Kevin Benedict Ponders the Future

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.

More on HTML5 for Mobile Application Developers

We’ve already explored some HTML5 features such as media playback, offline mobile data support, and 2D graphics capabilities. Let’s now explore two additional advantages.

Geo-Location

HTML5’s geo-location application programming interface (API), is to me one of the most interesting features. It enables mobile web sites to access a mobile device’s GPS technology. The W3C geolocation API specification was published in September, 2010. (http://www.w3.org/TR/geolocation-API/)

Google Latitude for the iPhone is one example of a pure HTML5 web application using these features (It’s also available on iPad and Android-powered devices). Latitude lets users share where they are and see where their friends are on a map. Read more at http://code.google.com/apis/latitude/ and http://www.google.com/mobile/latitude/.

Some other application scenarios for using HTML5 geolocation are:

Finding points of interest in the user’s area
Showing the user’s location on a map
Alerts when points of interest are in the user’s vicinity
Turn-by-turn route navigation

Forms

There are more than a dozen new input types and new features that can be used in HTML5 web forms. One of the features enables developers to create and display a placeholder in an input field. What is a placeholder? It is a hint as to what input is expected and what the format should be. When you highlight the field, the placeholder disappears and allows the input.

Another feature is the addition of form validation.

There are many new data inputs supported in HTML5:

Search – To prompt users to enter text they want to search for.
Email – For entering a single email address or a list of email addresses.
Color – For choosing color through a color well control.
Number Slider – Turns the input field into a numeric slider.
Web Addresses - Now fields requiring a web address can provide a custom keyboard on iPhones made for entering URLs.
Numbers - You can now specify minimum and maximun numbers allowed in a particular field, plus what "steps" or increments you allow (i.e. 0, 2, 4, 6 or 0, 5, 10, 15).
Native Date Picker Control - This eliminates the need to use javascript libraries to pick dates and times.
HTML5 Form Validator - Now you can validate data in a field from within HTML5. Invalid data will launch an error message from within HTML5, not an external javascript.
HTML5 Required Fields - Now HTML5 can be configured to produce an error message if a required field is not completed. No longer is it necessary to use an external javascript.

I have worked on many, many custom mobile applications that are used for inspections, assessments, surveys and field data collection. Ensuring accurate and valid data input is critical. We developed a lot of custom code to ensure accurate and valid data in the past. These advances in HTML5 will make developing these kinds of applications faster and easier.

Previously published articles on HTML5

What Can HTML5 Offer Mobile Developers?
HTML5 - What I am Learning
Projections for and Demonstrations of HTML5

Upcoming Events

Field Mobility 2011 - October 25 - 27, 2011
Enterprise Mobility Exchange - November 2 - 3, 2011

Whitepapers of Note

The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems
ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solution
Mobile Adoption Among Gas and Electric Utilities
Mobile Adoption in Life Sciences
Mobile Adoption in Oil and Gas
Networked Field Services

Recorded Webinars of Note

3 Critical Considerations for Embracing Mobile CRM
The Future of Enterprise Mobility
Healthrageous Mobility Case Study
The Latest m-Business Trends and How the Onslaught of Mobile Devices Affects Development Strategies
The Real-Time Mobile Enterprise: The Benefits of Rapid, Easy Access
Syclo and SAP Deliver Mobile Apps on Sybase Unwired Platform

*************************************************************

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

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

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.

Mobility News Weekly - Week of August 1, 2011

The 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 data and trends.

Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobility Charts Weekly
Also read Mobility ROI Weekly

A new report published by analyst firm Juniper Research forecasts that the number of global smartphone shipments will reach one billion per annum in 2016, up from 302 million in 2010. Read Original Content

The global mobile satellite television market is projected to reach $11 billion by 2015, driven by the growing consumer demand for video content on an anytime, anywhere basis. Read Original Content

HTC sold a record 12.1 million handset units during the second quarter. Analysts predict that HTC’s market share in Asia will grow by 200 percent year-over-year with “quadruple growth in China.” Read Original Content

Apple's share of the mobile phone industry's profits has swelled to around two thirds, as the company's iPhone sales have remained profitable while achieving the top spot in sales. Read Original Content

Canadian-based Research in Motion released two new BlackBerry Bold models and three new BlackBerry Torch models, which will all operate on the company's new BlackBerry 7 operating system. Read Original Content

Mobility ROI Weekly - Week of August 1, 2011

This weekly ROI (return on investment) report includes ROIs that I come across in my weekly enterprise mobility and mobile data collection research. My goal is to create an archive of mobility ROIs that we can all use when we are called upon for them. I hope you find this useful.

