Smartphone Introduction and Recommendations
Smartphones on Campus
Mobile devices have taken an increasingly central role for campus web services. In a recent survey to the campus community, 75% of the over 2,200 respondants replied as using a smartphone. In response to this growing need, OIT has examined several mobile platforms and devices in an effort to make recommendations to the campus for what devices work best with our services such as campus e-mail. Below you will find our initial recommendations.
Android, iPhone, and Blackberry
OIT Smartphone Recommendations
After our internal testing along with feedback from the campus OIT has two recommended mobile platforms that work best with our services: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad) and Android. Each platform has its own particular set of pros and cons that each individual should consider specifically for his or her use before deciding which is best. In addition, it's important to consider carrier signal quality and cost prior to purchasing a smartphone.
iOS (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad)
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The iPhone is the most popular mobile device on campus. It has an intuitive user interface and works very well with our campus e-mail system. Due to its popularity, development on the platform is currently ahead of its competition allowing for easy set up of other campus services such as the VPN, which is presently exclusive to the iOS. iPhone also natively interfaces with our Exchange system.
A syncML client is available through the app store for oracle calendar with mixed results.
Android
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Google's Android platform has quickly gained popularity due to the platform's truly open development environment and availability across all domestic carriers. According to data from OIT's recent survey, Android owners on campus are the most satisfied with their devices when compared to other platforms. Android excels at web browsing with support for Flash based browsing and works very well with OIT e-mail servers. Exchange is also natively supported on Android 2.2 . Android does have a few drawbacks, namely no support for our VPN and some of the devices are battery intensive due to their large screens.
