Mobility Changes the Enterprise and Expectations

Companies rarely understand the full extent of the changes mobile software solutions will bring to their organization. They appreciate the concept of having access to enterprise content in mobile environments and converting paper document processes to electronic, but they don't often see the complete vision for how enterprise mobility can re-engineer business processes until they have walked the path for a while.  Let me share some personal observations that I have had working on mobility projects.

1. Most mobile software projects start small and have a very limited user base and business focus in the beginning.  As the users begin to test and adopt the new mobile software solutions, they most often expand the project as they quickly recognize the efficiencies that can be gained by using mobile enterprise.  It seems many companies must see to believe.
2. There is usually some point about 80 percent through the mobile software project when the lights go on!  The client can see beyond their immediate project to the greater potential for enterprise mobility.  This is where the client starts wanting to add to the list of features and expand the project scope.  
3. Mobility is a process - a company may start with simple mobile micro-apps (small iPhone, BlackBerry, Android apps) for alerts, notices, paper replacement, etc., and then expand to geospatially aware apps that are integrated with business intelligence and knowledge management applications.
4. Companies may start with mobilizing their field service technicians, but rapidly expand to mobile CRM, mobile shipping and inventory status, mobile enterprise asset management, quality assurance inspections and reporting, real-time mobile business analytics for the management team, route accounting and proof of delivery for the truck (or lorry) drivers.
5. The more the company learns, the more they realize the benefits of mobile data solutions. The challenge is architecting an enterprise mobility solution from the beginning that can accommodate all of these future additions.  If a company has started down the path to mobilizing their operations and business processes but have chosen to customize each mobile application differently, they will quickly realize their error in not starting with a MEAP that can support all of the mobile applications on a common platform.  The MEAP (mobile enterprise application paltform)  is a server based product that supports a standardized way of designing, developing, deploying and supporting multiple mobile software projects in a standardized manner.
6. Once the MEAP is in place, all IT developers, consultants and technical support personnel can be trained on the same platform and methodologies for efficiencies and speed of development.
7. In addition to standardized design, development, deployment and support, a MEAP adds: version control,  permissions, application publishing, data security configurations, database integrations, device management and much more.
8. It is important that field services organizations consider both the server side and the mobile side of an application.  There are many advantages that can be gained if the enterprise field service optimization solution is tightly integrated with the mobile solution.  Shared roadmaps can ensure that new features provided to the FSO application can be quickly extended to the mobile application.  It is not good to require a separate software development project every time there is a new set of features delivered to the FSO application.  The TCO (total cost of ownership) and pain goes way up!  Companies like SAP's mobility partner, ClickSoftware combine both the FSA and mobile application together.
9. The field service technicians begin to hate paper very quickly after deploying good mobile applications.  They don't want to use the mobile device for some data collection but paper for others.
10. The mobile user also has a smartphone, and they are increasingly sophisticated in their knowledge and use of smartphones.  Their expectations for mobile enterprise applications is quickly rising.

If you have experience implementing mobile solutions, what additional observations have you noted?

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
CEO/Principal Consultant, Netcentric Strategies LLC
Phone +1 208-991-4410

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.

A Mobile Work Order Process in the Field

What does an automated and "mobilized" work order system or service ticket dispatch and management system look like? Here is a scenario - A customer calls in to report a broken heating system. The office staff takes the phone call, enters the relevant information into the work order application on the desktop computer which then creates a unique work order and number.

The work order database application, with GIS integration, can compare the location of each service technician to determine which one is closest to the work location. The dispatch system can also look at the estimated availability of the nearby service technicians. In addition, the solution can quickly look up the qualifications of each service technician to see which ones are qualified for the job. 

Once the appropriate service technician is identified, the work order is dispatched to the smartphone or handheld computer used by the service technician. Included in the electronic work order is driving directions from his/her current location to the next job location. In addition to the work order information, warranty, repair, users manual, maintenance history, customer support issues and product information on file can also be dispatched to the mobile device for reference and parts inventory management.

Once the service technician arrives at the location, he opens the work order on the mobile device. Opening the work order automatically captures the service technician's name, the date/time stamp and the GPS coordinates of the jobsite and enters them into the mobile application’s work order.  In addition, the service technician can see where all other service technicians are currently located.

Next the service technician examines the broken heating system and determines which parts need replaced. He can pull out his mobile device and check whether he has the needed parts in his vehicle inventory, if not, it can automatically search for nearby service vehicles that may contain the part (GPS tracking enables this feature). If another nearby service vehicle is determined to have the required part, then driving directions can be provided.

When the service technician arrives at the service vehicle with the needed part, then the part is scanned using a bar code scanner in the handheld computer to log its removal from the vehicle's inventory and assigns it to the appropriate work order number.

Back at the work site, the service technician runs into a challenge. He has never worked on this model before and needs advice. He snaps a digital photo or activates his digital video and records a view of the equipment and problem. His supervisor reviews the images and quickly walks him through the repair.

