In the spirit of "keepin it simple", so simple that even a caveman can do it, I engaged the help of a few of our best CTPs (Child Technology Protégés),actually technology savvy elementary school kids to help produce a small video showing off some Citrix technology with mobile devices. So those of us that aren't smarter than a 5th grader should still be able to follow along We had a lot of fun making this video, but the interesting part was that the kids actually GOT IT! The video features Citrix Ready products from partners Sprint and Celio. Three use cases are expressed in the video:

• Mobile Health Care Users
• Traveling Road Warriors
• Mobile Field Technicians

Hope the video helps generate some ideas on how you can use Citrix to simplify you mobile deployments.

We will dive deeper into some of these use cases as part of a video series on Citrix TV so you can get a little more familiar with each, and some of the products used. If the kid thing works, we may need to have a sequel

Ever wanted to quickly update a document without having to pull out your laptop?  The video below shows updating a contract using Citrix XenApp and a Sprint HTC Touch Pro. Cut and pasting data between different documents is easy given the Touch Pro has a CTRL key, allowing quick cut and past via CTRL C/CTRL V across documents.

The file navigation is a new very early concept we are looking at , and was first shown off is Chris Fleck's blog about the upcoming Citrix Reciever for iPhone http://community.citrix.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=52298806. I've used a slightly modified version in this video, more news on this later

Interested in trying out the App Reciever on your Windows Mobile Professional device (must have a touch screen), go to the Citrix download page to get it for free, point your phones web browser to your your Citrix farm's Web Interface and give it a try (Windows Mobile Download Site).  You most likely want the ARM Processor Version 10.00 for you Windows Mobile Professional device.

I've been using the Sprint HTC Touch Pro for a few months now, and I feel that it is a very compelling mobile device for use with Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop, maybe even for few of the folks I've been hearing from that are looking to move away from the iPhone.  So what I've done in this blog is to video what I feel are some of the compelling use cases for mobile devices with Citrix and let the Sprint HTC Touch Pro take top billing in this post.  I'm sure you can find a few posts about Citrix and the iPhone if you try, and we'll have it out "Sooner than later"!

HTC Touch Pro w/Web Interface

HTC Touch Flo interface does a good job of bringing most of the tasks I want on my mobile device right to my finger tips.  One of the areas that HTC's Touch Flo interface comes into play with Citrix is when connected to Web Interface via the Opera browser.  The Opera browser allows the user to quickly zoom in and out on the Web interface, and move the viewable portion of the page using your finger to quickly find the application you want to launch (no stylus required).  The built in accelerometer will also automatically change the view from portrait to landscape when you tilt the Touch Pro.  If the keyboard is pulled out, the orientation will also switch to landscape mode.  The below video shows the new Web Interface, which has a mobile device mode built in, easily navigated with HTC's Touch Flo integration into Opera.

Mobile Access to Corporate Documents

Being able to quickly and securely access documents on corporate file shares from your mobile device can be a real advantage.  Imaging a lawyer or sales person not having to boot up their laptop to get quick access to a document when they simply want to look up some data in a document or quickly review a file.  Using their mobile device instead they can just launch File Explorer via XenApp from their mobile phone to gain secure access to that any file they have access to in the data center, regardless of its size or type.  They can find the data they were looking for and be done quicker than it takes to boot most laptops.  The HTC Touch Pro's full VGA resolution really shines here, you are able to view a lot more data on its VGA screen than most devices with lesser resolution.  The screen is small (2.7"), but its clarity helps to overcome its size. 

NOTE: in order to make the following videos more viewable, the Touch Pro was controlled from my PC using Soti's Pocket Controller Pro so my fingers weren't in the way!  Like the keyboard is when typing on an iPhone

Mobile Access to ERP, CRM and Other Database Applications

Being able to access to ERP, CRM and other corporate database data while mobile is another key use case.  While I wouldn't recommend that users do a ton of data entry into these systems from any mobile device, there are a lot of cases where a user in the field needs quick access to customer information, sales and program data, payment or purchase approvals, and inventory information for example.  The general use case when using mobile devices is about quick consumption of data, and they can securely gain access to such data from their mobile device using XenApp.

The below video shows the HTC Touch Pro accessing the Citrix corporate SAP system to quickly approve an event, and look up some travel expense report data.

Mobile Access to Technical Documents

Citrix has optimized its ICA protocol for over a decade to deliver some of the most demanding types of data to remote users.  Imagine the technical field worker that needs to look up the proper connectivity of electrical wiring on an expensive piece of equipment.  They could try and carry every possible paper manual in their truck, OR all of the technical drawings could be kept online in the data center for the worker to access via their mobile device, and again, having a device with a full VGA resolution like the HTC Touch Pro makes a big difference.

The below video shows the HTC Touch Pro accessing a 3D AutoDesk drawing, allowing the worker to rotate the drawing on the Touch Pro and zoom in and get whatever level of detail they require to get the job done.

So you wanna full desktop to?

Are you standardizing your desktop deployments on XenDesktop?  Not a problem for mobile users.  The HTC Touch Pro's full VGA screen is one of the few devices I've seen that can easily fit a full desktop on the screen without requiring panning and scaling. 

The below video shows use of the Touch Pro with XenDesktop.  It also shows the ability of the solution to detect a change from landscape to portrait mode and have the application or desktop being run on XenApp/XenDesktop automatically adapt to this change. 

So is a 2.7" screen a bit small to run a full desktop on, probably.  But I find the Touch Pro very usable for quick access to applications and data, even with XenDesktop. I can only hope for HTC to come out with an HTC HD Pro version with an external keyboard which would really make this solution pop.  Give it full SVGA output via a VGA connector (Sprint HTC Touch Pro has VGA output today) and you may just have the first real Nirvana Device along with my Celio Redfly to complete the package.

