In this article, we will be discussing a smattering of business applications for: Google Android offered through T-Mobile, Apple iPhone with AT&T, Blackberry Storm from Verizon, and HTC Touch Diamond with Sprint. Innovation has flourished in the software market, leading to many software platforms; today, however, comparisons will focus simply on a phone’s applications, not on the software platform the applications are based upon.

Google made many headlines with their landmark Android software, and their initial foray into the cellular world has many buzzing, simply because an open source device has not truly been done yet in the US market. Google’s open source platform has allowed many user friendly programs to help the business person develop their brand: Locale, a service that allows users to specify where geographically to be silent, loud, vibrate, or any combination, a file sharing service (Mshare), and an Easytranslator for those of us who aren’t language savvy. This just scratches the surface of the many business uses the Google Android has.

Appple’s iPhone made a huge splash in the pond when it debuted, and it still is a landmark phone for its users, and a source of consternation for the competitors. The applications for the iPhone are as broad and well developed as the Android, if not more so, for the iPhone has a decent head start. Some applications for business are: Timewerks, a client tracking and invoicing program, Goal-Tracker, which allows business professionals to create, manage, track, and develop goals, a file beaming service called iBeam, among literally thousands of options. The iPhone has been and continues to be an application dream.

The Blackberry Storm is the first RIM device to display a touch screen, yet their software has been legendary both in the start up phase of cell phone and PDA device merging, and throughout their company’s history. Applications for Storm user are less broad, given the Verizon mantra of proprietary software management, however, adventurous users can download various applications from sites like fandango and be on the cutting edge of business application. The foremost feature of this phone is of course the push email, which allows users to see when an email is sent, delivered, and whenever one is sent to their phone as well. Other business applications include: Documents to Go, which allows users to navigate the different file formats easily, MyCaption, which allows a voice to text resource for emailing, and Beyond411, which allows users to specify any sort of search in a variety of ways. This Blackberry didn’t take the market by storm, but this RIM device has made it’s place secure.

Sprint’s Touch Diamond has business applications, and a broad range of them hail from the windows platform of software, which is what the Diamond boasts. Alongside the platform, the Diamond also can reorient a webpage from wherever you are in your phone. Applications like Contactmanager2.0, Fileshare1, and PocketInformant 8.51 all help you with your business needs all while having simple titles. HTC’s Touch Diamond is a phone mane users can enjoy.

When comparing applications, it is important first to know what your needs are. When that has been decided, and you know what cell phone carriers cover your business area in a comprehensive way, you must decide which phone, and which applications, are right for you. You have been shown many doors; happy app hunting!

There are many things shaking the grounds where Motorola stands. In the past year, many cell phone corporations and other equipment companies have been trying to figure out what is the best way there is to regain their popularity and their status in the market. Motorola is one of them. While its popularity drops considerably, they leave an entire past of glory behind.

Motorola has been trying to find its way back to the surface. They’re struggling to come up with more efficient phones and more appealing advertisement campaigns for those who still don’t know about their services and products availability.

Although Motorola is within the top decliners list with a Stock Exchange drop index of 2%, their top engineers have been working the hardest they ever had. They’re trying their best to keep up with their competitor’s technology and at the same time looking for fresh material themselves, so they can also build up new trends.

Motorola has held a solid lead on the two way radio product line. They introduced feature rich radios like the Motorola XPR6550 in the winter of 2007 and have been building on its platform yearly.

There’s a new Motorola mystery phone that has brought a state of great commotion to the world’s media. The anticipation of the company’s newest cell phone has been making the speculative investment increase around the company, bringing Motorola’s name back into the game. This mystery phone is called Motorola’s A3300 and it has launched in China. The new phone’s operating system is Windows based, proving that Motorola has not given up on their old partner entirely, something that will compel Windows admirers and supporters to purchase more Motorola phones than the competitors’ options.

The countries where Motorola seems to have the most recognition are Argentina, Venezuela, Romania, Russia and Malaysia. Their sales have been increasing in those countries while dropping in US.

Many other endeavors from Motorola top executives are also bringing the company into a new world of promising associations. Blockbuster has just proclaimed it officially that their OnDemand service will be available as an app on Motorola phones exclusively. This combination between the two companies will bring a new audience for their new products. The new phone owners that will enjoy the use of a fully equipped Motorola cell phone will also be able to enjoy movies whenever they want. This partnership seems promising since both of these companies have been struggling with sales and popularity drop in the past year.

