The Internet of Things - Under the Covers

My colleague, the always opinionated Peter Rogers, provides us with an "under-the-covers" look at how Android plans to power the Internet of Things.  Pull down your geek hat and hold on!!!
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In previous articles I predicted that wearable technology would be powered by light-weight operating systems, citing Samsung’s decision to go with Tizen instead of Android. This decision was apparently based on battery life and user interface considerations. However, just after the article hit the Internet, Google executive Sundar Pichai announced the Android SDK for Wearables.  Android is used in many different ways as demonstrated by Kindle and Nokia X (Nokia X seems to have deployed a Windows 8 look and feel on top of Android). Indeed, for this very reason Android 4.4 has moved a lot of key APIs into the Cloud.

Wearable device developers are interested in the APIs available to them. If we turn the clock back to the J2ME days there was a dedicated API for user interfaces (UI) called javax.microedition.lcdui. This was a small UI library compared to today's Android libraries. Indeed you wouldn’t run Java Swing on Android, and likewise a wearable device needs a more constrained API for the UI. Even though a wearable device may be supporting a full operating system, it will most probably have a constrained UI and that means a slightly different programming style.

Recently there was an interesting post in the Washington Post supporting my claims that Wearable Devices and the Internet of Things requires different skill sets. The article listed the new skills required as data analytics and enterprise data analysis. Basically you need to know how to capture the data, read the data and then apply the data to your specific business domain. Surely real-time analytics and visualisation tools will become critical in the wearable space and this is where a new term called Fog Computing has been introduced by Cisco.

“Fog Computing is a paradigm that extends Cloud computing and services to the edge of the network. Similar to Cloud, Fog provides data, compute, storage, and application services to end-users. The distinguishing Fog characteristics are its proximity to end-users, its dense geographical distribution, and its support for mobility. Services are hosted at the network edge or even end devices such as set-top-boxes or access points. By doing so, Fog reduces service latency, and improves QoS, resulting in superior user-experience. Fog Computing supports emerging Internet of Everything (IoE) applications that demand real-time/predictable latency (industrial automation, transportation, networks of sensors and actuators). Thanks to its wide geographical distribution the Fog paradigm is well positioned for real time big data and real time analytics. Fog supports densely distributed data collection points, hence adding a fourth axis to the often mentioned Big Data dimensions (volume, variety, and velocity).”

In trying to predict what will be in the Android Wearable Software Developer Kit (SDK) then it is very interesting to note that Google acquired Android Smartwatch vendor WIMM Labs last year. WIMM Labs released its first Smartwatch back in 2011, the WIMM One, which ran Android and included an SDK for developers. Interestingly the WIMM website has removed all of the documentation for the SDK but a lot of WIMM One developers downloaded it before it got taken offline and so were able to get a potential glimpse of what Google is planning. WIMM had a Micro App Store which featured the following categories: entertainment; productivity; health;  shopping; travel; utilities; watch faces; and games.  As well as a Software Developer Kit there was also a Hardware Developer Kit which allows you to make accessories that wrap around the WIMM module.

The Wearable SDK itself will obviously have changed from its origins of the WIMM One SDK but it is certainly interesting rooting around through the API. The comm.wimm API extends the Android 2.X API and it is assumed that only the WIMM API itself can be used. There are some very interesting features offered for sure: notifications; custom watch faces; widgets; network services; sync services; calendars; broadcast events; weather; world clocks; location fixes; audio beeps; and various simple UI element.

One of the most interesting features is location information being retrieved from one or more sources, including built-in GPS, network based IP-location lookup, or a paired Android or Blackberry smartphone. This demonstrates that the Wimm One was able to perform even when not paired to a device and it was equally able to pair with a Blackberry.

If we look at the Android Wearable SDK then it is heavily rumoured to support Google Now, the voice control feature. It will also have to support Bluetooth Low Energy integration for communication with mobile devices for pairing and indeed detecting other sensors. It is also worth looking at the Google Glass Developer Kit (GDK) for a few hints at what may be revealed. The GDK was the alternative to the Mirror API which only really supported REST calls to a Google Cloud Service. The GDK is an add-on that builds on top of the Android SDK and offers the following: voice; gesture detector; and cards. It is safe to assume that voice control, local networking, touch control and potentially gesture control are all on cards. Google will show their hand at Google I/O and Samsung have already shown their Gear 2 devices at MWC. Next it is time for Apple to finally show their hand and we have to wonder if it will be a decisive one, quite possibly if history has taught us anything.

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Kevin Benedict

Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant

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***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobility, Location, Speed and Refugees

In today's world of fast paced project management, simply knowing a location on a map where something is supposed to happen is not good enough - we need to know a location-in-time, what is happening there (status), and who or what (resources) are present there and how this information is going to impact future plans.  This information is particularly important when you are managing projects, with time constraints, and organizing events and meetings across a wide geographical area.

