WAN optimisation vendor Riverbed has launched Steelhead Mobile, a system designed to speed up back-office data transfers to laptops over the internet.

The solution, which is only available to users of the Steelhead WAN optimisation appliance, is designed to tackle “bandwidth limitations, transport protocol ‘chattiness’ and associated latency, and also application-specific protocol ‘chattiness’ and latency,” said Riverbed marketing director Mark Lewis.

Steelhead Mobile uses client agents that have to be installed and managed using a new appliance called a Steelhead Mobile Controller (SMC) that runs the Riverbed Optimisation System (RiOS) Mobile 1.0 firmware. RiOS 1.0 accelerates Microsoft Cifs and Mapi protocols and so speeds up the downloading of Microsoft Office application data and Exchange emails.

The system is currently only available for Windows laptops, and Lewis said Riverbed has no immediate plans to introduce versions for Mac or Linux systems.

“Steelhead Mobile should appeal to telecommuters who work from both home and abroad, firms that have one office and many remote workers, and branch office staff who use wireless LAN links,” said Lewis.

Riverbed said the system is due to ship later this year. Pricing will be about $90 (£45) per mobile user, with the SMC costing $13,000.