I know there are a lot of other differences between the Touch Pro and the iPhone, iPhone pinch .vs. Touch Flo swirl, Opera browser .vs. Safari, iPhone has a cool Star Wars light saber application and Touch Pro does not   Overall, the Touch Pro has been an excellent device, very stable, phone works great, Touch Flo interface makes it very easy to get to the most common features I use on a phone, and it works with XenApp today!   So what's the "right" business device for you and your employees, that's for you to decide.  But hopefully this post helps you look at some of the use cases that can add value to your mobile workforce, and another great device for you to consider.

Sprint HTC Touch Pro Keyboard TIP!!!!! 

I did initially have an issue with the external keyboard with XenApp applications and have seen a number of posts on the web about this.  I quickly found a few settings in the ICA Client that quickly resolved this issue.  To make these changes, open the "ICA Client" from the Programs folder and navigate to the "Edit Preferences" page:

"Edit Global Settings" -> "Edit Preferences" then make the changes highlighted below:

You may also be interested in Full Screen Mode for Your Nirvana Device 

So we've had some great community feedback around the Nirvana Device, the iPhone and a lot of other cool devices that can be used with XenApp (search in this blog for Nirvana if you want to catch up), but I'd like to step away from the "device wars" for a second and get your real opinions on what the use cases for XenApp with small form factor devices are.

From a business users perspective, what capabilities would a mobile device need to have for you or your employees to really leave your laptop at home on a business trip, or even replace the use of a laptop for some of your employees, maybe all of the time or some of the time?

Are there different categories of business users for mobile devices that make more or less sense? How would you define these categories and their needs?

What type of tasks makes sense for employees to perform on a mobile device and what value is added from using a mobile device instead of a laptop?

Chris Fleck's Do you want Citrix XenApp to run Windows apps on the iPhone ? kicked off a lot of good discussions in this area, especially with the health care community, and I'd like to expand that discussion in this blog.

Rather them me telling you what problems your company has that Citrix can solve with a mobility solution, I'd rather hear what problems your company does have that need to be solved, possibly with Citrix.

As a mobility evangelist at Citrix, I can't wait for the release of an iPhone app that allows me to connect to our Citrix backend with the iPhone! Only one problem. I don't have an iPhone. Actually, I don't want an iPhone. I'm currently hooked on the Sprint HTC Touch Pro with its full VGA screen, external keyboard and it works today with XenApp (will follow up with a blog on this device later).

Update: Sprint HTC Touch Pro review with videos using XenApp now at Sprint HTC Touch Pro, Ready Today

Ya the iPhone is cool, the HTC Touch Pro is cool, but to me the really cool thing is that XenApp enables you to leverage a unified application delivery infrastructure to deliver applications and data to whatever device makes sense for your business and users (here's the opening for comments from BlackBerry and Android fanatics, so give us your feedback!).

I recently had the pleasure of briefly meeting Russ McGuire, Vice President of strategy for Sprint and leading strategist and visionary in the telecom industry. Russ is the author of the book, "The Power of Mobility" and in it he introduces McGuire's Law ( http://mcguireslaw.com ):

"The value of any product or service increases with its mobility."

This really hit home with me, being that is exactly what XenApp does for Windows applications with mobility. XenApp increases the value of the applications it delivers by allowing them to be delivered to non-Win32 based mobile devices that these applications were never intended to be consumed on (Windows Mobile, Symbian and iPhone comming), thus increasing their mobility and value.

At the end of the day, a mobile device that is used to access business applications and data is a business tool. Companies need to decide which tools best meet their business needs, and in some cases, this means allowing the end user to make the decision, even if just to keep them happy Having a unified application delivery strategy that crosses the boundaries of all of the different mobile device platforms is a must to ensure your company gets the best TCO and ROI out of the applications you have already purchased and you stay competitive in an ever increasing mobile business environment.

So are you an iPhone fanatic, if not what's yourPhone?

1- What is your personal preference for a business mobile device? And why, give us your comments below.	Choose
Android
BlackBerry
iPhone
Windows Mobile
Symbian

2- Does your company currently support Android mobile devices as a business phone?	Choose
Yes
No

3- Does your company currently support BlackBerry as a business phone?	Choose
Yes
No

4- Does your company currently support iPhone as a business phone?	Choose
Yes
No

5- Does your company currently support Windows Mobile devices as a business phone?	Choose
Yes
No

6- Does your company currently support Symbian devices as a business phone?	Choose
Yes
No

7- Does your company currently give you the choice of which business mobile phone to use?	Choose
Yes
No

8- In your opinion, which mobile phone platform is the best for a business to standardize on (please submit comments below as well)?	Choose
Android
BlackBerry
iPhone
Windows Mobile
Symbian

How many times have you had an ISV come into your shop pushing their new solution, and you ask them if it works with Citrix? 

How many times did you get a blank stare or a reply stating that they don't know because they don't have a Citrix lab environment or that it's too hard to setup.

We'll now there's no excuse.  MyCitrixLab is now up and running and available to ISV vendors to use to verify that their application works with XenApp, Citrix Access Essentials and XenServer.  MyCitrixLab is an online virtual lab environment available to all Citrix ecosystem partners, and becoming a Citrix Alliance partner at the Citrix Technology Member level is free. 

More details on the MyCitrixLab configurations can be found at http://community.citrix.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=29851667 All the ISV needs to do is schedule lab time and make sure they have the basics covered by following the Citrix Ready test scipts before they approach you with their pitch.

