Is Enterprise Mobility Funny?


The answer, according to my wife, is no.  However, I am reading a book on how to write comedy.  I apologize in advance for any offense.

Isn’t it sad to read about Research In Motion’s demise over the past couple of years? Morale is so bad in Waterloo, that psychologist are calling it Blackberry whine.

Mobile security is a very big concern for most executives surveyed.  No CEO wants another Tiger-Woods-text-message-discovery incident happening on their watch.

Foxxcon is a big player in the mobile device industry; in fact they are the world’s largest maker of electronic components and they manufacture Apple’s iPhones and iPads.  If Apple grows any more, China is going to have to drop their one child policy.

Microsoft is preparing to release Windows 8 and they hope this will make them a player in the mobile industry again.  If they don’t come up with a winning solution this time, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will need to step in.

Why were the iPhones so disappointed with their swimming performance at the Olympics?  They were out of sync.

Texting while driving is dangerous.  Your club could injure a spectator.

Providing real-time business analytics on mobile devices is a big trend.  If you are going to confuse a manager, let him be confused away from the office.

Again, my sincerest apologies.


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Kevin Benedict, Mobile Industry Analyst, Mobile Strategy Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus
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 and M2M News Weekly – Week of August 5, 2012

The Field Mobility and M2M 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 Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly

The seven standards bodies for telecoms that joined together to create a common M2M platform have now published a roadmap and have named the group “oneM2M”.  Read Original Content

MicroPower Technologies has formed a partnership with Sprint’s M2M network to enable MicroPower to add Sprint’s network as an additional channel to transmit wireless video.  Read Original Content

Automaker Honda is collaborating with M2M cellular carrier Aeris Communications to support its new electric-vehicle smartphone app, HondaLink EV.  Read Original Content

Since 1995, Syclo has enabled hundreds of companies in 37 countries and industries supercharge their businesses with mobility.  This newsletter is sponsored in part by Syclo.

Aegis Technologies is building London 2012, a 3D database for the 2012 Summer Olympics utilizing multiple 3D modelers, texture artists and GIS analysts.  Read Original Content

Cloud-based, mobile and social field service applications provider ServiceMax is hosting a customer summit that will focus on ServiceMax, its customers and the journey toward field service transformation.  The summit will be held September 18, 2012 in San Francisco.  Read Original Content


The Siemens Foundation has partnered with Discovery Education to introduce an education program for teachers, which focuses on integrating technology with learning in new and innovative ways, in particular with the use of QR codes.  Read Original Content

Verizon Communications has finalized its $612 million acquisition of Hughes Telematics Inc.  Verizon states the acquisition prepares the company to speed up growth through the delivery of advanced automotive and fleet telematics and M2M services. Read Original Content

Ultimate Mobile Technologies, UAVs and Artificial Intelligence

X-47B
I read an interesting article this week titled I AM War Plane that was published in the August 2012 edition of the magazine Popular Science.  It was written by Clay Dillow and explored the new mobile technology that permits unmanned fighter planes to fly from specialized aircraft carriers.

The prototype plane, X-47B, is the world's first autonomous warplane, and first unmanned plane ever to land on a carrier.  By autonomous, the author means the ability to, in real-time, "assess fluid situations and form dynamic responses."

It is a stealth plane designed to deliver strikes or perform reconnaissance.  This plane is now part of the U.S. military's approximately 10,000 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in its inventory.  Here is the connection to enterprise mobility - these planes are loaded with remote sensors, video, radar, infrared and all kinds of mobile technology that is securely synchronizing with a back-office server in real time.  This is an incredible glimpse into the future of enterprise mobility.
Download report: http://info.antennasoftware.com/GartnerMQ_MADP_KB.html
In addition to all of the cool technology already mentioned, this plane's robotic brain makes all the moment-to-moment decisions on its own.  Yes, its mission is still controlled by people, but its tactical flight tasks are left to the UAV's on-board brain.  This brain enables it to operate in complex settings.  It can process vast amounts of flight data, make near-instantaneous decisions and guide itself to a flawless landing on the deck of a heaving aircraft carrier.

