We have had a few months to get to grips with iOS4's release on iPhone. I am sure you are like me and could not live now without this release, with its UI features of folders and task switching as well as Apple's implementation of Multi-tasking. What I am also sure about is that, if you are and iPad user, also like me, you will believe the iOS4 release for the iPad is long overdue.

Switching between devices, iOS4.1 on the iPhone and iOS 3.2.2 on the iPad, is like changing between two pairs of glasses with different prescriptions and views! After a While it can make your world spin!

Hooray... we do not have to wait long, with the promised date of November for iOS 4.2 and the betas already being exposed to registered iOS developers.

What I am seeing in my GEO is the steady adoption of the iPad by the corporate users, but with iOS4.2 in place I expect to see this Enterprise adoption accelerate rapidly, for a number of reasons beyond those I have already mentioned above...

• Currently the iPads that are being used running iOS 3.2.2, are not able to take advantage of Apple's Mobile Device Management (MDM) hooks. MDM as part of iOS4, will satisfy those Management & Security Administrators out there in the Enterprise Mobility World, securing those iPads, in the same way as iOS4 powered iPhones and easing the worry of the 'consumerization' of iPads into the Enterprise, beyond the traditional Enterprise bought devices. Check out Afaria supporting Apple's MDM here

• Security enhancements introduced in iOS 4, protect email messages and attachments stored on the device by using the device passcode as an encryption key. There are also new Data Protection API’s that can be used for custom development and commercial apps, so that business-critical information is protected even if a device is compromised.

• Finally is my favorite, that I have been evangelizing about for a long while... Printing. I have known for many years that most Enterprise Mobile Applications, such as Sales Force Automation (SFA), Field Force Automation (FFA) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM), need some or many forms of non-repudiation, such as signature capture and the printing of customer invoices or task sheets. AirPrint will  make this a reality for iOS devices.
  

On that last point, what I am hoping is that iOS4.2's Airprint goes beyond the public statement of printing to 'local networks' to... printing to mobile printers. Mobile printers that are compact enough, that complement the small form factors of the iOS devices being used out in the wireless network wilderness, in front of customers, away from 'local networks', possibly on Bluetooth.

The key to iPad Acceleration into Enterprise Mobility is on its way

• The Must-Have Features of an Enterprise iPad Application