Canada’s telecommunications operators are pushing smartphones as a way for professionals to take their offices with them.

Smartphone technology brings many functions once performed only on an office computer or laptop to specially equipped cellphones. The technology, which has been available for some time in the U.S., is now becoming more accessible in Canada.

“There was a lack of availability of high-end handsets,” says Kevin Restivo, an analyst with IDC Canada Ltd. in Toronto, “and on top of that, expensive data plans.”

Carriers have now addressed the lack of network capacity, he adds. Toronto-based Rogers Com-munications Inc., Burnaby, B.C.-based Telus Corp. and BCE Inc. of Montreal all have high-speed networks offering broadband-class access using wireless handsets.

And the range of smartphones is growing, as operators continue to push them as more than mere
e-mail devices. “The biggest evolution has been in Web browsing and GPS,” says Rachael Mens, senior manager of consumer marketing communications with Telus.

Mobile phones use one of the three main operating systems: Windows Mobile, Symbian or the Palm operating system. The last is an option on Palm’s Treo phones, which can also be purchased with Windows Mobile.

“The Windows Mobile offering lets you get deeper into the line-of-business applications in which you’ve already invested,” says Jordan Silverberg, head of business sales at Palm Canada Inc. in Mississauga, Ont.

Microsoft Corp. has developed a complete system of business applications, encompassing document sharing and collaboration in the form of SharePoint, along with customer relationship management applications and corporate e-mail and calendar applications in the form of Microsoft Exchange.

However, even if your office does not use Microsoft back-end applications, Silverberg maintains, you’ll still find useful stand-alone applications on the Treo. There are roughly 18,000 Windows Mobile applications, including various financial tools and information-gathering software.

“You can consume RSS news feeds that automatically deliver content that is specific to your professional area,” he says. “You can also get mobile versions of popular Web sites, such as CNN and Yahoo Finance.”

But browsers on smartphones have not been particularly effective because of the relatively small, low-resolution screens, which can make the browsing experience less appealing than on a laptop. That’s unfortunate, because both Silverberg and Telus’s Mens extoll modern smartphones as the ultimate all-in-one device that can practically replace your laptop.

The one phone that gets browsing right is Apple Inc.’s iPhone, which is proving so popular that the company is on target to sell 10 million units by the end of this year. Unfortunately, it has not been available in Canada, leading many people to buy the phones from the U.S. and modify them to work with Rogers’ Canadian wireless network.

Rogers provides a network based on the GSM standard, which ties an account to a SIM card that can be inserted into the phone. This makes it possible to use a phone not officially offered by Rogers if the phone supports SIM cards. With the Telus and Bell networks, you have to use one of the phones offered by the carriers.

With the iPhone’s large screen, touch interface and easy-access browser and e-mail system, the device’s design is exemplary, but it does have its drawbacks. One complaint among reviewers was that it offers only two gigabyte — not 3G — capability, which makes for slower data access and uploads.

Rogers has recently announced that the iPhone will be officially available on its network by the end of the year. Unconfirmed reports suggest that a 3G phone will be launched by Apple in the near future.

While Rogers prepares to offer the iPhone, the company has also quietly unveiled support for Nokia Corp.’s N95, a stunningly high-performance device. It supports high-quality video and has a five-megapixel camera built in, along with GPS support so you can pinpoint your location via satellite and use the built-in mapping application to find directions.

The N95 also has Wi-Fi capability built in, which is useful for those unwilling to pay Canadian wireless companies’ data rates, which are still relatively high for users wanting unlimited data access. Rogers does offer an unlimited browsing plan, but the all-you-can-eat fee is for Rogers’ authorized applications only; you’ll have to pay extra to use the phone for unauthorized applications, including the maps application already loaded on the N95.

@page_break@But Rogers is re-examining its data plans. “I would not be surprised if future unlimited data plans resemble the kind of plans people originally interpreted,” Restivo says. “In Canada, unlimited data plans have ceilings, whereas in the U.S., that hasn’t been so.”

With new wireless telecommunications operators soon to enter the Canadian market, the Big Three will probably change their data plans to be more equitable, he predicts.

Security is another important consideration for advisors. You must be sure that the sensitive data on your smartphone is well protected. Windows Mobile 6 can encrypt not just e-mails stored on the phone but also data installed on the removable memory cards that generally plug into these devices. You can even remotely wipe the data from a stolen phone using Microsoft Exchange on your office server.

Ultimately, the choice of phone will depend on your business and personal style. Whether you plan to use it to do business as well as to watch videos, take snapshots and play audio books and tunes while on the road will ultimately inform your choice. But one thing is clear: that choice is becoming better all the time for Canadians. IE