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.

Mobility and Personalized Health Technology - Webinar

I want to call attention to a webinar coming up tomorrow, Wednesday, July 13th at 1 PM EDST. It sounds very interesting and is addressing an area in healthcare that I find very intriguing. Here is some background:

Healthrageous is a personalized health technology company spun out of Boston-based Partners Healthcare. The company uses biometric devices to collect key health statistics from its users, integrating that data with personal profile information to create customized, long-term health programs. As a start-up company, Healthrageous understood from day one the need to embrace mobility. Healthrageous’ native mobile application, h!GO, provides users with instant access to health data and progress reports, and serves as an extension of the company’s core platform.

Healthrageous originally planned to either custom develop h!GO using its in-house team or build a mobile web application. But, as the company analyzed all of the pros and cons of both of these methods, it realized that utilizing a Mobile Enterprise Application Platform (MEAP) would allow it to build, deploy, and update its app more quickly, easily and cost-effectively - all key considerations in today’s market.

Healthrageous’ CTO will be discussing the lessons learned from his mobile development experience, and why short development cycles and speed to market were critical to their success.

Register for the webinar here!

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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 Expert Video Series: SAP's Andrew Fox

This is an interview with SAP's Head of Mobile and Cloud solutions in Australia and New Zealand, Andrew Fox. Andrew shares his thoughts on SAP enterprise mobility, sales strategies and product roadmaps.

Upcoming Events

ClickConnect APAC 2011, July 11 – 13, 2011
Syclo Mobile Conference 2011, July 13 – 15, 2011
Mobile Case Study: Healthrageous Accelerates Time to Market through Mobile Development Strategy, July 13, 2011
Critical Requirements for Mobile App Development: Agility and Speed Strategy, Process, and Tools to Accelerate Mobile Development, July 21, 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

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

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 July 11, 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

A new report from Juniper research predicts the value of mobile payments for digital and physical goods, money transfers and NFC transactions will reach $670 billion by 2015, up from $240 billion this year. Read Original Content

PayPal, owned by eBay, continues to demonstrate they are serious about participating in the mobile payment market. Most recently they have purchased the mobile payment company Zong for $240 million. Within the past few months they have acquired three mobile payment companies. Read Original Content

By 2014, 70 percent of U.S. consumers will have smartphones and 52 percent of those will be NFC capable, according to estimates by payment consultancy Mercator Advisory Group. Read Original Content

Google has launched Mobilize, a free mobile tool that allows small and medium-sized enterprises to create high quality mobile sites or landing pages within minutes, without any coding experience. Read Original Content

A global consumer survey of 8,530 people conducted by MEF found that 38 percent of North American respondents have paid for items via their mobile network operator in the last six months. Read Original Content

Mobile payment device maker Square was given a $100 million investment last week. This came as a shock to many in the mobile industry as Square brings in less than $30 million in annual revenue. Read Original Content

More on Change Management and Enterprise Mobility

I had the opportunity to spend time with teams from two large utilities last evening at the ClickConnect APAC 2011 conference in Australia. I was impressed by three specific discussion points:

Change management challenges
M2M
Network connectivity issues

First, both utilities said the human factor in change management is a big problem for them. Both organizations have an aging workforce that does not like change. They shared that this workforce often has many inefficient and bad habits that they are not interested in changing. When new apprentices are added to a team, it takes only six months for the old timers to teach the new apprentices the same bad habits. What is to be done?

The positive note is that the young apprentices don't fear technology. They have grown up with mobile phones, text messaging, email and social networking. They are willing to embrace the use of these technologies in the workplace. There is hope!

M2M (machine to machine) communications is being used extensively by the gas distribution company I met last night. They have a broad range of different remote M2M sensors on their pipelines that wirelessly send data back to a central server. Although these M2M devices are widely deployed, the challenge is still around how best to use the data from these remote sensors. There is still a lot of work to be done that will turn this data into actionable intelligence.

