Apple and IBM release first iPhone and iPad apps for business: Retail, travel and finance sectors targeted

Apple and IBM have launched the first set of business iPhone and iPad apps, created through a partnership first announced in July, with retail, travel, finance and government key targets.

The IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions are supported by IBM cloud services, with the two companies promising more business apps in the future for the banking, retail, insurance, financial services, telecommunications, airline and government sectors.

In retail, the Sales Assist app helps shop assistants by providing them with customer profiles, suggestions based on past purchases, checking inventory, locating in-store items and ordering items in. Pick & Pack (Retail) uses proximity-based technology to help with back-end inventory management.

The first travel apps are Passenger+, which helps airline flight crews manage passengers, and Plan Flight, which helps pilots to view flight schedules, flight plans, and crew manifests.

For the government sector, Case Advice helps caseworkers manage their loads, while Incident Aware provides law enforcement officers with real-time information about suspects and incidents.

There is also a number of apps aimed at the financial services industry, including Advise & Grow, Trusted Advice and Retention, along with Expert Tech, which helps on-site tech installers with route optimisation and issue resolution.