CTIA Wrap-up: The IT

Though the entertainment seemed to overwhelm the IT at this year’s CTIA IT & Entertainment show, there were still plenty of enterprise applications on display at the fall show. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made the biggest splash, unveiling at his keynote plans to integrate the Windows Mobile platform into businesses’ core PC and staff management and policy systems. But Microsoft wasn’t the only one talking business.

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Alcatel-Lucent also took on the device management space, albeit from a client-centric standpoint. It announced that Sprint would be the first customer to launch its Laptop Guardian solution, a self-contained security solution that sits in the PCMCIA card slot of an enterprise-owned laptop. The cards contain a CDMA radio and act as buffer between the computer and any external access, but it also contains its own processor and memory, allowing an IT department to take control of any remote laptop over the wireless network to enforce policies, install applications and patches or restrict access to corporate files. If security of the laptop is compromised, the IT manager can force the laptop to shut down, encrypt data on the hard drive, wipe the hard drive entirely or track its location using GPS. Those are just the initial capabilities, said John Giere, chief marketing officer for Alcatel-Lucent.

“Right now, we’re in the barking dog stage,” Giere said. “We can guard against security breaches, and we can put up fences.” But Alcatel-Lucent is opening up the platform to outside developers and hopes that they will build on its basic security functions. Giere said eventually the platform could support deep packet inspection at the device itself, restricting access to the computer on a packet-by-packet basis. Sprint said it would be selling the solution packaged with enterprise CDMA 1X and EV-DO access plans.

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In the handset space, a new business smartphone provider emerged at CTIA. I-mate got its start in the Middle East with high-end Windows Mobile-based phones with regionally specific features such as alerts for Islamic prayer times and embedded copies of the Koran. The company is now targeting the U.S. with four GSM/UMTS phones and a new niche marketing approach. Rather than targeting devote Muslims, I-mate targeting devote business users, positioning the devices as a laptop replacement.

I-Mate sales and marketing vice president for the Americas Nicole Buchanan said I-mate has latched onto the server-thin client approach to computing that has taken hold with enterprises, creating a smartphone that can act as miniature computer when on the road. Nvidia graphics processors embedded in each phone allow for a VGA connection that can render the Windows Mobile desktop on any monitor, and a VPN over the UMTS connection and remote desktop capabilities allow the device to render an enterprise user’s full Windows PC desktop on the remote monitor, Buchanan said.

“We felt that our devices should look to where the enterprise is going,” Buchanan said. “And they are going toward server-based, thin-client computing.” I-mate doesn’t have a carrier deal for its new smartphone line yet, but it is working with distributor Brightpoint as a system integrator selling directly to the enterprise and with retail stores like Cellular Concepts for direct sales.

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On the M&A side, mobile virtual network enabler Visage at CTIA announced its plans to acquire Agistics for an undisclosed sum, giving it an enterprise management complement to its consumer-oriented portfolio. Visage gained traction in the now-ailing MVNO market, supplying the back office and content delivery and management solutions to the start-up virtual carriers. But with the Agistics acquisition, Visage can reposition itself as a solutions provider directly to enterprises looking to mobilize their workforces.

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Qualcomm used CTIA to unveil its latest chipset, a dual-radio UMTS-CDMA EV-DO platform designed for enterprises that use more than one network for wireless data capabilities. Called Gobi, the laptop solution links to both global and U.S. cellular and 3G frequencies, making it optimal for roaming. But Qualcomm may also have intra-network roaming in mind for the platform. Qualcomm announced the chipset with Vodafone, which owns a minority stake in Verizon Wireless and has been looking for a solution that will connect the U.S. operator’s CDMA networks with its global GSM and UMTS networks.