possible to configure e-mail access
to POP- and IMAP-based services,
CalDAV-based calendar servers and
updated Microsoft Exchange 2007
servers.
Exchange sees iPhone OS clients as if they were ActiveSync
devices, and this allows IT managers to remotely wipe lost or missing devices from within Exchange.
“Wiping” in this case is a bit of a
misnomer. What actually happens
for the more recent devices is that
the data encryption key is securely
erased, making the data unrecoverable by conventional means.
The iPad’s docking
port and speaker
are located on the
bottom edge of the
device.
There’s no guesswork to this: Once
the remote device
is neutralized, an e-mail message
confirming the wipe is sent to the
administrator, along with instructions on how to reconnect the
device if it is found.
When I tested the wiping feature, it took just a few seconds from
the time I activated the wiping
to its execution on the iPad. The
connection was over a local wireless network, but would be equally
effective over a wide area connection, being delivered by e-mail.
Perhaps the easiest way to back
up data on the iPad is to use i Tunes.
Restoring data, including system
configuration and user data, took
just a few minutes following the
wiping tests.
passcode requirements, managed
iPhone OS devices are configured
with a merged set of policies. The
more stringent requirements are
applied to the managed devices, no
matter whether those come from
ActiveSync or from Apple’s configuration tools.
Because Exchange’s ActiveSync
offers some duplication of the poli-
cies that cover features such as
Finally, the iPhone Configura-
tion Utility can be used to centrally
manage access to applications and
content, and bar connections to
“explicit” media. Devices can also
be individually set up with these
barriers, as a form of parental
control.
AT&T wireless service could hobble iPad
One downside to the iPad is that the only mobile carrier it can be used with in the United States is AT&T. Although Apple has a perfect right o partner with the carrier of its choice, users who spend a lot of time
in locations that don’t have very good 3G coverage from AT&T may want to save
themselves some aggravation and money by sticking with the WiFi model.
In my field tests of the iPad with WiFi + 3G, I observed good performance overall
from AT&T’s 3G network, with some marked exceptions. Generally, my test pages
would load in under a minute from one location to the next during an 11 a.m. to
2 p.m. timeframe. But in one set of tests, what was decent performance at a
certain spot at 5: 15 p.m. turned into abysmal results when I moved about 40 feet
up the street. Time after time, pages that just a few minutes before had loaded in
seconds were still incomplete after 5 minutes.
In all, the iPad is a pretty amazing device, packing a lot of punch
into a slab that’s no heavier than
most of the books I own. Although
nobody who’s sane would recommend the iPad as a general-purpose device, it is already making inroads into business use, and
with the expanding pool of applications, its usefulness increases
with every week.
Admittedly, that’s specific to a busy street in downtown San Francisco, and you
do expect a degree of network congestion around 5: 30 p.m. But I was in a fairly
open spot by the standards of any city’s downtown, so it may be that the only thing
I proved is that AT&T’s coverage in the first block or two of Second Street needs
improvement. Nevertheless, I’m not sold on Ma Bell’s mobile services— not by a
long shot. —P. J. Connolly
However, by promising an
updated OS in a few months, and
by leaving out features such as a
camera, Apple has already raised
the bar on itself. ;
Senior Analyst P. J. Connolly can be
reached at pj.connolly@eweek.com.
This story can be found online at:
tinyurl.com/2g8ytzu
This story can be found
online at:
tinyurl.com/276tffu
