IAnywhere Updates Web Application Software
IAnywhere released an upgrade to M-Business Anywhere last week with features designed to make the mobile application software more attractive to corporate users.
Customers use M-Business Anywhere to create Web-based applications that users can access from devices such as PDAs. The new version adds support for laptops, desktops and tablet PCs, says Diana Ungersma, a senior product manager at iAnywhere.
The product lets companies develop a Web-based application for use on multiple devices once, rather than having to develop different versions. It includes a client component to access data and submitting forms offline, so for example, a salesperson could do paperwork on the road and sync up the data at the office.
The upgrade also has new tracking capabilities. M-Business Anywhere has always stored such information according to the type of device being used and the frequency with which users synchronize their data, but that information was buried in log files.
IAnywhere has added graphical reporting functions that make it easier for IT departments to keep track of how the software is being used in the field, Ungersma says.
The company also added support for new languages: In addition to English, the client interface for M-Business Anywhere is available in French, German, Italian and Spanish, Ungersma says. The new software release, Version 5.5, is priced from $68 to $299 per end user, depending on the required capabilities.
A subsidiary of Sybase, iAnywhere acquired M-Business Anywhere when it bought AvantGo about a year ago. The software drives the AvantGo consumer Internet service, which lets subscribers view Web pages on handheld devices. !Anywhere has been revving the software to make it more appealing to enterprise customers.
In February, iAnywhere said it had integrated the product with SQL Studio Anywhere, letting developers create Web-based applications that sit on top of iAnywhere’s database for client devices.
Niccolai is a correspondent with the IDG News Service’s San Francisco bureau.
Copyright Network World Inc. Apr 19, 2004