Summer 2006

From its origins as a mobile email access system, the BlackBerry range of handhelds is rapidly being built into a more comprehensive mobile computing platform; and in this regard, some new developments from mobile software specialist should give an extra push to this process.

For a start, Dexterra's Concert platform and Composer tools are now available for the BlackBerry range. Concert gives mobile units access to data from a range of enterprise data sources, while Composer is a tool to help developers create and configure applications without writing any code. Reusable composite applications are created instead with a drag and drop tool.

Dexterra says the BlackBerry version includes various BlackBerry-specific control utilities, which make it possible to integrate input from GPS, barcodes and similar sources with applications such as email, calendar and phone.

Meanwhile, for those who prefer the idea of preconfigured applications, Dexterra has announced a new series of what it calls TransApps for Blackberry - feature-rich mobile composite applications that can be bundled and integrated with common corporate applications. Support has already been provided for Oracle financials, helpdesk for Remedy and mobile sales for both Siebel and Salesforce.com.

 

By using some of these new resources, Dexterra says users can quickly build a convincing range of field service applications round BlackBerry hardware.