Once the work is completed, the service technician signs his name on the mobile device screen, and has the customer sign the work order screen as well. The service technician prints an invoice on a mobile printer and collects the payment or swipes the customer’s credit or debit card. The collection is noted on the mobile work order and synchronized back to the office.

As soon as the work order is completed and synchronized, the mobile application reminds the service technician to promote a 2 year service contract. The service technician reviews the details with the customer and signs them up for a 2 year service contract. Next, the work order system reviews job locations and priorities and assigns the next optimized work order to the field service technician.

This is an example of the processes involved with a basic mobilized work order.  There are many more powerful and sophisticated features available from field service automation experts like SAP mobility partner, ClickSoftware.  I read recently about the "emergency response" capabilities of ClickSoftware that helps you understand the industry expertise that goes into an enterprise quality field services solution.  You can read more about the "emergency response" capabilities on Gil Bouhnick's blog.  Gil helps you understand the level of complexity involved in simply switching priorities and addressing emergencies while in the field.

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
CEO/Principal Consultant, Netcentric Strategies LLC
Phone +1 208-991-4410

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 – July 15, 2010

Kevin's Mobility News Weekly 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 am specifically targeting information that reflects market numbers and trends.

You can read archived newsletters here - http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/kevins-mobility-news-weekly.html.

You may also find Kevin’s M2M News Weekly on the subjects of M2M (machine-to-machine) and the mobile embedded device market of interest here - http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/m2m.html.

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Trimble announced recently it has partnered with Timmons Group to provide an integrated system for the field collection, management, and submittal of wetland delineation data. The solution combines handheld computers with the WetCollect wetland delineation software to comply with the reporting requirements of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The COE determines whether a wetland is a "water of the United States," which is regulated under the federal Clean Water Act. [Kevin’s comments – this is an example of a mobile application that fits a very small niche. It is likely these kinds of field data collection applications will always be custom development projects. As such, it is good to have an SDK for mobile applications. This application will most likely be developed for Windows Mobile OS.]

http://www.trimble.com/news/release.aspx?id=070610a

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The iPhone 4 takes an average of 23 percent longer to charge while charging via USB than it does while charging via a standard electrical outlet.

http://iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=10516

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Foursquare has just over 1.9 million users. At its current pace, Foursquare will surpass 2 million users within a week. Currently Foursquare has about 5.6 million venues. One in three venues on Foursquare have been checked into only once or never.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/07/foursquare-gowalla-stats/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

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New research released recently by Anoto found that 86 percent of businesses are still using paper-based forms in either their own business or in their clients' business, compared to 13.9 percent who say they are no longer using them at all. This research confirms the ongoing use of paper-based forms in business and highlights a clear need for solutions that can digitally capture handwritten data. [Kevin’s comments – this is a good example of why there is still a great market for mobile forms builders, see an example here, http://clicksoftware-mobilefever.blogspot.com/2010/06/create-clickmobile-form-in-5-minutes.html.]

http://www.fieldtechnologiesonline.com/article.mvc/New-Research-Finds-86-Of-Companies-Still-0001?user=2373698&source=nl:28009

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According to ABI Research's Cellular Modem Product Tracking Database, more than 50 percent of the modem models now available in the market utilize the ubiquitous USB interface. USB modems have become the most popular products – so popular that ABI Research forecasts shipments of nearly 81 million this year.

http://www.fieldtechnologiesonline.com/article.mvc/More-Than-80-Million-USB-Wireless-Modems-0001?user=2373698&source=nl:28009

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Cardiologist Eric Topol sets aside his fresh garden salad and holds up an iPhone with a palpable sense of glee. “All I have to do is touch the screen and I can call up a patient’s vital signs, in real time,” said Topol, a renowned researcher at the Scripps Translational Science Institute in La Jolla. “See, there’s the heartbeat, pulse.”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/27/topol-profile-6-28/

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

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Banks need to reinforce security for their mobile payment services, according to an Ovum research report. The report urges banks to understand the vulnerabilities in mobile payments at every level of its infrastructure.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/mobile-banking-growth-requires-defense-in-depth-security-study/

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MasterCard has introduced an iPhone application, The MarketPlace. The application gives MasterCard users mobile access to weekday deals. The application is a personalized shopping platform with customized deals and offers from select merchants.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/mastercard-extends-mobile-platform-to-revolutionize-mcommerce/

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According to Comscore by the end of April 234 million Americans aged 13 and over were mobile phone subscribers. So, based on Pew's estimate, nearly 89 million people in the U.S. have used the mobile internet in the past year -- close to one third of the total current U.S. population.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/07/08/mobile.internet.access.pew/index.html
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Spending on mobile display ads in the United States, estimated at just under $313 million today, will almost quadruple to exceed $1.2 billion in 2015, says ABI Research. The survey also finds that 28 percent of mobile subscribers are accessing the mobile Internet daily, and smartphone penetration in the US currently stands at about 20 percent.

http://www.mobiletechnews.com/info/2010/07/08/115843.html

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Mobile merchants that do not have a swipe available and have to run the card manually experience interchange rates of 2.4 percent or 2.5 percent compared with the typical card-present rate of 1.59 percent.

