Posted by Justin Reynolds on March 20, 2008 at 08:28:40:
In Reply to: Re: Blackberry and/or Iphone posted by Grant Foraker on March 19, 2008 at 15:06:41:
I've considered doing a Blackberry app to interface with Comet.
From my understanding, the application is like a stripped down interface to a DB backend, running on the Blackberry Enterprise server. So: the Blackberry handheld makes a request over the air to the server, the server does the grunt work, and returns the results to the handheld. The idea is to keep the amount of data traveling over the air to a minimum (for both expense & speed).
From a technical standpoint: if you were using an SQL server on the backend, then it's pretty straight-forward. Comet is another story, though. You'd need some kind of ODBC/OLEDB interface to it. (Presumably, a two-way connection; otherwise your handheld can only lookup data.)
From a monetary standpoint: the client/end-user presumably has to purchase Blackberry Enterprise Server, which isn't cheap. For 20 users, you're looking at $4000. You can get a small business/5 user version for $1100, which supports a max of 15 users. Plus you get to spend ~$400/handheld, ~$100/client access license, etc.
I thought about this right up to the point where I realized it wasn't possible at present, except maybe through CometLib, and I just don't have the energy for that. If Comet played well with others, it might be worth thinking about. It would be a great tool for roaming sales people, perhaps a "killer app" that would make the Blackberry expenses seem reasonable, but Comet's xenophobic nature pretty much kills the idea.
At any rate, here's a link to the Blackberry development site:
http://na.blackberry.com/eng/developers/started/
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