It’s the ultimate consumer status symbol – extremely cool, innovative, sleek, “sexy”, razor thin, and great looks. However, despite the media hype and buzz, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the Apple iPhone has a number of drawbacks that we believe should steer you away from the device for now:

Will the iPhone work with my existing corporate messaging services?

Not the way you want to use it!

Corporate Blackberry, GoodLink, and ActiveSync servers constantly “push” a constant stream of email to the mobile device when it arrives. The iPhone utilizes “pull” technology, requiring users to repeatedly connect to the server in order to get that mail you’ve been waiting for. The iPhone does not currently support Blackberry, GoodLink, or ActiveSync integration.

In addition, the protocols used to support corporate email access raise other security concerns and will necessitate the reconfiguration of both your email system and your firewall.

Finally, the only way to sync your calendar and contacts with Outlook will be by physically connecting the iPhone to your laptop or desktop computer and using the iTunes software.

What would happen if the device got lost or stolen?

There are no centralized management or security tools overseeing these devices. In the event of a loss or theft, there would be no way to “kill” the iPhone. In contrast, existing Blackberry and GoodLink technologies allow for the destruction of data and disablement of the device, rending it useless. This lack of device management capabilities, especially in a highly competitive environment ripe with sensitive data, is critical.

AT&T’s website is also stating that the iPhone is uninsurable and will not be covered under their optional cellular phone insurance plan.

How’s the Battery Life?

Apple is claiming that the iPhone will offer up to 8-hours of talk time, up to 250 hours of idle time, provide up to 6 hours of Internet use, up to 7 hours of video playback, and up to 24 hours of audio playback. However, there are a number of disclaimers surrounding these claims. The most important fact being that battery life is dependant on the strength and quality of the cellular signal at a user’s given location. It is unclear at this time how the battery will actually perform, especially when in a less than optimal signal environment such as inside an office building.

Do I Have Access to the Battery?

Unfortunately, like the iPod, the iPhone battery is sealed within the unit and behind a top surface of glass, eliminating a user’s ability to remove the battery for troubleshooting or problem resolution. Battery replacement or repairs will only be possible by sending the unit to Apple, rendering the user device-less for a number of days (or possibly weeks).

What About Applications Other than Email?

One of the highly touted advantages of the iPhone is supposed to be its “feature rich” Internet browser.

The Safari browser just simply doesn’t have the performance of a high-powered, full-featured web browsing tool due to limited applications and plug-in support. Common web applications, including but not limited to Real Audio and Windows Media streaming audio, Java, and Adobe Flash player, simply won’t run.

You will be able to open and read Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Adobe PDF documents, but you will be unable to edit or save these files to the device.

Additionally, there will likely be limited third party applications developed for the iPhone since Apple has informed the development community that applications should be developed within the complicated Safari environment.

Finally, AT&T’s high-speed 3G mobile broadband network does not currently support the iPhone, making it reliant on AT&T’s significantly slower EDGE network. This will cause a significant slow down in web browsing – imagine getting a sports car and only being able to drive it at 25 miles an hour. According to Apple, the initial generation of iPhone models will not be able to be upgraded to use the faster network at a later point in time.

Can I use my existing cellular carrier?

Yes – as long as your carrier is AT&T , otherwise, you will have to change carriers. Apple has signed a two-year exclusive contract with ATT/Cingular as the sole provider. As many of our customers know first hand, AT&T’s coverage is inconsistent or spotty. A recent Consumers Report survey reports that static and busy circuits are wide spread problems throughout the country.

In Summary

While the Apple iPhone is a very nice device, it is premature to call it a business tool. In fact, Apple is even calling it a consumer device, touting its rich-multimedia capabilities (music, video, and photographs) and steering email users towards Yahoo, areas that clearly not business-oriented.

The iPhone will likely leave technology dependent road warriors and power-users feeling frustrated and unfulfilled.