http://www.americanbanker.com/news/considering-mobile-payments-1021381-1.html

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According to Generator Research, the worldwide mobile payments market is expected to grow from $68 billion in 2009 to more than $600 billion by 2014, a compound annual growth rate of more than 50 percent over the next five years.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/press-release/t_new-mobile-applications-from-at-amp-t-enable-small-businesses-to-tap-the-68-billion-mobile-payments-1025876.html

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YouTube consumption on mobile devices increased 160 percent in 2009 over the previous year, with mobile video playbacks now topping 100 million per day.

http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/youtube-revamps-mobile-site-daily-views-top-100-million/2010-07-08?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal#ixzz0t6jPGgIa

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Fifty-nine percent of American adults now go online wirelessly using a laptop or cell phone, an increase over the 51 percent of Americans who did so at a similar point in 2009.

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Mobile-Access-2010.aspx?r=1

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Twitter now averages more than 800 million search queries per day, translating to over 24 billion per month--far behind Google (88 billion searches per month) but far ahead of Yahoo (9.4 billion) and Microsoft's Bing (4.1 billion).

http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/twitter-exceeds-800-million-search-queries-day/2010-07-08?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal#ixzz0t6hePFck

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The market for mobile health technology will reach an estimated $4.6 billion by 2014, according to a report by CSMG. mHealth is already a $1.5 billion market and it is expected to grow over the next five years at a 25 percent CAGR (compound annual growth rate). If certain broad healthcare reforms are instituted, such as pay-for-performance, adoption could accelerate.

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/new-report-offers-insight-fragmented-mhealth-market

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The U.S. market for wireless home-based health care applications will grow from $304 million this year to $4.4 billion in 2013, according to a new report from Parks Associates, a Dallas-based research firm. That translates to estimated annual growth rates of 96 percent in 2010, 126 percent in 2011, 95 percent in 2012 and 68 percent in 2013. One factor fueling the increases is the economic stimulus law's health information technology provisions, which will open new opportunities for wireless vendors, according to the report.

http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/home_health-38778-1.html

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In the year 2000, about 720 million people had mobile subscriptions, less than the amount of users China alone has today. Mobile broadband subscriptions are growing at a similar pace and are expected to amount to more than 3.4 billion by 2015 (from 360 million in 2009).

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=744707

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While Foursquare is just shy of 2 million users, other services like MyTown have quickly surpassed that number. Same with Google Latitude, which is at 3 million. And you can put Loopt on that list as well, as today they’ve hit 4 million total users.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/09/loopt-4-million/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

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Research In Motion unveiled BlackBerry Protect, extending some enterprise capabilities (the ability to lock down or find a lost device, and to backup, restore and wipe its data). Protect addresses one of the most common security concerns: the lost or misplaced device.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/handheld/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225702859&subSection=All+Stories

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Research In Motion's BlackBerry operating system remains the dominant smartphone platform in the U.S., representing 41.7 percent of the market, its market share dropped 0.4 percent during the period as Google's Android increased 4.0 percent to 13.0 percent. Android was the sole platform to grow its market share during the period: Apple's iPhone slipped 1.0 percent to 24.4 percent, Palm's webOS fell 0.6 percent to 4.8 percent and Microsoft's Windows Mobile dropped 1.9 percent to 13.2 percent.

http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/iphone-blackberry-slip-android-market-share-surges/2010-07-09

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It's official. Consumer Reports' engineers have just completed testing the iPhone 4, and have confirmed that there is a problem with its reception.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2010/07/apple-iphone-4-antenna-issue-iphone4-problems-dropped-calls-lab-test-confirmed-problem-issues-signal-strength-att-network-gsm.html

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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised within months a number of Windows-based tablets would be hitting the market, and that the company is urgently working to bring its Windows 7 smartphone OS to market.

http://blogs.computerworld.com/16520/ballmer_promises_windows_tablets_are_coming

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Facebook plans to migrate away from standalone mobile applications in favor of embracing a platform strategy enabling developers to leverage its position at the top of the social networking food chain. "Where we're going from here is a platform strategy. We're going away from a one-off app strategy." Facebook's conventional web platform supports more than 550,000 third-party applications and a million developer partners. Roughly 150 million users worldwide now access Facebook through their mobile devices.

http://social.venturebeat.com/2010/07/13/facebook-mobile-platform/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twitter-publisher-main&utm_campaign=twitter

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Interesting mobile application strategies for fast food restaurants - On a weekly basis, McDonald’s sends program members a mobile email, with a list of coupons and promotions available that week. Customers then have two choices. One is to use their mobile browser to open mobile coupons, which are shown to McDonald’s cashiers—an alpha-numeric promotional code is clearly visible. The other option, if customers have already downloaded the McDonald’s mobile application, which 8 million consumers have already done, is to download the coupons to their contactless mobile wallet.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/a-merchant%e2%80%99s-argument-for-mobile-contactless-technology-celent/

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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:

http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/mobile-expert-interview-series.html

Mobile Expert Video Series:

http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/mobile-expert-video-series.html

Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly archives can be found at:

http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/kevins-mobility-news-weekly.html.