The X-47B uses many sensors that you can find in an iPhone.  It uses GPS equipment, accelerometers, altimeters and gyroscopes, plus a trunk load of classified equipment and sensors.

The author notes that one of the biggest advances in this UAV is the software that enables it to translate the on-board sensor data into decisions and commands that are sent to the flight computer.  This data must be translated and processed fast enough to enable successful and tricky landings on the deck of a moving ship that is buffeted by wind, rain and waves.

The X-47B is flying today.  The military's technology of today, will be in the commercial sector tomorrow.

The X-47B is not just a demonstration of mobile communications, remote sensors and artificial intelligence, but also a demonstration of M2M (machine-to-machine) communication.  SAP has recently sponsored a new M2M initiative (http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2012/05/sap-announces-new-m2m-initiative.html) and I am seeing more mention of M2M in the SAP ecosystem.  Some SAP partners like ILS Technology also have dedicated M2M solutions that are integrated with SAP.
Learn more at http://www.devicewise.com

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

Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly – Week of August 5, 2012

Welcome to the Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly, an online newsletter that consists of the most interesting news and articles related to enterprise mobility in Asia.  Asia is predicted to be the fastest area of growth for enterprise mobility between now and 2016.

Also read Field Mobility and M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly

The Western Australia Police are utilizing a mobile communications service, which allows officers to access information in real-time while supporting field operations.  Mobile communications enable over 26,000 inquiries to be recorded each day with over 360 devices.  Read Original Content

India’s National Association of Software and Services Companies has developed the NASSCOM Enterprise Mobility initiative to create awareness and understanding of emerging technologies, facilitate knowledge sharing, create a community of technocrats and highlight local products.  Read Original Content

Touted as Asia’s Leading Mobile Event, Enterprise Mobility World Asia 2013 will be held April 24-25, 2013 in Singapore.  Read Original Content

Antenna Software provides a complete cloud-based enterprise mobility suite that enables both IT pros and business executives alike to create and manage mobile apps, websites and content across the entire business.  This newsletter is sponsored in part by Antenna Software.

Name-dialing mobile technology service CallMyName is expanding into countries in the Asia Pacific region.  Read Original Content


Indonesia has launched the Ina-GeoPortal interactive map, part of the country’s National Spatial Data Infrastructure.  The Ina-GeoPortal will provide government agencies and the general public real time access to spatial information on areas that are prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods.  Read Original Content

Mobile online shop creator zubibu is expanding into global markets by adding support for 25 languages, including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.  Read Original Content

The Latest Developments in Mobile Marketing Apps

 
Mobile marketing is a big growth area and advertisers are very excited.  For the first time advertisers have the opportunity to show you amazingly enticing products and services on small screens while you are driving very fast down the freeway in traffic!  

In the past, this driving time was wasted with drivers simply staring at the road and glancing periodically at their mirrors.  In the trade, advertisers called this driving time, “the dead zone” since drivers were distracted and not paying attention to advertisers' promotions. 

The ROI for mobile advertisers can be incredible, even after you account for customer churn due to traffic accidents.  Mobile advertising can be made both time sensitive and location aware so drivers feel an intense urgency to respond immediately if they have any hope of taking advantage of it.    

All of the sales, promotional and product details can be included right on the mobile device screen for drivers to read.   Be sure to include the details in order to avoid any confusion or misunderstandings with drivers.  

Hurry!  However, before you pass that slow truck ahead of you, change lanes or exit, please read the fine print.  The sale only lasts 15 minutes and requires pre-approved financing at 27% interest!"

