Windows Phone Thoughts: Spb Kiosk 3.0: Corporate PPC Lock-Down Utility

"Pocket PCs are more than just simple PDAs - they are richly-featured miniature computers and it's often easy for an employee to get distracted by a game of Solitaire instead of focusing on the enterprise application you designed for them. ........When Spb Kiosk is deployed, it completely prevents the user from switching away from the target applications. It provides a full screen mode, which can hide the Pocket PC navigation elements, and automatically starts the target application after a soft reset. It can be used with most enterprise applications, and a secret administration mode can be accessed by using a custom-defined hardware key sequence. Once in administration mode, the device can be used as a normal Pocket PC without restrictions - this allows the administrator to configure the application, and then lock it back down into kiosk mode.



Yup, no longer will your pesky users get 'distracted' by their Pocket PCs. Total control can be yours. ;-) On a serious note this does sound like a good idea for more widespread PPC deployment, just as long as you aren't one of the ones who's PPC is locked down to an inch of it's life. SPB claim that over a hundred companies are using the Kiosk software, which can be customized in a variety of ways. You can lock it down to specify the buttons and menus displayed, only allow a specified program or programs or can put the PPC into Terminal Services client mode etc. The upgrade from version 2 to 3 is free for current users and you can read more at the Spb Kiosk 3 product page here.