I would invite those interested in enterprise mobility to join the Linkedin Group SAP Enterprise Mobility, http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
CEO/Principal Consultant, Netcentric Strategies LLC
Phone +1 208-991-4410
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analsyt, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

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M2M in the Home and at Work

Twice in the past two days a machine has sent me a M2M message in my home.  The first time it told me that its inventory was low, and then asked if I wanted to replenish its inventory from a specific vendor.  The second M2M message alerted me to a mechanical problem.  In both cases it was my HP wireless printer.

Ericsson predicts that by 2020 there will be 50 billion M2M enabled devices.  Those are large numbers, but I can see the value in my own home.  I can just image the value in a large manufacturing operation.  All the machines monitoring themselves and reporting mechanical problems, maintenance or replenishment needs.

I can also see the need for any company that has geographically dispersed high value assets like trucks, tractors, trailors, tools, etc., to want to track them and to know when they need repaired or serviced.

I have recorded a number of video comments on M2M which you can find on the SAP Mentor channel on YouTube.  Click here for the list of YouTube videos:   http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/kevins-video-comments.html , or read my M2M newsletter, M2M News Weekly here, http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/m2m.html.

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M 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, mobility analsyt, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles. ***************************************************

SAP Enterprise Mobility Podcast

One of the key messages from SAPPHIRENOW 2010 is that this is the year of SAP mobility. To get a better handle on how mobility trends impact the enterprise and how to track those trends on the SAP Community Network, Jon Reed sat down with SAP Mentors John Appleby and Kevin Benedict.  During this twenty minute podcast, John and Kevin explain the difference between enterprise mobility and point solutions and share their take on the SAP mobility trends to watch for this year.

Podcast: http://www.jonerp.com/content/view/354/55/

Newsletters:  If you are interested in the latest news on enterprise mobility, check out Kevin's Mobility News Weekly - http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/kevins-mobility-news-weekly.html or Kevin's M2M News Weekly - http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/m2m.html.

Video Comments: View my ramblings on enterprise mobility - http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/kevins-video-comments.html

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M 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, mobility analsyt, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles. ***************************************************

Kevin’s M2M News Weekly – July 14, 2010

Welcome to Kevin's M2M News Weekly. This is an online newsletter that consists of the most interesting news and articles related to M2M (machine to machine) and embedded mobile devices that I read each week. 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.

I believe that enterprise mobility and the M2M markets are converging. Both areas exchange wireless data with the enterprise. Both play important roles in enterprise asset management, fleet management and field services.

You can read archived editions of Kevin's M2M News Weekly at http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/m2m.html.

Also check out Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly and Kevin’s Enterprise Mobility Blog.

Please send me any interesting M2M news links, market numbers, events, case studies, analyst reports or whitepapers that you come across and I will include in my newsletter. Enjoy!

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I found this video by Vodafone on YouTube that paints an interesting vision of M2M.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujk1cprLpD8&feature=related

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Cumulative global investment in smart grids, including smart meter implementations, as well as upgrades to the transmission and distribution infrastructure, will approach $46 billion by 2015 according to the latest forecasts from ABI Research.

http://www.fieldtechnologiesonline.com/article.mvc/Smart-Grid-Spending-Will-Top-45B-By-2015-0001?user=2373698&source=nl:28057

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Within the next five years, mobile phones, sensor technology, portable medical devices, and wireless health applications will play a larger role in connecting patients with their healthcare providers, yet many healthcare chief information officers haven't put plans in place to accommodate this surge.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/mobile-wireless/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224900533

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The global market opportunity for mobile health could be worth as much as $60 billion, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

http://www.fiercemobilehealthcare.com/story/worldwide-m-health-market-opportunity-could-reach-60-billion/2010-02-23

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The market for mobile health technology will reach an estimated $4.6 billion by 2014, according to a report by CSMG. mHealth is already a $1.5 billion market and it is expected to grow over the next five years at a 25 percent CAGR (compound annual growth rate). If certain broad healthcare reforms are instituted, such as pay-for-performance, adoption could accelerate.

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/new-report-offers-insight-fragmented-mhealth-market

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The U.S. market for wireless home-based health care applications will grow from $304 million this year to $4.4 billion in 2013, according to a new report. That translates to an estimated annual growth rates of 96 percent in 2010, 126 percent in 2011, 95 percent in 2012 and 68 percent in 2013.

http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/home_health-38778-1.html

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According to recent studies, the M2M market is estimated to grow $19 billion over the next five years.

http://m2m.tmcnet.com/topics/m2mevolution/articles/91259-machine-to-machine-market-grow-19-billion-over.htm

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A new fire safety product alerts deaf or hard of hearing people, via their cell phones, of fire alarms in public places such as supermarkets, hotels, shopping centers and libraries.

http://m2m.tmcnet.com/topics/m2mevolution/articles/91327-uks-fireco-chooses-wireless-logics-m2m-fire-alarm.htm

