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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
The Smartphone Just Got Smarter!
Huntingdon, UK, 10th October 2005 – Mobile Data and Remote access specialists Brand Communications, today heralded a new era in connectivity for the mobile user with the release of its new Smartphone client software. Targeted at both Enterprise and Consumer users, this version includes many of the advanced session management features from Brand’s earlier CE, PC and Enterprise solutions
The use of PDAs and Smartphones is creating significant life style changes in the way we communicate and do business. Heads of industry agree, however, that the PDA will become a more powerful tool the moment it becomes “seamless and dummy-proof”. This release of the Brand Smartphone client delivers that missing link and transforms the device into the enabling panacea that users need.
“Brand was first to develop session management in 1992, seamless roaming across dissimilar bearers in 1993 and channel bonding in 1994 and so it was expected that it would be the first to deliver all of these functions into the PDA market place. This, we have done with this product release,” explained Martin Kendrick, Managing Director of Brand Communications.
The Brand client enables the PDA to support multiple WAN connections concurrently and makes possible instant seamless roaming from CSD to 2.5G to WLAN for iPAQ’s and XDA’s and additionally 3G for devices such as the i-mate Jasjar. The software ensures that applications such as IM and VoIP do not drop their sessions when moving from mobile carrier networks to third party WLAN hotspots or any other unrelated network.
A user could be on a Skype call over WLAN and then move out of the coverage of the hotspot and have the call immediately and transparently transitioned to a 3G, Edge, WiMAX or, through the inbuilt PPPoE stack, an IPWireless broadband network without dropping the call or a word in the conversation. Even when the device is suspended, the Brand client will still accept push information, Instant Messages or other inbound or outbound data, turning the PDA into the ultimate convergent device.
For the Enterprise user that needs it, the software also boasts a full EAP/TLS certificate management system for wide area authentication and integration into Active Directory and other certificate-based applications. It also combines this with a mechanism for remotely disabling devices that may be used in secure military or Police environments and have been compromised in some way. This Authentication system is backed up with a data compression engine and a military grade AES VPN that has been adapted to cater for all the rigors of wireless working with recovery for out of coverage situations and the ability to work across multiple parallel data paths.
The client is truly comprehensive in capability with features for consumer and Enterprise users alike. The Brand solution also includes it’s own push messaging platform, that can be triggered by various events such as login, location, changes in location or simply push events from a central application. This feature drastically reduces the need for complex infrastructure or anything other than basic Access Points when deploying public WiFi networks that wish to combine Branded landing pages with localised event or site content. Such site specific content may include a message bubble on the screen stating “Coffee on offer for next hour at 20p a cup”.
The client has a sophisticated power management ability to increase the usable time window of a PDA whilst staying attached or logged into the network or Internet, 24/7.
As a result of the needs of many of Brand’s Enterprise customers, the client has three inbuilt location based service mechanisms, GPS, CELLid and WiFi making lone worker operation a viable option and asset management and analysis simple. The location services in the client also introduce new capabilities for events or retail outlets wishing to push personalised and localised offers to the Smartphone user. Managed service providers and carriers can also offer greater customer service and support as the system also reports the versions of software running on remote devices, even down to the modem and firmware of the radio and the make and version of the WLAN card.
“Mobile Devices are becoming smarter and more sophisticated, and we are seeing a growing demand from mobile users for reliable seamless connectivity in real time to all data applications including email, messaging, internet and voice,” said Kendrick. “Real time access to content on these devices has been the stumbling block in the past as users got easily frustrated with loss of connections and the need to manually reset or configure the device when selecting the bearer technology. Brand has been working diligently to make wireless mobility a reality in a secure and effective manner”.
Brand’s technology delivers a powerful, seamless mobile experience. Features that, to date, have only been available to its Enterprise and PC customers, are now available to all PDA and Smartphone users.
Summing up the significance of the product release, Brand’s Kendrick explained: “Users never again have to think about how and when to connect to changing hotspots, LAN’s, WLAN’s or multiple mobile carriers, the Brand solution does it all for them automatically without their intervention.”
About Brand Communications
Brand Communications is a global leader in mobile data and remote access solutions. We develop, manufacture and market a range of leading mobile and remote office solutions for all environments including ISDN, PSTN, Fixed Lines, WLAN(802.11b), WIMAX(802.16), Satellite, GSM, HSCSD, GPRS and 3G.
Brand’s Apollo solution makes mobile data a reality for business-critical data applications using Seamless Roaming for users all over the world. It provides a military grade secure connection for the mobile user whilst travelling from location to location, and removes the uncertainty of using a wireless network to transfer vital information by transparently integrating GSM, GPRS and Wi-Fi networking with LAN environments. More information can be found at http://www.brandcomms.com
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