So the next time an new ISV partner comes knocking and they state they don't know if their app is compatible with Citrix, or that setting up a Citrix environment is too hard, give them 3 quick pieces of advice:

-          Sign up for free as a Citrix Alliance Partner from the partner section on citrix.com at http://www.citrix.com/English/partners/programs/thirdlevel.asp?programID=1681660&tlID=23443

-          Have them verify their solution using http://MyCitrixLab.com which is free to Citrix Alliance partners

-          Become Citrix Ready

Then they can come back and explain why their solution is a good fit with your Citrix deployment.  Why should you need to do the basic compatibility testing for them? 

Determining application compatibility in a XenApp/Terminal Server environment has long been a task that tended to be hit or miss, or should we say, try it and see if it works for certain application.  The Citrix Ready team and other teams in Citrix have been working with teams in Microsoft to try and ease this pain a little.  I wanted to realy a tool that the TS team in Microsoft has been working on to help with the App Compat story moving forward with Longhorn and XenApp 5.0.  The tool is called the Windows Server 2008 TS Application Compatibility Analyzer and is currently in Beta.  As most of us know, the first step in being compatible with XenApp is to be compatible with Terminal Services.  From my discussions with the MS TS team, this tool is NOT , nor designed to be backwards compatible with Windows Server 2003 and TS, but is definitely a step in the right direction for the future.  I fully expect the cooperation we have with the MS team in this area will continue to grow and we are able to eventually have a better set of tools and data to help our joint customers better determine application compatibility in a XenApp/TS environment, and we are following the progress of this area closely in the Citrix Ready team to ensure we leverage such technology to grow the Citrix Ready program as well.  So in the near future, you may find this tool, or similar tools being a pre-requisite for ISV applications to be come Citrix Ready.

Links:

Terminal Services Team Blog - Terminal Services Application Analyzer Beta

Microsoft Connect - Terminal Services Application Compatibility

TS Application Compatibility Download Beta Page

If you have other tools or favorite links to share that can help our Citrix Community with App Compatibility testing, please share you comments below.

You may have seen my previous posts on the really cool Celio Redfly Mobile Compaion, or as I like to call it, the XenDesktop mobile companion. 

 We'll they just became a member of the Citrix Ready family.  They will be at Synergy in the Expo hall, so stop by and check them out.  Also, we will have a  unit or 2 at the Geek Speak Louge for you to check out connected to XenApp and XenDesktop.

 Redfly Citrix Ready catalog entry

I hope by now a lot of you know about the new "unconference" portion of Synergy 2008, Geek Speak Live.  Part of Geek Speak Live is the Geek Speak Lounge (GSL).  Basically is an area to meet at during the Live event and meet with other members of the Citrix community and discuss and share new ideas and topics.  It's also where you can see some demos with a twist, more on this later! 

First, here's the proposed GSL layout:
 
There are 4 main demo areas.  The twist is that the demos are intended to let you experience future Citrix technology  more interactively, possibly using some applications and devices that aren't what you'd usually see us demo.

So here's the rundown:

Cool Devices - This section of  the GSL features gadgets that can be today, or may be enabled tomorrow with the ICA client to become your XenApp or XenDesktop ICA end points.  Customers are using cell phones and PDAs today to do this, but we have some new devices that are starting to change the game and starting to reach Nirvana Device status as described in Chris Flecks post.  You'll get to try them out in the GSL, in exchange for you opinion and comments on how use of such devices can add value to your business, or not!  Hopefully this demo area makes you think about app and desktop delivery in some new ways.  For a quick preview of some of the devices that will be present, check out the Nirvana Devices Invade Synergy Geek Speak Lounge post.  (Note: we originally had a BarCamp session on this topic, but due to the great response we've gotten from others willing to present, we've removed this from BarCamp.  But you can still get the hands on experience and knowledge in the GSL on this subject).

Project Alice Demo - Haven't heard about project Alice, also referred to as Reverse seamless?  It fits in very nicely with our XenDesktop story and is a sneak peak at some new technology we are working on to allow the user to leverage local applications running on the end point device in the context of their XenDesktop seamlessly.  Image having those favorite apps you have on your laptop seamlessly showing up as part of your Corporate XenDesktop environment with out needing to switch between the local desktop and XenDesktop. 

Project Apollo Games - You've probably seen some of the blogs on project Apollo.  Apollo does a great job of enabling the new graphics intensive features of next generation applications in a Citrix environment (preview at Derek Thorslund's blog).  Well this is the GSL twisted version of those demos.  We're going to have 8 Dell XPS 710 gaming systems running an early version of Apollo, remoting an action game to Wyse Thin Clients.  You've seen the CAD demos, now it's your turn to actually sit down and give the power of project Apollo some hands on time, in true Geek Speak fashion.  While you probably won't be publishing games to your end user's any time soon, you should be able translate the power of this demo into how project Apollo can help you move to the next generation of graphic intensive applications in your Citrix deployment in the future.   We'll have some of the apps Derek has blogged on with Apollo as well, for those non-gamers like myself

Apollo Media Center - To further show off some of the new video capabilities the Apollo team is working on, we will also have an Alienware Area 51 system running Media Center in the GSL.  And you guessed it, the Alienware system will be "Apollo-ized" and remoting videos out to a large screen monitor via a Wyse thin client.  Again, maybe not what you'd do in production, but you should be able to translate this demo with a twist into better ideas on how to deliver some of those training videos and other multi-media out to your users in the future.

The GSL should be a great place for you to meet with other members of the Citrix Community, discuss new ideas and hopefully come up with some new ones!

Thanks to Intel for sponoring the event, and the list of other partners supporting the GSL effort:

Alienware, Dell, Wyse, Nokia, Sprint, Celio, i-Mate, Impatica, Icuiti

We look forwared to meeting you there!

