According to a Forrester Research survey of North American businesses, these are the top-supported handheld operating systems -

percentage of businesses
73% - BlackBerry
46% - Windows Mobile 6.x
40% - Palm OS
39% - Windows Mobile 5.x
28% - Windows CE
12% - Mac OS X ( iPhone )
8% - Symbian
7% - Linux ( Android )
2% - Other

I ran across this article on NetworkWorld.com that provides nice definitions of WiMax, 3G, 4G and LTE technologies. So I thought I would share.

Mobile madness defined
By Brad Reed and Joanie Wexler , Network World , 05/09/2008

Does all this talk of WiMAX, 3G and 4G make your head spin? Here’s a quick primer about what each technology really delivers:

3G networks are based on the International Telecommunication Union family of standards. Services typically include mobile wide-area wireless voice telephony, video calls and broadband wireless data. Additional features also include High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) data transmission capabilities able to deliver speeds up to 14.4Mbps on the downlink and 5.8Mbps on the uplink.

4G generally refers to “the next generation of cellular” network that will follow 3G, the wireless broadband networks that are currently deployed through technologies such as HSPA. While true 3G technology has specific worldwide industry standards associated with it, 4G doesn’t mandate specific technical network standards beyond the use of the IP protocol and packet-switching technology. Rather, it describes capabilities desirable in the next generation of mobile networks. For example, 4G networks regardless of how they are constructed will support IP multimedia applications and the ability for users to roam across dissimilar network infrastructures. 4G wireless technologies will be capable of providing between 100M and 1Gbps speeds both indoors and outdoors, with high quality and security features.

WiMAX: Unlike 4G, WiMAX is a set of technical standards for a specific network. Mobile WiMAX, which is technically the IEEE’s set of 802.16-2005 standards, will likely be the first available 4G alternative. But the terms aren’t synonymous: Mobile WiMAX will be a type of 4G network, but not all 4G networks will be mobile WiMAX networks. WiMAX provides fixed , nomadic, portable and, soon, mobile wireless broadband connectivity without the need for direct line-of-sight with a base station. In a typical cell radius deployment of three to ten kilometers, systems can be expected to deliver capacity of up to 40 Mbps per channel, for fixed and portable access applications, according to the WiMAX Forum.

LTE, which stands for Long Term Evolution, is considered the next big wave in 4G technology. Specifically, LTE is a modulation technique designed for GSM/UMTS-based technology that uses Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) and multiple-input and multiple-output, (MIMO). While LTE products aren’t expected to hit the market until 2010 at the earliest, trial runs suggest that it is going to deliver very fast mobile broadband. During last week’s CTIA Wireless conference, Japanese wireless carrier DoCoMo announced that its trial LTE system reached download speeds of up to 250Mbps. Previous LTE trial runs had achieved download speeds ranging from 45M to 144Mbps.

I was reminded this evening that I had not watched a Cranky Geeks episode in a while. Cool stuff. Check it out.

2008 Archive Shows

05.21.2008: Episode 117: Google Gives User Data to Police, Microsoft’s New Plans for Yahoo!, HP Sets Sights on Teen Tech..

05.14.2008: Episode 116: Is the 3G iPhone Imminent?, HBO on iTunes?, Is Google Paying for Android Support?

05.07.2008: Episode 115: OLPC May Abandon Open Source, Web Attacks Taking Off, Netflix Eyes Set-Top Boxes

04.30.2008: Episode 114: Will Microsoft Bail on Yahoo!?, Mozilla’s Fennec Mobile Browser, Nintendo Vetoes Wii Price Cuts

04.23.2008: Episode 113: Web 2.0 Conference, Ballmer Slams Vista, Are Mac Clones for Real?, iPhone Video Threat

04.16.2008: Episode 112: Blockbuster to Buy Circuit City, Tech Patent Bill in Trouble, Linux Subnotebooks

04.09.2008: Episode 111: Windows 7 On Tap?, Yahoo! Wants a Better Offer, EU Allows Mobile Phones on Planes, 3G iPhone?

04.02.2008: Episode 110: Is Google Catering to the CIA?, Warner’s Proposed Music Tax, Microsoft’s OOXML Format War

03.26.2008: Episode 109: Sarah Lacy’s Take on the South by Southwest Conference

03.18.2008: Episode 108: Japanese ISPs to Ban File Sharers, China Blocks YouTube, Botnet Scams Exploding

03.11.2008: Episode 107: iPhone Open for Business, Anonymous Net Posts Illegal?, FCC May Take On Comcast

03.11.2008: Cranky Enough for Ya?

03.04.2008: Episode 106: Google Aids S.F. Homeless, Comcast will Stop Spamming You–for $2, YouTube to Offer Live Video

02.26.2008: Episode 105: Game Developers Conference Wrap-Up, EA After Grand Theft Auto, Is Microsoft Really Opening Up?, Facebook’s Hiccups

02.19.2008: Episode 104: Hostile Takeover for Yahoo!?, HD-DVD Exits Stage Left, DoubleTwist Defies DRM, An Underwater Car

02.13.2008: Episode 103: Yahoo! Spurns Microsoft, Is Microsoft Doing a Zune Phone?, Is HD-DVD Dead?, 3D Television…

02.05.2008: Episode 102: Google’s Objections to Microsoft/Yahoo!, Is Microsoft Overbidding?, Is Dell Doing a Google Phone?

