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May 7, 2009

Launched in July of last year, Apple's iPhone has had a resounding success almost unheard of in the mobile industry. There are many reasons that explain that. On this page, we've tried to name just a few.

Feel free to give us your comments, what you like (or don't like) about it, is it helpful for you, etc. We'd like to hear from you!

Until some time next year, AT&T is still the exclusive distributor in the U.S. for now, which means users have to sign up with AT&T if they want an iPhone, but some say this could change soon.

In the mean time, below are some of the most important features of the iPhone.

First, there are many that consider the iPhone a business phone and it is. The same features that make it a great smartphone to be used on the road, in the office, on your vacation or anywhere else for that matter. With iPhone's specially-designed software, now it can even do more for your business.

The iPhone supports Microsoft's Exchange "ActiveSync" that can deliver email, calendaring features and all your contacts. It offers wireless and mobile users secure access to corporate resources with Cisco IP-Sec VPN and wireless network services with WPA-2 Enterprise and 802.1X protocol authentication.

Email features of the iPhone
Email service on the iPhone offers a nice experience unlike other similar mobile devices. Its rich HTML format means email looks and acts like email on your own computer or laptop. With support for Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, JPEG and now iWork, iPhone attachments can be viewed exactly as they were designed to be. Users can even zoom in on important information with the tap of a finger. And now that iPhone has built-in support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, users get all the benefits of "push" email.

Calendaring features
With its Multi-Touch interface, iPhone's business calendar is intuitive and easy to use. Users simply 'tap' to accept or decline a meeting invitation. You can 'tap' again to see who’s attending, check scheduling conflicts, review the agenda, or add alerts. Color coding makes calendar entries easy to organize and view at a glance. And push calendar and integrated support for multiple time zones means users can stay up to date no matter where their business takes them.

Security in the business sector
Support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and industry-standard corporate security standards allows business professionals to seamlessly integrate the iPhone into their corporate environments. Apple went into considerable R&D to make sure the iPhone dosen't present security risks to businesses. Viewer comments have been positive so far in that department.

Intuitive contact manager
Finding contacts on the iPhone involves scrolling through a contact list or using its search feature. Add or change a contact and it updates everywhere automatically. But what really makes Contacts ideal for business is its seamless integration with features such as Google Maps, the Safari browser and SMS. Find customer offices using Maps with the iPhone's integrated GPS technology. Get street directions and call directly from map listings to confirm your meeting.

And there's more... You can add "vCards" received by email. Look up contacts faster with search support for company-wide Global Address Lists. With push contacts on the iPhone, contact lists are always up to date. For desktop Web browsing, the iPhone uses Safari and displays the Internet the same way it was designed to be seen-- on a computer. With support for Internet standards, SSL and Cisco IPSec VPN, the iPhone delivers secure access to corporate intranets so users can access their company’s resources wherever they are. Web Clips give quick, one-tap access from the Home screen to important websites and web applications. The fastest available connection to the web is always ensured, whether it’s EDGE, 3G, or Wi-Fi.

Enterprise applications
With support for custom-designed enterprise applications, Apple says the iPhone becomes a must-have mobile device for businesses. Using the iPhone SDK (software development kit), a company can easily create business applications customized to its real needs and take advantage of key iPhone technologies such as Multi-Touch, fast wireless connectivity and GPS. To deploy their in-house applications, enterprises can securely sync their applications via iTunes to authorized iPhones. Once installed, enterprise applications live side by side with all the other applications that come with every iPhone.

Why the iPhone is 'smart'
The iPhone can also help manage your daily work calls. Visual Voicemail allows users to prioritize which messages to listen to first and fast-track through a message to get to some key information. Swapping and merging calls and even initiating conference calls is easy. To add an attendee, just tap a name from a contact list.

Great for business
The iPhone has some neat features for business users. You can find a customer’s address and get street directions with GPS-powered Maps. Send SMS messages to multiple recipients. Get a one-tap weather report before your next business trip. Check your favorite stocks or commodities at a glance. Write notes to save or email them. Users can even perform complex calculations with the built-in scientific calculator.

Have we forgotten some features? Feel free to give us your comments, what you like (or don't like) about it, is it helpful for you, etc. We'd like to hear from you!

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    This article was featured on Business 5.0 and on Tech Blog.

Source: Apple.