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What if my blood sugar's too high today? Is it time for my blood pressure pill? With nagging text messages or more customized two-way interactions, researchers are trying to harness the power of cell phones to help fight chronic diseases.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_med_healthbeat_cell_phones

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The U.S. Army is using mobile technology to transmit health tips, appointment reminders, and general announcements to the cell phones of more than 300 wounded soldiers. The mobile phone based secure messaging system called mCare is one of several innovative wireless technology solutions that the Army is deploying to improve the health of its employees.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/patient/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=XRAP20EITORINQE1GHOSKH4ATMY32JVN?articleID=225701968

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Tracking and tracing applications have always been a big part of M2M technology, and it seems there are no signs of this market slowing down. Companies continue to introduce new components and products that can be used for keeping tabs on location, whether it’s tracking a vehicle, cargo, or something else.

http://www.m2mmag.com/m2mnew/news/articles/article.aspx?ID=8469

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Europe has 345 million energy meters, 254 million motor vehicles, 8 million security alarm systems and 6 million POS-terminals. Altogether these segments represent a potential market of over 600 million wireless M2M connections.

http://www.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp?productid=1493111

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Ericsson is identifying M2M as a key component in the future growth of the mobile industry, driven by devices such as smart meters, tracking solutions in the logistics industry, digital signage, cameras, and vending machines which can reorder for them. Up to 50 billion devices are expected to be connected by 2020.

http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/352836/50_billion_device_connections_by_2020_ericsson/

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Doctors have already been finding ways to incorporate the new iPhone 4 and its videoconferencing features into their practice of medicine.

http://www.fiercemobilehealthcare.com/story/surgeons-connect-iphone-4s-facetime-videoconferencing-app/2010-07-13


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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M 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, mobility analsyt, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
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Incorporating Video in Your Enterprise Mobility Application

Video on mobile devices is powerful.  I started blogging about videos in mobile applications about three years ago, but at that time it was only available on Windows Mobile devices via a link to a browser that connected to YouTube or other video sites.  Today mobile devices take and support HD video natively.  YouTube can now be an application on your device, and with the new iPhone's FaceTime application you can have real time video (if speaking to another iPhone 4 user).  All interesting, but how can it be used by the enterprise?

I believe training videos embedded in mobile device widgets or in your mobile enterprise application can be very useful.  The videos can also be multilingual.  I can image a field service technician installing a new piece of equipment and having challenges.  He/she clicks on the related video widget in their mobile field services application and watches how the equipment should be installed.  I can also imagine the field service technician video recording his work in real time and getting advice from a distant expert.

A quick three minute "How To" video, that is run on your smartphone, could communicate what it takes six pages of documentation and 30 minutes to read.  I can see embedded videos being used in many areas including:

• Implementation instructions
• Customer service strategies
• Product features and functions
• Sales instructions
• Business process instructions
• Safety videos
• Repair and maintenance instructions
• Company policies on various topics
• Best practices...etc.

Gil Bouhnick, Director of Mobility at ClickSoftware, recently wrote about using video widgets on mobile enterprise applications on his blog Mobilefever, http://clicksoftware-mobilefever.blogspot.com/2010/07/importance-of-training-in-enterprise.html.

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M 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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Kevin's Mobility News Weekly - July 8, 2010

Kevin's Mobility News Weekly 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 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 enterprise mobility.

You can read archived newsletters here - http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/kevins-mobility-news-weekly.html

You may also find Kevin’s M2M News Weekly on the subjects of M2M (machine-to-machine) and the mobile embedded device market of interest.

http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/m2m.html

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Microsoft discontinued its Kin cell phone effort just weeks after launching a pair of Kin-branded gadgets with Verizon Wireless. "We have made the decision to focus exclusively on Windows Phone 7 and we will not ship Kin in Europe this fall as planned," Microsoft said in a press statement quoted by a number of media outlets. "Additionally, we are integrating our Kin team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from Kin into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current Kin phones."

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/microsoft-quits-kin-focuses-windows-phone-7/2010-06-30

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently stated that the computing giant approves 95 percent of App Store submissions within seven days.

http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/mozilla-submits-cloud-based-firefox-home-app-iphone/2010-07-01

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Motorola will be split up the first quarter of 2011. One unit will be named to Motorola Solutions and will be headed by the other co-CEO, Greg Brown. His company will specialize in Enterprise Mobility Solutions and Network units, which includes wireless LAN gear, public safety communications equipment, and service-provider networks. This will effectively serve as Motorola's enterprise division, which requires a lot more integration work in a different way than its home division does, one of Motorola's claimed reasons for the split.

http://www.techeye.net/mobile/motorola-reveals-details-of-company-split#ixzz0sr0TyTBi

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57% of applications on the Android Market are free applications, far more than what the other stores average. Most of them clearly circle around 25% free vs 75% paid, according to Distimo’s research findings. In fact, the only other app store with a share of free apps larger than one third is Palm’s App Catalog.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/05/distimo-june-2010/

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

http://www.clicksoftware.com/

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In the first quarter of 2009 more than a third of smartphone subscribers used less than 1 MB of data per month. This number has dropped to a quarter in the first quarter of 2010 as the number of applications and the utility of smart devices has increased substantially. That means about 20 million current smartphone users are hardly using data.

