Apple’s IPhone will impact Companies

Image-conscious executives who want to own the latest tech gadgets might put their companies at risk if they try to connect iPhones to corporate networks, warns an analyst

To guard against such eventualities, IT departments should begin drafting policies forbidding executives from connecting their Apple iPhones to company networks, said Rob Enderle, a principal analyst with the Enderle Group based in San Jose, Calif.

“The device isn't secure enough, nor is it designed to run with corporate systems,” he said.

Companies spend a lot of time getting RIM and Palm handheld devices up to par so they can be secure enough to connect to company e-mail, he said.

Before the iPhone is as secure as the BlackBerry and Treo, it needs a product such as Good Technology Mobile, which is designed to securely deliver enterprise applications to mobile devices. But now that Good Technology has been bought by Motorola, it's unclear whether it'd be interested in creating a product for Apple's iPhone, Enderle said.

And even if third-party developers were interested in making applications for the iPhone that would turn it from a consumer toy to a business tool, it's uncertain whether Apple wants to go that route. The phone is currently a closed platform, which means Apple hasn't invited independent software vendors to develop applications for its platform.

And because the platform is closed, it's not clear yet which applications are currently supported by the iPhone.

“I think Apple's going to very tightly control the flow of applications onto this device,” said Charles Golvin, principal analyst for Forrester Research in San Francisco. “There are certain things that as a business user you need, and it's not clear if it's on the device yet.” Is there support for Microsoft Office documents such as PowerPoint or Adobe PDF? “Without those things, it's usefulness as a business tool would be greatly reduced, but I think Apple recognizes that. I would be greatly surprised if those applications either didn't come bundled with the phone or quickly found their way onto the phone inexpensively.”

Still, Golvin doesn't think Apple will go directly after the business market.

Those targeting that market, such as RIM, don't need to start worrying about Apple, said Brian Sharwood of the SeaBoard Group in Toronto. The two companies are going after very different markets and whereas Apple sells a piece of hardware, RIM sells a service, he said.

But because of the iPhone's attractive form factor, executives are likely to start buying it when it becomes available in June in the U.S., and tech departments need to head them off at the pass by issuing policies that forbid iPhones from being connected to networks, Enderle said.

If executives insist on connecting iPhones, then the IT department has a duty to report the violation since it could mean that Sarbanes-Oxley or other compliance rules have been broken, Enderle said.

But not everyone is as worried about iPhones finding their way onto corporate networks.

The iPhone is secure because it has built-in support for IMAP or Internet Message Access Protocol and POP3 Mail, Golvin said.

Most organizations run Exchange, which has IMAP support, which means the iPhone can automatically receive push e-mail, unlike RIM devices, which need a BlackBerry Enterprise Server to receive e-mail, Golvin said. IT departments, will, however, have to be on the lookout for vulnerabilities for the device, he said.

But, like Enderle, Golvin agrees that iPhones will find their way into the enterprise via executives looking to get their hands on the latest devices. Executives who don't have limits on what they spend are image-conscious and tend to buy Apple devices, he said. This is how the BlackBerry eventually found its way into the enterprise, he said.

5 Easy VoIP Tutorial Steps On How To Make The Switch

Unless you have been living on Mars lately, you might have known about VoIP. VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol is a revolutionary technology that transmits voice or audio files over the Internet. As it uses the means of the Internet to get connected, many people have seized this opportunity to enjoy unlimited long distance calls and also lower monthly phone bills.

To many who have heard of VoIP, they might not know how to get started and how much they can benefit from it. Well, in order to help you get started or make the switch, below is an easy step by step VoIP tutorial that will help you get started in choosing the best plan that is right for you or your business.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

First step before switching to VoIP is in making the decision as to whether you or your business really needs VoIP service. Being human, we tend to get scared of a new technology. If you think that VoIP can be really beneficial, then switching to VoIP is something that you should strongly consider. If, however, for any reason at all you think that VoIP will not benefit you, then you are missing on the greatest invention of all since sliced bread. Ask yourself this, 'Do I really want to miss out on the opportunity to enjoy unlimited long distance calls to anywhere in the world at a lower monthly rate?' If your answer is 'No', move on to the next step.

Choosing the Right Plan

The next step is to decide which plan is the best for you, your family or your business needs. Like most things new and unsure to you, it is always wise to research for the different VoIP providers on the Internet. Get active in VoIP forums and ask questions regarding anything related to VoIP.

Chances are you will get lots of different opinions as to which VoIP provider is the best. However, bear this in mind; even though different providers offer different plans, you will soon discover that it all comes down to being the same but differently packaged plan, in order to differentiate themselves from the pack. So, how does one choose?

You might want to consider your needs, wants and features by making yourself a written list for comparison. This will help you compare the different plans provided by different service providers. In a nutshell, there are a few things you might want to consider:

1. If you want to use VoIP for personal use, such as to call your family members, you might want to consider choosing a Residential Plan. It comes in two forms which are basic (a certain amount of minutes of talk time) and unlimited (for unlimited period of talk time).

2. If you own a small business, choosing a Business Plan will provide you with amenities such as fax, voicemail, multiple phones, unlimited calling plans, and so on.

With that being said, do not forget to check out with the company to find the plan that meets your requirements, as some features included in the business plans are also included in the residential plans for other providers. So, it really depends on the different service providers and how they want to package their offer. If you have questions, write them an email or call them for further information.

Setting up the System

First of all, you have to make sure that your computer system is compatible with VoIP service. If you are using broadband Internet connection you should not worry. If you are using dial-up connection you might want to switch to broadband first. Although, there are some providers that offer dial-up VoIP nowadays.

If you choose a business plan to use for your business or a call center, the best piece of advice is to leave the installation and set up to a professional who knows what he is doing. If you choose a residential plan the setting up is simple enough for most residents to do themselves. However, it is always best to leave it to a professional.

Choosing Your Own Phone Number

First, you have to decide whether you want to keep your old phone number or pick a new one. One of the best features that VoIP offers is the ability to keep your old phone number by transferring your old phone number to your new VoIP system.

Then you can select a different area code. The advantage of this is that, if you live in another state, by choosing the same area code as that of your family members and friends who do not have unlimited long distance callings, their calls will be charged as if it were a local call. This saves them money whenever they contact you.

If you are using VoIP for your business, you can benefit a lot from this too. Let's say that your company is in New York and you have customers all over the country, by selecting your customer's area code, you can increase your sales, as well as your productivity by having a local number for your customers to call. Nobody wants to call New York if they live somewhere in Texas. They might as well call a local company in Texas.

Installing the Features and Accessories

As mentioned before, different VoIP providers offer different plans. Therefore, it is important that you always check with the service provider of your choice for a detailed listing of all the features provided by them. For residential customers these include Call Forwarding, Caller ID, Call Block, Do Not Disturb and Voicemail. For small businesses these include free fax lines, multiphone users and web integration. So, choose your VoIP provider wisely by taking into consideration the features and services that best fit your needs.

As VoIP technology advances, many other features will be introduced on the market, not to mention accessories that you can incorporate with your VoIP service such as VoIP phones, headsets and videophones.

Choosing the right VoIP plan is not that hard. All that is required is a little bit of research yourself and choosing the one that fits your requirements. You can always upgrade it later once your requirements change. One thing for sure is that VoIP technology is continuing to advance and revolutionize the way people communicate. It is such a shame if no one is taking the advantage of this great service. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and jump on board the VoIP wave.

Download DVD To Iphone

In order to download DVDs to your Iphone, you are going to need a computer, some special software, and the USB lead that came with your Iphone, to connect it to the computer. Transferring movies from your existing DVDs to your Iphone is not at all difficult, so read on to find out how it is done.

It's worth noting that the computer you use to transfer the movies from DVD to your Iphone doesn't have to be a super hi tech piece of kit-as long as it is able to handle the movie files themselves, which are quite large, it should be fine. It is worth noting though that you will need something that has a DVD drive and a hard drive that is able to store such large files. It's not necessary for the computer you use to be connected to the internet, but you will need a piece of software called a ripper. This basically works by pulling the movie files from your DVDs and storing them to the computer, doing no harm to the dvd itself.

In order to download the dvd to your Iphone, you will first need to make sure your ripping software is able to save the movies in MP4 format, which is the only format that will work on the Iphone. Ripping software is usually really easy to use, and as soon as you have done it a few times it will become something you can do without even thinking about it. If you are lucky enough to have a nice modern hard drive with lots of space, you will be able to download the movies in one effort, and then transfer them all at once, saving you a lot of time.

As soon as you have all the movies you want on your hard drive, you will need to hook the Iphone up to the computer using the USB lead and switch the pair of them on. After a few minutes they should be ready to go, and you can use the Itunes software to transfer the movies onto the Iphone. It's a very easy process, and again once you've gone through it a few times it should become second nature for you.

This article contains all you need to know to let you begin downloading music to your Iphone, so I hope you found it useful for your own endeavours-happy downloading!

Happy New Year 2008

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2008

What is the Best Christmas Present for Your Teen?

Are you scratching your head and have absolutely no clues about what makes the best Christmas present for your teen? Everyone is busy hunting for gifts. Perhaps you are still in the midst of your Christmas shopping and hope you can really make this Christmas a memorable one for your kids. Fret not, here’s your help!

Nowadays, you hardly see a teen without an MP3 player or for that matter, an iPod, iPhone or Zune. These youngsters are often on the lookout for the latest billboard chart hits, and they can always be seen humming the coolest tunes in town. So unless you have not noticed that, getting them a new iPhone or Zune would make a great Christmas present for your teen.

What if they already own an MP3 player such as an iPhone or Zune?

Well, you can always buy them the music. Perhaps getting an album or two would make them happy. But trust me, they prefer to pick their own songs and music. After all, mum and dad may not know best which are the hottest singers and bands in town and who are the coolest hip hop singers and dancers. It would be a disaster if you got them the wrong Christmas gift!

You may be so close to your teens that you know every song they are listening to and know what album would make the perfect Christmas present for your teen. Knowing our nature, they can get bored with the album after a short season. A short season can mean just one week…

Since that is the case, why not make a gift out of a paid membership to one of those download services for them? These sites offer unlimited number of songs, music and even movies as well as music videos – the right kind of stuff that would appeal to your teens. And you do not have to worry about getting the wrong songs or music for them. They pick and download what they want and as many as they want.

No, it is not going to bankrupt you. Each membership to a Zune or iPhone music service costs less than $50 and the best part is, it is a one-time fee for lifetime access. In this time of celebration, give the best Christmas present for your teen – a paid membership to an online music club.

Why not check out the recommended services listed below today?

How To Put Movies On Your Iphone

If you own an Iphone and you'd like to learn to put movies on it, you've come to the right place. If you're reading this, you probably already know that the Iphone is a fantastic piece of technology-not only does it contain most of the features of the smash hit Ipod range, but it also contains the features of today's cutting edge cellphone technology.

The ability to watch movies on your Iphone is predicted to be one of the most popular factors for people who are considering purchasing one. If you do plan to use your Iphone to watch movies, you will first need to transfer movie files that are in the correct format from your computer to your Iphone. Most people aren't in the position to have lots of MP4 format movies already stored on their computer, so in most cases it is necessary to purchase a “ripper” program, which is computer program that reads the data from a DVD and stores it on your computer. Most modern rippers have the option to save it as various kinds of files, and as long as MP4 is an option, you should be fine as this is the format the Iphone needs.

Once you have some ripping software, you should be able to transfer your existing dvd collection to your Iphone without too much trouble at all.

The other option when you are looking to put movies on your Iphone is to download them directly from the internet. A few years ago this would have seemed like sheer madness, but with easier and faster internet access than ever before, it's never been easier or more convenient to download movies to your computer. Once you have them downloaded, you can then transfer them to your Iphone as you see fit.

Many people use the various torrent and peer to peer sites to download their movies from, but many people don't realise how dangerous this can be-in more ways than one! Downloading from these kinds of sites is not only illegal, but it can seriously harm your computer, maybe kill it altogether, and if it does that to your computer imagine what will happen to your Iphone!

An altogether safer alternative is one of the newer download sites that are springing up. The way these work is that they charge you a one off fee, and once you pay it you are officially a member and they give you unlimited access to their downloads for life. It's a very neat way of downloading movies for use with your Iphone. As a bonus, you'll also usually find that many of the sites don't limit your downloads to movies only-you can get games and TV shows and even music for use with your Iphone.

Hopefully you'll find this article useful if you are looking to download movies to your Iphone.

Apple iPhone – your travel partner

If you are a frequent traveler, you must have an Apple iPhone in your possession. The vibrant mobile phone has international capability as it supports GSM standard, giving you the flexibility of traveling anywhere in the world.

Out of the many extraordinary features, the iPhone is incorporated with visual voicemail feature that allows you to view the current voicemail message list on the screen, in the time of your travel. You can listen to the massages and delete them in a non-chronological order by selecting any message from the list. Additionally, the iPhone incorporates EDGE technology, giving you a higher Internet speed and reliability. Furthermore, the iPhone has a Safari web browser that allows you to browse different websites as you regularly do on your personal computer. Having the iPhone in hand means, you are no more just limited to the mobile WAP sites; the whole World Wide Web is in your fingertips.

Once you possess an Apple iPhone, you travel, you be connected, browse Internet, send mails and when necessary, take pictures. Furthermore, you can view photos, upload them and e-mail them as and when required.

To make your traveling more entertaining and less boring, the Apple Inc. incorporated a ring tone feature in the iPhone on September 2007. This feature, however is only limited to the users in the US and is not available in other countries. The company however promised that it will introduce the feature to all its users, across the globe, within 2007.

In a nutshell, specifications of the Apple iPhone looks like this:

- Screen size of the phone is 3.5 inches
- Dimensions of the phone is 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches (115 x 61 x 11.6mm)
- The phone weights 4.8 ounces (135 grams)
- Screen resolution of the phone is 320x480 at 160 ppi
- It has multi-touch input method
- The phone iPhone works with Windows XP Home or Professional edition and Windows Vista.
- Storage capacity of the phone varies from 4GB to 8GB
- The phone supports GSM with 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz Quad-bands
- The phone has WiFi (802.11b/g) technology incorporated and also supports EDGE and Bluetooth 2.0
- It has a built-in 2.0 mega pixels camera
- Battery of the phone supports 16 hours audio playback and up to 5 hours talk/ video/ Internet browsing

If you are traveling within the UK, your iPhone with O2 connection affiliates you with the UK’s largest Wi-Fi network. This network covers more than 7,500 restaurants, cafés, airport lounges and other places. Actually, the O2 claims that they have 99% network coverage of the country, meaning you will never get lost with an iPhone as you can browse the maps anytime, anywhere.

Before hitting the road, make sure to enable the international dialing and roaming facilities. Just call your service provider and ask them to do so. Once enabled, you can travel to all the places within the GSM coverage.