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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
Comments (12)
Nov 25, 2008
Glen Benjamin says:
I agree for the most part with Adam as the HTC Touch Pro does deliver a superior...I agree for the most part with Adam as the HTC Touch Pro does deliver a superior web interface especially with the Opera Browser interface which allows you to size the application based on user preference by the simple touch interface. I did try my Citrix application on both IE and the Opera Brower and I will validate that the Citrix ICA Client works on both but Opera makes it a much better interface vs. IE. The pullout keypad is certainly more than functional and it will take me a little bit longer to learn to use the virtual keyboard that is on-screen as I come from a Treo/Blackberry world so this old guy takes longer to learn new tricks but overall I'm very pleased with the performance of the device and yes I do occaisionally sneak in a little Sprint TV in between appointments and flights so I have justified to myself that this device will work for most power-user exectutives.
Dec 15, 2008
Anonymous says:
nice presantation of pro touch, does the 3ds max work well or do u get pissed wo...nice presantation of pro touch, does the 3ds max work well or do u get pissed working on it. also can you add video using adobe photoshop
plz. gj anyway
Jan 15, 2009
Anonymous says:
That's great that you are teching technology to kids! I just found your blog...That's great that you are teching technology to kids! I just found your blog and it's really good! I'm going to read more posts!
Philippine data entry
Jan 20, 2009
Anonymous says:
I got a touch pro - the slide out keyboard crapped out within a week. I would no...I got a touch pro - the slide out keyboard crapped out within a week. I would not reccomend this phone. If anyone knows how to fix this PLEASE HELP
Anonymous replies:
Jan 20, 2009
Anonymous says:
btw my email is alienada797@gmail.combtw my email is alienada797@gmail.com
Feb 13, 2009
Anonymous says:
If the keyboard died within a week, it would be covered under warranty. Ev...If the keyboard died within a week, it would be covered under warranty. Every single electronic device ever created has units defects, that's just a fact of production. There has never been a perfectly flawless population of an electronic device. Even the fancy-dancy iPhone has defective units, as does Blackberry.
Just take it in to the store you bought it from and get it replaced.
Mar 05, 2009
Anonymous says:
If you got the Sprint Touch Pro and you got the monthly insurance, they will giv...If you got the Sprint Touch Pro and you got the monthly insurance, they will give you a new one....that happened to me with the Mogul b4, and they gave me a new one.
Apr 09, 2009
Anonymous says:
does it work in the Palm Pro also from sprint?does it work in the Palm Pro also from sprint?
Apr 09, 2009
Adam Marano says:
Yes it does, we are seeing some issues with the new IE6 browser on the Treo Pro ...Yes it does, we are seeing some issues with the new IE6 browser on the Treo Pro that we are looking into. I'd recommend that you download the Opera mobile browser on the phone at this time on the Treo Pro, being we are not seeing the issues on the Opera browser. The screen is obviously smaller than the Touch Pro, so you may want to play with the the Web Interface setting (assuming you are using Web Interface). The key setting will be under the settings or preferences section depending on the version of WI you have, then oepn the Session Settings and change the Window Size to what works best for you. Probably something smaller than the default size that is set on the server of 1024x768. Note that this change will be a global setting for all apps launched on the device via Web Interface.
May 02, 2009
Anonymous says:
Hi Adam- Great write up. I just decided on an HTC Touch Pro after rea...Hi Adam-
Great write up. I just decided on an HTC Touch Pro after reading this article. It arrived yesterday and so far I like it. I use Citrix for work and am having trouble running the hosted apps on the Touch Pro and was hoping you might have advice.
After logging into etc, after clicking on the hosted app. the "Launch3.ica" appears and i hit open. But then I get
"support not available for Standard COM Port. Check your system configuration" and the app never runs.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
May 03, 2009
Adam Marano says:
Hi, Note exactly sure what the issue is that you are seeing. We will have an a...Hi,
Note exactly sure what the issue is that you are seeing. We will have an announcement in a few days on something you can try the help debug, but I'm not allowed to expose it just yet.
Do you use the browser to get to the website with your apps on it, IE, do you use Web Interface to connect to the applications? I'm assuming based on you comments above?
Also, do you know which version of MetaFrame/XenApp you are using?
Adam
May 03, 2009
Anonymous says:
Hi Adam, Thanks for the quick response! I downloaded Xenapp f...Hi Adam,
Thanks for the quick response!
I downloaded Xenapp for "all processors" version 10.06 to my laptop from the Citrix Webpage for WinCE/PocketPC clients release date 1/23/09 and installed to the main memory of my HTC Touch Pro.
I do access the apps through a browser. I used the Opera that was preloaded onto the device.
-> I type in the url to our remotevpn
-> log in and a page with icons of hosted apps appear
I click on an icon to launch the hosted app and then "support not available for Standard COM Port. Check your system configuration" appears.
I've noticed a few more things that I hope you can comment on:
-1. On the screen where I have the option to open/save/cancel launch1.ica, the size of the file is 0 bytes. Is that the same for you?
-2. After the "support not available... " message comes up, the next screen I see is the download screen with launch1.ica there. If I click on it, I get Error number 2306. ICA Client Configuration Manager: Could not find the file named (Program Files\Citrix\APPSRV.INI). Please check your installation or contact your administrator.
Is that normal? Or if you click on files in the download area, would it still detect it there and run the file?
I have found references to Error 2306 (but none for Windows CE devices) and the following fix:
Change the registry value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\ICA Client\Engine\Lockdown Profiles\All Regions\Lockdown\Client Engine\ICA File
Reg_SZ == RemoveICAFile
Change from "*" to "False"
Value == False
Maybe I will have to try to edit the registry as above as my project for the day.
Any more thoughts would be appreciated. If you would prefer to take this off your blog- my email is chungkay@gmail.com
thanks.
CK
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