Adam

Wanted to do a quick post on some of the cool gadgets we will be demoing in the Geek Speak Lounge at Synergy 2008 sponsored by Intel.  Alot of the devices are  the ones you may have seem me blog on earlier, and a few are potential candidates to add into the mix down the road.  Here's your chance to get hands on with some of these next generation access devices, and BYOG (Bring Your Own Gadget) that you think would make a good Nirvana Device candidate for use with Citrix:

 
If you look close you'll see 4 of these devices actively connected to a XenDesktop, and 2 of them remoting that desktop from the device out to a larger screen in true Nirvana Device fashion!
 
Devices shown starting in the front and moving counter clockwise:
 

• i-Mate 9502
• Impatica Showmate
• Nokia 810N
• HP iPAQ 210 - accessing a XenDesktop
• i-Mate 6150 (behind the iPAQ) - accessing a XenDesktop connected to the 22" Dell Monitor
• Celio Redfly Mobile Companion
• Sprint Treo 700wx (on the Redfly) - accessing a XenDesktop connected to the Redfly
• Nokia E90 - accessing a XenDesktop
• Nokia E61i

All of the devices shown currently work with XenApp and XenDesktop except for the Nokia 810N.  Intel will also be providing some prototype devices to show off as well. 

We'll also be following up to this post with a full rundown of all of the cool stuff that you can see and use in the GS Lounge early next week!

Look forward to seeing you and hearing your comments in the Geek Speak Lounge at Synergy 2008

PS: You might even have a chance to one of these cool devices home with you from the show to use with your own XenApp and soon XenDesktop environment!!!

One of the most common questions I here from customers is "Does this app work on Citrix?". One of the goals of the Citrix Ready program is to help our customers and ISV alliance partners answer this question.

So how does an ISV answer this question when they are doing a sale into a customer? A lot of ISVs do not have access to a XenApp or CAE environment to really answer this question. Even if they did, they may not have any expertise to setup/configure XenApp or CAE to do testing.

To help this scenario, we have been working on the creation of MyCitrixLab. An online lab environment available to Citrix Alliance ISV Partners to Citrix Ready verify their application in both XenApp/CPS and CAE environment.

MyCitrixLab is currently in Beta testing with a few soon to be Citrix Ready ISV Alliance partners and is planned to go live by Synergy 2008. If you're an ISV and have interest in use of MyCitrixLab to help get your application Citrix Ready verified, please send an email to CitrixReady@citrix.com. Or feel free to look me up at Synergy in the Geek Speak Lounge at Synergy where we can give you a early look.

So what is MyCitrixLab:

• An online lab environment accessible via the internet that meets the configuration requirements specified in the Citrix Ready Verification Test Kits.
  
  
• Lab scheduling environment that allows an ISV alliance partner to schedule a 3 or 7 day lab environment for use with Citrix Ready Verification.
  
  
• SharePoint portal that contains additional information on use of the lab and helpful lab guides.
  • FAQ - additional information on the use of the lab
  • Verification Assist Guides that provide "extra details" on the use of the lab for a specific Citrix Ready Verification Kit. Step by step screen shots walk an ISV partner through each required step to complete the tests in a test kit if they are not familiar with a Citrix environment.
  • Administrator guides for products
  • Links to the Citrix Ready Verification Test Kits
  • Discussion site that lab users can leave tips and tricks on use of the lab for other users.
• Lab Environment
  • All of the actual lab servers/workstations area running on XenServer
  • Citrix Presentation Server/XenApp preconfigured lab environments
    • Lab environments uses of CPS 4.0 or 4.5 both 32bit and 64bit labs
    • CPS servers in a farm preconfigured
    • 2 client systems preconfigured for use with the CPS farm (1 XP and 1 Vista)
    • 1 Domain controller for the isolated lab environment
    • 1 SQL servers to use with apps the require a SQL database
  • Citrix Access Essentials preconfigured lab environments
    • Lab environments uses CAE 2.0
    • 1 CAE server preconfigured
    • 2 client systems preconfigured for use with the CPS farm (1 XP and 1 Vista)
    • 1 Domain controller for the isolated lab environment
    • 1 SQL servers to use with apps the require a SQL database

Note that this lab environment is reserved for use by Citrix Alliance ISV Partners solely for the intent of Citrix Ready verification of their product, so they can help properly answer the above questions "Yes, my app is Citrix Ready for XenApp and CAE!".

The current architecture of MyCitrixLab limits it use in most cases to ISV partners, being it is secured and isolated in such a way that no direct inbound ICA connections can be made from the internet, as well as being securely isolated from other labs being hosted in the environment. This level of isolation today prevents device and other IHV vendors from using the lab. Only the XP and Vista clients in the isolated lab environment have access to the CPS or CAE server's via ICA.

Some screen shots of MyCitrixLab below:


Pic 1: Logon/Sign Up page
 

Pic 2: WI Server page with scheduler shown
 

Pic 3: CPS lab server
 

Pic 4: Vista lab client system
 

Pic 5: MyCitrixLab SharePoint Portal
 
 

Satori Group uses XenServer, XenApp or Citrix Access Essentials to simplify and streamline delivery of their solution to their customers using Citrix virtualization technologies.  Nice implementation of the VADA concept.   

"Working closely with Citrix and Microsoft, Satori Group developed a virtual appliance for delivering a complete application solution to customers. Virtual appliances are preinstalled, pre-configured, ready-to-run enterprise applications packaged with an operating system inside a virtual machine. In contrast, a virtual machine, by itself, does not include applications."

