Application vendors should also try to take advantage of some of the native capabilities of these devices, added Wettemann. For instance, smartphones and tablets have geo-location capabilities that can pinpoint the user's location. Such a feature could be harnessed in enterprise applications as well.

Despite these limitations, it is clear that many of tomorrow's consumer-oriented devices will find a place in the workforce as well.

The devices such as iPads "really have transformed into business tools," Fleck said. "They are allowing a lot of people to leave their laptops at home."

The IDG News Service