The key planning concept here is - location at a point-in-time.  If I ask, where was the bus located on the route? You would likely respond, "At what time?"  The same response could be used for the question, "Where will the bus be?"  Time and location are necessary for planning current and future events and activities.

This week my family is experiencing and struggling with location and time.  Several families from our church have adopted a refugee family from the Congo and are helping them to survive, integrate, adapt and ultimately thrive in their new country.  The family consists of a mother and three children.  We are learning so much!

The mother doesn't speak English, doesn't have work, doesn't have a home, doesn't have money, doesn't have an income, doesn't have winter clothes, doesn't own a watch, doesn't have a working mobile phone, doesn't have a car (Boise, Idaho has limited public transportation) and has kids in school. The family has a busy schedule of appointments with social services, English classes, buses, school schedules and medical appointments.  Wow!  It can at times seem overwhelming.  There are many dozens of appointments all at different times and locations.

Yesterday, one of our support team went to pick up the refugee mother for an appointment and she could not be located.  Yikes!  There were appointments to keep, language classes to attend, school buses to catch and kids to track.  We ultimately found her and got the day back on track, but I was again reminded of how important it is to have mobile communications and location knowledge.  It is very difficult to keep things organized and on schedule without these.

Mobile technologies, location information and social collaboration platforms can provide enormous productivity gains and an increased speed of work or operational tempo.  Time, status and location data, and the ability to share this knowledge, enables one to accomplish a great deal more in a given time.

To appreciate the full value of these solutions, just try to track and monitor a refugee family with three children, on different school schedules, no permanent home, and dozens of weekly meetings all across the city, while not leaving them stranded and freezing to death in zero degree (F) Boise, Idaho weather.

Our team has learned and experienced much over the past few weeks and we are better for it.  With the constant use of mobile communications, DropBox and collaboration websites, plus a lot of love and commitment, our team has managed to keep them alive, so far.

Yesterday I thought to myself, I should buy the refugee mother a mobile phone (iPhone or Android) with Google Latitude.  That way she could download Swahili translation software, keep a calendar, have a clock with an alarm, voice or text us, email, see a map, view the bus schedule, FaceTime, conduct conference calls with a translator, Skype with her friends overseas, plus we could know her location.

Then I woke up from my fantasy.  That would probably be too much in the beginning.  Many companies just getting involved in mobile technologies would also be over their heads if they tried to implement too much all at once.  It is a learning process.

We decided to start with a basic mobile phone with text messaging, but I still dream and look forward to introducing more mobile technologies into this effort.  It has reminded me of how valuable mobile devices and mobile apps, and the information received as a result of them, are to all of us.

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Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for SMAC, Cognizant

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Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Traveling and Mobile Technologies in the Military

This week our little family is celebrating the graduation of our son from OCS (Officer Candidate School) at Fort Benning in Georgia.  We are as proud as parents can be!  So this week we are attending his graduation and experiencing the Georgia heat in August.  Not our typical August holiday destination, but we are thrilled to be here. Now what is the connection between our family's celebrations and mobile technologies?

Let me try to tie this all together.  First, while our son was attending Boise State University, he helped us work on many mobile newsletters and mobile industry research projects that you may have read.  Second, we flew into Atlanta, Georgia this week and while on a layover in Minneapolis, we checked our gate and next flight details on our Delta Airlines mobile iPhone app.  Then when we landed in Atlanta, I used my iPhone TripIt! mobile app to reference the phone number of our hotel, and to call and ask if they had a shuttle service.  We then rented a car from Hertz where they checked our reservation with some type of rugged tablet computer.  And finally, at the entrances to many of the military bases the guards now use ruggedized handheld computers to scan drivers licenses.  All the while we reported our progress across the country with our soldier via SMS and other friends via email.

Travel and mobile technologies are now completely integrated and essential.  Any of you that travel know how completely dependent we all are on mobile technologies.  All you have to do is run out of battery, lose connectivity or travel internationally to experience the frustration of being disconnected.  You feel isolated and out of touch.  Sometimes this feels good, but not when you are trying to be productive or pretending to work.

This week, all of my newsletters and articles will be published from our hotel room using wireless connectivity and mobile devices (I am counting my laptop as a mobile device).  Another example of the benefits of mobile technologies.

Additional connections between mobile technologies and our family's adventures - our son is going to be an officer in a Combat Engineering unit.  The Combat Engineering school just opened up a Robotics University at Fort Leonard Wood that utilizes some very cool real-time mobile technologies to maneuver the robots and communicate with its sensors.  In addition, many of our military patrols in combat zones now carry handheld sensors and GPS tracking systems that can identify and locate the source of gun fire.  Even more advanced versions of these sensors can be integrated into drones that can detect gunfire sources from over 25,000 feet (read more here).

