Symantec Corp has announced new products as part of its drive to make mobile computing more accessible and reliable. The anti-virus software company is releasing two new products; Norton Mobile Essentials, troubleshooting software designed to prevent mobile personal computer connection problems and Mobile Update, software that uses electronic mail to send the latest document changes to mobile PCs so they are up to date all the time. The new products come in response to research that the company has carried out in Europe, and as a result Symantec is focusing its attention towards bridging the security gap that exists in mobile computing. The research revealed that almost half of all laptop users are running mission critical data on their machines. Symantec marketing manager for Northern Europe, Aled Miles believes we will see increasing numbers of mobile machines in use in the coming years. At the moment reliable use is hindered by communication connections, speed, security, tools and pricing. Miles anticipates all of these issues will be addressed in the near future, and machines will follow the example of the desktop and become much cheaper. In the meantime, the company hopes it will be able to help mobile users make the most of their machines with its new products. Norton Mobile Essentials consists of three components; Before You Go, Location Controller and Connection Doctor. Before You Go enables users to check their machine is in good working order before they leave their home or office, holds lists of important things the user must take with them from PC adapters to toothbrushes. It has a link to a travel web site which enables users to find out about the city they will be visiting, detailing information from electricity supply to weather forecasts. The Location Controller enables users to program in details relating to the connection requirements in different locations they visit, such as different offices, the home and when the machine is being used in a hotel or on a plane. Users can then just click on the place they are in and the machine will automatically configure to those connection requirements. Connection Doctor checks the connection used and determines where problems reside. The other new product, Mobile Update, emails updated documents to both mobile and stationary machines, as they become available. When changes appear they are automatically emailed to the PC, which has software that scans the file for viruses, creates an optional backup, and introduces changes to the current file.
