November 2002

"Location-based applications" could represent a new opportunity for organisations with mobile staff. That, anyway, is the belief of Swedish-based Appear Networks, which specialises in what it describes as "proximity-triggered application platforms for the task-specific mobile workforce". It has just launched version 3.0 of its Appear Provisioning Server.

The product is aimed at organisations running their own wireless local area networks (the company cites the examples of hospitals, airports and railway stations). In essence, it allows mobile workers to download, install and run applications on their mobile units that are specific to the particular WLAN area they're working in. And they can do all this with the ubiquitous "single click", thanks to the company's patented Click & Run software.

A major feature of the new version is its ability to manage multiple Click & Run zones. The enterprise can configure different service sets to suit different network zones, using a graphical administration interface. Other new features include remote server monitoring and notification, traffic statistics, and intelligent local network session and application caching.