It takes only one minute of discussion with a utility company in Australia to understand how necessary it is to have mobile applications that can run offline and online. It only takes a short drive away from a main road to lose mobile phone connectivity in the outback. Satellite phones and specialized radios are normal equipment for these IT organizations. The IT assumption is that there will always be limited connectivity. All mission critical mobile applications must work with this assumption.

Last week in Europe, I heard the same kind of requirements for offline and online mobile applications. Several of the companies I was meeting with had a significant presence in Africa and South America. Mobile application connectivity cannot be assumed.

I think back to a discussion I had with a member of the Sybase team in the UK earlier this year. He shared that there were three locations between his office and his home where he could not get connectivity on his mobile phone. I think we all need to remember these issues and not assume global connectivity when we are thinking through mission critical mobile application designs and architectures.

What does a mobile application that can run offline or online look like? It will have the capability to store data in the mobile application on the mobile device that can be synchronized, at a later time when there is connectivity, to a back office database. This kind of application requires a comprehensive mobile middleware solution that includes synchronization technology, on device data storage and backend integration capabilities.

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

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.

The Importance of Change Management to Enterprise Mobility

In this video blog from Manly, Australia, I speak on what I have learned recently about the importance of "change management" to large enterprise mobility deployments in the field services sector. I hope you find it useful.

Upcoming Events

ClickConnect APAC 2011, July 11 – 13, 2011
Syclo Mobile Conference 2011, July 13 – 15, 2011
Mobile Case Study: Healthrageous Accelerates Time to Market through Mobile Development Strategy, July 13, 2011
Critical Requirements for Mobile App Development: Agility and Speed Strategy, Process, and Tools to Accelerate Mobile Development, July 21, 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

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

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.

Field Mobility News Weekly - Week of July 11, 2011

The Field Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news and articles related to field mobility that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting information that reflects market data and trends.

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

The Federal Aviation Administration has authorized a small group of airliners to allow pilots to use iPads rather than the traditional paper documents required for flying. Read Original Content

Indian Railways is now accepting SMS text messages as passenger tickets. They have also created a mobile ticket app for smartphones, moving towards a more efficient process. Read Original Content

ABI Research shows that in 2010 the RFID market was valued at $5.3 billion and is projected to hit $6 billion by 2011. Read Original Content

Michigan State University recently created an RFID program that allows smartphones to scan a package of beef which shows the age, breed, grade and farm origin of the specific animal. Read Original Content

The city of Saint John in Canada has created a GPS mobile tracking system for the city’s mass transit fleet, allowing passengers to track bus progress and view arrival times from a mobile phone. Read Original Content

The new iPhone app “Skin Scan” is said to be able to detect melanoma by using the app’s camera feature. Read Original Content

Mobile Expert Video Series: SAP Mentor Graham Robinson

I had the honor of having lunch in Sydney with fellow SAP Mentor Graham Robinson today. During our lunch Graham shared with me his new mobile application for working with SAP workflows. This video is Graham sharing the details of his mobile application and design strategy.

Upcoming Events

ClickConnect APAC 2011, July 11 – 13, 2011
Syclo Mobile Conference 2011, July 13 – 15, 2011
Mobile Case Study: Healthrageous Accelerates Time to Market through Mobile Development Strategy, July 13, 2011
Critical Requirements for Mobile App Development: Agility and Speed Strategy, Process, and Tools to Accelerate Mobile Development, July 21, 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

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

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.

HTML5 - What I am Learning

With all the discussion around HTML5, I thought I would spend some time getting to know more about it myself. I will be researching it and sharing what I am learning through a series of articles over the next month. I have read that it is expected to have a huge impact on mobile software applications and the business models of software vendors. Is it ready for prime time? I hear a variety of opinions on that subject.

Sybase has stated that their goal is to "enable web developers to become mobile application developers" through the use of HTML5 and their mobile SDK that will come with SUP (the Sybase Unwired Platform). I was told by Nick Brown at SAP that version 2.1 of SUP would be out in the September 2011 time frame and this version will include HTML5 support and an HTML5 container.

Mobile application design and development is challenging, in part, because applications traditionally needed to be customized for each different mobile operating system version and different mobile device. Developers needed to create multiple versions of the same application to accommodate different screen sizes, screen types, resolution, graphics, buttons, keyboards, barcode scanners, RFID system, digital cameras, etc.

