Enterprise software news: June 26 - July 21, 2006

- Gary Thayer, editor

E-Tech Solutions and WAGWARE have each launched a customized mobile application development tools to mobilize enterprise applications. E-Tech lets enterprises develop for the Windows Mobile 5.0 or or Windows XP Tablet platforms. E-Tech says its patent-pending, real-time data synchronization links mobile systems to enterprise applications with cellular or Wi-Fi connections. If devices are out of range, staff can work offline with the most current data, and the devices will automatically synch when re-connected, alleviating the need to manually upload new information. For more information, see etechsolutions.com.

For more experienced developers, WAGWARE announced CASL 4.3. CASL (Compact Application Solution Language), a development tool that allows users to create applications for Palm OS, PocketPC / Windows Mobile and Windows platforms. CASL also allows extending applications to take advantage of device-specific features using C Code (on the Palm OS) or Dynamic Link Libraries (DLL's) on Pocket PC / Windows platforms. CASL is available from caslsoft.com. For commercial / corporate developers the price is $299 for new users; $199 for upgrades, and is free for non-commercial use. CASL applications distributed using the freeware (non-registered) version will display a prompt indicating it was compiled using the Freeware version of CASL.

Good Technology announced support for IBM Lotus Domino in its Good Mobile Messaging software, which allows for continuous two-way, push-based wireless synchronization of all Lotus Domino functions, including e-mail, calendar, contacts, journals, and to-do's. Service features include over-the-air upgrades; connectivity through 2.5G, 3G, or Wi-Fi networks; security controls; and real-time handheld fleet visibility for IT administrators. For more information, see good.com. For general product information, see the company's summary page on MobileVillage.

InfoNow announced the rollout of its new InfoNow Mobile Location Insight service, targeted at enterprises that want to offer consumers with directions to their services on handheld PDAs or cell phones. Simply by inputting a location -- such as the city/state or postal code -- InfoNow Mobile Location Insight delivers a street address, city and state, postal code, distance from the location, driving or walking directions, and specific feature types, such as hours of operation, accessibility options like walk-up or drive through, and phone numbers. For instance, if a business traveler were out of town and searching for her bank's ATM, she would access InfoNow Mobile Location Insight through a PDA and enter her current location. The customer would then get an address, a map and directions to her bank's nearest ATM.

For additional information see infonow.com.

NetMotion Wireless announced general availability of Mobility XE 7.0, the latest version of its mobile VPN software. Version 7.0 includes Microsoft-certified support for Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphones, RSA-certified integration of SecurID two-factor authentication and an increase in scalability that results in support for deployments of up to 35,000 mobile workers. Mobility XE's authentication options now also include the Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP). This extends authentication to LDAP databases, as well as providing support for RADIUS password aging / expiration functionality and identity hiding. PEAP also enables the Mobility XE client to establish a mutually authenticated, secure EAP tunnel with the enterprise RADIUS server.

Mobility XE pricing starts at $15,000 for 100 devices, or $105,000 for 1,000 mobile devices. For more information, see netmotionwireless.com. For general product information, see the company's summary page on MobileVillage.

Consilient announced the launch of mobile email software that extends university email servers to Nokia and Sony Ericsson phones and BlackBerry handhelds. The software, which uses the open P-IMAP standard, consists of a server and email clients that allow faculty, staff and students to access their existing university email accounts on mobile phones and wireless devices. It connects directly to email platforms that universities use, including Mirapoint, Stalker CommuniGate Pro, University of Washington, Sun Java System Messaging, Cyrus and Microsoft Exchange. For more information, see consilient.com.

March Networks has launched a new transportation system for mobile video deployments on buses and rail systems. The system includes R5 Mobile Suite Release 1.0, a software suite that provides automated wireless video extraction and enterprise-wide management for monitoring and maintaining the health of a video surveillance network; and also includes the company's 5412 Mobile Digital Video Recorder (MDVR). The 5412 MDVR is a ruggedized unit with 12 video inputs, IP camera support, up to 240 frames per second recording rate and up to 1.5 TB of hard disk storage.

The system is also designed to serve as an ideal platform for deploying high value-add applications such as video analytics and passenger information services. For more information, see marchnetworks.com.