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Kevin Benedict, Mobile Industry Analyst, Mobile Strategy Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus
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 Health News Weekly – Week of July 29, 2012

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

Also read Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly
Also read Field Mobility and M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly

According to recent research, 80 percent of physicians currently own tablet devices and 59 percent use mobile devices to run line-of-business applications. So how can BYOD be embraced without compromising health data security? Read Original Content

A new survey by industry analyst Parks Associates has found that a full quarter of all people who use a smartphone would like to see an application that allows them to communicate better with their doctor. Read Original Content

Research from Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that while 88 percent of Americans have a cellphone and about half of those are smartphones, only 10 percent of have downloaded health-related apps on those devices, a figure that's remained stable since 2010. Read Original Content

Antenna Software provides a complete cloud-based enterprise mobility suite that enables both IT pros and business executives alike to create and manage mobile apps, websites and content across the entire business.  This newsletter is sponsored in part by Antenna Software.

The Medipattern Corporation, has announced that its MyTrak Mobile unit has received an order from Target Corporation for delivery of SMARTCOACH, its mobile coaching and engagement device. Read Original Content


A recent poll from Mitchell Research found that of the 78 million Baby Boomers in the U.S., 24 percent own smartphones and are turning to apps recommended by their doctors to further preventative care. Read Original Content

The burgeoning mHealth field offers healthcare a wealth of opportunities to engage with patients and provide a satisfactory return on investment. But if mobile medical apps are going to stand any chance of survival – with physicians as well as consumers – they'll have to be able to integrate. Read Original Content

Kevin Benedict's What's New in HTML5 - Week of July 29, 2012

HTML5 is really picking up steam this week with SAP, Adobe, Google and Microsoft all announcing additional support, programs and products this week that relate to HTML5.

SAP announced a free mobile developer license, a new SAP Mobile Apps Partner program and additional support for integrating the HTML5-centric software development frameworks from  Adobe, Appcelerator Titanium and Sencha with the SAP mobile platform.  SAP invites the vast mobile developer community to co-innovate with the company and create diverse mobile apps for all business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) environments.  Read Original Content

Adobe, Google and Microsoft have committed to sponsor the World Wide Web Consortium, enabling the W3C to add staff to support the HTML working group’s activities.  Read Original Content

Microsoft’s new Office Web Apps, online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, are HTML5-based and now available for testing.  Read Original Content

Google and the Tate Modern art gallery in London have partnered to create This Exquisite Forest, a collaborative art project powered by Chrome’s HTML5 and JavaScript.  ReadOriginal Content

Espial is hosting a technology seminar titled "HTML5 Apps: The Smart TV Evolution" in Tokyo on July 25, 2012.  The seminar “will explore how HTML5 applications have the power to deliver a more compelling and immersive experience using the next generation of Smart TVs”.  Read Original Content

Adobe has launched the e-Learning Suite 6, a set of tools for creating professional grade e-learning and HTML5 based m-learning content.  Read Original Content

Mobile marketing agency Megascanz has launched its new HTML5-based mobile website building software.  Read Original Content

With the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3G), focusing on different parts of the HTML5 standards, the groups have decided to separate.  The WHATWG group will take charge of an evolving, “living standard” and W3C will work on a more static “snapshot.”  Read Original Content

Ludei, the creator of HTML5 game development platform CocoonJS, has launched a new HTML5 game engine.  The Canvas Advanced Automation Toolkit utilizes pre-designed code snippets to enable developers to bring their games to market quicker.  Read Original Content

appMobi has unveiled a new, free, cloud-based reporting service for PhoneGap and hybrid HTML5 app developers.  According to the announcement, StoreView aggregates and displays detailed app analytics across all the most popular app stores in a single dashboard.  ReadOriginal Content

According to a report from Strategy Analytics titled, “HTML5: No Threat to Native App Dominance”,  HTML5 alone is not the future of apps, but the HTML5 hybrid app will see strong growth.  Read Original Content

Microsoft and shopping site TheFind.com have collaborated to create an HTML5-based website, Glimpse Catalogs.  “The goal was to create something that would leverage the immense reach of the Web without compromising the beauty, richness and performance of an app.”  Read OriginalContent