Full release: Satori Group Partners with Citrix to Create Virtual Appliances for Turnkey Application Delivery

Use of the Citrix ICA client on mobile devices that have VGA resolution  or larger, or companion devices such as the Celio Redfly changes the game a bit when using the Citrix ICA client to connect to full Win32 applications delivered by Citrix Xenapp.  The increased resolution can leverage some configuration changes on the ICA client to get more optimal usage.  Below are some tweaks that you can do to get a more "Nirvana" like experience with such devices.  This setting was used in the demo blog entries previously posted. 
Most Win32 applications are usable at a VGA 640x480 resolution, so I recommend running ICA in full screen mode on mobile devices that support VGA resolution.  This allows the user to get rid of the program bar at the top of the screen and the navigation tool bar at the bottom of the ICA client.  Comparison pictures below (Note: screen clarity is degraded in the below screen shots, native screen is clear).  Caution, when you run in full screen mode, you will not have access to the local keyboard button, thus if you device does not have a QWERTY keyboard, you should have a Bluetooth keyboard connected.  

 HP iPaq 210 running ICA connection to SAP Enterprise Portal without the Full Screen option set.  Notice the screen space that is lost at the top and bottom of the screen. 

HP iPaq 210 running ICA connection to SAP Enterprise Portal with the Full Screen option set.  This allows you to leverage the full resolution of the device. 

To set the Full Screen option, simply follow the steps below.  Note that this is a global option and all of the apps you launch will come up in Full Screen mode.  

In the Programs area, start "ICA Client":
  

This should launch the ICA Client UI into your browser.

Select "Edit Global Settings" from this screen:  

Select "Edit Preferences" on the next page:

Scroll down to the "Enable Full Screen" check box and select it:

Scroll down to the bottom and select the "Save" button:

So if you have a mobile device that supports VGA 640x480 resolution or higher, you might try the above settings to get a better user experience.  Also, if you need to access another application on the mobile device while running a XenApp or XenDesktop session in Full Screen mode, you can always hit the Windows button on your device to pull up the devices start menu as shown below.

So our search for the Nirvana Smartphone, or companion device at CTIA 2008 comes to an end with this post.  Our friends at i-mate have gotten us another device to put through the Hotel Acid Test.  In this case an i-mate Ultimate 9502.  I'll let you check out the full specs on their website, but this device packs VGA 640x480 resolution onto a 2.8" screen.  The clarity of the screen is very good, allowing you to clearly read the text, but again, some may need to pull out the reading glasses when not connected to an external monitor.  Stand-alone pics below: 

Pic 1: 9502's browser connected to Web Interface.

Pic 2: 9502 connected to a published desktop.

So how did it do in our Hotel Acid Test, not bad.  While the VGA resolution is a little tight on the native screen, it works well when output to a larger monitor.  As with the 6150, there is no noticeable latency when outputting the video to the TV.  The 9502 uses a RCA audo video cable to output to the external monitor, and it's not quite as clear as the 6150 which uses a VGA cable, but still very usable.  The icons are a little fuzzy, but I'm having not problem using this setup.  You also get a fade-in effect of the letters when typing, but again, not a big deal IMO.  Again, the network connection is 3G WWAN on ATT, and latency while using Word is not an issue at all, very responsive. 

Pic 3: 9502 connected to hotel TV using RCA audo/video cable. 

You are currently limited to the 640x480 resolution even when attached to an external monitor, which is fine for most Win32 apps, or desktops.  But it sure would be nice to have 1024x768 or larger functionality down the road.  The VGA 640x480 resolution could also be less than optimal if connecting to an overhead projector while giving a presentation. 

But in general, I'm liking this device as well.  Seems to have a good mix features that's making using it with XenApp for this post rather comfortable.  Very quick and responsive as I'm typing this post.  Maybe not the ultimate Nirvana Smartphone, but definitely a potential contender in today's market.  I can definitely see certain road warriors leaving their laptop at home if they have this in their pocket. 

Being this is my last post, I had to try my favorite test on a mobile device, viewing a 3D AutoDesk design from XenApp on a mobile device over ICA, you gotta love SpeedScreen!  We gotta get another video of this demo out, but this time running to an external monitor!  A still shot shown below. 

Pic 4: AutoDesk Design Review delivered by XenApp to the 9502 output to the hotel TV.  I cut the flash on this pic so the screen didn't wash out as much. 

Unfortunatley, you get not sense of the performance with a still pic.
Got some comments on this use case, give us your feedback. 

As I stated in my previous post, there is no one Nirvana devicethat will fit everyone's tastes, so here's another twist on the topic. 

Impatica Showmate  is a device, call it a "puck", that you make a Bluetooth connection to from your smartphone using its Screen Projector software that you install on your smartphone.  A VGA cable is connected between the Showmate and the monitor you want to use.  You must register your mobile device with the Showmate.  Simply start the installed client on mobile device, enter in a few numbers from the bottom of the Showmate to register.  Then you just choose what registered Showmate device you want to connect to and hit select.  Your screen then pops up on the monitor the Showmate is connected to. 

 
Pic 1: Picture of the Showmate "puck", and VGA and USB power ports. 

Impatica was in the BlackBerry booth at CTIA showing their Showmate working with BlackBerry phones.  As part of the demo environment, they had the Rove Mobile Citrix Client on demo BB, and showed how they can remote the ICA presentation to an external monitor.  As you can see from the show pics below, they have some novel ideas about using this type of setup on portable LCD screens and such that you would find in police squad cars or utility trucks.  Great idea, especially when matched with the Rove Mobile Citrix Client to get access to all kinds of data from the secured data center. 

Pic 3: Michael Doyle, Impatica Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer showing the Impatica Showmate at CTIA 2008.

