Blog posts tagged with 'nirvana smartphone'
A few of us were having a brainstorm session recently regarding the ICA client, mobility and device support, inevitably the discussion led to the topic of competing priorities, limited resources, and business cases. Al Granville ( sometimes affectionately referred to as the " suit " in the blogosphere ) is the Product Manager for the ICA client and has the enviable position of driving what features and functions get included ( and which ones don't ). Nowadays you can't talk about mobility without the topic of support for the iPhone and where that fits versus all the other priorities. If you also want Citrix iPhone support please place your vote and tell us your use case here. Typically this analysis means doing a market analysis, talking to customers and developing a business case comparing all the alternatives and determining the ROI. During this discussion however, Al made the profound statement that maybe in this situation the business case simply needs to say ... it's the iPhone.. Stupid !
This brings up a really interesting point that IT also seems to be dealing with lately, that is what is the value of new and "cool " and do you spend resources to enable these technologies. It could be the iPhone or it could be Web 2.0 collaboration tools or desktop video conferencing, whatever. Sometimes it's straight forward to put an ROI and business case together, however quantifying the value of "cool" is subjective at best. Apple as the best example has done a superb job proving that elegant design, user experience, and "cool " is a profitable business model. This certainly has proven to be the case in the consumer world, but it's also evident that this is impacting the business IT world as well, at least from the perspective of user expectations. I am interested to know if this phenomena is also impacting IT's decision process for implementing new projects.
| What criteria does your IT organization use for evaluating new projects ? | Choose |
|---|---|
| Business requirements, ROI, and compliance only |  |
| The above plus, Executive mandates | |
| The above plus, User productivity and desires ( like iPhone support ) | |
| The above plus, Does the new IT technology provide a competitive advantage | |
How does your organization deal with all the new and cool user requests ?
As you may have seen in previous blog discussions some of us are very keen on the idea of a device that goes beyond the existing smartphone limitations of small screens and keyboards. The ability to connect to XenApp - XenDesktop from a phone and view it ( & use it ) on a large screen is now possible. This video demos the Nirvana Phone concept with an iMate 6150 and a Redfly from Celio. We are not at Nirvana yet, but these devices make it visible we are getting closer.
| Do you ever go on trips and wish you could leave your laptop home? | Choose |
|---|---|
| All the time | |
| Occasionally | |
| Wishfull thinking .. | |
Let us know of other candidates for the Nirvana Phone, and what you think is still missing.
Update **
Running Windows applications on the iPhone may not be a high priority for Steve Jobs, but for many IT users and providers the desire seems to be increasing. The recent SDK and upcoming release of the Apple 3G iPhone has increased the interest in Citrix enabling iPhone access to XenApp hosted Windows applications. We are always encouraging expanded access to XenApp from any suitable device and the iPhone appears to be a very good candidate. The great screen and touch features would provide usable viewing of apps even though they were designed for bigger screens. Plus the improved email and networking capability of the device can now make it a real contender for business use. The iPhone could be even be the " Nirvana Phone " if a new docking station was offered to provide video access to a full sized monitor plus a standard keyboard.
So the question is one of priority and market demand, where does this fit on the list of nice to have vs. must have now, and does the solution need to come from Citrix or could it be partner provided such as the Rove Mobile client for BlackBerry. We encourage your opinions and feedback.
| Do you need a Citrix client for the iPhone ? | Choose |
|---|---|
| I want it for myself | |
| I need it for my company users ( and myself ) | |
| Cool, but my company is not likely to enable it | |
| What is the primary iPhone use case at your company ? | Choose |
|---|---|
| EMR - Patient records, view and update. | |
| CRM - Customer records, view and update. | |
| ERP - Process workflows, approvals, etc. | |
| Documents - Find, view, edit, forward. | |
| Specific line of business app | |
** Update 11/1/08
Yes, we are listening, and yes we are going to ship a Citrix Receiver for the iPhone ! Mark Templeton demonstrated our latest internal build at our Summit event last week and our partners gave us the same enthusiastic response as we are seeing here on the Blogs. Right now the ship schedule is first half of '09 , but keep those votes and use cases coming and help us increase the priority further !
If you have been following some of the recent blog posts about Nirvana Devices and Nirvana Phones, you can get a better idea of what we are talking about in this video clip. Conceptually the Nirvana Phone takes the Smartphone to the next level by solving the existing limitations of small screens and keyboards. There are now some new devices that are close to making this possible, especially in combination with a Virtualized Desktops and applications like XenDesktop and XenApp.
Stay tuned for more videos and demos of the state of the art in Nirvana Phones , or better yet register for Citrix Synergy and try them for yourself, you may even win one !
See all the Nirvana Phone blog posts
The Nirvana Smartphone as a PC , Thin Client , Desktop Appliance ...