In a perfect world we would have one stable and reliable programming language that works across all mobile platforms. That is the idea behind HTML5, although we don't live in a perfect world. HTML5 makes it possible to design, develop, and publish one time and display the published content via each mobile device’s HTML5 compliant browser.

What is HTML5? HTML5 is as the name says, the fifth major version of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), the core language of the web. It is non-proprietary, open source and free for all to use. W3C - the World Wide Web Consortium – is the main international standards organization for the Web, and the Consortium that develops and approves the HTML5 standard.

What are some of the benefits of HTML5?

• Cost and speed of development: Developing an HTML5 app takes roughly half or less of the time compared to developing a native app.

• Compatibility across platforms: Mobile Applications developed using HTML5 will be usable across a broad range of devices getting us closer to the goal of develop once and use many times.

• Dynamic content and layout: Content and layouts can be changed instantly.

• Optional installation: HTML5 apps can be distributed regularly via an App Store or can be made available via the browser. Users aren’t forced to install anything before using it.

What are the limitations of HTML5?

• Standards are still in development: The HTML5 standard is still being developed and the final version is still a couple of years away.

• Performance: HTML runs slower than applications developed using native code.

• Limited features: APIs such as GameCenter, in-app-purchase and peer-to-peer networking aren’t available in HTML5 without custom code.

I have spoken to a number of SAP mobility EcoHub partners about their views on HTML5. Some have already released production mobile applications using HTML5, while others are taking a wait and see approach.

HTML5 has the opportunity to radically change vendors’ business models and application designs due to the reduction of cost and time for development, but it is still a few years from being finalized. Native development is not going away anytime soon.

What are your thoughts on HTML5? I would like to hear from you.

Upcoming Events

ClickConnect APAC 2011, July 11 – 13, 2011
Syclo Mobile Conference 2011, July 13 – 15, 2011
Mobile Case Study: Healthrageous Accelerates Time to Market through Mobile Development Strategy, July 13, 2011
Critical Requirements for Mobile App Development: Agility and Speed Strategy, Process, and Tools to Accelerate Mobile Development, July 21, 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

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

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.

Reporting on Enterprise Mobility from Manly, Australia

I am in Manly, Australia this week where I will be speaking on issues related to enterprise mobility, field services and my latest research on enterprise mobility trends and best practices. I am speaking at ClickSoftware's ClickConnect APAC 2011 user conference. Many of the attendees work for utilities, telcos, field services organizations and railroads. My favorite part of attending these kinds of events is meeting the end users and learning from them. They are the ones experiencing the real implementations and challenges in the dust and heat on the frontlines of mobility. I will be recording video interviews all week so stay tuned.

Upcoming Events

ClickConnect APAC 2011, July 11 – 13, 2011
Syclo Mobile Conference 2011, July 13 – 15, 2011
Mobile Case Study: Healthrageous Accelerates Time to Market through Mobile Development Strategy, July 13, 2011
Critical Requirements for Mobile App Development: Agility and Speed Strategy, Process, and Tools to Accelerate Mobile Development, July 21, 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

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

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.

M2M News Weekly - Week of July 4, 2011

Welcome to M2M News Weekly, an online newsletter that consists of the most interesting news and articles related to M2M (machine to machine) and embedded mobile devices. I aggregate the information, include the original links and add a synopsis of each article. I also search for the latest market numbers such as market size, growth and trends in and around the M2M market.