Pic 4: Showmate displaying a BlackBerry screen onto a portable LCD monitor inside a customer UI, mock of a law enforcement unit.  You can see the ICA session imbedded in the customer UI.

To stay consistent, I put the Impatica Showmate through the same hotel acid test I did with the other vendors.  I must note that the Windows Mobile Impatica ScreenProjector client that I'm using as I type this is still in Beta.  I used the Showmate with 2 devices, a Dell Axim X51v and an ATT 8525.  Latency on the X51v was very noticeable at times on the X51v, but response was good when using the 8525.  Note sure if this is related to old .vs. newer hardware/Bluetooth stacks, or the fact that the X51v has a larger resolution.  In general basic text entry like I'm doing now is pretty good.  Again, thanks to the Impatica team for getting us this beta to try.  I'm sure they still have some tuning tweaks up their sleeves before GA. 

The script is the same, in this case I'm using the Dell Axim X51v connected to the Showmate via Bluetooth to VGA out to the hotel's flat screen TV.  This picture below is an actual picture of the creation of the text for this blog using a XenApp connection to a published desktop, and running MS Word on that desktop over ICA.  This is where I stop and take the picture

Pic 5: Show mate connecting the Axim X51v running the ICA cleint to the hotel TV, and bluetooth mouse and keyboard.

The Showmate form factor is interesting in that you can see the device, or derivative of this device being imbedded in other devices to meet different goals, as shown in there show demo pciture above with a custom UI on the mountable LCD screen.  Imagine the use case of a utility working or law enforcement office having a mobile device that when in there car or truck is having applications and data delivered to them via XenApp or XenDesktop.  But once they exit their vehicle, they take the  mobile device with them and continue to have the same apps and data delivered to them, just on the native screen of the mobile device.  Whether it be a policeman on foot, or a utility working working on a transformer in the bucket of his boom truck.  A very interesting modular device approach IMO.  But at the same time, I can see road warriors carrying the Showmate with them to do presentations from their mobile phone, or use in the hotel as I am.  You can read more on their website, but they already have a lot of road warriors using their Showmate today.  They also have a product that compresses PowerPoint presentations, and then an optimized viewer to run the presentation from the mobile device.  You can get more details on this from their website.   

So does the Showmate pass the Hotel acid test?  Yes, I've been able to create this post using the Showmate, and my mobile device, and it does provide benefits described around a Nirvana Deviceuse case.  So it's definitely another option, with it's own twist on the Nirvana Device seach. 

Like this twist, tell us why or why not.  As always, we are looking for your input on defining the Nirvana Devicefor use with XenApp and XenDesktop.  

The next find on our quest for the Nirvana Smartphoneis the i-mate Ultimate 6150 (i-mate 6150 web site) shown below.   The 6150's native screen resolution is VGA 640x480, making it natively more suitable for displaying Win32 apps via XenApp than most QVGA screens. 

Pic 1: 6150's browser connected to Web Interface ready to authenticate.  

Pic 2: 6150 running a full published desktop at 640x480.  I probably should have cleaned the screen before taking the picture

So what makes the 6150 a Nirvana Devicecandidate (Original Nirvana Device Post), it's got video output natively built into the device.  The 6150 comes with a VGA adapter cable that connects into the side of the device, so you can then connect it to a monitor that accepts VGA input.  The 6150 comes with software that when activated changes the device resolution to 1024x768, turns the 6150's screen into a touchpad mouse and displays the 1024x768 output to the connected monitor.  Unfortunately, the cable that I have with my demo device is only about 4ft long and did not reach to the table that was working from, so I'm using my Bluetooth mouse and keyboard instead.  Might be something for the i-mate team to look at. 

Pic 3: 6150 External output software.

Pic 4: 6150 connected to the hotel's flatscreen TV, running a published desktop from XenApp.  MS Word is open and I'm working on this text using this setup.  The 6150 is the at the base of the TV in this pic.

All of the work to create this post will be using the 6150 connected to a published desktop in my hotel room using the flat screen TV as an external monitor (except for photo resizing which I will do with my OQO, being I don't have photo shop installed on our XenApp demo server).   Seems like a real world use case to me.

In general, I like the 6150, and it is the closest device I've gotten my hands on to date to hit Chris Fleck's Nirvana deviceconcept.  Personally, I like devices to have a QWERTY keyboard on the native device as well, and I hope to get a chance to try the i-mate 8150 down the road, which does have a QWERTY and VGA out capability.  I also like the fact that the VGA feature is native to the device, so I don't need to carry anything extra but the VGA cable.  Flip side is that unlike the Redfly (Celio Redfly post), if I don't have a monitor handy, let's say in the airport, I'm restricted to the native screen of the 6150.  Hey, if i-mate gives me a really long cable, maybe I can plug into one the TVs in the airport that always running CNN

So how do I rate the 6150 as a Nirvana device candidate, again I give it an "I like it".  I think I'd like the 8150 even better with the QWERTY keyboard, but in terms of it being a smartphone that I can run XenApp applications natively and then attach it an external monitor to extend the usability, it passes my initial hotel acid test.  At the end of the day, a Nirvana SmartPhoneis a personal choice.  So if you're interested in the concept, I'd say that the i-mate 6105 is one to have a look at. 

As always, give us your feed back on this topic.  I've got a few more entries on more devices from the show to come.  Hopefully one will be the Nirvana Smartphone you're looking for to use with XenApp or soon XenDesktop, and you can leave the laptop at home on that next business trip.  As with all of the devices being tried, we will get some more hands on time with them when I get back to FTL.  We'll try and update if we find anything new.   