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/entner-quantifying-mobile-data-tsunami-and-its-implications/2010-06-29?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

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With Google's Android Market now offering about 65,000 applications, far behind the more than 225,000 iPhone and iPod touch apps in Apple's App Store, the company plans to fuel developer interest in the platform by introducing new in-app revenue opportunities like sales of subscriptions and virtual goods.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/05/technology/companies/05iht-android05.html?_r=3&scp=2&sq=google&st=cse

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I recently wrote an article for The Enterprise Mobility Foundation, The Next Step in Business Process Optimization: Mobility. In this article I describe the enormous amount of work that has gone into designing and automating business processes and ERPs like SAP. The conclusion of the article is that as sophisticated as ERPs are today, there remains significant feature gaps, especially in extending business processes out to the mobile workforce.

http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2010/07/completing-field-force-automation.html

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RIM's BlackBerry devices control 35 percent of the U.S. market, compared with 28 percent for the iPhone and 9 percent for Android, according to the Nielsen Co., a research firm. But the numbers belie a significant shift as RIM's market share — which five years ago was more than 50 percent — erodes in the face of increased competition.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/blackberry_still_leads_in_smart_phone_market_97824479.html

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Google will introduce Android in Indian and China. It will introduce various programs to enable developers of India and China to make money by developing applications for Android.

http://www.southasiablog.com/2010/07/google-is-looking-forward-to-popularize.html

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Remember the stylus? The handy little hard plastic faux pen used to write on the screen of PDAs, handheld computers and smartphones. They remain important to many field service processes today.

http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2010/07/stylus-proof-of-delivery-and-windows.html
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Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has posted financial numbers of US $741.392 million for June 2010, up 66.68% from a year earlier. HTC is the largest producer of Android phones globally, and these results speak loudly to the success of the platform in the smartphone space. HTC is the producer of many of the top Android phones — the EVO 4G, Droid Incredible and the Nexus One to name a few.

http://jkontherun.com/2010/07/06/htc-posts-66-revenue-increase-in-june/

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Wireless broadband connections using LTE and HSPA+ technology accounted for 17 percent of all broadband connections in Europe at the end of 2009, and 7.1 percent in the United States and Canada, according to Berg Insight, a mobile telecommunications research firm in Gothenburg, Sweden.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/technology/07nokia.html?_r=2&ref=global?dbk

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LG Electronics is following its larger South Korean rival Samsung into the Android tablet market and said it plans to release the device in the fourth quarter.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20009674-1.html

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Seventy-Four days after the iPhone was introduced at $600 a pop, one million have been sold. The Droid, at $200 has sold 1.05 million. The Nexus One has sold an estimated 135,000 units. By any measure, that's a total sales flop. Even worse: The sales rate is declining. In the first month, Nexus One sold 80,000 units. That's means that only 55,000 additional units have sold since.

http://gizmodo.com/5494406/the-nexus-one-is-a-total-sales-flop

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Garmin has been trying to establish a foothold in the smartphone market. However, the location services company has had difficulty addressing threats by free navigation services like those provided by Google and others. Garmin's latest navigation based mobile phone is reported to be seeing sluggish sales, with an estimated 20,000 units sold since the handset went on sale in the USA just under a month ago.

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/44112.php

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The largest U.S. airline carriers, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, plan to expand their mobile workforce equipped with handheld devices that agents use to check flights and issue bag tags and boarding passes. They'll soon be able to sell passengers items or get them to pay for oversize bags that shouldn't have cleared security.

http://iphone.usatoday.com/News/1855239/

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Gartner's new and complete 2010 Gartner Field Service Management Magic Quadrant report can be found, compliments of ClickSoftware, at the following URL – http://www.clicksoftware.com/Gartner.

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Last week Foursquare raked in $20 million in venture funding. The ultra popular Foursquare, which offers a free application that lets people flag where they are, whizzed past the 1 million member mark in April and just passed 1.8 million.

http://iphone.usatoday.com/Tech/1853481/

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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:

http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/mobile-expert-interview-series.html

Mobile Expert Video Series:

http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/mobile-expert-video-series.html

Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly archives can be found at:

http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/kevins-mobility-news-weekly.html.

I would invite those interested in enterprise mobility to join the Linkedin Group SAP Enterprise Mobility, http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro.

http://www.clicksoftware.com/e86e075b-4fca-44c9-bfeb-4efcc978f416/knowledge-center-white-papers-delivery.htm
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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M 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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Completing Field Force Automation - Extending Intelligent Mobility

I recently wrote an article for The Enterprise Mobility Foundation, The Next Step in Business Process Optimization: Mobility.  In this article I describe the enormous amount of work that has gone into designing and automating business processes and ERPs like SAP.  The conclusion of the article is that as sophisticated as ERPs are today, there remains significant feature gaps, especially in extending business processes out to the mobile workforce.

