For purposes of the study,
iGR, a Texas-based mobile and wireless research consultancy, defined "mobile professionals" as those spending at least 20 percent of their time away from the office.
According to the research firm, nearly 97 percent of those surveyed reported that they need frequent access to email or corporate documents when away from their desks. Seventy percent experience an "urgent need" to view or edit email attachments while away from the office at least once a week, and nearly 58 percent said the ability to view and edit attachments while away from the office would increase their use of mobile email.
The study was commissioned by Quickoffice, a provider of mobile office software for smartphones that allows users to open, view, and edit document files.
Quickoffice defines "laptop lag" as the time between when handheld device users receive an email with a document attached, and when they are able to access a computer to view and make quick edits to the document. Having office software on the mobile device would eliminate the need to locate a computer for viewing or revising documents, the software vendor notes.
Quickoffice CEO Barry Cottle stated, "Improvements in smartphone functionality such as screen, memory, and processing power are revolutionizing business travel, and how smartphone users utilize their devices. The results of this survey confirm that eliminating 'laptop lag' by providing users with software to immediately review and respond to important documents, is a required functionality of smartphones."
Quickoffice describes itself as a provider of mobile office document software for smartphones, allowing users to open, view and edit Microsoft Office files "with complete document data integrity." The software appears to target Palm OS and Symbian UIQ and S60. Such capabilities are a built-in feature of Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS.
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