Comments for Office Apps on the iPhone: iPhone vs Blackberry

Office Apps on the iPhone: iPhone vs Blackberry

2007-06-28T20:45:24Z

It's possible the iPhone launch on Friday 29 June is more hype than substance - indeed the current poll we're running on R/WW has only 20% of respondants interested in buying an iPhone as soon as it's released! 41% have no plans to buy one and a further 18% said they'll never buy one. The poll is below, if you'd like to have your say. Nevertheless, there is a flurry of web development activity around the iPhone. One of the more surprising aspects of this is that enterprise apps are being built for, or ported to, the iPhone.

]]> iZoho announced

We mentioned in our previous post that CRM provider Etelos had created an iPhone version of its product. Today Zoho has announced an iPhone version of their Web Office suite, called (naturally enough) iZoho. It currently allows users to view documents, spreadsheets and presentations. As of now, only documents can be edited. And Zoho hasn't actually tested this on iPhone yet, so they say they will add more features "after we get to play with iPhone."

The big question around all of this is: how much adoption will the iPhone get in the enterprise? We know that the iPhone will be mostly a consumer play, as with the majority of Apple products. But on the other hand, the Blackberry has been an enormous success in the enterprise. In many ways, the iPhone will compete with the Blackberry - and it already looks to have much better Web support. Zoho noted this about iPhone in their blog post:

"...a device with a big screen, built in Wi-Fi, good usability and a full fledged browser will only improve the chances of practically using web apps on a mobile device."

Raju Vegesna from Zoho told me they don't have a version for Blackberry and that developing Zoho for the Blackberry would be much more difficult. "iPhone was easy because we didn't do lots of changes", Raju said, "we just supported Safari. But that's not the case with Blackberry. We'd have to do a specific version for it, as it is not a full fledged browser."

Conclusion: Watch out Blackberry!

In response to a question from Simon Leyland about business use of the iPhone in our previous post, a commenter named Dan responded:

"Simon, I am not sure that iPhones will be less desirable than Blackberry's to the Enterprise. The Exec. and outside sales teams seem to be ideal for browser-based apps that get them their data. Why not? I have been using a Blackberry for years and ready to try something new. I would love to get at my data from a smaller device than a laptop. But I may be the exception to the rule."

I think Dan is right and there will be demand from businesses for the iPhone, despite the higher price. The iPhone has better Web support than the Blackberry and by all accounts is easier to use (although we won't know for sure till Friday). What do you think - will there be demand in the enterprise for the iPhone? How will this affect Blackberry?

Comment from Keith Kamisugi on 2007-06-28

2007-06-28T21:34:31Z

Opera Mini runs on Blackberry. Couldn't Zoho just optimize for that browser?

Comment from Hans on 2007-06-28

2007-06-28T22:20:38Z

I think there will be mixed demand for the iPhone in enterprise until people get a chance to touch and try it out. Having access to the "full" Internet via Safari and WiFi is a real selling point (in my opinion), but may be tempered by the slow speed of the EDGE network. I've been using a Blackberry for a few years now and I barely touch my web browser because it's so disappointing.

If the company hasn't already invested too heavily in creating/converting pages into WAP/WML to make them usable for Blackberry or other smartphones, then iPhone would probably be a very easy roll-out. The biggest issue will probably be the software keyboard and how it compares to using the QWERTY keyboard of the Blackberry devices.

Comment from Alex on 2007-06-28

2007-06-28T22:28:42Z

@Hans - I'm with you. I view Apple's decision to go with AT&T with trepidation. A zillion great features is going to mean nothing if your calls get dropped and the web loads like you're connected via a 24bit modem from 1990. I'd love to have one, but not if I can't actually *use* it.

From the NY Times: "But otherwise, you have to use AT&T‚Äôs ancient EDGE cellular network, which is excruciatingly slow. The New York Times‚Äôs home page takes 55 seconds to appear; Amazon.com, 100 seconds; Yahoo. two minutes. You almost ache for a dial-up modem."

Comment from Steve S on 2007-06-28

2007-06-29T05:29:03Z

I think some time still needs to go by, and people need to see the product "live". It's easy to pull down some good reviews if only a handful of people are putting something through its paces, if you raise the numbers of users by a few orders of magnitude then you'll see the product really show its stripes.