Motorola has also teamed up with Google as a new way to bring attention back to their electronics. The company’s first smart phone is equipped with an Android engineered by Google that will be used as the phone’s operating system instead of Windows. For Motorola this is a way to bring back all its glory and make this corporation profitable again.

Due the tragedy of Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan, Motorola has announced a large contribution to the victims of this recent tragedy, giving away US$50,000 to the Federation of Red Cross for relief aid. The Taiwan based Motorola employees also participated in many fundraising activities coming up with an extra US$33,000 to the International Federation of Red Cross. The company keeps finding different ways to bring the spotlight back to their work whether it’s in the technological or humanitarian field.

Whether Motorola is going to be able to get back on their feet by regaining the market’s trust with their new products or not is still unclear. But there’s no doubt that this company has a history of bringing innovation and new ideas into the world, stirring the competition and creating new opportunities for an advanced technological growth. All we have to do now is wait and hope that whatever Motorola is going through will be over soon so their efforts will not be in vain.

One interesting caveat on the cell phone law is that some states bundle in mobile radios. These are sometimes known as vehicular two way radios. You will notice these radios in cabs, buses, and other fleet vehicles. Since there is no thought provoking interaction (dialing numbers, texting, etc) with mobile radios, I don’t think that they should be included.  Hawaii, for example, is not including mobile radios with their cell phone law.

There are new radio technologies out, specifically MOTOTRBO that offer some really cool bels and whistles for mobile fleets. These radios have full GPS capabilities, which allow you to manage your fleet (and productivity) from a remote location. The best thing that the MOTOTRBO series radios is that you just have to pay for the equipment as opposed to a subscription.

If you compare size and durability, I would say the BPR40 or the CP185, maybe the CP200 but it’s much better when it comes to durability and audio quality, but not size.  If you look at features, then it compares somewhat to HT series, PR860 and EX series, but those are 10X the radio when it comes to everything else.

This radio intrigued me, because those comparison radios very greatly in functionality. Since Motorola owns Vertex Standard, it will be very interesting if they keep producing these hybrid/multi-functional radios.

Two way radio communicators like the fact that the Motorola CP185 is a display. Battery strength and radio signal indicators are viewable from the display. Other Motorola radios, such as the CP200, do not have a display.

I was surprised that the CP185 didn’t come with a water resistant casing, like the Motorola CP110, which was released in late summer, 2008.  I am curious if Motorola will continue to build the CP product line or if they will add some new radios to the Mag One series.

The two way radio division has been Motorola’s bread and butter since the company was formed. Unfortunately, they got caught up on low margin consumer electronics, and lost their way for a while. Motorola had a hit with the Razr, but quickly lost their edge (no pun intended) when the iPhone and other phones hit the market.

At $5.37, Motorola’s stock can only go up. I’m buy no means a stock analyst, but feel that it’s a good buy.

After a couple of years, the BPR40 is gaining strength as one of Motorola’s top lower tiered radios. I recently hooked my Uncle up with a set to use at his meat packing plant and for hunting. Granite, this radio is more expensive than the toy radios that most hunters use. But, with 4 watts of power, it is not going to have as difficult as a time transmitting through the thick foliage.

One of the best features of the BPR40 is that it comes with a full magone accessory line of headsets, earpieces and speaker microphones. An even better feature is that the accessories are less expensive than the Motorola CP200. The magone accessories are of cheaper quality, but do the job for most applications. It is common to see bouncers at clubs using the Motorola BPR40 and having a surveillance kit earpiece.

Before the MOTOTRBO, here’s a list of the new radios that have been brought to market since 2006:

• February, 2006: Mag One BPR40
• July, 2007: Motorola EX560
• June, 2008: Motorola CP110

Four radio series! They do release batteries and accessories more often. I think this pattern is going to change with the MOTOTRBO series.

The MOTOTRBO series is almost like a cell phone. It has GPS functionality, text messaging and is water resistant. We tested the water resistance claim in our MOTOTRBO video. The MOTOTRBO series is open source, which is allowing for some really cool applications.

Motorola recently launched the CP110 two way radio into their product line. This two way radio is small, compact and overall a solid communications choice for small businesses. The Motorola CP110 is a good choice for small night clubs, retail operations (Gap, Banana Republic, etc.) and light industrial. It is the replacement for the Motorola CP100, which was basically a glorified Talkabout (family style = junk) radio.

The CP110 has 2 watts of power, which means that signal will not submit as far as more advanced two way radios. If you need the transmission to extend further, then the Motorola BPR40 is a better choice. My favorite feature of the Cp110 is its casing. It is just as durable as other CP series radios.