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 Mobility Charts Weekly

SAP continues to participate in the smart meter market by recently announcing new software for utility companies that helps to monitor individual energy usage. Read Original Content

Early in 2012 Best Buy will begin selling GE smart appliances, which can be controlled by a communication and data storage device that manages electricity usage. Read Original Content

According to the network provider Cisco, by 2020 there will be 50 billion devices connected to the Internet. CapGemini estimates that the world M2M market will be worth $39.3 billion by 2013. Read Original Content

Berg Insight forecasts that global revenues from shipments of home automation systems will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 33 percent from $2.3 billion in 2010 to nearly $9.5 billion in 2015. Read Original Content

TeliaSonera has joined the M2M alliance created by France Telecom's Orange and Deutsche Telekom earlier this year. This alliance hopes to streamline the M2M industry and create common features throughout the market. Read Original Content

Discussions About Sybase's Embedded Mobile Database Business, Part 2

In Part 1 of this article I shared a conversation I had with Sybase's Tom Slee on mobile embedded databases and Sybase's SQL Anywhere. One of the questions I asked him was where SQL Anywhere fits in the SUP (Sybase Unwired Platform) picture. Tom said SQL Anywhere databases, syncing and integration technologies are all in SUP, but they are only a small subset of what SUP offers.

SQL Anywhere is often embedded in other ISV mobile solutions. The end customer often does not even realize that Sybase technology is embedded in their mobile solution. ISV partners will often develop all kinds of complex business rules, logic and code that accesses the SQL Anywhere database and utilizes the syncing technology, but it is buried in the application. That is how my team used it.

SUP in turn is meant to be a complete end-to-end mobile middleware solution that connects back office databases to mobile applications. Is is far more than just SQL Anywhere. SUP includes all kinds of additional features to bring it all together in a manner that can be used by an IT organization, not just C++ programmers.

I also asked Tom how mobile application developers synchronize mobile applications that are developed in HTML5 and that use the SQL Lite database with back office systems. He said simple mobile applications with limited syncing requirements could use web services, custom scripts or other custom developed syncing schemes. He added that some mobile applications may store data, but have no need to sync with back office systems. An examples could be a note taking application. You may want to write notes and save them, but perhaps there is no need to sync the notes with an enterprise system.

When would a developer want to use HTML5, but use Sybase's SQL Anywhere database and syncing technologies rather than the free SQL Lite? Tom said many enterprise class mobile applications need to synchronize data all day long in near real-time, with multiple databases, web services and ERPs. Some of the data sources are dynamic and must be synchronized in near real time, others are static and need to be updated only weekly. All of these different synchronization needs must happen seamlessly in the background and the mobile application must run smoothly whether online or offline. This situation begs for a mature mobile middleware layer like SQL Anywhere.

To develop your own custom synchronization engine and middleware from scratch to efficiently and accurately manage complex synchronization scenarios is a huge and expensive task. These are the kinds of situations that motivated me to become an ISV/OEM partner of Sybase and to use their SQL Anywhere technology years ago. Those same kinds of motivations exist today.

The way I understand it is that software companies that want to develop mobile applications with embedded databases and syncing technology may prefer SQL Anywhere, but an IT organization looking to support all of their enterprise's mobility solutions and needs would look to SUP as their comprehensive mobile middleware solution.

Do you agree or disagree? Is my understanding correct? Please comment below if my understanding in incorrect. THANKS!

Upcoming Events

ClickConnect APAC 2011, July 11 – 13, 2011
Syclo Mobile Conference 2011, July 13 – 15, 2011
Mobile Case Study: Healthrageous Accelerates Time to Market through Mobile Development Strategy, July 13, 2011
Critical Requirements for Mobile App Development: Agility and Speed Strategy, Process, and Tools to Accelerate Mobile Development, July 21, 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

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

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 July 4, 2011

Click to Enlarge

The worldwide number of smartphones with near field communication (NFC) capability is set to increase steadily over the next few years. This growth is largely due to the participation in mobile payments development by Nokia and Google. By 2014 there will be 220.1 million smartphones shipped with NFC capability, representing 14 percent of the total cell phone shipments. View Original Content

Click to Enlarge

Mobile banking activity is expected to increase dramatically over the next few years, resulting from increased emphasis on bank survival. Since the beginning of the recent economic downturn, banks have shifted their focus from growth to survival that has led bankers to invest more in technology and remote banking access . This FSOkx forecast predicts there to be 900 million mobile banking users by 2014. View Original Content

Click to Enlarge

A comScore study focusing on the first three months of 2011 has shown that Google is steadily increasing its market share over Apple. As of March, 2011 Google, with its vast range of Androids, controlled 34 percent of the smartphone market while Apple controls 25.5 percent. During the first three months Google gained 5 percent while Apple was only able to manage a 0.5 percent growth. View Original Content

Upcoming Events

ClickConnect APAC 2011, July 11 – 13, 2011
Syclo Mobile Conference 2011, July 13 – 15, 2011
Mobile Case Study: Healthrageous Accelerates Time to Market through Mobile Development Strategy, July 13, 2011
Critical Requirements for Mobile App Development: Agility and Speed Strategy, Process, and Tools to Accelerate Mobile Development, July 21, 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

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

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

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

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.

