When smartphones first hit U.S. shelves they were limited to basic business applications such as e-mail and calendaring. These days the market is rich with on-the-go apps that could make just about any job easier.

Many of these applications empower mobile users in ways that a desktop application cannot. Take Salesforce Mobile on-demand customer relationship management software, for example. Being able to visit prospects, input their data, and access sales tools in the field is a huge advantage. You can do the same with a laptop you say? With mobile applications, road warriors can get directions with their phone's GPS, modify their PowerPoint presentation while in a taxi, and report back to the office via e-mail, all without ever fumbling to open a laptop bag.

Native Applications

Both BlackBerry and Windows Mobile offer software for large and small businesses in a number of industries. Through its BlackBerry Alliance Members, Research in Motion goes beyond push e-mail (where new e-mail is instantly and actively transferred) to offer wireless customer resource management for salespeople, business intelligence tools, remote IT systems management, and time and billing applications for professional services. Windows Mobile serves up mobile versions of Microsoft’s core desktop business applications such as Office, Outlook, and MSN Messenger. Windows Mobile also offers a broad range of applications geared toward larger enterprises such as collaboration tools, sales force solutions, field service solutions, and business value calculators.