By 
I just got a Press Release from the folks at Verizon Wireless that I thought I would pass on to all our Droid loving business folk. It’s obvious they want MEN to love the Droid but now they’re talking directly to BUSINESS men.
DROID Does Small Business
Innovative Smartphone from Verizon Wireless Delivers Big Benefits to Small Business Customers12/15/2009
BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Whether you’re a graphic designer running a home-based business or the owner of a local manufacturing plant, Verizon Wireless small business customers can save time and increase revenues with the highly acclaimed DROID by Motorola. Its high-speed Web browsing; voice-activated search; brilliant, large touch screen; plus access to thousands of applications on the nation’s largest and most reliable wireless 3G network combine to make the DROID a sophisticated tool for small business customers in any industry.Business professionals can leverage innovative features and applications on the DROID by Motorola to improve the way they do business. Here are a few of the many options:
- Save time and money while multitasking – View calendars, set up meetings, or search Google to access information, all while on a call with a client or vendor.
- Experience exceptional mobile Web browsing – Impress prospective clients by using the speedy access to the Internet to quickly pull up a company Web site, customer testimonials or videos with product demonstrations.
- Stay connected with optimized communications – Manage e-mail while away from the office with integrated Gmail™ and Exchange e-mail pushed directly to the DROID by Motorola. With the Android™ notification panel, customers can go directly to the message or ignore it and get back to the task at hand.
- Timely response to customers – Visual Voice Mail capabilities, preloaded on the DROID by Motorola, let business professionals see who is calling so they can get back to important clients quickly.
- Get directions on the road – Use the DROID by Motorola while traveling for business or getting around town. The phone’s voice-activated dialing lets customers speak their desired destination to get Google Maps™ navigation with spoken turn-by-turn directions. Customers can purchase a vehicle mount for the DROID by Motorola for $29.99 in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores or online at www.verizonwireless.com for easy, hands-free use in the car.
Use thousands of applications for business – Android Market™ on the DROID by Motorola lets small business customers browse and download a host of applications that can help their businesses. Make life easier for on-the-go small business professionals with the following applications:
- DocumentsToGo by DataViz – Edit Microsoft Office documents and access PDFs
- FlightStats – Track the status of flights
- Mobile Banking by Bank of America – Check balances, transfer funds and pay bills
- USA Today and AP Mobile – Stay up to date on news that matters to your business
- NYC Subway Map – Get help navigating New York City’s subway system
- Tag-ToDo-List – Manage your to-do list creatively
- Hotels Near Me – Find and book hotel rooms when traveling
- WHERE – When traveling on business, find out what is nearby (restaurants, gas stations, coffee shops, etc.)
Hey business folks, lets hear it from you… anything you would add/mention to this press release about the Motorola Droid? Other apps you would recommend? And by the way… bonus points if you know who said this: I’m not a business man I’m a business, man… lemme handle my business, damn!
Kayne
“Save time and money while multitasking – View calendars, set up meetings, or search Google to access information, all while on a call with a client or vendor.”
So, I thought this was not possible on Verizon’s network. I was under the impression that this was a network limitation, not a phone limitation….
Or, is that statement a little misleading in that it’s only referring to “Search” as in local search?
jay z
Custom apps. You can have your own apps just for your employees without having to share them with the rest of the world.
lol… @Matt
The way around it is to be connected to a WiFi hotspot while on the call… then you can search using the web… the rest is web-independent.
Lol why does the android have chink eyes and buck teeth? lol
@thefunnyman
yeah, i agree with you, that statement was a bit odd…sounds misleading at best.
@2Fr35H
because soon China is going to be your boss, so you better get used to that image. btw, you might want to freshen up on some cultural sensitivity seeing as you might want to get a job someday.
you’re hilarious, 2FR35H
so cool and funny.
-.-‘
@Chad – Read Matt’s post again, and slowly this time, he didn’t say Kanye.
