It's no longer enough to get email through a HotSync operation; new mobile device users need their email with attachments regardless of whether they are at the office or in a taxicab on the way to the airport. It's also just as important for these mobile workers to be able to send those attachments directly from their wireless device as it is to receive them.

Long gone are the days of reviewing and marking up reams of documents during a flight. Now, it's possible to transport a briefcase-load of documents in your shirt pocket. It's also possible to be able to make your edits directly on those documents. It's no longer enough to carry files with you to simply read; professional customers need to be able to edit their documents using any of the accessory keyboards available in order to pass changes on to colleagues and keep work progressing while away from their desks. Mobile professionals in any industry have data needs that can be fulfilled with the new devices and new, "smarter" connected applications.

So, what's next?
Again, Cutting Edge Software is taking the lead in developing the next generation of business-focused applications. And some folks will again probably think we're crazy. With the introduction of our wireless handheld application conferencing technology, we have tried to look beyond today's market to create solutions to meet the needs of tomorrow's mobile knowledge workers. When a peak at this future was demonstrated at Fall Comdex in Las Vegas last October, Quickoffice Conference Edition was selected as a Best of COMDEX Finalist in the mobile/handheld software category, as you can see in Figure B.

FIGURE A

Quickoffice Conference Edition was selected as a Best of COMDEX Finalist in the mobile/handheld software category. Click picture for a larger image.

Our patent-pending technology enables handheld users to exchange information in ways never before possible--even at their Windows PCs. By taking advantage of the power of Quickoffice, combined with our wireless collaboration engine, data conference session participants can exchange information and share files between multiple users and even connect to data-logging machines or databases in real-time.

Data conferencing is smart
The smart, connected applications Cutting Edge Software is building in preparation for this coming era enable a rich exchange of information between participants in real-time.

Smart wireless applications allow interaction never before possible with stand-alone applications and have three main advantages over commonly seen, browser-based, "thin client" solutions: 1) optimized speed over minimum bandwidth 2) multiple input sources, and 3) off-line functionality. We'll say a bit more about those advantages in a minute. The bottom line is that this kind of rich experience is accomplished on even the tiniest bandwidth of today's slow wireless networks precisely by avoiding the trap of browser-based, "thin client" applications.

The first two smart applications to incorporate this conferencing technology are Quicksheet and Quickword. Quicksheet conferencing allows multiple people to work on the same spreadsheet in real-time. Quickword conferences will let two or more users collaborate on contracts, reports, and other documents in real-time. Participants will have the same direct collaborative experience for their data conferences as they have in a typical telephone conference call. We think this voice-enriched-by-data approach will open up a whole new horizon in handheld possibilities.