1. classact's Avatar
    I've been using a BB phone with BES for a few years (currently 9930 -- am on Verizon) and lately have been exploring the use of my PlayBook and of the upcoming BB10 phones that Verizon will carry.

    My use of BES involves utilization of a major Exchange hosting provider since I'm a one-man company without our own IT department. They haven't even remotely embraced Mobile Fusion (soon to become BES10) and it seems they won't begin to see the sun shining until the resurgence of demand for BB resulting from BB10 starts to shake them out of their slumber -- which of course is inevitable… eventually.

    Meanwhile, until they adopt/implement BES10 (or I change to a hosting provider who does), I'm limited to ActiveSync for my PlayBook now and apparently will be limited to ActiveSync for the new BB10 phone I'm anxious to pick up when it comes out.

    I just enabled ActiveSync on my PlayBook, though, and man am I ever disappointed!!!

    Talk about limitations!

    I'm still running on the Outlook 2007 Server with my Exchange host, and hope to migrate to 2010 in about two months (if their migration tool is ready by then, as they're planning), so maybe that will make a difference. But the limitations with ActiveSync I'm seeing now on the PlayBook are drastic!

    1. No attachments to Calendar items!
    Uh, actually, I feel I can stop right there! That constitutes a whole list! What the heck am I supposed to do as a business user with that kind of limitation?

    2. No Tasks or Notes.
    Seriously?

    3. Can't even open a .vcf attachment.
    4. No color coding of categories in calendar items.

    And that's what I discovered in the first three minutes of perusing it!

    So, what is the realistic usability for the PlayBook when syncing to Exchange with ActiveSync, and for a BB10 phone to do so when it comes out?

    Other than the current limitations inherent in my using Exchange 2007 that will hopefully change with the planned move to Exchange 2010 soon, what -- if anything -- gives me any reason to expect the BB10 phone to do any better using ActiveSync than the PlayBook is doing now?

    No wonder a couple senior RIM techs in Waterloo told me that when the BB10 phones come out I'm probably going to want to stay with the 9930 "for a pretty long time" so I can continue using BES -- until the Exchange hosting provider(s) "eventually" adopt and implement BES10.

    I'm really hoping someone can tell me a reason why it's not as bad as it seems, and that I'm missing something somewhere.
    01-09-13 11:46 PM
  2. ezapper2's Avatar
    I dont have any issues getting my mail on my PB...its good for that and testing msas with all my clients...
    01-10-13 12:19 AM
  3. Thunderbuck's Avatar
    OP, you've basically hit the nail on the head. No, ActiveSync DOESN'T do everything BES does.

    What companies are going to need is Mobile Device Management. Not just a way to communicate devices, but to control them, potentially recover them, and most definitely be able to shut them down or wipe them if they go missing. ActiveSync pulls the plug on the PIM stuff, sure, but it can't do what Mobile Fusion can. The other big problem for companies is that, sure, you can do corporate PIM on mobile devices through ActiveSync, but you can't serve intranet or run corporate software without either managing the device or punching big holes in your firewall.

    The fortunate thing: if a company is currently on BES, and wants to do BYOD for devices, all they'll really need to do is upgrade to BES10 (or even adopt Fusion now, for that matter). At that point, a user could bring in an iPhone, or Android, or of course BB10 and connect to the corporate network as a managed device. Even better, older BBs will still be supported, and there are still a lot of corporate BBs out there.

    Fusion is the Future!
    RubberChicken76 likes this.
    01-10-13 12:44 AM
  4. joeldf's Avatar
    Actually, it was confirmed last Dec on BerryReview (in a Dec 11 post) that tasks and notes will be included in EAS syncing. CrackBerry mentioned it the same day related to Evernote integration. Apparently, the capability has always been there in AS, it's just that no one activates its use. Now, it will be.

    Don't know about your other two issues.
    01-10-13 10:15 AM
  5. classact's Avatar
    Actually, it was confirmed last Dec on BerryReview (in a Dec 11 post) that tasks and notes will be included in EAS syncing. CrackBerry mentioned it the same day related to Evernote integration. Apparently, the capability has always been there in AS, it's just that no one activates its use. Now, it will be.

    Don't know about your other two issues.
    You sure that doesn't just apply to the EAS that BES will be utilizing? My Exchange host doesn't offer it even to their iPhone and Android users now, and it's one of the two largest Exchange hosts in the U.S. Also, my PlayBook configuration screen for setting up EAS only has three things to enable or disable: email, contacts, and calendar. So, exactly where is it being provided that a BB10 phone can just plug into without Mobile Fusion (BES10) being implemented on the server first?

    And even if they do add tasks and notes, the fact that I can't even view (let alone edit) a simple Word or Excel file that's attached to a calendar item is an entirely cut-and-dried deal-breaker for me. There are all kinds of simple to creative to complex things these various phones can do, but if I can't view a basic Microsoft file attached to a calendar item I feel like I'm using a phone that won't ring or dial. I have work to do. I don't need remote file serving, and I don't care about seeing the constellations by holding the phone up in the air. But I do care about basic business communication and utilization. The BB7 phone I'm using now on BES opens and lets me view Word and Excel attachments to calendar items no problem, and has for a long time. And I consider this a vitally useful feature.
    01-10-13 11:13 AM

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