One of the common tasks of combat engineers is road clearance.  IEDs have become one of the major sources of casualties in modern combat and mobile technologies are an integral part of defending against this.  UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) or drones are used to patrol roads from the sky and these drones are often maneuvered from locations over 7,500 miles away.  Can you image the kind of mobile communications and data link speeds that must be involved for a pilot to fly a drone from that distance?

Even more - The U.S. Marines are currently experimenting with assigning Android developers to different Marine units to help them quickly develop mission specific mobile apps that can be used on missions. This requires secure military app stores that have many pre-existing apps, web services, templates and widgets that can quickly be configured into unique missions specific apps.

At a higher level situational awareness, a requirement for modern network centric warfare, is dependent on mobile technologies to complete the picture of where the good and bad forces are, their status, and where your resources and assets are located.  All aspects of this are dependent on secure mobile communications and real-time connectivity.

Understanding how dependent we are all on mobile communications and apps, makes me very concerned and interested in how we are going to secure all of these apps, networks and devices.  Although not technical enough to understand all the details about mobile application and device security and management, I am certainly paying a lot more attention to this category of solutions these days.

SAP and Machine to Machine Communications and Integrations

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Kevin Benedict, Mobile Industry Analyst, Mobile Strategy Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus

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

Changing Times for Enterprise Mobility

As I was running this morning in the Boise foothills, OK walking at a brisk pace, I was pondering how fast enterprise mobility is evolving.  Today, HTML5 and Android security are critical check box items for any company considering standardizing on a mobile application development platform and a mobile application management platforms.

The MAM (mobile application management) and MDM (mobile device management) vendors have all been working hard to bring order out of chaos in the Android space as demonstrated by this recent announcement, "SOTI Inc., an Enterprise Mobility Device Management (MDM) vendor, has unveiled new technology that enables corporations to consistently manage security policies across Android devices from all manufacturers."  It has been a challenge for most vendors to provide enterprise quality security for Android devices due to the many different versions of the Android OS that manufactures use.  Most vendors would only support or secure a limited subset early on.  It seems vendors are becoming more confident in their abilities these days, as measured by the number of recent announcements around securing Android devices that I read about.

On the topic of HTML5, most vendors now have an HTML5 hybrid solution and strategies that enables them to add proprietary features to a container that supports HTML5.  This container enables them to solve problems and address challenges that may not yet have been addressed in the HTML5 standard.

I would advise that you regularly get briefing from your mobile vendors of choice about developments in these two areas as they are fast moving.  I would also recommend against purchasing from a mobile vendor that does not have HTML5 or HTML5 hybrid solution or strategy, and have answers to how you can secure Android devices.

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Kevin Benedict, Mobile Industry Analyst, Mobile Strategy Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus

Visit MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

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

iOS Conquers the Enterprise

In a new report published by Appcelerator/IDC yesterday titled 2Q 2012 Mobile Report (download here), iOS appears to have conquered the enterprise mobility market.  Here is an excerpt from the report, "iOS has opened a dramatic 16% lead over Android in the mobile enterprise apps space.  Developers now think iOS will win over Android in the enterprise 53%-37%; in 3Q 2011 iOS and Android were tied at 44%."

It will be interesting to now watch how both iOS and Windows 8 will impact Android in the enterprise.  This report seems to suggest that Google's Android could be in for some stiff competition, "Developers are cautiously optimistic about Windows 8 tablets, and find Microsoft’s Metro UI especially compelling. Therefore a key dynamic to watch going forward will be Microsoft’s opportunity to eclipse Android as the number two operating system priority for mobile enterprise app developers, especially given Microsoft’s strengths in the enterprise market through Office and Windows."

This is an interesting development since the ruggedized handheld manufacturers are just starting to introduce their Android based rugged devices.  Read more on this...

I must share that in conversations and interviews with mobility vendors, especially those focused on the services industry that have a lot of ruggedized mobile handhelds that still run on Microsoft operating systems, there is a great anticipation and hope for Windows 8.  In recent discussions with large utility companies, they also expressed a great hope that Windows 8 would deliver for tablets and other mobile devices.

It is my impression, that many large enterprises would love to support a good Microsoft operating system for mobile devices.  They are just waiting to see one.

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Kevin Benedict, Mobile Industry Analyst, Mobile Strategy Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus

Visit MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

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Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility and Sybase Unwired Platform Groups

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

Finally the Tide of Rugged Android Devices Begins

In my opinion, Microsoft blew it when they left the rugged mobile device manufacturers hanging for years with no meaningful upgrades or upgrade path to the Windows Mobile 6.5x operating system.  They sentenced the ruggedized device industry to compete against the iPhone, iPad and Android consumer devices.  This meant service organizations worldwide started considering the merits of switching to consumer devices, with new operating systems that had many more features rather than upgrading to new ruggedized mobile devices.

Otterbox and other rugged case manufacturers were definitely the winners of this Microsoft orchestrated industry trend.  They produced many great ruggedized cases that added device protection and gave buyers confidence that using consumer devices in rugged environments was worth the risk.

Today, however, the tide of rugged Android devices is starting to enter the market as demonstrated by this marketing piece from Honeywell that I received in the mail today announcing the new rugged Dolphin 7800 EDA running on Android.  Here is how they describe it, "Honeywell’s new Dolphin® 7800 Android™ rugged EDA pairs the intuitive Google® Android™ operating system with remote device management capabilities and invaluable security features, making the device enterprise ready."

For a time the Android operating system was difficult to secure, since every device and device manufacturer seemed to have their own version of it, but the MDM (mobile device management) or MAM (mobile application management) vendors have seemed to resolve much of that challenge now as this piece from the MDM/MAM vendor Soti suggests, "SOTI, a leader in cross-platform mobile device management, is announcing that its unique MDM solution provides advanced and consistent management for all Android devices, regardless of the device manufacturer."

I have spoken with and interviewed many rugged handheld manufacturers over the past few months and most if not all have rugged Android devices in development.  I believe that going forward service organizations will soon be able to get the latest Android operating system features in the rugged device of their choosing.

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Kevin Benedict, Mobile Industry Analyst, Mobile Strategy Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus

Visit MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

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Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility and Sybase Unwired Platform Groups

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

Mobile Expert Video Series: Chris Willis, Part 1

I had the privilege of interviewing Chris Willis, Chief Marketing Officer of Verivo recently in beautiful Waltham, MA.  We explored his thoughts on what makes Verivo unique in the market, HTML5, enterprise mobility trends and mobile strategies.

I hope you find these interview series useful!

Watch Part 2 here.

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Kevin Benedict, Mobile Industry Analyst, Mobile Strategy Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus

Visit MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility and Sybase Unwired Platform Groups

Read The Mobility News Weekly

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

Mobile Expert Video Series: Accenture's Sailesh Tailor

In this interview, Accenture's utility and mobility expert Sailesh Tailor shares his insights into the UK utility market, and the demand for enterprise mobility and mobile devices in this market.  He discusses both software and hardware strategies.

Accenture Mobility offers the following five services:

1. Mobile Strategy and Consulting
2. App Development
3. Device Platform Development
4. Managed Services
5. Business Integration Services (large workforce management solutions)

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Kevin Benedict, Mobile Industry Analyst, Mobile Strategy Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus

Visit MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility and Sybase Unwired Platform Groups

Read The Mobility News Weekly

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

Mobile Expert Video Series: Syclo's Bill Padula

Last week at SAPinsider's Mobile2012 conference I was able to record an interview with Syclo's Bill Padula.  In this segment of the Mobile Expert Video Series, Bill shares what he is seeing as trends in the enterprise mobility market.

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Volunteer

Visit MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

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Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility and Sybase Unwired Platform Groups

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

Mobile Expert Video Series: Forrester's Christian Kane

This week I am serving as the Chairman of the Enterprise Mobility Exchange in Las Vegas.  In this role, I have had the opportunity to interview many mobility experts.  I will be publishing these interviews over the next week. In this first interview, I ask Research Analyst Christian Kane with Forrester his thoughts on the current and future state of the rugged handheld computer market.

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Volunteer

Visit MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility and Sybase Unwired Platform Groups

Read The Mobility News Weekly

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

Google's New Android OS. What’s In It for the Enterprise?

Guest writer and mobility analyst Andre Guilleman shares his insights on Google's new Android OS version, Ice Cream Sandwich.

Google’s release of Android 4.0, dubbed “Ice Cream Sandwich,” is undoubtedly geared towards consumers but it’s got a few new features that were clearly designed for corporate IT. But what’s their strategy here?

Early on, BlackBerry cornered the enterprise market with unparalleled security features. Windows Mobile gained and then lost the field service sector by partnering with rugged device manufacturers. Then Apple forced its way into the enterprise from the top down, with a smartphone that was so slick that it was irresistible to top execs. Android, it seems, is riding the consumerization wave of personal phones being used for business-related tasks, with or without the blessing of IT administrators.

With Ice Cream Sandwich, Google just made it a little bit easier for IT departments to say “yes” to their Android users. OS 4.0 includes:

• A keychain API with encrypted storage so applications can utilize private keys, certificate chains, and user certificates
• Address space layout randomization (ASLR) to secure device memory-management
• A VPN API with secure credential storage to help lock down data transmissions
• And for companies that need to keep top secret info locked down (and perhaps for our friends in HR), new device policy management controls that can remotely disable the camera

Although the new enhancements won’t send companies scrambling to replace their BlackBerrys with Droids, it’s all cool stuff that makes the Android OS more palatable for the enterprise.

