Mobile devices and applications are increasingly important in enterprise computing today. Mobility is also an integral part of the complete ArcGIS system. Esri continues to make improvements to our existing mobile products for Windows, Windows Mobile, and iOS devices, and at the same time we’re expanding mobile applications to new platforms such as Windows Phone and Android.
Currently, Esri offers five mobile technologies: ArcGIS for Windows Mobile, ArcPad, ArcGIS for iOS, ArcGIS for Windows Phone and ArcGIS Desktop. Each of these technologies provides a specific set of capabilities that meets the needs of different end-user application requirements. Trade-offs in software and hardware capabilities, mobile OS, price, size, device ruggedness, and battery life help determine which of these Esri technologies are best suited for your organization’s size, workflow, project scope, and/or development scenario.
ArcGIS for Windows Mobile is designed for mobile data collection where organizations need to support disconnected and occasionally connected workflows. It is closely integrated with ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Server. ArcGIS for Windows Mobile technology, with its task based workflow, has become very popular in the enterprise mobile environment, within all levels of government, throughout the private sector, and in the research community. The most recent release of ArcGIS for Windows Mobile includes a number of stability improvements and enhancements across client applications, the SDK, and the geoprocessing tools.
ArcPad is an ad-hoc mobile mapping and field GIS application with advanced GIS/GPS editing capabilities. It has been successfully deployed and managed by many organizations worldwide for the past 11 years. The most recent release of ArcPad, ArcPad 10.0.2, includes enhanced customization capabilities, an updated help system, improved graphics layer, and support for annotation.
ArcGIS for iOS, Android and Windows Phone are designed to leverage GIS on these smartphone and tablet platforms. Enterprise GIS customers can use these technologies as a mobile gateway into their existing ArcGIS system via ArcGIS Server or ArcGIS Online. Developers can use the SDKs on these platforms to develop and brand custom mapping applications that meet their specific business needs. ArcGIS for Windows Phone was released in December of 2010. ArcGIS for Android is currently in beta and will be released in the August/September 2011 timeframe.
ArcGIS Desktop is used extensively to author and deploy full GIS capabilities in the field where geocentric workflows are required (i.e., utility companies, national mapping agencies, and federal, state and local governments). With ArcGIS Desktop you can understand the geographic context of your data and have access to a full range of advanced GIS tools and functionality (i.e., editing and network analysis). For users who need to work directly with geodatabases, this is the most robust technology. ArcGIS Desktop includes support for tablets and real-time differential GPS simplifying its use in the field. It also includes ArcGIS Explorer Desktop that gives you the ability to access your GIS data and services through an intuitive user experience.
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