Taste-testing Apple's iOS 5

Mark Mason gives a flavour of the business and IT issues surrounding the new iOS 5 operating system for mobile devices such as iPhones

While the new iPhone 4S, and with it iOS 5, deliver a number of excellent new features into the hands of consumers, these releases pose questions that IT departments will need to answer.

Apple’s iCloud is promising to cut the desktop computer umbilical cord. This means that rather than being encrypted on a personal or work computer, files can be sent to Apple’s servers. For many, this poses security concerns about whether or not the data being stored is completely safe.

When it comes to the new Siri integration on the 4S, Apple openly admits that commands given are retained to help the system improve itself. While the data is not linked to devices or users, it raises the spectre of emails, text messages and questions dictated into Siri becoming a compliance and data management risk - for example, if anyone managed to hack into Apple’s datacentres.

Apple will be fully aware that it needs to ensure the complete security of sensitive data. The risk of a breach would be catastrophic for the company and damage its reputation significantly. But by being in such a walled garden, the hope is that Apple is capable of protecting its users from threats and intrusions. Indeed, as a company that thrives on secrecy, I believe Apple will take extra steps to avoid getting it wrong.

With more than four million iPhone 4Ses sold in its launch weekend, Apple has already established the device as a consumer favourite. In the enterprise and channel market, Siri is the killer function.

Being able to ask your phone to check your diary, schedule meetings, add reminders based on your location and - when enabled in the UK - find directions and local businesses is a compelling feature. For those who regularly have to travel from meeting to meeting, the ability to use voice commands to listen to and reply to emails and messages will be welcomed.

The fact that Siri mimicks a personality and a sense of humour makes it all the more compelling.

However, the default setting means that anyone who picks up the 4S can use Siri from the lock screen. Nobody expects such a device to be perfect, but, due to the ways in which Siri functions, this would enable anyone to craft a new email, send an SMS, access contact details or find out about meetings.

While the setting can be altered, users should have been given the choice in the first instance of whether or not to enable it.

An application on which Apple chose not to focus in a recent keynote is the new Find my Friends program. This is essentially a way to allow people to find out where you are at any given time. It could be great for families and certain types of companies, but it obviously brings with it many security concerns.

While blocking people from finding you is easy to manage and you can choose to hide from your followers, not everyone will remember to do this. It remains to be seen how useful this application will be in the real world and whether it is used to help find friends, or stalk employees.

From a developer perspective, Apple’s new location simulator means it is now possible to simulate various locations to test applications. This is essential for ensuring a seamless user experience even when users are in a weak reception area.

There are also new instrument tools that predict bugs by simulating various potential examples, using more advanced testing capabilities. This should improve the development process and make certain that companies can be assured apps will work seamlessly whether released to the general public or just to employees.

The compiler has also been totally revamped, which means it now performs memory management automatically, making it far easier for developers, and in turn, speeding up the approval process with Apple. In the past, developers had to do the memory management, which added a certain complexity to developing for iOS.

The iOS 5 platform promises 1,500 new APIs, suggesting it brings with it a lot of benefits to users and developers. Many of these will not matter to the majority, however. As with every evolution of a software platform, new versions introduce many features that IT departments will need to assess.

However, I believe iOS 5 and the additional 4S features make the iPhone even more attractive to business users. And in the wake of RIM’s recent issues with the BlackBerry, this could not have come at a better time for Apple.

Mark Mason is chief executive officer of Mubaloo