01.29.2008: Episode 101: Music Provider QTrax in Humiliating U-Turn, Googling for Malware, One in Four iPhones Unlocked

01.22.2008: Episode 100: Macworld Recap, Apple’s Movie Rentals, 40 Hours of Battery Life?, a $2,500 Car

01.15.2008: Episode 99: CES Wrapup, What Will Bill Gates Do Next?, Best Buy Nervous About TV Conversion, HD Format War

01.08.2008: Episode 98: Join John Dvorak for an Intimate Tour of This Week’s CES Show, Plus Vegas Highlights

01.02.2008: Episode 97: Tech Journalism at the Crossroads, The Problem with Blogs, Automating Online News Delivery

Our BlackBerry’s will be running push services from Windows Live Services as soon as this summer. See the Microsoft press release here.

Microsoft and RIM to Bring Windows Live Services to BlackBerry Smartphone Customers
Agreement will enhance the communications experience on BlackBerry smartphones through popular Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger services.

BIO-key has announced the release of version 3.5 of PocketCop, which gives law enforcement officers access to state and federal databases, including motor vehicle information. Police officers can quickly and easily check to see if a given person is wanted or if a car was reported stolen.

According to their website, “PocketCop is BIO-key’s industry-leading solution for secure access to federal and state law enforcement and motor vehicles databases from handheld devices.”

“With PocketCop, officers on foot, motorcycle, bike, marine and mounted patrol, as well as investigators and command-level staff, can quickly and easily identify a wanted person or stolen vehicle directly from a BlackBerry smartphone.”

PocketCop also takes advantage of the BlackBerry wireless platform’s built-in web browser to reduce IT administration costs. With real-time deployment, the PocketCop end-user can download and activate the PocketCop thin client application software from any location to make the PocketCop-enabled BlackBerry smartphone fully operational and ready for use in the field.

This is the first positive step I’ve seen taken by Apple towards making the iPhone a possibility in the secure world of the business enterprise. The rumors have been flying for a while that Apple had licensed Microsoft’s ActiveSync so the iPhone could function on Microsoft Exchange.

The introduction of the iPhone SDK this week verified those rumors. We can’t get too slap happy yet though. Apple has only licensed the protocol. The functionality is not there and won’t be for a couple of versions later in the iPhone. That means at least mid - 2009.

CIO.com recently stood up an interesting survey - BlackBerry Users Vote: How Tethered Are You?

I think a more important question for company decision-makers would be, How Tethered Should My Team Be?

My world is very interesting and overall I think unique. Not unique for the tech industry but unique as compared to the work force as a whole. I require myself to be electronically connected at almost all hours of every night and day. Much to Nicole’s chagrin, yes, ‘every’ night and day. My tech team is nearly the same and during their disconnected times there should be another connected person capable of filling the needs of the organization.

Let’s move to other member (sets) of the organization’s team. Should the Operations team be consistently connected? Should the Creative team be consistently connected? Should the Sales team be consistently connected? Should the Marketing team be consistently connected? (I’ll stop there but there are other teams just a critical such as HR, Finance / Accounting, etc.) Within each of these teams an evaluation of senior management, team leads and team members should also be weighed. Should they, or at least their role, be consistently connected?

Here’s my answer - YES! Yes, they absolutely sure should. Each of these teams occupies a vital role in the decision-making processes that are important to the organization’s success. A senior member of each of these teams should be always available, reachable and able to communicate at any given time as dictated by the real-time needs of the organization.

So how do we make this connected state happen? Smartphones. Smartphones that are reliable, (platform) stable, secure, usable, functional and yes, okay attractive. Smartphones that put email, SMS, MMS, Internet access, IM and phone calls at your fingertips. RIM’s BlackBerry tops the list of recommendations from leaders of most top organization around the globe including myself. Nokia (the N95) makes fine smartphone products as does Palm (the Treo series) and HP (the iPAQ series).

CIO.com’s Survey Results for “How Addicted to Your SmartPhone Are You?
5% - My phone is for business. I put it away at night, unless I’m traveling for work.
2% - I check messages every few hours after work and on weekends. But I’d never bring my smartphone on vacation.
19% - I’m more productive because of my smartphone, and it doesn’t negatively affect my work/life balance. I wouldn’t call it an addiction.
67% - My smartphone never leaves my side. At work, rest, play, vacation, you name itmy best electronic friend is with me.
7% - IMHO That’s NOYB. BB4N. EOM. (In my humble opinion, that’s none of your business. Bye bye for now. End of message.)

Where do you stand? Do you make yourself available to be a vital piece of your organization?
-kp.