I love mine. My company just made the move to Google Apps and it’s everything they didn’t know they needed. The Droids are also great. I’m working on developing our own personal mobile dispatch app. I can’t wait for Blackberry Enterprise Server type admin for android based phones.
@9ooyan and @seriously?
Lol you guys are not seriously getting butt hurt over me stating the obvious are you lol that is a shame and cultural sensitivity haha it is half of my culture lol plus its a joke and @seriously? yeah I know I am there is no need to state what I already know.
Until the Droid can handle Exchange encryption, it won’t be a serious option for business.
Yes there is a need to support Activesync security policies. The Droid does not therefore is a joke in the views of IT/IS departments for any reputable corporation.
Nice job Verizon and Google.
Maybe next time omit the making calls aspect of a phone that may alienate more of the marketshare.
I own a small business and heavily rely on my phone. This phone is amazing for web surfing, apps, the fact that its google. I am really not satisfied with the email on the phone. No sigs and emails show up late. Voicemails are the same. Seems like connecting to Wifi really screws up the visual voicemail. Once these get updated I will really be satisfied
Almost makes Android look like a viable option
heard of Touchdown?
http://www.nitrodesk.com/
“TouchDown™ uses the same level of security as your other email access tools , so there is no need to worry about your confidential information being compromised.
You don’t have to forward your email to another service just to get them on your Google phone.
TouchDown™ can request you to enter a PIN for access to its data as specified by the administrator.
TouchDown™ can Remote-Wipe the exchange information on the device if your phone is stolen. (Requires activesync and push to be enabled)”
I would humbly recommend small-business Droid users create your own Android Business Card at:
http://redbirdapps.com
It’s the perfect way to promote your small business using Android. And the easiest way to create your own, branded Android application (no programming required).
Ordinarily I wouldn’t go out of my way to just echo what everyone else is saying but I really want to buy a DROID but I cannot do so until activesync security policies are added natively. The higher the visibility of this issue the better for everyone. Touchdown is a workaround app, it feigns on-device encryption just like the iPhone did and it has numerous inefficiencies and bugs and inhibitions due to integration issues. The message to verizon, motorola and (although I doubt they care) google, should be clear; they should expect an extremely small uptake rate of the DROID or any android phone among businesses while Exchange functionality remains so limited.
I wish SOMEONE would address this and either explain where they are in the process of addressing these issues or explain why it is not a priority for them.
Don’t apologize, recanother. It’s a huge issue, and VZW/GOOG are losing hundreds of thousands of orders as a result. Almost no company, even a small business, that uses Exchange — and certainly not a Fortune 500 corporation — can risk allowing employees to use this phone without ActiveSync support.
I wish someone in the blogging community would pick this story up. I realize gadget blogs are heavily focused on personal use, but this is a pretty significant story.
In fact, this issue is currently #3 on Google’s Code Issues page. It’s been starred nearly 1,000 times in a month. Google has offered nary a reply.
s.
We allow our users to run pretty much whatever phones they want on our systems. We have Blackberries, Symbians, WebOS,iPhones, and Windows Mobile. The only major smartphone OS we are actively going out of our way to prevent is Android. Until Android supports ActiveSync and it’s security policies, it just ain’t gonna happen and Google is foolish to think halfway is good enough.
If Apple finally came around to fully embrace ActiveSync, so can Google. Of course it may taint the OpenSource nature of Android, and maybe that is the entire problem.
If a small business is using Google Apps and not MS Outlook (no exchange server), is the lack of support for ActiveSync still an issue?
Doesn’t matter what apps they come up with. Unless the Droid has encryption it will not take hold in the real business world. It will work for small business but will not be accepted on a larger scale until they encrypt the device.
How about secure custom business apps that connect directly to SharePoint without using a browser? Anybody interested?
Check out Formotus.
Very well written post, loved it. Keep more of them coming!
The android phones are great for running apps. My old blackberry did not have enough memory to run but a few apps. With the Incredible you can install hundreds of apps in the phone memory. I love how fast the web browser is.