Is The Android OS Good For Business Use?

[EraqEE]

I'd like to get an Android phone to use for my business.
More specifically, I'd like my android phone to do the following:

1. Support typing in different languages, mainly French and Arabic.
2. Open pdf and word documents so I can read/edit them
3. Notify me of incoming e-mails through SMS
4. Support Outlook express or a similar type of e-mail client

Blackberries are capable of all the above but I've had too many problems with them so I'm willing to switch to Android if it fulfills these requirements.

[ALCingularUser]

I've been using a Samsung Captivate for just over a week, so let me see if I can help.

1. I'm pretty certain this is possible, since I was looking at Android devices being offered by the carriers in the UAE for a friend, and they mentioned that Arabic is supported.
2. Adobe Reader is a free download, and, for Captivate users, at least, QuickOffice is also free.
3. You won't need SMS for this, since, if you configure the device to access your accounts, it will place a notification right on your home screen when mail arrives.
4. E-mail support is built in, even for syncing with an Exchange server, and contacts and calendar will also sync. If you also use a service like Yahoo Mail, there's an app for that (pun definitely intended). Naturally, Gmail is supported.
5. You didn't ask about VPN access, but that also comes built into Android, at least on the Captivate.
6. Remote Desktop isn't included in Android, but there are both free and paid apps that will handle it. VNC is also available via apps.
7. Also, Android's voice recognition is fantastic. Not only can you use it to search, but you can even compose messages with it.

I use my Captivate to keep connected with my work and personal e-mail, as well as Google Talk, which we also use for intra-office messages at work, and everything works flawlessly.

Android may look shiny and pretty, but it can handle business tasks just as well as any other OS. There's even an app called TiKL that will turn your phone into a Nextel-like PTT device for conversations with other TiKL users. And, naturally, it's free.

Hope this helps.

[EraqEE]

Arabic will definitely be supported if you're buying the phone from the UAE.
It's their official language, you know!
I need to know if Arabic is supported when buying an Android phone from Canada.

Other than that, you answered all my questions and more so thank you very much!

[Scottish Skyedance]

Arabic will definitely be supported if you're buying the phone from the UAE.
It's their official language, you know!
I need to know if Arabic is supported when buying an Android phone from Canada.

Other than that, you answered all my questions and more so thank you very much!

It's already supported if you just want reading, there are a lot of Arabic keyboards in the market.
I have BH II and it has Chinese and Japanese support out of the box!

[EraqEE]

Are you sure? I tried google and people in the Android forum were saying that Arabic is not yet supported. I'm still gonna try it out for myself just to make sure!

[Scottish Skyedance]

Wirelessly posted (HTC Touch Pro 2: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; zh-tw; Nexus One Build/FRF91) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

To OP, I think I know your issue.
As I have nexus one with 2.2, I have no problem to open Arabic pages like nokia Middle East. However, I realize the Arabic font is missing on 2.1 (samsung vibrant) and earlier versions.
I know this is a major problem for Android to enter Middle East markets, but I am sure 2.2 solved this issue.

[EraqEE]

I was actually referring to the ability of writing in Arabic.
I need to communicate in English and Arabic with clients so I was just wondering
if I can text in Arabic?

[Dro]

It looks like there are some Arabic keyboards available on the Android Market. http://www.appbrain.com/search?q=arabic+keyboard

(appbrain is an internet database of all the Android apps on the Android market)

[EraqEE]

Thank you Dro, now I'm almost sure of getting an Android phone.
However, I hear Arabic pages aren't displayed properly, even with the 2.2 upgrade.
This is from Arabic videos on youtube, where the pages are displayed as squares.

If this is resolved, I will definitely consider it over the Iphone.

[Dro]

I am using a Nexus One with Stock Froyo and I just randomly googled what appears to be an Arabic site - www.eyoon.com/1/ (I don't read Arabic) and my phone displays everything fine. I think the language pack/font differs from phone to phone.

[EraqEE]

That's good to know.
I'm interested in the HTC Desire so I'm assuming it will support it as well.
It's very similar to the Nexus One and also made by HTC.

It will be released sometime this month on the Telus network so I'll be sure to check it out!

Update:

I checked out the HTC Legend in Canada today and it did not display the Arabic sites at all.
I was told that the phone needs to be rooted in order to do so.
I have no idea how to do this and I don't wanna damage the phone so I'm considering the Iphone instead.
At least, it comes with everything I need without jailbraking!