A surprising (and very welcomed) app is available in the app store from Wyse named PocketCloud.  How is that for an opening line?  Does it grab your attention?  No?  Not interested?  No, this app isn’t very sexy, and quite frankly, it has zero mass appeal.  You will not see this app on an iPhone Commercial, no Diggs, no attention from the media.  This app has no place in pop culture.  In the commercial, the PC guy will be using this, not the trendy and cool mac guy.

I can tell you that, from an IT Professional’s perspective, I would purchase an iPhone just for this app. This app is my new best friend; and just in time for a well earned vacation next week.  To sum it up, this app does remote desktop better than any other app available today;  throw in VMware support, and you have an extraordinary tool for network support staff that can easily jusify the cost of an iPhone and data plan for yourself and your staff.  $29.99 is stiff, even for a tech-savvy person that wants to control his home or office PC, but not for an IT Pro that is working 24 hours a day already.  What this app means to me, is that I can quickly (as in as little as 90 seconds with good 3G) login to my Cisco IPSec VPN (that post is coming in two weeks) and access my Windows Servers and VMs.  The client connects flawlessly (and stays connected!), the screen scales effortlessly using the iphone multi-touch; it has the typical pop-up keyboard, and finite mouse control utility (easy right-clicks).  Scrolling is fast and smooth.  Mouse selection using your finger takes some practice, but that is understandable.  You can only connect to one session at a time.  WiFi is better of course, but access over 3G is damn good.  Considering the name, and the obvious investment from VMware, I expect more to come in later releases, although it is highly recommended at version 1.0 (repeat that to yourself a few times, you will not hear it often).  Actual usage is fast and reliable.  You can solve problems, get things done, and get back to what little life your job permits.  Can a geek make a higher endorsement?

If you don’t know who Wyse is, you’re wasting your time and do not need this app.  These apps will do nicely for you.

PocketCloud supports SSL and has limited support for RSA 2-factor authentication. PocketCloud fits into an established VMware View host environment and does not require any special setup or software installed.  The app will run on the Touch and the iPhone, and supports MS Server 2003 and later sever versions, as well as XP and later desktop operating systems (home versions are not supported).   Although I’ll primarily use this remotely, this is a tool that will prove to be indispensable to on-site support staff that roam about an office building or a factory (especially at $229 for a touch).

PocketCloud integrates with an available Windows (32-bit only) host-based agent that provides advanced capabilities such as Thin-Browser: an enhanced, server-side browser capability, enabling full access to websites for rich and interactive content such as Flash, Silverlight, and Java, and ActiveX content.  The Thin-Browser is available from the options screen when connected to a Windows host running the agent and provides a web browsing experience that is much more complete and robust than Safari; but despite the Wyse claim, is not noticeably faster.  Regardless, when you need to access Flash or ActiveX content, you can.  And that is definitely a pickup.

The PocketCloud App is available for $29.99 from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/. PocketCloud Windows agent can be downloaded for free from www.wyse.com/iphone.

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