Mobility News Weekly - Week of July 4, 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

Apple is turning more aggressive in placing orders for its iPad 2 and is set to ship 12 to 14 million units this quarter, up from 7 to 9 million units in the second quarter. Read Original Content

According to The Nielson Company, Android continues to be the most popular smartphone operating system, with 38 percent of smartphone consumers owning Android devices. However, the Apple iPhone has shown the most growth in recent months. Read Original Content

According to reports released this month by comScore, if you factor in all of the devices that use iOS including iPhones, iPads and the iPod Touch, Apple reached 37.9 million people. Android reached 23.8 million on phones and tablets. That’s a 59 percent lead for iOS over Android. Read Original Content

Research firm IDC forecasts the number of annual mobile app downloads will increase from 10.7 billion in 2010 to nearly 183 billion by 2015. This is notably more than the 44 billion mobile app downloads by 2016 forecasted by its competitor ABI Research. Read Original Content

Carriers are now activating more than 500,000 new Android devices every day, according to Google Vice President of Engineering Andy Rubin. Read Original Content

Discussions About Sybase's Embedded Mobile Database Business, Part 1

SQL Anywhere

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of speaking with Tom Slee at Sybase. Tom works out of the Sybase office in Waterloo, Ontario. We have known of each other professionally for many years, as I was the CEO of a mobile application company that partnered with Sybase. Yesterday we discussed many different subjects including, HTML5, SQL Anywhere, SQL Lite, SUP, mobile application development strategies, data synchronization and the most interesting developments in the embedded mobile database areas at Sybase.

Tom had commented on an article I wrote several weeks back questioning the role of embedded mobile databases in a future with HTML5 and SQL Lite. He had corrected me by saying SQL Lite is very often used with HTML5, but that it was not an "official" part of the HTML5 standard. I stand corrected. However, yesterday he added that SQL Lite is an unofficial part of HTML5 for many developers.

My questions several weeks ago were directed at learning if developers would continue to need and to purchase Sybase's SQL Anywhere embedded mobile databases (RDBMS) if there was a free option that works with HTML5 called SQL Lite. Tom provided me with a much greater understanding of this issue which I will share to the best of my abilities.

SQL Lite working with HTML5 enables developers to store data on mobile devices. This is very useful when developers want to save data entered into a mobile application, record the state of a mobile application, or record where the user is in an application. Developers can also store product catalogs and all kinds of other data in this database. It is a very good solution when there is no need, or limited need to synchronize the mobile application data back to an enteprise database.

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

Oracle is claiming $2.6 billion in patent and copyright infringement damages related to its ongoing intellectual property skirmish with Google over the Android mobile operating system. Read Original Content.

Total consumer and advertiser money spent on location-based services could make the sector a $10 billion industry by 2016, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics. Read Original Content.

A recent study by Nielsen has found that during the past three months smartphones outsold traditional cell phones for the first time ever. Read Original Content.

According to BIA/Kelsey, total U.S. mobile ad spending will grow from $790 million in 2010 to $4 billion in 2015. Read Original Content.

According to a Gartner report, global mobile advertisement spending is projected to double in 2011 to $3.3 billion due a more favorable market and by 2015 it could reach $20.6 billion. Read Original Content.

Within the past three years over 4.5 billion apps have been downloaded to Android smartphones. Read Original Content.