In this article, I want to highlight some areas where there is still much work to be done in field services.  In field services, a number of SAP mobility partners like Clicksoftware and Syclo have comprehensive field services and enterprise asset management solutions with mobile clients for use on smartphones and ruggedized handhelds.  However, there are still feature gaps in the integration of real time data, M2M integration, geotags, business intelligence, augmented reality and multi-media support.

Let me give you a not so futuristic field services scenario to consider.  A field services technician arrives at a customer's location.  Recognizing the location (based on geospatial data and scheduling data), the service tech's smartphone begins to both display and read, using an audio feed, the customer highlights including recent support issues, account status, warranties, contracts and possible upsell sales opportunities.  As the service technician unloads his/her tools and walks toward the worksite, they are getting educated on all the most recent events through their ear piece.

As the service technician passes near various pieces of equipment with a maintenance and repair history the information is both displayed and an audible voice reviews the history.  As the service technician enters a building, the blueprint of the building and a map of  the location of all equipment under service contracts appears on their screen.

Now let's pretend we are movie directors and insert a flashback - before the service technician was scheduled and dispatched, the field service automation system queried the maintenance and support status of all equipment on the customer's campus.  Equipment needing repair or maintenance was identified, parts required were pulled from inventory or ordered for delivery.  Required tools and equipment were pre-loaded into the service technician's vehicle and time was allocated to complete all the necessary work on the premises.  Consolidating all the work possible during a visit reduces fuel, travel and labor costs.

As the service technician arrives at each piece of equipment, he immediately snaps a digital picture of it.  A diagram, with step by step instructions overlays the digital photo and instructs the service technician on how to complete the service most efficiently.  The service technician speaks to the mobile application confirming each step until it is completed.  This audio file is immediately translated, interpreted and the work order is closed.

If any step in the process takes longer than expected, the mobile application will ask if a digital video file demonstrating the necessary steps would be useful.  If the service technician affirms, then the file automatically plays.

If advice from another expert is required, the service technician can request it and the mobile application can initiate a knowledge management process (see solutions from SAP mobility partner's Leapfactor, Open Text's Open Text Everywhere, or SAP's Streamworks) that queries experts and connects with them automatically.  If a connected expert requests a live video feed of the equipment or the work, the service technician simply aims the smartphone digital video camera at the equipment or activates the hat mounted video camera.

Before each peice of equipment is reached, an automatic M2M (machine-to-machine) communication is sent from the office asking the equipment to perform diagnostics on itself.  The diagnostic is completed and wirelessly sent to the service technician's smartphone.

All of the technology in the scenario above exists today.  It just has not been integrated all together into specific use cases like the one above.  Perhaps SAP partners are waiting for customers to request it or for SAP to document it or for you to suggest it.

*Read the Mobility News Weekly at http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/kevins-mobility-news-weekly.html.

*Read the M2M News Weekly at http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/m2m.html.

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M 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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http://www.clicksoftware.com/e86e075b-4fca-44c9-bfeb-4efcc978f416/knowledge-center-white-papers-delivery.htm

Kevin's M2M News Weekly - July 7, 2010

Welcome to Kevin's M2M News Weekly. This is an online newsletter that consists of the most interesting news and articles related to M2M (machine to machine) and embedded mobile devices that I read each week. 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.

I believe that enterprise mobility and the M2M markets are converging. Both areas exchange wireless data with the enterprise. Both play important roles in enterprise asset management, fleet management and field services.

You can read archived editions of Kevin's M2M News Weekly at http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/m2m.html.

Also check out Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly and Kevin’s Enterprise Mobility Blog.

Please send me any interesting M2M news links, market numbers, events, case studies, analyst reports or whitepapers that you come across and I will include in my newsletter. Enjoy!

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Gemalto announced on the 29th of June that it had acquired Cinterion Wireless Modules GmbH for a total cash price of €163 million. Cinterion Wireless Modules is a leader in intelligent cellular M2M communication. Frost & Sullivan believes that the M2M market will move from being a niche market to becoming a part of the mass market in the next few years. However, the M2M Average Revenue Per User will make sense only if providers are able to sell services and/or integration and maintenance.

http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?id=46788&t=1&c=33&cg=4&mset=

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Satellite and cellular communications firm, Orbcomc, is to build a gateway earth station in Hartebeesthoek, South Africa. Orbcomm maintains its own low-earth-orbit satellite network, which provides two-way M2M communication from virtually anywhere in the world on a near real-time basis. The Orbcomm network provides near real-time messaging, tracking and monitoring, and the new facility is expected to significantly boost the M2M market in the greater Southern African region.

http://www.africanbusinessreview.co.za/sectors/other-construction/new-satellite-gateway-sa

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On July 1, 2010, Chang'an Automobile Co. Ltd signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Mobile to jointly develop 3G cars and apply M2M communication technology to the cars. This technology can conduct remote monitoring and management of the car by downloading 3G network to collect the vehicle operating data, and then deliver it through China Mobile's wireless network.