About André Guillemin:  He has over ten years of experience in health care, financial services, and mobile technology. He spent the past three years focused on cross-industry solutions for mobile enterprise application development, including line of business uses in manufacturing, life sciences and wealth management. Mr. Guillemin frequently contributes to industry publications, panels, and events, and is available for consultation on the strategic and tactical use of mobile technologies in the enterprise.

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer

Visit MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility and Sybase Unwired Platform Groups

Read The Mobility News Weekly

Read The M2M News Monthly

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

Mobile Expert Podcast Series: Psion's Gregg Anderson, Part 2

This is Part 2 of this audio podcast with Psion's Gregg Anderson (listen to Part 1 here).  Psion is the manufacturer of ruggedized mobile devices.  They support the use of mobile devices in the dirt, water, dust, heat and cold.  They have very interesting stories, experiences and advice to share.

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer

Visit MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group

Read The Mobility News Weekly

Read The M2M News Monthly

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

iPhone Owners First in Online Shopping and BlackBerry Owners are Last

In an article I read today on mobile marketing it said, "Consumers who own an Apple iPhone are more likely to shop online from their phones, than those consumers who owned phones based on Google Android or BlackBerry operating systems...BlackBerry is way behind the Android and iPhone."

Extending Mobile Business Processes in Boise

A friend of mine here in Boise, Jon Young developed a very interesting mobile application on Android.  The application is a great example of the concept of extending business processes.

The application works much like the popular RedLaser iPhone application in that it can scan an ISBN barcode on a book cover and then automatically look it up.  The special part of the application is that it looks up the book in the local library system.  It will show the book's status and allow you to reserve the book if available.  You can read more about it on Jon's blog.

Think about this - you see a book that looks really interesting in a bookstore.  You can use Redlaser to look up the price at other locations or use Jon's mobile application to look it up in the Boise Library System, check the status, and reserve it. 

The Boise Library System also delivers the book free to the local library location of your choice and emails you when the book arrives.  This entire process can be completed on your mobile device.

This is a simple example of a very useful business process that was extended to mobile devices.  On Thursday, August 19, SAP and Sybase will hold a press conference to discuss their mobile enterprise strategies.  I will be listening in particular to how they will be extending ERP business processes out to mobile devices.

The SAP Workforce Scheduling and Optimization application by Clicksoftware is a great example of extending business processes out to the mobile workforce.  Here is how SAP describes it - it  helps your service organization run at optimal efficiency: from demand forecasting and workforce shift planning to real-time optimized scheduling, mobile workforce management, and business analytics. The solution helps ensure that your service organization meets objectives and commitments smoothly and efficiently.


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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
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.

Kevin's Mobility News Weekly - June 16, 2010 Edition

If you are reading this you have stumbled upon the premier edition of "Kevin's Mobility News Weekly."  This is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news and articles related to enterprise mobility that I run across each week.  I will aggregate the information, include the original links and add a synopsis of each article.  I will also be searching for the latest market numbers such as market size, growth and trends in and around enterprise mobility.

Please send me any interesting mobility news links, market numbers, events, case studies, analyst reports or whitepapers you think I should include in my newsletter.  Enjoy!

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In April Nokia announced it had increased its smartphone market share to 41 percent, up from an estimated 40 percent in Oct.-Dec. last year. That means Nokia sold roughly 21.5 million of the 52.6 million smartphones sold globally during the first quarter.

http://fixed-mobile-convergence.tmcnet.com/topics/mobile-communications/articles/88417-nokia-slow-apples-rims-momentum-the-smartphone-market.htm

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According to Quantcast, Android currently accounts for 19.9 percent of the smartphone market, a rise of 12.2% over the year. Although it's still the single biggest player in the market, the share of Apple's iPhone OS has shrunk by 8.1 percent. The data shows that Research In Motion's BlackBerry OS and other platforms in the operating system market have shrunk by 1.2% and 2.9% respectively.

http://www.itproportal.com/portal/news/article/2010/6/15/android-market-share-growing-iphone-falls-back/

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Devices featuring Apple's iOS mobile operating system lead all other mobile devices with 58.8 percent of mobile Web traffic in the U.S. Android is far behind, but still in second place with 19.9 percent. Next is "other" with 10.9 percent, and after that is Research In Motion with 10.4 percent, according to data released by Quantcast on Monday.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20007637-260.html

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Apple dominates the market for music and mobile apps.  However, its share of the global cellphone market is less than 2%, and it still has only a 15% share of the smartphone market.