Day 2 of my search for the Nirvana Deviceat CTIA 2008 ended a few hours ago, and we have some cool products to talk about.  Let's see how they do when we replace my OQO Model 2 with Nirvana Device candidates from the show. 

This entry focuses on one of our newest Citrix Alliance partners, Celio Corp and their recent product launch of the Redfly Mobile Companion (http://celiocorp.com).

 
Pic 1: Celio Corp booth at CTIA, including Citrix collateral at the booth. 
 

Pic 2: Redfly demo at the booth connecting to XenApp 4.5. 

The Redfly is a definitely a device cut from the cloth of Chris Fleck's original Nirvana Devicepost.  The Redfly is a portable docking station for Windows Mobile devices, thus a Mobile Companion, and has a built in mouse, keyboard and monitor.  So you wanna run those BIG win32 apps from you WinMo device, but want a bigger screen, checkout the Redfly.  It doesn't have a CPU, memory or an OS.   You connect your WinMo device to the Redfly by either USB or Bluetooth.  If connected via USB, the battery in the Redfly will also charge your WinMo Device (8 hours of battery life), if it allow USB charging.  Once the Redfly software is installed on your WinMo device, it will detect when it is attached to the Redfly, change the effective screen resolution to 800x480 and enable the Redfly's mouse and keyboard transforming the user experience similar to that of a lot of UMPCs.

Pic 3: Redfly attached to an ATT Tilt in my hotel room at the Today screen. 

In this scenario, the ICA client is installed on the ATT Tilt, and all processing involved and required storage is provided by the Tilt.  Again, think of the Redfly as a docking station with a built in mouse, keyboard and monitor that you carry on trips as a companion. 

The 800x480 resolution of the Redfly easily enables me to connect to a virtualized Citrix desktop or published application, in this case a published Microsoft Server 2003 desktop with the Luna interface enabled.  As you can see from the picture below, this device has very good potential for use with  both published applications as well as XenDesktop connections when using a WinMo device.

Pic 4: Picture taken as I was working on the text for this entry.   

The Redfly has a number of other very useful features that really enhance its usability in my opinion.   
First off, there is a VGA out port on the back of the Redfly that enables you to output the screen to a larger monitor, overhead projector or hotel TV as shown in the picture below.  

Pic 5: Redfly using its VGA output to the hotel's flat screen TV. 

You'll notice that the entire screen of the TV is not used and that the 800x480 resolution is maintained even when output to a larger monitor.  Basically, you can use the Redfly as a VGA output device for you WinMo device if you like, very cool.  But I would like to see the Celio guys enable you to change the resolution being displayed when VGAing out to a larger monitor.  Well see what happens in subsequent releases. 

So you can use the Redfly's native screen or output to a larger screen, what about upping to a bigger keyboard and external mouse?  Well, they've thought of this as well.  There are also 2 USB ports on the back of the Redfly that you can plug in USB mice and keyboard.  Even cooler IMO is that I can plug a USB stick into this slot and the device will associate this new storage as "remote storage" on the WinMo device.  And you may have guessed it, ICA will now have access to this USB drive as part of its client drive mapping.  For those concerned about security of such a use case, you can always disable this virtual drive mapping from the XenApp admin console.

Pic 6: Shot of the USB Flash card reader files maped into the XenApp desktop session via virtual client drive mapping.  This is the actual flash card that contains the pics in this post plugged into the back of the Redfly with a USB flash card reader. 

There are a number of other cool features on the Redfly, such as special function keys that are mapped to normal phone functions like Send and End calls, but I'll
let you check out their site for these.  As I stated in my initial post on my blog, when I look at devices in this space, my first thoughts are how Citrix customers can leverage such technology to enhance their use of Citrix products.  So how to I rate this one, I like it.  I see it as a true enabling technology when used with mobile devices to access XenApp or XenDesktop.  IMO, the Redfly Mobile Companion enables a lot of the concepts that we discuss in the Nirvana Device concept.  While it's not a Nirvana smartphone, IMO it takes a lot of today's WinMo devices and gets them a lot closer to the Nirvana use paradigm.   Having the option to use the Redfly as a companion to provide a bigger screen with its mouse and keyboard, or use it as a VGA output device with an even larger external mouse and keyboard is an interesting advantage if this is what you are looking for. 

Reality check: note that this entire post was produced using the ATT Tilt phone, 3G WWAN network, from the Redfly's mouse, keyboard and native monitor connected to a XenApp published desktop.  And it worked really well!  Albiet, I'm used to using UMPC devices with smaller screens and keyboards, it will take some getting used to for some.  So if you looking to lighten your load when traveling, and would like an ICA companion to go with you mobile phone so you can leave your laptop behind, you might want to check out the Redfly from Celio Corp. 

We'd appreciate your thoughts on the use of these types of devices with XenApp and soon XenDesktop.  I'm sure the Celio guys will also be interested in your input, pro or con.  At the end of the day, there is no one Nirvana solution for everyone, but is the Redfly going down the right path for Citrix users looking to further leverage ICA on mobile devices?    

Our search for the Nirvana Device has led me to Las Vegas and CTIA 2008.  Citrix has been working with a number of partners around the concept of the Nirvana Device, and a lot of them are here this week.  The plan is to try and get as many demo devices that I can and report my findings in my blog as related to their use from my hotel room at the show.  So let's start off with my current baseline config of my remote office in my hotel room in Vegas. 

Device: OQO, maker of the Model 2 UMPC (www.oqo.com), and a Citrix Alliance partner.  You may have seen them at iForum or Citrix Summit over the last year.