http://autonews.gasgoo.com/auto-news/1015836/changan-auto-to-develop-3g-car-with-china-mobile.html

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AT&T reached an agreement with the Current Group that will allow it to extend its reach with smart-grid solutions for utilities. AT&T will offer Current Smart Grid Distribution Solutions, which help utilities increase grid efficiency and system capacity by managing demand dynamically and reducing power delivery losses.

http://urgentcomm.com/networks_and_systems/briefs/att-current-partner-20100701/

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Everything Everywhere is aiming to increase business customers' productivity by up to 15 percent over the next three years. Four areas of focus have been identified by Everything Everywhere: M2M, healthcare, 'information everywhere' and HD Voice.

http://www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk/News/529447/everything_everywhere_b2b_vow.html

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Numerex Corp. , a provider of M2M products and services announced that it has been recognized by Everything Channel as one of North America's top M2M technology integrators. This recognition is the result of Numerex's strategy of offering an integrated suite of products and services in support of its customers' M2M solutions.

http://pr-canada.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=221133&Itemid=58

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AT&T’s wholesale business continues to shrink. Using their sequential (Q4 to Q1) figures, they are headed for a double digit annual revenue decline in 2010. Wholesale revenues for Verizon are trending toward a double-digit decline as well. Android will need to morph into something “Incredible” to replace business and wholesale losses at Verizon. ARPU (average revenue per user) will rise, as will prepaid customers and M2M connected devices.

http://www.rcrwireless.com/article/20100629/REALITY_CHECK/100629954/reality-check-earnings-spotlight-on-consumer-data-and-enterprise

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Bluetooth Low Energy is forecasted to dominate wireless sensor network (M2M) market. Wireless Sensor Networks are all still in an emergent state, however, they are projected to grow rapidly in home and building applications. While the usual listing of home security, entertainment and lighting control, automated fire containment and alarm, burglar deterrence, etc. are all important, the application in energy use monitoring and utility management will be immense. Nearly 70% of the average household utility bill could be influenced by WSN applications.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-bluetooth-low-energy-forecast-dominate-wireless-sensor-network-/2010/07/01/4880244.htm

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Cybercom has initiated a strategic partnership with Wireless Maingate, a leading supplier of M2M solutions. The partnership entails outsourcing of application management to Cybercom in China. Wireless Maingate works on the development of M2M wireless technology so that products can be online no matter where they are.

http://www.cisionwire.com/cybercom-group/cybercom-and-wireless-maingate-form-strategic-partnership23388

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Hans Dahlberg, head of industrial services at TeliaSonera says, "Machine-to-Machine communications represents an opportunity that is potentially larger than the either the mobile or Internet revolutions.”

http://m2m.tmcnet.com/topics/m2mevolution/articles/90536-smarttrust-collaborates-with-teliasonera-advances-m2m-market-applications.htm

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A good friend sent me an article over the holiday weekend about a tomato watering system that was set up to tweet whenever it needed more water. I like it! It contains a moisture sensor connected to an embedded M2M wireless device. It is a silly little proof of concept, but it helps us to understand how many unique applications there are for M2M systems.

http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2010/07/m2m-tomatoes-fisherman-and-drug-addicts.html

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BSQUARE Corporation and the Ford Motor Company have jointly setup a Telematics Competency Center. The agreement which was signed on June 29, 2010 stipulates that the Competency Center will be staffed by BSQUARE and will focus on development and deployment of the next generation Sync in-dashboard information and infotainment system (M2M or embedded mobile devices).

http://m2m.tmcnet.com/topics/m2mevolution/articles/90890-bsquare-inks-deal-with-ford-launch-telematics-competency.htm

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Wireless M2M telemonitoring devices are increasingly being used to offer assistance to diabetes patients who must manage vital blood sugar parameters at all times.

http://dataweek.co.za/news.aspx?pklNewsId=36068&pklCategoryID=42

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An ECG, which can detect abnormal heart rhythms, is usually carried out at a hospital or clinic, but Chow U-Jin, medical director at Ephone International, which developed the EPI Life, said the device is able to condense the whole ECG process onto a mobile platform, making it a life-saving gadget.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSC36tk1MqPREb3isxLd4kd7Y9qw

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President Obama announced Friday a $795 million government program to develop broadband access in rural parts of the country. Among the beneficiaries will be 900 healthcare facilities. The FCC's National Broadband Plan estimates $700 billion in savings over 15-25 years from teleHealth initiatives. Telehealth is likely to get a boost from greater access to broadband, the FCC plan notes.

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/broadband-investments-boost-900-healthcare-facilities

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Swedish telecoms equipment manufacturer Ericsson expects that backhaul capacity in Latin America will have to increase 100 times if the region is to support what it predicts will be 5 billion M2M connected devices operating in the region in 2020.

http://www.bnamericas.com/news/telecommunications/Backhaul_must_increase_100_times_to_support_5bn_devices_in_2020_-_Ericsson

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M 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. ***************************************************