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/06/15/apple-needs-to-cool-its-rhetoric/

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Apple shares rose nearly 3 percent on Wednesday after it announced sales of more than 600,000 iPhone 4s, a record for just a single day of pre-orders. That put the device on track to surpass sales of its previous iPhone models as well as its iPad tablet computer and sounded a strong challenge to rivals like Nokia Corp., which warned of weaker-than-expected sales at its phones unit.

http://mobile.reuters.com/mobile/m/FullArticle/CTECH/ntechnologyNews_uUSTRE65F4IQ20100617

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Nelsen projects that by fall 2011 smartphones will overtake ordinary cellphones in market share.

http://iphone.usatoday.com/News/1801492/full/;jsessionid=98DA02D7457B58E8E0D79D3DF3451F46.wap2

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The smartphone market continues to see impressive growth around the world and in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region particularly. Shipments in the region are expected to grow 53% year-on-year in 2010 to reach 76.7 million units and are projected to easily surpass 100 million units in 2011.  In 2009 smartphones accounted for 11% of mobile phone shipments in APAC. This percentage is expected to grow steadily, and in 2012 Canalys expects that 20% of mobile phone shipments in the region will be smartphones.

http://www.indiatelecomtracker.com/archives/1412

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ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd. unveiled a major upgrade to its Mobility Suite at the Gartner Wireless, Networking and Communications Summit in San Diego. The solution is specifically designed for service businesses.

http://clicksoftware-mobilefever.blogspot.com/2010/06/clickmobile-advanced-version-811.html

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Forrester Research is already predicting tablet sales in the U.S. will overtake netbook sales by 2012, and desktop sales by 2015.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/17/forrester-tablets-outsell-netbooks/

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The BlackBerry operating system now accounts for 19.4 percent of the worldwide smartphone market, with sales of 10.5 million units in Q1, according to research firm Gartner. BlackBerry trails Symbian (24.0 million units in Q1/44.3 percent market share) but still leads Apple's iPhone (8.3 million units/15.4 percent share) and Google's Android (5.2 million units/9.6 percent share). However, consumer interest in BlackBerry appears to be waning.  A recent Crowd Science survey reports that 39 percent of BlackBerry users would prefer an iPhone as their next purchase and 34 percent said they would favor an Android device.

http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/new-blackberry-devices-rival-apples-mobile-media-dominance/2010-06-15

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Often the IT department finds itself being pressured to support mobile devices and mobile applications that are already in use by employees. All of these issues point to the need to implement and use a mobile device management system.

http://www.vividolabs.com/deskofgregtomb/?p=45

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TOKYO-Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) today announced the launch of a 128-gigabyte (GB) embedded NAND flash memory module, the highest capacity yet achieved in the industry. The module is fully compliant with the latest e•MMC standard, and is designed for application in a wide range of digital consumer products, including smartphones, tablet PCs and digital video cameras. Samples will be available from September, and mass production will start in the fourth quarter (October to December) of 2010.

http://i.engadget.com/2010/06/17/toshiba-cooks-up-128gb-nand-flash-for-next-gen-phones-and-pmps/

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Location services are the latest social media fad, allowing users with smartphones to "check in" to local businesses for points and fun. Twitter jumped on board location services Monday, launching Twitter Places.

http://blogs.computerworld.com/16331/twitter_location

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There are all sorts of mobile phones out there, but the EPI Life is possibly the only handset that can save your life. Designed by Singapore company Ephone International, the EPI Life stands out with a built-in electrocardiogram measurement function linked to a 24-hour health concierge service. It takes 30 seconds to complete a reading, which can be sent back to the firm via GPRS anywhere in the world.

http://mobile.cnet.com/site?t=AaZ5or43whqbfxfoYQ4yKQ&sid=cnet

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Facebook is expected to announce its own location-based service in the coming months, which brings location-based services to more than 400 million users. In other words, location-based networks are only going to get bigger.

http://www.iphoneresource.net/iphone/general/location-based-social-networks-amadeus-consulting-this-week-in-technology

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While Apple has reached its 10,000th iPad application, Google's Android market has increased to about 72,000 total applications. Moreover, the 10,000th iPad application is a fraction of the total number of applications available for Apple's iPad and iPhone, which is more than 200,000 as of Memorial Day last month.  According to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Apple receives more than 15,000 new application submissions each week. Experts say that if Jobs’s figures are accurate, the company is generating every month about four times the amount of applications over Android. On the other hand, Google records show 14,294 new applications in May 2010 compared to 1,669 in July 2009.

http://www.usanewsweek.com/news/Does-Apple-Need-Verizon-iPhone-As-Apple-vs-Android-War-Intensifies-1276535059/

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In the market for an engagement ring? Forget the usual brick-and-mortar browsing — head to your iPhone's app store and download Tiffany and Co.'s free Engagement Ring Finder.  This is truly an iPhone application that you should only use 4 or 5 times.