As Smartphones become more capable, and fast networks pervasive, plus now with Virtual Desktops going mainstream ( like Citrix XenDesktop ) , the practicality of using a Smartphone as a laptop/desktop alternative is closer than ever. The use case's for this model are many fold. It's is not intended to replace a PC or laptop ( at least initially ), rather the early adopters of this "Nirvana" Smartphone would likely already have a laptop for work and a PC at home. The general use case's revolve around enhanced mobility with broader access to applications and desktops. So even though most users already have access to apps and desktops from PC's and laptops, most of us would prefer to travel locally ( including the inside the office ) or on selective trips without a laptop if it was practical.
So what is missing from today's Smartphone's in a single device ?
Video-out - A few Smartphones have video-out like the Nokia N95 but the resolution is limited and it has no pointing device support. Some PDA's ( HP and Dell Axim ) have better screens and resolution with Video-out but they are not phones and are still too big. The upcoming i-Mates promise this functionality... we'll see. The iPhone also has some video out capability but it's still too limited. The resolution needs to be capable of 1024 x 768 to satisfy most users.
Keyboard & Mouse - The Smartphone user input options continue to improve, however to do "real" work a full keyboard and mouse will continue to the requirement when stationary. Many Smartphone's today do have bluetooth which can work fine for this scenario. Some new portable keyboards are making this more realistic as well.
Docking Station - This scenario works best if there is also a Nirvana docking station that recharges the phone at the same time as providing the VGA video interface and USB hub. The " Nirvana " Smartphone ideally would provide USB host functionally vs. USB slave that many have today. Additional / alternative functionality for the docking station include VGA/USB passthrough - so the docking station can plug into a home PC and use the same monitor and peripherals, as well as audio in/out for headsets. This docking station would also need to come in a portable dongle version as well as stationary.
Industry trends that are also working in favor of this scenario
Free seating / Office hoteling is a growing trend for mobile workers that occasionally work in the office. Today many cubicles already have a monitor for a laptop hook up, they would just need the docking station and keyboard to provide a full desktop experience. Similarly "real" hotels have office facilities with printers and monitors, they just need a "Nirvana" docking station to complete the solution.
LCD TV's are now pervasive and many have VGA and multiple Video inputs. This opens up hotel rooms, kitchens, family rooms, etc.
LCD's in general are getting cheaper and pervasive. They are showing up everywhere; cars, picture frames, book readers.
Digital Projectors - most conference rooms are already equipped and portable projectors are getting smaller and cheaper.
Virtual Desktops - Like XenDesktop ... hosted centrally but available everywhere.
Remote Desktops - Like GoToMyPC ... remote desktop connections to home or office PC's.
Application Virtualization - like Presentation Server .. apps hosted centrally available from any device.
Web based; apps / storage / photos / social networks - more and more of digital life ( work and play ) is available from any device on the web.
Consumer driven use cases
Most device companies we speak to about this concept are interested in the idea, however many are clearly driven by the consumer use cases vs business ones due to the huge volume that the cell phone market drives today. The assumption is that Smartphone's will continue to improve and excel in handling voice, video, music and cameras, but here are some additional consumer use cases that could exploit the unique features of the Nirvana Smartphone;
Web enable all the TV's in your house - most new LCD TV's are VGA capable but normally are only connected to a cable box and DVD player. Simply adding the Nirvana docking station would provide web connectivity without all the other complexity required in today's configurations.
Video conference from your TV - add a camera to the front of the Smartphone and use the TV to view and communicate with others doing the same.
Photo / Video Playback - many cameras already offer viewing from a TV, the Nirvana Smartphone will carry your photos and videos that could be viewed full size from the Smartphone Video-out to any LCD monitor or TV through the Nirvana docking station.
So how long is this going to take ? Why has this failed so far.
It's easy to project everything is going to be possible in the far future; wireless video, virtual keyboards, rollup video screens, etc. However, I am more interested in the next 12-18 months, the technologies to build this Nirvana Smartphone and use it as a Desktop Appliance are all available now, it just needs a leading device vendor to put together all the parts ( and embed some Citrix SW..
).
So far there have been a few attempts to build full PC functionality into a Smartphone/PDA however they all come up short ( too big, too slow, too expensive ) because they try to replicate a full PC in a small device. Instead, if device makers can assume that a remote virtual desktop is accessible with all the apps you need and full size keyboard+mouse+monitors are readily available and connectible, then the Nirvana device could be built at a reasonable price, fit in your pocket, and provide the freedom to leave your PC or laptop at home.
| Who will build the Nirvana Smartphone ? | Choose |
|---|---|
| Apple | |
| HP | |
| Motorola | |
| Nokia | |
| I-Mate | |
| BlackBerry | |
| HTC | |
| Would you buy the Nirvana Smartphone ? | Choose |
|---|---|
| Yes, even if it's $400-$800 | |
| Yes, only if its less than $400 | |
| Not interested | |
Related links
Update : What is a Nirvana Phone video post
Adam Marano's search for the Nirvana Device posts from CTIA 2008
The Viewsonic ViewDock with an iPod looks like a perfect combination, unfortunately it still needs a PC to run and view.
John Dvorak's PC week article from 2003..
Nokia N95 TV-out feature review.
i-Mate 8150 with VGA out on youtube.
The RedFly Mobile companion announced at CES.
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