The iPad isn’t just a hot new consumer device, it’s also an increasingly popular tool for business. Each week we take a look at the new or updated business apps for the iPad, and highlight trends in how tablets are being used in the enterprise.
This week we look at a new SIP-based softphone, Dropbox integration and Apple’s potential enterprise trojan horse.
Bria iPad Edition
This week released Bria iPad Edition, a service-agnostic, SIP-based softphone. It can use either 3G or wifi to make calls, and can be used with a bluetooth headset.
Gantt Pro Adds Dropbox Integration
Gantt Pro, an app for working with Microsoft Project files, added Dropbox integration this week. For more project management apps see our round-up.
The Financial Times By-Passes iTunes with HTML5 App
This week The Financial Times released an HTML5 app to bypass the iTunes store. It dropped its iOS app and is now managing its subscriptions prices directly through its own site. Even after Apple relaxed its pricing requirements for in-app sales,
iPad Apps for IT Administrators
This week we looked at iPad apps for IT professionals, such as SSH, RDP, VNC and remote monitoring tools. Pictured above is Rove Mobile Admin Client, which gives users mobile access to several enterprise IT tools.
Is iMessage an Enterprise Trojan Horse?
Of course, the big Apple related news of the week came out of WWDC: iOS5, iCloud and iMessage. And it’s that last service that ZDNet’s Larry Dignan and Dennis Howlett make note of.
Dignan writes: “Apple’s iMessage is a direct assault on BBM, which is arguably RIM’s most marketable item.” Howlett agrees, asking whether Apple just launched an enterprise trojan horse.
“It’s not so long ago that Apple’s premium pricing on laptops in particular was thought to exclude the prospect of a wholesale change away from Windows based machines,” Howlett writes. “However the fact I see iPad as the de facto executive device of choice implies that money can be found where a device offers perceived superior value.”