John Deer Factory Uses Wi-Fi Sensors to Increase Efficiency

John Deer has increased productivity in a factory in Illinois by employing Wi-Fi enabled sensors that track the progress of materials along the production line. The sensors are specifically designed to help notify welders throughout the manufacturing stages when materials are running low. The reported ROIs are:

The company has seen a 40 percent increase in efficiency in welding due to improvements in material replenishment and fewer delays caused by waiting for materials in its welding areas.
The system has reduced the amount of time to assemble an average row-crop planter vehicle by 5 percent
Provides awareness for the number of materials left in a “kitcart” so that supplies never completely run out for assembly workers.

Read original source here.

Electronic Ear Tags Help UK Farms Detect Sick Animals

Newcastle University is testing a new way to detect sick animals by using electronic sensors attached to animal ear tags. By monitoring the amount of time each animal spends at the feeding trough farmers can observe animals with unusual eating habits. The expected ROIs are:

The ability for farmers to detect sick livestock before animals are too ill to recover. Helps extend the life and production of the animals which increases the value of these assets.
Early detection prevents the spread of disease which helps maintain a healthier and more valuable herd.
Allows farmers to efficiently monitor the status of the herd remotely.

Read original source here.

RFID Sensors Help Mining Companies Eliminate Paperwork

Ascendent ID recently introduced an RFID tracking system for companies involved in the mining industry. The system is designed to track materials being shipped to and from mining sites by large trucks. The reported ROI's are:

RFID tracking has allowed mining companies to eliminate a significant amount of paperwork and administrative costs that were required when shipping materials.
RFID tags can be used as physical access permits that allow them into construction zones and mining site. This improves security, safety and loss by authorizing only trucks with tracking tags to enter these areas.
Using RFID sensors increases efficiency by automating data logs and eliminates time spent on paperwork.
Eliminating data entry and paper processing errors through automated data collection improves the accuracy and efficiencies of many business processes.

Read original source here.

*************************************************************

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

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

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 Marketing News Weekly - Week of August 1, 2011

The Mobile Marketing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile marketing that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information.

Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobility Charts Weekly

A new survey by Deloitte has found that an increasing number of families will be back-to-school shopping through their mobile devices. Read Original Content

Cars.com has improved their mobile site and now allows shoppers to view vehicle history reports for free. Currently around 35 percent of potential car shoppers use tablets and mobile devices while searching for new vehicles. Read Original Content

Mobile ad spend is growing at a rate of 50 percent or more in many markets across the globe. In South Africa, Vodacom, MXit and Google predict that mobile marketing and advertising spending in South Africa will grow to $1 billion in revenue by 2012. Read Original Content

According to comScore 76 million Americans own smartphones, this combined with the recent BIA/Kelsey report predicting mobile advertising revenues to hit $2.8 billion in 2015, makes it clear that mobile marketing is set to increase in demand. Read Original Content

Marketers are failing to invest in targeted mobile channels, such as search, by being too fixated on smartphone apps, according to a study by Forrester Research. Read Original Content

Velti has been selected by Subway Restaurants as the provider of mobile marketing and advertising technology. Subway will begin providing mobile marketing for over 24,000 stores. Read Original Content

Click to View

Jon Reed of JonERP.com recorded a fun video this week with three SAP Mentors (Jon Reed, John Appleby and myself) on the topic of SAP and enterprise mobility. The video podcast is available here:

http://www.jonerp.com/component/option,com_mojo/Itemid,57/p,102/#more-102

Upcoming Events

Field Mobility 2011 - Sydney, Australia - October 25 - 27, 2011
Enterprise Mobility Exchange - November 2 - 3, 2011

