- Related Stories
-
CTIA: Wired on wireless
April 10, 2006 -
Which company is more successful: Apple or Microsoft?
March 29, 2006 -
Gates scopes out the business landscape
March 28, 2006 -
Vista delayed beyond holidays
March 23, 2006 -
Gates sizes up the Web's next generation
March 21, 2006 -
Ballmer makes nice with mobile operators
February 14, 2006
The agency has signed up for 500,000 smart phones made by handset manufacturer HTC. They will run Windows Mobile 5.0 and be used to take the 2010 census.
It is a high-tech move for the agency. The bureau had previously used paper and pen to take U.S. citizens' details, which were then digitized by data entry staff.
CTIA: Wired on wireless
The Microsoft contract forms part of a wider $600 million, five-year deal with Harris, a Florida company running the data collection project, that involves the automation of field data collection. The move is aimed at cutting the time, labor costs and errors involved in manual data collection and input.
The deal is not only the largest Microsoft has ever received for mobile devices but also one of the biggest public deals for smart phones in the industry.
Between 2004 and 2005, the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant saw shipments double, from 3 million to 6 million, for devices loaded with its mobile OS. But it remains one of the smallest vendors in the sector by market share. The Symbian operating system is the sector's current heavy-hitter, with more than 60 percent market share, according to figures from research firm Gartner.
Tony Cripps, an analyst at Ovum, said that Symbian likely was beaten to the deal by Microsoft because of a difference in availability. "In America, there are very few Symbian devices on the market capable of doing this job," he said.
"It reinforces the appeal of Windows Mobile in the enterprise," Cripps added. "What this might suggest is that people do want to use their mobile devices for more than e-mail, so enterprises may need to examine their options more closely in the future."
Smart phones are becoming more popular, according to a recent report from ABI Research. The functionality-laden devices will make up 15 percent of all phones sold this year, the report said.
Jo Best of Silicon.com reported from London.
See more CNET content tagged:
data collection, Symbian Inc., Microsoft Windows Mobile, CTIA, data entry
OS does play a role with resources. It is possible to customize windows mobile pc to not load most of the battery draining modules.
http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2005/07/14/438991.aspx
OS does play a role with resources. It is possible to customize windows mobile pc to not load most of the battery draining modules.
http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2005/07/14/438991.aspx
tech moves whatever they get out of this will be outdated before
it's even put to use.
Thus...they will likely still be very usable for the function they are going to perform.
You dont know much about the Census, do you?
For one, they start years before the full census gets underway. They need to 'pre-canvas' and go and double check addresses, maps, etc - all of which was done with paper in the past.
Two, it is a MASSIVE undertaking. MASSIVE. Its not like setting up an online poll for your blog or something. It involves hundreds of thousands of people, massive logistics, thousands of temporary offices, and lots and lots of training of people in different jobs. Its not something you prepare last minute for.
Also, the system they'll be using for data capture needs to be written and tested. Again, this isnt like uploading your daily thoughts to MySpace. The data capture apps are going to take a while to produce, so the developers need to know under what platform they'll be running. 2009 is NOT that far away, so a 3 year old OS is not that out of date.
And then, of course, it'll take time to make all those units in the first place.
So basically, grow up. I know it makes people feel better about themselves to immediate call other people dumb. Its a very non-flattering trait you see a lot of online. But its also very childish. I've worked the Census people in the past, and if there's one organization in the government other than the military that knows how to handle a massive operation, its them.
tech moves whatever they get out of this will be outdated before
it's even put to use.
Thus...they will likely still be very usable for the function they are going to perform.
You dont know much about the Census, do you?
For one, they start years before the full census gets underway. They need to 'pre-canvas' and go and double check addresses, maps, etc - all of which was done with paper in the past.
Two, it is a MASSIVE undertaking. MASSIVE. Its not like setting up an online poll for your blog or something. It involves hundreds of thousands of people, massive logistics, thousands of temporary offices, and lots and lots of training of people in different jobs. Its not something you prepare last minute for.
Also, the system they'll be using for data capture needs to be written and tested. Again, this isnt like uploading your daily thoughts to MySpace. The data capture apps are going to take a while to produce, so the developers need to know under what platform they'll be running. 2009 is NOT that far away, so a 3 year old OS is not that out of date.
And then, of course, it'll take time to make all those units in the first place.
So basically, grow up. I know it makes people feel better about themselves to immediate call other people dumb. Its a very non-flattering trait you see a lot of online. But its also very childish. I've worked the Census people in the past, and if there's one organization in the government other than the military that knows how to handle a massive operation, its them.
They will NOT be either.
Monty Wood from the Census Bureau already confirmed (yesterday) that these devices will not be able to be used for email/internet or phone. The Census bureau will continue to use Blackberry for that.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060404/ap_on_hi_te/census_mobile_devices
They *WILL* perform that functionality. That's how they will stay connected to the census network to upload data.
- Clarifications
- by KsprayDad April 5, 2006 11:16 AM PDT
- This story makes it seem like these devices will be phone/email capable.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
-
- Not true
- by KTLA_knew April 5, 2006 12:11 PM PDT
- just because they will use BB for phone and internet does not make the WinCE devices incapable of performing phone/internet functionality.
- Like this View reply
Processing -
(42 Comments)They will NOT be either.
Monty Wood from the Census Bureau already confirmed (yesterday) that these devices will not be able to be used for email/internet or phone. The Census bureau will continue to use Blackberry for that.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060404/ap_on_hi_te/census_mobile_devices
They *WILL* perform that functionality. That's how they will stay connected to the census network to upload data.