (ok, only with a 3rd party app).(no pun)
Here we are at 1.4.1 and still no fix.
PALM: get your $h1t together or all 105 Pre owners at the company are ditching.
YOU have until the next update.
I also think this could be a great device for businesses. The cloud architecture lets work and personal appear on the phone without having to put your personal stuff in your work databases (contacts, email, calendar, et al.)
My wishlist:
Device encryption--this prevents me from using ActiveSync at work. (This isn't a big problem for business now, but it won't be long before it is--Mass and Nev have both enacted device encryption laws...)
Browser running latest WebKit--we're seeing some bugs in web applications that only appear on WebOS; Windows Mobile, iPhone, and Android handle the web apps fine.
I'm a Pre owner; one of the last diehard Palm promoters in a company full of default Crackberry addicts and the newbies onboard with "Sent from my iPhone" sigs. I recently noticed that one of my sellers had purchased a Pre and was trying it out for a few days. We bonded for about two days until she realized she couldn't send a calendar invite from her Pre to meeting participants; something she could do in her sleep on her previous Blackberry. Now's she has the Storm 2 and I'm reminded of how annoyed I am that I can't send invites either. I think I was just in my little bubble ignoring the obvious, but the Pre isn't ready for showtime as a business tool. ...And then there was the Nexus One my associate proudly strutted about this evening. *sigh* Still hoping that Palm can step up and give me something to gloat about in the near future...
Unfortunately this article betrays a lack of understanding of the reasons corporate IT departments like Blackberries (it's BES) and why employees of these companies carry an additional smartphone (which is not always an iPhone, WebOS phone or Android phone, sometimes its another Blackberry).
Smart corporations like Blackberries and BES because it gives them absolute control of their data and their employees use of these corporately owned devices.
Smart employees of these same corporations who issued them Blackberries also carry their own smartphone for personal use for the following reasons:
1) They control the device and can install any applications they want on it.
2) Personal use of a corporate device is often in breach of company policy
3) It's sometimes not possible to access personal email from corporate devices and using a corporate email account for personal email is a very bad idea.
As a business user, I can say the Pre does the job well enough. The EAS integration is great, I find I use my phone more often than the Intranet to find a contact details for a colleague because of the powerful search function. Linkedin integration is also a great feature.
With my Treo 680 I never seriously used Docs2Go for editing. It would be nice to be able to send a document to a network printer, but that may be asking a bit much.
On my wish list:
- invites for Calendar entries (EAS)
- auto fill from a history list for locations in the calendar, Company names in the Contacts and fields in the browser: this worked great on PalmOS
- Birthday and anniversary reminders for contacts: essential for maintaining the network (and staying married).
- An option to get rid of the harmonica's in the Calendar, or to disable animation. The PalmOS presentation was a lot more practical.
- Week numbers in the calendar week view
- Email replies in a 10pt font (I know there's a patch)
- hang-up the phone using the power button
- snooze alarms (Clock app) without first having to unlock the phone
- global search trough mail and calendar
It's just knowing what your phone can do for you and not you want the phone to do for you, I guess. You just need to ask the right persons to help you on what you need to. Don't just rely on the comments that you see on blogs. There are people who are trained to help you maximize features that are already available on the phone and accept their suggestions on what to do in this cases.
On the issue about EAS, all of the WebOS phones(Pre, Pre Plus, PiXi and PiXi Plus) are supporting the EAS policies without any problems, as per what Jonathan said.
"The Pre supports the complete EAS security policy functionality, including remote wiping. It can also be separately wiped via the Palm Profile, and the USB drive can carry along an encrypted file plus software like TrueCrypt to access it with the right passphrase. {Jonathan}"
And there's more, even with or without a EAS acct on the phone, this are for users that are not working for corporates, you can do a remote erase on the phone using the feature available on the Web User Console just in case the phone gets stolen, this is a security feature available on the phone. This will erase all of the data on the phone to protect the users data.
I do believe that once the WebOS is refined with its features and application, this will be the greatest phones available not just for corporate user but for regular users alike.
Again, asked the correct people for the correct answers.
I'm a WebOS fan, but having just switched to the Pre Plus from a Blackberry Curve, I want to point out that you're definitely selling Blackberry short here:
- I was able to tether without any problems using my Blackberry. Of course, I paid extra for the privilege, but until Verizon made Mobile Hotspot usage free last week, the same was true for tethering with the Pre Plus.
- There are plenty of apps available for Blackberry. The ones I used most often included Pandora, Slacker, Yelp, and Grooveshark. Moreover, some of my favorite apps for the Blackberry don't even exist (yet) for WebOS: Audible player, KenKen, and Amazon (not an MP3 purchasing app, but a mobile front-end to the whole Amazon catalog).
- The Curve came with some built-in features that the Pre Plus doesn't have, or which are available only via expensive add-on apps: voice notes, voice dial, and direct synch to Outlook. In my opinion, these last two are major shortcomings that almost deterred me from getting my Pre Plus.
I'm not saying that corporate America shouldn't consider WebOS devices, but you can't persuade people by fudging the facts.
Having been a road warrior for too many years (PalmPilot owner), I find webOS to be far behind Palm OS in getting some real work done. No MobileDB or Handbase. No useable reminders in the calendar (I need 2, 3, 4, and 12 hours for appointments across 3 states). No sensible way to navigate, edit and spell check text. I find myself using my old T5 to do the real work because webOS cannot do it. Or I am firing up the laptop to do the work. And the reception in rural areas is near useless. For the first time, I am considering returning a Palm device. WebOS and the Pre are not ready for the corporate world.