Real Estate Companies and Enterprise Mobility

I read today that the Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, Inc., was a recipient of a Digie Award at the Realcomm 2011 tradeshow last week. The award recognizes Inland’s achievements in mobilizing business data and property management information. Never heard of the Digie Award? Me neither, but it honors companies, projects and solutions that represent the most innovative use of technology and automation in commercial and corporate real estate.

Their enterprise mobility solution is said to enhance the productivity of property managers, maintenance supervisors and leasing agents. What was the problem? They were using JD Edwards ERP system and custom built SQL data warehouses in the office, but they printed expensive and out-of-date paper reports to use in the field.

The mobile solution they chose was from Webalo. Now, once on site, employees can use a mobile solution on their smartphones to check the current status of rent receivables, review upcoming lease expiration's, check on outstanding work orders for repairs and improvements, look up and contact approved vendors, access staff and tenant phone numbers and review the history and status of onsite safety equipment. Those are a lot of different business processes that are all supported in one solution.

The article said the Webalo solution connected the existing enterprise with the most current data to the employees’ smartphones without creating mobile apps, and without incurring the expense of traditional mobile development. Without creating mobile apps? Hummm....how do they do it? Here is what their website says, "The Webalo Client automatically generates an interface that’s compatible with the user's device to provide interaction with enterprise applications."

Inland’s John Bedlek said, “In the current difficult economic climate, we were able to quickly and economically provide better service to tenants, more information to property managers and leasing agents and most importantly, greater value to investors.”

I find this model very interesting. You configure your interface to the back end systems in a cloud-based configuration tool, and then the user interface is generated for your mobile device, and you have access to your data. They claim simple mobile projects can be done in hours or days if you have the right business analyst available to help you access and find the right data. Interesting indeed!

You can read the full press release here.

Upcoming Events

ClickConnect APAC 2011, July 11 – 13, 2011
Syclo Mobile Conference 2011, July 13 – 15, 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

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

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 July 4, 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 Monthly

Verifone has announced that it now offers a device that turns a tablet into a form of checkout register. The device has both a magnetic device for swiping credit cards as well as NFC capability for mobile payments. Read Original Content.

Despite being unprofitable, Square, the manufacturer of the small credit card reader that attaches to smartphones, is valued at $1.6 billion. Read Original Content.

Asia continues to contain the largest number of mobile phone users who make mobile payments. Currently there are 1.8 billion worldwide mobile phone users who make purchases via a mobile device. By 2015 the Wireless Federation expects there to be 2.5 billion. Read Original Content.

PayPal president Scott Thompson has said that by 2015 paper currency in the United States will nearly become obsolete as the popularity of mobile payments continues to rise. Read Original Content.

Analyst firm Juniper Research has revealed figures predicting that by 2015, the number of people using mobile payment services will have risen by 40 percent to 2.5 billion. Read Original Content.

MasterCard and CSI Enterprises are expected to release a handful of new mobile payments applications for Android, BlackBerry and iOS this summer, but it's unclear whether or not the apps will employ NFC for payment transactions or another technology. Read Original Content.

Social Networking and Enterprise Mobility in Less Developed Regions

I am still pondering a conversation I had last week with a manufacturing company that has 40,000 of their 80,000 employees in remote parts of the world that are not connected to the company through IT resources. They have no computers or Internet connectivity through the company. The company wants to connect with these disconnected employees. They are convinced that there is business value in connecting with them. They see mobility as a key part of their solution. Perhaps not smartphone and laptop apps kind of connectivity, but SMS.

The company believes mobility and social networking for the enterprise are the keys to improved sales, customer services, accountability, community, process improvement and information sharing.

I think the reason this is so interesting to me is that the company sees social networking via SMS as a key element to their strategy. They want groups sharing information. They want to explore all kinds of different SMS based applications that can support different business processes on simple inexpensive phones.

I understand that Sybase 365 is a Sybase solution for SMS. I really need to learn more to see if it can be used to help companies like the one mentioned above. I also need to understand if StreamWorks has an SMS component that can add value here.

What do you think?

Upcoming Events

ClickConnect APAC 2011, (Sydney, Australia) July 11 – 13, 2011
Syclo Mobile Conference 2011, July 13 – 15, 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

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

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict