Touch-screen technology may be slow to arrive
in the enterprise, according to analyst firm Gartner, but that doesn’t mean
that IT solution providers don’t have to worry about it right now.
That’s because more consumers are using their personal devices—smartphones,
iPhones, personal computers, netbooks and tablet computers—for business and
work. According to a Gartner survey of IT organizations, 10
percent say their workers are using personal computers as their primary
business PCs.
And while the multitouch Apple iPad device is considered a consumer product,
there are plenty of business-type applications that have been released for it
already.
Add Wyse to the list of vendors writing business apps for iPad too. The
thin-client technology giant, which sells exclusively through channel partners,
has announced a PocketCloud Client Virtualization App for the iPad, a follow-on
from PocketCloud for iPhone.
The virtualized client—rewritten to take advantage of the iPad’s faster
processor and high-resolution, bigger screen—provides users with support for
VMware-based desktop virtualization, VMware View 4 (which offers PC-over-IP),
an enhanced user experience via the new Wyse Touch Pointer, additional audio
features, plus a custom keyboard with function and shortcut keys.
"The goal at Wyse is to allow our customers to access any document or file
from any device,” said Daniel Barreto, chief software architect for Wyse, in a
statement. “The PocketCloud App has been a great addition to our offerings and
we’re delighted to be supporting iPad at launch.
“… We expect the adoption of iPad to be yet another reason for businesses
and consumers to abandon their PCs,” he added.
Other PocketCloud features include:
- iPad native full-resolution
support - Enhanced multitouch interface
for the iPad - Up to 50 percent greater
speed on the iPad - International Keyboard
support including Japanese keyboard support - Multiline text entry with
iPhone’s copy/paste capability - Remote app scrolling (within
MS Word or PowerPoint) - PocketCloud Windows Companion,
which now supports 64-bit operating systems on the host
The PocketCloud App for iPad is available for $29.99 from the App Store on
iPad. Wyse said that PocketCloud users who also purchase the iPad will have
universal access across iPod Touch and iPhone at no additional cost.
Wyse PocketCloud is compatible with iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch
and iPad. It connects to Microsoft Windows 7 Pro & Ultimate, Windows XP
Pro, Windows Vista Business and Remote Desktop Services and Terminal Services
features in Windows Server products.
VMware rival Citrix also recently announced a virtualized desktop client for
the iPad, enabling users to connect to their Windows 7 PCs from their Apple iPad
devices.
Gartner this week said it predicts that fewer than 10 percent of PCs sold to
enterprises in 2015 for mainstream knowledge workers will include touch-screen
capabilities. However, by 2015 the firm expects more than 50 percent of PCs
bought for users under 15 years old will have touch screens, up from fewer than
2 percent in 2009.
Gartner predicted that touch-enabled devices will have slow adoption in the
enterprise, due to heavy requirements for typing and text input, and the
“muscle memory” of mouse users.
The firm predicts that consumers and education will be the earliest adopters of
touch-enabled PCs and notebooks. A key target usage for the next wave of
tablets will be media content consumption including video, newspapers and ebooks.