Like anything else, I'm still waiting for the inevitable, "My iPhone exploded" meme to make its way through the blogosphere and for it to be corrected before investing the price of a pretty decent laptop.

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2007-06-29T05:37:47Z

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2007-06-29T05:37:49Z

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Comment from danny on 2007-06-29

2007-06-29T12:17:33Z

Good Job Raju my friend. Can't wait to try it out for real. Are you camping out at the Apple store? Or do you have more friends in 1 Infinite Loop?

On another note... I am assuming that there is going to be a let down with this device. It's to be expected. So the hype will pass and the market committed to quality will adapt if they want to improve on this technology.

Comment from JulesLt on 2007-06-29

2007-06-29T13:46:42Z

The thing is that it's going to be 100% easier for Apple to add a keyboard and 3G networking than for any of the other players to build the equivalent of OS X. (I'm presuming someone will create a matching Bluetooth keyboard in weeks anyway and that's the obvious big limitation to me - although I don't see it being one for most of the audience it's aimed at). The AT&T exclusive deal will likely run out way before other players have caught up.

FlashLite on top of Linux will get you a good way there, but it's not the same as having complete fine-grained control. Apple can optimise their software down to CPU level if they need to.

And of course they will drop the price a few months after the initial hype - much like few people bought iPods early on due to cost, but eventually it ceased to be an issue. (Every game console ever seemed to drop the price round about February following the first Xmas sales season).

Comment from Fred on 2007-06-29

2007-06-29T15:57:28Z

Watch out Blackberry, if the web and office apps were the reason people had Blackberries. But it isn't, of course. people have Blackberries because they want instant access to email. Which the iPhone won't give them, at least not until Apple licenses ActiveSync from MS. At that point, the iPhone becomes a more viable alternative to the Blackberry or any of the WinMo devices that already support Exchange Activesync. But Apple's not really targeting business users anyway.

I won't buy an iPhone because it's too expensive, doesn't properly support Exchange, and a touchscreen keyboard, no matter how well implemented, is not an acceptable alternative for long emails.

Comment from David on 2007-06-29

2007-06-30T04:36:56Z

Folks seem to be forgetting that what makes the bberry a killer device for many users (including myself for the past five years) is purely the email - txt only - combined with an easy way to reply with the keyboard along with syncing to the desktop version of Outlook. A web interface to email is not what most people want (e.g. Outlook Web Access). The email on bb is fast, efficient, and loads under all data rates at an acceptable speed. Moreover, what IT department is going to swap out their bberry servers, with all of the attendant effort around security and integration. I wouldn't expect the iPhone to penetrate legal, banking, accounting, or company executive users anytime soon.

Comment from Sean on 2007-06-30

2007-06-30T12:10:47Z

I agree with Fred (#9). The reason the Blackberry is so popular is that it does e-mail, especially e-mail with an Exchange server, very well. The battery lasts for days, even on most of the phone enabled devices, and the e-mail arrives at nearly the same instant on both Blackberry and in Exchange. When you send a message from BB it goes to your sent items folder in Outlook. When you delete an item in BB it gets deleted in Outlook.

The killer though is the keyboard, or lack there of on the iPhone. I work with 100's of BB users many of whom conduct business via the BB. They type pretty fast, and they draft pretty sizable e-mail. I just don't see that as being possible on a device without a real, responsive keyboard.

Comment from Joel on 2007-07-02

2007-07-02T18:28:58Z

well I agree with fred and sean, and the blackberry is way better than the I-phone despite the blackberry does not have access to videos on the internet. But i am okay with that! the internet speed is fine too on my blackberry pearl(latest version). I recomend the blackberry, unlike the i-phone, it cannot be hacked and the i-phone can. the touch creen can get ruined easely or scratched!!! and the touoch screen keyboard is verry small and hard to type on. save the money and get somthing that is equl and better than the i-phone!

Comment from Patrick on 2007-07-09

2007-07-09T09:46:24Z

More information about this subject can be found at http://www.blackberrytoiphone.com.

Comment from Patrock on 2007-07-09

2007-07-09T09:48:15Z

More information about this subject can be found at http://www.blackberrytoiphone.com