Online work and project management solution Mavenlink has launched a new mobile app built using HTML5.  The app is designed to provide users with easy access to their workforce collaboration platform on any mobile device.  Read Original Content

According to Appcelerator's developer interest survey, enthusiasm for HTML5 has climbed from 67 percent in the first quarter of 2012 to 73 percent in the second quarter.  Read Original Content

Web graphic designer Nousheen Aquil discusses and provides a new collection of free HTML5 and CSS3 templates (http://www.noupe.com/design/html5-and-css3-collection-fresh-free-web-templates.html) and a collection of HTML5 tutorials and resources for developers (http://www.noupe.com/design/html5-tutorials.html). 

To help developers meet the needs of the growing smartphone market, Intertech is offering a new HTML5 Mobile Development training course.  Read Original Content

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Kevin Benedict, Mobile Industry Analyst, Mobile Strategy Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobility News Weekly – Week of July 29, 2012

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 Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly
Also read Field Mobility and M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly

Since 2010, the percentage of smartphone users in the U.S. making purchases on their mobile devices has risen to nearly 40 percent. ABI Research predicts that by 2015, $119 billion in goods and services will be purchased via mobile phones worldwide.  Read Original Content

A Strategy Analytics report indicates a decrease on smartphone shipment growth year-over-year with a 70.1 percent increase in 2011 and a 5.4 percent decrease for 2012.  The differences between global results and those in the U.S. only suggest the U.S. market might have reached its peak, while worldwide smartphones are enjoying better sales.  Read Original Content

With the market for smartphones forecast to reach $150 billion by 2014, emerging robotics company Quantum International Corp. is positioning itself to capitalize on the rise of the next big trend in mobile technology: smartphone-compatible robotics.  Read Original Content

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.

The U.S. smartphone market took a dip in the second quarter, with Android's market share dropping 4 points to 56 percent, according to Strategy Analytics.  Apple, however, saw a 10 percent increase from 23 percent in 2Q 2011 to 33 percent in the most recent quarter.  Read Original Content

Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. will square off in court Monday in a closely watched trial over control of the U.S. smartphone and computer tablet markets. Apple is demanding $2.5 billion in damages from the South Korean company.  Read Original Content


Fighting sluggish sales numbers and competing in a locally-dominated smartphone market, HTC has closed its South Korean offices.  Read Original Content

An IDC survey shows Samsung shipped 50.2 million smartphones globally in the April-June period, a sizzling 172.8 percent gain from a year earlier, while Apple sold 26 million iPhones, up 27.5 percent.  Read Original Content

Mobile Marketing News Weekly – Week of July 29, 2012

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 Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly
Also read Field Mobility and M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly

A new study from IBM found that the share of smartphone shopping rose from 13.3 percent in Q1 to 15.1 percent in Q2. In the same period, social commerce dropped from an already low 2.4 percent to just 1.9 percent. Read Original Content

Mobile commerce is a huge growth area, PWC says, noting that Internet connected mobile devices combined with social networking “is creating a compelling case for businesses to embrace m-commerce”. Read Original Content

A recent Hipcricket survey found that 46 percent of smartphone owners have viewed a mobile ad, and 64 percent have completed at least one purchase as a result of mobile advertising. Read Original Content

The Associated Press and its iCircular division launched a mobile circular program last fall to help publishers monetize their growing digital audiences.  “The average retailer had a click-through rate 1000 percent higher than a traditional mobile ad unit at 6 percent, with mass merchandising retailers having click-through rates as high as 18 percent,” said Jeff Litvack of iCircular. Read Original Content


The shopping spree for InMobi continues apace. The mobile advertising network has announced the acquisition of UK-based Metaflow Solutions, a mobile app management and distribution company. Read Original Content

A new Millennial Media study indicates travel was the third-largest ad category on Millennial's network through the first quarter in terms of spending, after telecom and finance. It was also the third-fastest-growing segment in the last year -- behind sports and news, with 200 percent growth. Read Original Content

Traveling and Mobile Technologies in the Military

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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