Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly – October 21, 2010

Kevin's Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news and articles related to enterprise mobility that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting information that reflects market numbers and trends.

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More shoppers flocked to Amazon’s website during the third quarter, helping the online retailer's net income climb 16 percent and easily beat analyst expectations.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/21/ap/tech/main6979245.shtml

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Automatic Data Processing Inc., a provider of human resources, payroll and benefits administration services, has launched its first application, Run powered by ADP mobile payroll.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/adp-debuts-first-mobile-payroll-app-targeting-small-businesses/

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SkedgeMe, an Internet based productivity and scheduling tool for businesses, has released what it calls a “smart” scheduling application. SkedgeMe is cloud based, with business intelligence built into it, using complex rules to do all the work.

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/10/smart_calendar.html;jsessionid=U4W4BDHYYOEOFQE1GHPCKH4ATMY32JVN

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ClickSoftware has announced tight integration between Facebook and its ClickContact self service customer portal.

http://web-self-service.tmcnet.com/topics/agent-answers/articles/109737-clicksoftware-announces-clickcontact-extension-into-facebook.htm

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Overall, sales of PCs have been slower than expected. Gartner said 88.3 million PCs were sold in the third quarter, up 7.6 percent from a year ago, but below its earlier forecast of 12.7 percent growth.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/oct/14/ipad-netbook-sales

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Microsoft has unveiled the first nine Windows Phone 7 smartphones, the company's first attempt at catering to consumers and business users alike.

http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/cell-phones/the-enterprise-smartphone-war/11460.html

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Enterprise mobility is becoming increasingly important for insurers’ technologically inclined workforce. In a recent survey of top business leaders, IT experts and mobile developers, Pyxis Mobile, a mobile application platform provider, found that companies are expanding beyond just mobile applications for field services and sales people, to empower all employees.

http://www.insurancenetworking.com/news/Insurers_mobile_enterprise_mobility_Pyxis_iPad_applications-26098-1.html

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It’s no secret that Skype has major ambitions for its enterprise business. In a move that was clearly not a coincidence, Skype recently brought on Tony Bates, who ran the enterprise group at Cisco, as CEO.

http://www.567t.com/skype%E2%80%99s-vp-of-enterprise-on-future-strategy-products-and-competitors

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AT&T now boasts a total of 92.8 million active wireless service lines. This comes off the back of a 2.6 million net subscriber gain over the third quarter of 2010, a record for this period of the year.

http://i.engadget.com/2010/10/21/atandt-clocks-up-2-6-million-net-new-wireless-subscribers-bigger/

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How much has Apple’s iPad changed the tech world? According to a forecast Friday from tech researcher Gartner, global sales of media tablets will reach 19.5 million this year — “driven by sales of the iPad,” the firm said. Tablet sales will reach 54.8 million in 2011 and grow to more than 208 million in 2014, Gartner said.

http://forex-hyip-investment.com/telecommunications-apples-ipad-att-will-market-it-directly-to-businesses/

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Consumers are driving a corporate shift away from BlackBerry. Apple’s iOS and Android are quickly becoming popular alternative IT solutions for large corporations, and it is clear that more and more companies are willing to expand their options when it comes to enterprise mobility management solutions

http://making-money-investing.com/telecom-consumers-drive-corporate-shift-away-from-rim%E2%80%99s-blackberry.html

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ClickSoftware is an SAP mobility partner and the leading provider of automated workforce management and optimization solutions for every size of service business. This newsletter is sponsored in part by ClickSoftware - http://www.clicksoftware.com/.

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Apple's wildly popular gadget lineup propelled the company to a new all time sales record of $20 billion, Apple said Monday as it announced its fourth quarter results.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/18/technology/apple_earnings/index.htm?hpt=T2

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Coffeehouse colossus Starbucks introduced the Starbucks Digital Network, an in store multimedia platform slated to go live across nearly 6,800 U.S. company operated locations on October 20, 2010.

http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/starbucks-brews-store-digital-media-network/2010-10-20?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

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Barnes & Noble will ship its Nook e-readers to 2,500 Wal-Mart stores starting October 24, 2010. Wal-Mart will offer two Nook models -- Nook 3G, which offers free AT&T 3G wireless and WiFi connectivity, as well as NOOK WiFi, a WiFi only model.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69K3TU20101021

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Apple announced the public beta of FaceTime for Mac, a new application that allows Mac users to video call iPhone 4 and iPod touch users as well as other Macs.

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=763695

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According to research firm Canalys, Microsoft’s software currently has around nine percent of the smartphone market and will be looking to push on from its current fourth position in the global market behind Symbian, RIM (makers of the BlackBerry) and Apple’s iPhone OS.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/10/microsoft-arrives-smart-phone-market-with-windows-7-mobile/

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Nokia, the largest cell phone maker in the world, is cutting 1,800 jobs as it tries to streamline operations and speed up delivery of new software and better Web services for its besieged smartphones.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/technology/22nokia.html?_r=1&ref=technology

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The Renaissance Mayflower, a historic luxury hotel in Washington, is using Compcierge mobile features to communicate with guests via text messaging.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/marriott%e2%80%99s-renaissance-mayflower-hotel-integrates-mobile-into-crm-platform/

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Apple's iPhone may be close to the final build in preparation for its launch on Verizon's network in early 2011. The hardware appears to be done and the software is just receiving minor finishing touches. Word is, the iPhone 5 is also making progress.

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/10/verizons_iphone_1.html;jsessionid=PWQYCJUYU2KADQE1GHRSKHWATMY32JVN?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-20_html

Recent articles by Kevin Benedict

Who is Paying for Mobile Applications Today?
Link to Recorded SAP Enterprise Mobility Webinar
The Transformational Power of Mobile Enterprise Applications, Part 1
The Transformational Power of Mobile Enterprise Applications, Part 2
The New York Times, Starbucks and Other Retail Locations that Need Mobile Applications
Throwing Your Food Away
Social Networking, ClickContact and Enterprise Mobility

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Archived editions of Kevin's Mobility News Weekly are available here.

You can follow me on Twitter @krbenedict and read my blog, Enterprise Mobility Strategies.

Also available are Kevin’s M2M News Weekly and Kevin’s Mobile Retailing News Weekly.

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join SAP Enterprise Mobility on Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.