Whitepapers of Note

The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems
ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solution
Mobile Adoption Among Gas and Electric Utilities
Mobile Adoption in Life Sciences
Mobile Adoption in Oil and Gas
Networked Field Services

Recorded Webinars of Note

Healthrageous Mobility Case Study
3 Critical Considerations for Embracing Mobile CRM
The Future of Enterprise Mobility
The Latest m-Business Trends and How the Onslaught of Mobile Devices Affects Development Strategies
The Real-Time Mobile Enterprise: The Benefits of Rapid, Easy Access
Syclo and SAP Deliver Mobile Apps on Sybase Unwired Platform

*************************************************************

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

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

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 Commerce News Weekly - Week of August 2, 2011

The Mobile Commerce News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile payments, mobile money, e-wallets, mobile banking and mobile security that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information.

Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobility Charts Weekly
Also read Mobility ROI Weekly

eBay will process $4 billion in mobile transactions this year, up from $2 billion in 2010, according to Bob Page, VP of analytics platform for the company. Read Original Content

The mobile payments market will almost triple in value by 2015 reaching $670 billion, according to a new Juniper report. Read Original Content

Reports from analysts and investors claim Amazon.com Inc will release a tablet computer later this year in a bid to cement their position as the world's largest Internet retailer. Read Original Content

Fandango has announced that 20 percent of its summer ticket sales has been generated by its mobile applications and its newly redesigned mobile site. Read Original Content

Mobile payment users will reach 141.1 million in 2011, a 38.2 percent increase from 2010, according to research firm Gartner. Read Original Content

As of July 2011, Square is now processing $4 million mobile payments per day and is expected to grow quickly over the next few months. Read Original Content

Video Comments: What Kevin Benedict has Learned about Enterprise Mobility this Month

I have traveled around the world meeting with large companies (many were SAP customers) and speaking at mobility conferences over the past 8 weeks and wanted to take a moment today to share in this video comments some of what I have been learning about enterprise mobility and the current market.

*************************************************************

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

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

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.

Mobility Charts Weekly - Week of August 1, 2011

The Mobility Charts Weekly is a collection of the latest published charts we find during our weekly research on the industry.

Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobility ROI Weekly

According to a recent Nielsen study Google’s Android continues to be the most popular smartphone in the United States. Nielsen reported that Android devices take up 39 percent of the overall smartphone market with Apple’s iPhone taking 28 percent. Read Original Content

Mobile payments are expected to hit $214 billion by 2015. Transactions made by scanning a mobile phone at the register are forecast to reach $22 billion and increase from nearly nothing only a few years before. Read Original Content

This ABI research chart focuses on mobile app downloads for each of the major operating systems. iPhone’s OS system continues to dominate the app market and will continue to lead in total downloads through the near future. By 2013 there will be approximately 3.5 billion iPhone app downloads. Read Original Content

Overall usage of QR codes is on the rise and is continuing to grow steadily through 2011. 3GVision published a press release earlier this year providing a chart to visually illustrate the growing popularity of mobile barcode scans. The data for this report shows the number of barcode scans per month in the millions. Read Original Content

Upcoming Events

Field Mobility 2011 - Sydney, Australia - Oct 25 - 27, 2011
Enterprise Mobility Exchange - November 2 - 3, 2011

Whitepapers of Note

The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems
ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solution
Mobile Adoption Among Gas and Electric Utilities
Mobile Adoption in Life Sciences
Mobile Adoption in Oil and Gas
Networked Field Services

Recorded Webinars of Note

3 Critical Considerations for Embracing Mobile CRM
The Future of Enterprise Mobility
The Latest m-Business Trends and How the Onslaught of Mobile Devices Affects Development Strategies
The Real-Time Mobile Enterprise: The Benefits of Rapid, Easy Access
Syclo and SAP Deliver Mobile Apps on Sybase Unwired Platform

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

I have added a feature to my blog site that supports email subscriptions. You can now receive all blog articles directly via email. If you are interested, click here.

*************************************************************

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

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict