Mobile Devices as First Class Calendaring Clients
The proliferation of small form factor mobile and wireless devices for email, calendaring, contacts and To Do lists has done much to liberate users from carrying around larger notebook and laptop devices. However, while wireless email is well established on many devices today, the majority of calendaring on such devices still relies on the existence of an intermediary desktop or laptop computer as a synchronization conduit. In other words, mobile devices are second-class citizens with respect to the user's calendar, a situation that Mace believes should change. "With the proliferation of Web-based calendars, it is important for users to be able to synchronize directly between their calendar and their device of choice," explains Mace. "Forcing them to synchronize through a desktop client just doesn't work anymore."
This is an area of interest for CalConnect too, with direct device-to-device scheduling on the list of upcoming projects. "Let's say you are concluding a meeting with a client, and you both have a mobile device with you," says Thewlis. "Rather than having to return to the office and set up another time to meet, you should be able to directly query free/busy information on each other's mobile device, and then propose and accept a meeting while you are together." It will take time to bring this vision to fruition, but CalConnect has taken steps through its initial planning for an interoperability event for mobile operators, device manufacturers and software vendors.