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/fashion/stylephile/2010/06/engagement_ring.html

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Twitter is also generating high volumes of traffic. In 2007 users were tweeting 5,000 times a day, and by 2008 the number had increased to 300,000, reaching 2.5 million per day in January 2009. One year later, in January 2010, the figure had risen to 50 million tweets per day, climbing to 55 million in April 2010. There are 600 million search queries on Twitter per day, which bodes well for the Promoted Tweets sponsored keyword search advertising program.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/06/16/businessinsider-twitter-grows-up-and-gets-serious-2010-6.DTL

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Global consumer electronics major Samsung unveiled its new smartphone platform 'bada' for developing next-generation mobile applications."Bada, meaning 'ocean' in Korean, will be a driving force in accomplishing our vision of a smart phone for everyone," Samsung president JS Shin said in a statement in Bangalore on Wednesday.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Samsung-unveils-smartphone-platform-for-new-applications/Article1-558687.aspx

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The following links are interviews that I have conducted over the past few months with enterprise mobility experts and CEOs.

Mobile Expert Interview Series

Mobile Expert Video Series

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Kevin's winner for the best enterprise mobility video on YouTube - Leapfactor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBNFtIIZF6g

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I would invite everyone  that is interested in enterprise mobility to join the Linkedin Group called SAP Enterprise Mobility.


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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile Industry Analyst
CEO/Principal Consultant, Netcentric Strategies LLC
http://www.netcentric-strategies.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
http://twitter.com/krbenedict
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
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Mobile Applications and 69 Enterprise Support Questions

Often the focus of a mobile software project is on gathering the functional requirements, designing, developing and deploying the mobile solution, but little or no advanced planning is given to the question of how to support it once it is deployed. The following list contains many of the questions your IT helpdesk and support department will want and need to know:

