iPhone 4S: Features and Challenges

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Since its launch, the iPhone 4S has gathered a mixed bag of reviews. While some were disappointed with the same old looks, missing NFC, no 4G connectivity, the others could not stop talking about the new optics and Siri. However, there are a good number of users who have bought this Apple device for the other popular Android devices like Samsung Galaxy S2, Motorola Droid Razr, etc. This post highlights why you must buy the iPhone 4S and be aware of any associated challenges.

Unlike some of the popular hot selling Android phones, the iPhone 4S runs on the latest iOS 5 software. Some of its key features and applications are A5 dual processor, Siri, iCloud, support for dual bands, an 8Megapixel camera, over-the-air iOS upgrades etc. The iPhone 4S is also the first global smartphone released by Apple. It works on both the telecom bands – GSM and CDMA. In spite of having a string of signature features, it does pose some challenges for users and enterprises. Some of them are:

  1. Data Loss from iCloud: Users can store their device data on different devices in a centralized location in the cloud. To prevent any confidential data loss, it is recommended not to upload any sensitive personal and financial information in the cloud. IT administrators can enforce data protection in the iCloud by deploying different device data management policies. However, the prerequisite to monitor these smart devices is to have an in-house or third-party mobile device managemnt (MDM) solution.
  2. Siri: Apple has designed Siri with a smart voice recognition technology to recognize voice accents, eliminate background noise and interpret commands without errors. Since Siri’s intelligence and voice recognition capabilities are dependent on Apple’s back-end server, its performance is dependent on the load of the servers. Also, Apple has not yet released any APIs for app developers to integrate Siri into new or existing applications.
  3. Corporate Data Leakage: Many enterprise users may knowingly or unknowingly take photographs of important documents or designs or share sensitive corporate data with the outside world over iMessage. Thus, IT administrators must identify the potential threats, educate the employees of smartphone policies and implications on violating them, deploy essential tools or MDM solutions in the infrastructure to control the data loss.

Furthermore, enterprises and users may feel concerned about being burdened with long and expensive phone bills and heavy data roaming charges. Using an MDM solution, enterprises may impose data usage policies for different devices to send warnings when a user reaches his data limit. If required, enterprises may also deploy a mobile expense management solution to track and manage the mobile expenses. Check this page for more details on supporting iOS 5 devices in your enterprise.