I've actually been using OQO Model 2 as my primary device over a year now, and UMPCs such as the Model 2 used with Citrix App Delivery work great.  In the FTL office, I dock the Model 2 and the doc has 2 VGA outputs, so I run a dual monitor setup and drive a 21" and 19" monitor from my desk.  I also have a doc at home connected to my home office monitor via a KVM switch.  So when working from home, I simply KVM from my home PC and use the same device that I use from work.   At the CTIA show, I'm docked and connected to the Philips flatscreen TV in my hotel room.  Of course, the form factor of the Model 2 is also great when attending meetings at the office, or working from home on the couch (note: I'm over 40 and have no problem seeing text on the OQO's native screen, but some will have issues clearly seeing text on a device this small, reading glasses may be required by some J).  The Model 2 I have has built in EVDO Rev A from Verizon, which works great when on the road or at home (using it from my hotel room as I type this entry).  I can see this type of devices being used by others like myself that just prefer a small form factor UMPC, as well as some good tactical usages with Citrix customers, where a standard sized laptop is just to big.  Some pics of the baseline remote office setup below:

 
 
As you can see, several of the Nirvana Device concepts that Chris Fleck mentioned in his original post (Original Nirvana Device Post) are already in play.  Being the Model 2 is a UMPC and not a smart phone, I'm cheating a little, but:
-          I am docked and using the hotel's flat screen TV as a larger monitor

-          I am using an external Bluetooth mouse and keyboard

-          I am using a WWAN connection for my network

-          I am using Citrix App Delivery to do my work

While I don't plan on giving up my OQO any time soon, I am going to see what I can find at the show that I could use in the same basic configuration that I'm using the OQO in.

Off to my 2^nd meeting of the day, and hopefully will return tonight with some more Nirvana Device candidates to try out. 

Most of us know or have heard about Virtual Appliances.  Mostly single purpose virtual machines usually running on some variant of Linux today.  So why is this beneficial?

-          Ease of installation - import the VM and start it up

-          Preconfigured - maybe not fully preconfigured, but much more than having a stack of OS and product CDs and bare metal to start with

-          Reduced maintenance costs - starting with a preinstalled and mostly configured solution tends to reduce the number of errors associated with the install and configuration when done from scratch

So why not a Virtual Application Delivery Appliance (VADA)?  A preinstalled and mostly configured XenApp or CAE server that already has a targeted application published in the virtual machine.  A virtual machine that I get from my ISV that I start on my XenServer server.  Web Interface and PNAgent are already setup with defaults.  I add my users to the published application and start delivering the app.  Kind of a normal virtual appliance, but on digital steroids to enhance performance.

This is already starting to happen!  Our Platform Development Group at Citrix has been increasingly having discussions with ISV alliance partners to do just what is explained above.  Some are doing it; others are looking at the feasibility of doing it with their solution.  They have an application, or multi-component software solution that they want to, or are required to deliver via Citrix Application Delivery, and they want to simplify the process for both the customer and themselves as much as possible.  Maybe the deployment of the solution is a standalone environment and not to be part of a bigger farm.  Maybe there are reasons that their solution should run on dedicated server(s) and they simply join an existing farm.  In either case, by deploying their solution as a VADA (I'll let marketing guys change this acronym later), they can greatly reduce their installation/deployment cycle, and spend more time on training the customer on use of the solution, thus increasing customer satisfaction (VADA Bing VADA Boom!).  Post-installation maintenance should also be lower, being a large percentage of the OS and application installation has been automated by creation of the tested baseline virtual machine image which already contains the OS, XenApp and the published application, all following best practices established in the ISVs controlled lab environment.

So why not just jump on this band wagon today?  As always there's a few "gotchas". 

-          Licensing - while a bit easier on the Linux side, what we are discussing here is Microsoft Servers and Citrix Application Delivery products.  Usually ISVs do not have access to distribute licenses for either of these.

-          Server Virtualization Platform - So which platform does the ISV support (XenServer, VMWare, HyperV).  I think you can see some of the benefits of having a standard virtual machine image format, and why it's good that 2 of the 3 vendors listed are working towards such a standard. 

-          Please add your "gotchas" below.

 Intent of this thread is not to indicate the right or wrong way to approach the above scenario, but to get your feedback and ideas on the concept.  I find this concept very intriguing.  So give us and the other readers of this blog your input below.  Respond with your "gotchas" or respond to others "gotchas" on how they should be resolved.  I'll be sure to send a link to this post to our interested ISV partners, so they get the input.

I kicked it off, help me finish it! 

References:

Satori Group VADA blog post

Citrix has partnered with Nokia on ICA clients for their Symbian devices for years.  I recently did an interview with the Nokia team on use of the Citrix ICA client for Series 60 3rd Edition devices such as E61, E70 and E90 devices for their Nokia Forum Pro.  These ICA clients can be downloaded from http://www.citrix.com/English/SS/downloads/details.asp?dID=2755&downloadID=165587&pID=186.

Snippet from the interview below: 

Helping enterprise IT departments

 The Citrix XenApp Client for S60 3rd Edition devices offers some very clear benefits to IT departments as well, Marano adds. "From an IT perspective, the flexibility of mobile devices can be scary," he says. "How do you encourage people to use them, but also make sure that they are used properly and securely? With this solution, the same infrastructure being used today for external laptops and desktops can be used to deliver applications to the Series 60 3rd Edition devices. Minimizing the number of technologies used to deliver business-critical data to end users regardless of device type, by standardizing on a single platform, is a key factor to consider."

The interview gives a good overview of use Nokia S60 devices, but also provides a pretty good overview on the use of mobile devices as a whole with XenApp.

The full PDF interview can be found at: http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Developers/Success_Stories/Enterprise_&_productivity/Dev_succ_Citrix_SC_v1.0.pdf