Interview with DataViz's Jenn Figueroa

If you've used smartphones for any period of time, you've more than likely heard of DataViz. Founded in 1984, DataViz now creates software products for a number of platforms, the most notable of which is probably its Documents To Go office suite for a variety of mobile platforms including Palm OS, Symbian OS, BlackBerry, Linux, Java, and Windows Mobile.

I caught up with DataViz spokeswoman Jenn Figueroa, who talked with me about the company and its plans for the future.

FMIT: What are some of the challenges in the development of DTG (Documents To Go)?

JF: "There are two challenging factors. One of the challenging issues developing a Microsoft mobile office solution is adapting the form factor into an environment where there is limited real estate with device screen size. We took a step back and came to the conclusion that it's not about squeezing MS office into a mobile device, but more about supporting all the features that make the most sense to  enable users to use and share documents and data no matter where they are.

"Another challenging issue was the ability to maintain file integrity (in the form of file formatting and data). When it comes to complex Office documents, even today's more powerful smartphones have problems supporting them fully. One obvious reason why is screen sizes on smartphones are still limited, so showing all the complex formatting and layout of a Word, Excel and PowerPoint file may not be the most practical nor useful.

"With this in mind DataViz developed InTact Technology, a key feature in Documents To Go. With InTact Technology, the complex formatting and layout of the original desktop documents are maintained, once they've been edited on the smartphone. By making sure desktop documents and the formatting associated with them are always kept to their original form, users can remain confident when using their Office files on their smartphone. They never have to worry whether the original file has been compromised. InTact is a major importance in our mobile version of Office as there really hasn't been any other mobile solution in the market to match our level of file compatibility."

FMIT: Could you share with us more about the development of DTG for the BlackBerry? How long did it take to create, and are there any unique problems to the BlackBerry platform or issues encountered during development?

JF: "Developing for BlackBerry was a larger project than other recent platforms we've tackled because we had to rewrite Documents To Go in Java. We spent a couple months researching and prototyping before really diving in. From that point it took about 15 months to get to our first release.

"Since then we've spent an additional nine months adding features to bring our Java product up to speed with our C++ product, which is offered on all our other supported platforms. Of course in some ways our Java code now surpasses our C++ code. Other than having to rewrite everything, one Java-specific challenge has been managing memory usage to avoid long garbage collections which can leave the phone unresponsive until complete."

FMIT: DataViz has done a tremendous job so far with its DTG and RoadSync product line. Are there any other software or products that the company is looking into or developing at the moment?

JF: "Listening to our customer's and responding to their feedback has always given us an edge over the competition. By maintaining an open dialogue with our customers we are able to advance our development efforts to provide users with the products they need. At this time we are focusing our efforts on adding features to Documents To Go and Roadsync as well as porting the solutions to other mobile platforms."

FMIT: Are there any plans to develop for Google's Android?

JF: "We are very interested and currently investigating."

FMIT: Are there any plans to develop for Apple's iPhone?

JF: "We are currently developing Documents To Go for the iPhone and anticipate a 2009 release. In fact Documents To Go for iPhone, is our No. 1 customer request due to our strong brand recognition in North America and the increasing iPhone base of users."