ADVERTISEMENT Feature Aspasia Cloud Informational Series – No.15 Tablets – gimmicks or the future for agents?


A LITTLE OVER a year ago Apple introduced us to the iPad and, in spite of much scepticism from some quarters, many businesses have found innovative ways of employing the device, usually to supplement their mainstream computer. Indeed, there are a number of Apps that have been developed within our own industry and which have been readily adopted albeit within a limited sphere of operation. Apps invariably focus on a small range of functionality or usage as with property searches or similar activities where the purpose is ancillary to the wider context in which the App resides. So is there really a prospect of tablets ever replacing a desktop computer for agents involved in residential property or are they destined to only play an important but mainly auxiliary role? To achieve the grander objective and gain


critical mass, the software has to run within a browser because it must be usable on any Internet connected device and not just as an App which is limited to a specific operating system. Few software developers would risk the investment that would be required to create a complete residential sales or lettings application as an App limited to one operating system on a tablet even if it was technically possible to do so. Residential software applications are huge in comparison to Apps which, as was mentioned above, are invariably limited in their scope and purpose. Unlike an App there is no practical limit to the size or complexity of an application which runs in a browser because the software itself is running on a remote server which doesn’t have any of the technical limitations inherent in a mobile device.


choice of tablet A year on from the introduction of the original


iPad there is now a rapidly growing range of tablet computers with a diversity of form factors and operating systems and they are clearly here to stay. Mobility and convenience are perhaps their most important facets – it is so gratifying to be able to utilise your device wherever you happen to be and without any delay waiting for it to start up. Much of the activity undertaken by


agents would in theory benefit tremendously from the use of a tablet computer and in this respect we have been trialling one of the more recently released tablets (an HTC Flyer) with Aspasia Cloud rather than with an iPad which we have been using for some time now. The HTC Flyer is an interesting device not least because its seven inch screen size is midway between an iPad and a smartphone but because it also comes with an electronic pen which can be used to take notes or annotate any screen image which can then be instantly shared with others by email or other means.


operating systems The Flyer is also of particular interest to us


because it is one of many devices that use Google’s Android operating system which, together with the imminent Chrome operating system, is naturally very tightly integrated with the wider range of their cloud based services such as Google Apps, a core component of Aspasia Cloud. The Flyer has WiFi and 3G capabilities and we are acutely aware of the potential coming soon with 4G which will provide much higher nationwide coverage than 3G and at speeds well in excess of those we currently experience at home and at work with conventional broadband access. We believe this may mark the point at which cloud based computing will become mainstream and will coincide with the gradual demise of desktop computing in its current form, a trend already being reflected in worldwide PC sales. The HTC Flyer has only been on the market for a few weeks but early indications are very


Aspasia Cloud is the first fully integrated cloud technology software solution for agents involved with residential sales, lettings and property management. This informational series has been designed to explain how the software differs from other solutions and what that means for agents who use it.


For further information and to read previous articles in the series, please go to www.aspasia.net.


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favourable in terms of the potential use by agents of this type of tablet computer. First, its size means that it is very much more portable than iPad sized tablets in that it can fit into a jacket pocket or almost any handbag, whilst the clarity and size of the screen permits a realistic and useful browsing experience unlike smartphones which are just that bit too small. Android’s ability to permit voice input makes the absence of a conventional keyboard less of an issue and, surprisingly, it really does work well although we haven’t tested it with regional accents! There is always the virtual keyboard to fall back on which is very usable on a device the size of the Flyer.


versatility As the device has front and rear facing cameras


it could easily be utilised for tasks such as taking inventories or many of the other instances where photographic facilities would supplement the conventional completion of database fields within an application. And the electronic pen is a real winner. To be able to scribble notes on any screen in the application and for them to be instantly stored and uploaded to the integrated Evernote facility really works well and would be tremendously useful in any business. You can even change the characteristics of the pen and create quite sophisticated on screen drawings and plans if you so wish. Unfortunately space dictates that we cannot expand any further here on the potential opportunities inherent in this kind of device within the context of agency work. Suffice to say that our experience with the HTC Flyer and Aspasia Cloud has demonstrated that we are perhaps just scratching at the surface of what will be possible in the future and it has left us in no doubt about the relevance of this type of device in our industry. In starting the ball rolling with the iPad, Steve Jobs at Apple may just have created the initial impetus for a gradual transformation in much of what we currently do within the industry and how it is achieved. It has certainly opened our eyes to many opportunities we hadn’t envisaged when we started working on Aspasia Cloud.


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