Oct/Nov 2006

Mobiforms, a generic install-and-run software development tool for handheld computers, has been upgraded to take account of the latest communications trends in mobile computing.

The new version is said to have improved networking functionality, using serial, USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi or mobile phone connections. The UK-based company behind it also says integrated file and data transfer commands make it easier to synchronise mobile data with financial or field service systems.

Existing features include signature capture, barcode support, image objects, and connectivity to Oracle, Sybase and IBM DB2 databases, or simple ASCII file access.

MobiForms supports a remarkably wide range of mobile devices, including Tablet PC, Pocket PC, Windows CE, Windows Mobile, EPOC, Symbian and Palm. The company claims that is "revolutionises" the creation of mobile applications by reducing development time from days to minutes, and opening the job up to non-technical staff.

Typical target applications include asset collection, field service, inspection, market research, site surveys, stock control and workshop repair.

MobiForms was developed by a small UK-based systems house set up last year. It is based on a Java runtime environment, but the Java layer is totally hidden leaving developers free to concentrate on high-level business logic and the application look and feel.

The latest release of MobiForms is certified with the IBM J9 Java environment (the WebSphere Everyplace Micro Environment).