1. Who does the field worker call if there is a mobile device problem?
2. Who does the field worker call if their mobile application is not synchronizing correctly?
3. Who trains new employees on how to use the mobile device and application?
4. If there is a mobile software problem, who fixes it - IT, consultant, contractor, your systems integrator or VAR? How do you get in contact with them?
5. Who does the field worker call if the mobile application needs edited or upgraded?
6. If the user downloads a new version of the mobile operating system and the mobile application doesn't work, who will fix it?
7. How do you prevent mobile users from downloading new software applications that might break the system?
8. How do you back-up mobile devices so the information is centralized?
9. Who owns and defines the business process you have mobilized? They may need to approve any changes to the business process.
10. Who controls the security of the device?
11. How do you set-up a new user to securely access the enterprise database?
12. What kinds of security rules must the field user follow?
13. Do different users have different security profiles?
14. Is there a standard set of security rules for mobile devices across the enterprise?
15. Who controls access to the enterprise database application (a DBA)?
16. Will the Database Administrator allow you to synchronize data directly to their enterprise database application, or do they want a "staging database" or API layer to review all data before it is loaded to the enteprise database application. They will likely be involved in any future changes to the mobile application.
17. Are synchronizations done in real-time, near-real-time, or batch on a schedule?
18. Does one mobile device have multiple synchronizing applications? Are they on different schedules or do they synchronize at the same time?
19. How many different enterprise database applications are synchronizing with a mobile device? If there is a sync problem, how do you know what database applications may be impacted?
20. If you hire an additional field worker, how do you order an additional mobile device? Whose budget covers this? Who is the vendor? What support plan or insurance plan should be included?
21. Who decides if the new mobile device needs to be ruggedized or a consumer grade? What level of ruggedness is required for the specific user?
22. Do different job functions require different devices, carriers and wireless data service plans?
23. Who decides what brand of mobile devices are going to be the company standard?
24. Where do you purchase your mobile devices if one breaks or you need to add one to your inventory? Do you have a corporate discount or volume discount agreement?
25. How do you manage and control the variable costs of using a data plan from a local wireless carrier? What happens if the costs of the data services gets out of control? Who pays for it?
26. Are the mobile devices or the mobile software solutions under warranty? Where are these contracts stored? Who owns them?
27. Is there a yearly support contract IT needs to know about? How much? Whose budget?
    What is the account number the warranty is under?
28. How do you set-up a new data plan for a new user with your wireless carrier? Who does that in the company? What is the account number so you can add subscribers? Whose budget pays for it?
29. What happens when Microsoft releases a new Windows Mobile operating system and you can only purchase mobile devices with the new OS on them? Who is going to upgrade your mobile software solutions so they work with the new OS?
30. What happens when the field engineer treks across 2 miles of muddy field to work at a construction site, but the battery on his handheld computer dies about 10 minutes after he gets there? What is the backup battery plan?
31. What happens when text messages, photos, videos, music, and games claim all the memory on the rugged PDA and the Construction application becomes either too slow or unreliable because of low memory?
32. How do you know when your mobile workers are synchronizing the latest information? You don't want mobile workers going days without synchronizing their device.
33. When you send an updated software application to your mobile workers, how do you know who is using the new application and who is still on the old?
34. How do you disable synchronization on a lost or stolen mobile device?
35. How do you kill and/or protect your data on the mobile device if it is lost or stolen?
36. How do you keep track of which workers are using which mobile devices? If there is an operating system update, or firmware update, how do you know who needs it?
37. What is the process for bringing mobile handhelds into the IT department for repairs and upgrades? Is there a central location, or should various locations be scheduled on specific dates.
38. If you are taking care of many different mobile field workers and many different mobile devices with a variety of operating systems, wireless carriers and screen sizes, how do you track who gets what?
39. If you have a project manager that requires visibility to more data than other workers, how do you manage different views on the handheld computer?
40. Some mobile projects require different levels of security, for different levels of data visibility. How would you manage and track that?
41. Will your company standardize on 1 mobile operating systems or several (Blackberry, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Palm, Android, iPhone, etc)
42. Some applications require barcode, RFID, GPS, digital camera and other specialized data collection accessories, while others don't. How does the IT Helpdesk track the brand, version and other details of these accessories?
43. If a dump truck backs over your supervisor's $1800 ruggedized computer and crushes it into hundreds of unidentifiable pieces, how do you get a replacement out to the supervisor with the exact application and data that is required as quickly as possible?
44. If a mobile device needs repaired - what is the process for keeping your field workers operating without it? Do you have a stock of spare mobile devices?
45. Does your mobile device reseller have a replacement program?
46. How do you deploy new mobile applications to your 1,300 mobile device users? Must they bring all their devices back to the IT department, or can you publish new applications directly to the handheld computer?
47. How do you support the mobile device, when the user has limited computer knowledge and is sitting on the top of a utility pole? What tools can the IT Helpdesk use to remotely help and diagnose problems?
48. How do you recognize a defective mobile device that is being shared by 12 different mobile workers? Do you have a method of identifying which problems are being reported on a particular device or are you logging support calls only by users?
49. What is your process for dispatching work orders to service technicians when they are disconnected or out of range of cellular and wireless networks? A process needs to be defined.
50. What is your synchronization plan for each mobile worker? Can they sync in the morning and evening at their office desk, or do they need to sync every 5 minutes or in real-time?
51. What is the synchronization plan for a service technician that rarely has wireless network access? Does it justify a satellite up-link? (Sears Service Technicians use both)
52. How do you know when information was successfully synchronized with a mobile device in the field? Can you see and determine the success of the synchronization from the IT Helpdesk?
53. What is an acceptable synchronization time? Is it 20 seconds, 2 minutes, 20 minutes? Does the IT Helpdesk know what times are acceptable so they can consider this when configuring a new user?
54. Does all data need to be synchronized in real-time, or only some. Product catalogs are an example of updates that may only be needed weekly or monthly?
55. How much data can be synchronized in a given period of time on the chosen connectivity option? Is that an acceptable speed for the task at hand?
56. Who determines the hardware requirements that support the mobile application and desired synchronization speeds?
57. When a new mobile software application is developed, who tests its operating speed on different devices, processors, memory levels and connectivity options to determine what is acceptable and what is not?
58. When you are updating or reconfiguring an enterprise database, how do you know what mobile applications and mobile users will be impacted by these changes? How do you manage this update process?
59. How does the IT Helpdesk know which one of the 17 mobile applications on the handheld computer is having a synchronization problem?
60. If you are supporting 174 work crews and their mobile devices around the globe, how do you know where they are located, and who is responsible for them?
61. How does the IT Helpdesk know if a mobile device is using a cradle, modem, bluetooth, wireless, USB, satellite or Cellular connection to synchronize? The IT Helpdesk really wants to know before they begin working on the issue.
62. What wireless carrier, technology and through-put speed is the mobile device using? Is it GPRS, GSM, CDMA, Edge or some other network configuration?
63. Do you need to stagger the synchronization times? One of my clients had a problem with 300 mobile workers downloading large product catalogs all at the same time each month -the first Monday of the month. This caused a bottleneck and slow downloading times.
64. What do you do with old and retired mobile handheld devices? Companies like Ryzex buy back old handheld mobile devices and recycle them.
65. What rugged or semi-rugged cases are required to protect the mobile device?
66. What add on assessories are supported on the mobile device? Ear pieces, GPS, add-on RFID, barcode scanners? Who supports these and where do you order replacements?
67. Does the same mobile software application work on rugged mobile handhelds and on mobile consumer devices?
68. What employees and roles get the different levels of rugged devices?
69. Do you have a corporate account with a mobile device reseller that will repair all of the different mobile devices or do you work with many different vendors with different support and warranty plans.

All of these questions are very important and need to be answered upfront. If you would like to discuss this subject in more detail please email me.

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http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com
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