“The research group claims that the 62% penetration is more than double than that of last year, and unsurprisingly notes Apple’s iPad as the preferred slate of choice among the working, tech-using doctors.”

Impressive growth.

Read more…

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Carrying a months’ worth of mobile phone charge in a packet the size of your fist. Cool.

This Tiny Fuel Cell Will Juice Your iPhone Up To Fourteen Times Per Charge
http://www.cultofmac.com/165696/hello-future-new-fuel-cell-will-charge-iphone-up-to-fourteen-times-per-charge/

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With reggard to pen-based tablets, a friend of mine recently said to me…

“Microsoft has the lead.”

This is surprising since I really haven’t seen much of anything from Microsoft in this area. The Windows 8 developer preview Samsung tab with pen seems pretty basic in terms of its usefulness. And even full reviews that headline focus on pen offerings, drift into features and capabilities that have nothing to do with a stylus. (case-in-point, pun fully intended)

In terms of integrated pen support, I take every chance I get to use a non-iOS tablet. And I encounter a fair number in my travels and at conferences. I recently used the Lenovo tab with its “integrated” stylus at a conference in Barbados. The experience was awful. And what I mean by “awful” is absolutely crappy. Sensitivity was inconsistent. Taps and selections with the stylus were hit or miss. At times, the device wouldn’t even respond to the pen. Android – swing and a miss.

In terms of business productivity – arguably the dimension that Microsoft will attempt to address with its pen-supported tablets – one must ask; Will a pen matter? My hunch is that any requirement to use a stylus or any inference that a tight integration between pen and tablet may actually provide some discrete business benefit, will be a hollow promise, perhaps even a distraction designed to keep tablet designers out of gesture-based patent infringement hot water.

A more reasonable bet (for business productivity) is on gestures and screen resolutions that allow the human/capacitive model to function at high zoom levels. But don’t misunderstand me – I use a stylus from time-to-time – specifically this one – especially when I’m drawing on Paper.

Indeed, non-capacitive pen-based interfaces should be better than capacitive touch displays, but the reality [so far] is that they’re not.

I think Steve was right -

“If you see a stylus, they blew it.”

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Here are two charts that pretty much sum it up. If your oganization doesn’t have a clear strategy for embracing mobility, you are toast.

In the tablet sector, we think of the past 26 months as a significant adoption period, but the data suggests what has happened so far is about a fifth of what is about to happen between now and 2015. The past is just the prologue…

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Ed Note – this study contains some excellent insights on the true cost of mobility for enterprise workers.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Bruno Mars “The Lazy Song” is the number one ringtone that employees are downloading on the company dime.  That bit of irony is just one of the amusing and sometimes alarming findings uncovered in a recent study of the “Dirty Little Secrets” of corporate mobility spending by Visage, the leader in enterprise mobility management (EMM) that enables businesses to take control of their mobile budget and inventory.

Visage, obtained the “Dirty Little Secrets” data from Visage’s enterprise mobility management service MobilityCentral.  MobilityCentral aggregates carrier billing statements, HR directories, wireless device inventory, and mobile device management data to produce unique and insightful data.  The data sample came from just over 450 companies using over 550,000 devices across 21 different industries.  The companies ranged in size from 35 to nearly 35,000 employees, with an average of 700 wireless users per company.  The Visage research included normalized carrier data from all four major U.S. wireless carriers.

Here’s more “Dirty Little Secrets” that only Visage’s MobilityCentral could uncover:

• The average company spends $851,880 per year on their wireless bills
• The average individual wireless employee costs a company $1,234.68 per year in wireless costs
• Of that total, $107,352 is spent needlessly due to mis- or under-allocated text, data, and voice plans, un-provisioned international roaming, unauthorized downloads, and more

This needless spend, which Visage refers to as “bad spend” is very common across businesses and results from the lack of resources with which to manage mobility, a lack of institutionalized wireless policies, and the inherent difficulty of interpreting enterprise-level carrier bills.  Visage has collected and averaged the so-called “bad spend” that exists in the enterprise and found these averages:

• Average annual cost for going over allotted voice plans: $9,444
• Average annual cost for going over allotted data plans: $8,724
• Average annual cost for going over allotted text-message plans: $14,568
• Average annual long-distance calling charges: $13,056
• Average annual cost of 411/Directory Assistance: $3,708

Downloads cost an average $6,504 annually and of these downloads

• 25% are navigation services
• 10% are text alerts with a monthly recurring cost (mostly horoscopes and fact-services)
• A shocking 10% are ‘adult oriented’ services – sexy SMS services, geo-locating dating services, and others we’d rather not go into detail about

Finally, corporate America loves their music, but what are the most downloaded ringtones by mobile users?  We’re surprised to report these are the top five most downloaded ringtones in the enterprise:

1. The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars
2. Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5
3. God Gave Me You by Blake Shelton
4. Bow Chick Wow Wow by Mike Posner
5. Dirt Road Anthem by Jason Aldean

Visage is exhibiting at CTIA Wireless held May 8-10 in New Orleans, stop by the booth #4374, in the Emerging Technology Zone to hear more dirty little mobility secrets.

In the publishing segment, it’s pretty clear. Native is not the go-to strategy.

Why Publishers Don’t Like Apps – Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/business/40319/?p1=BI

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Every once in a while a blind squirrel finds a nut. As I read this article, I realized that I am that squirrel today.

Almost two years ago, I penned a white paper (The App-centric Enterprise). It attempts to help app-challenged folks understand the business drivers of apps and why people seem to love them. It also foretold of the coming App-centric society – people who compute using nothing but apps; mostly mobile apps. It also focuses on the nature of apps, how they skirt the web, and the likely rapid adoption of the app market model by enterprises globally. The tag line of the paper was simply…

 ”And Why the Web May Soon Be Obsolete” 

Most of my colleagues and even people who actually like me ;-) said I was nuts for suggesting such a wild notion without merit. One “friend” wrote -

“Seriously!?! Did you bump your head? Are you freaking insane. That will never happen. Get a grip.”

My friend is probably correct at a high level, but based on the most recent analysis provided by Roger McNamee, the managing director and co-founder of venture capital firm Elevation Partners, in terms of profit and success, Apple has proven that the web isn’t necessary for success based on the app market model.

Apple did indeed bet against the web, however, the article doesn’t point out how deeply Apple bet on the Internet as a key infrastructure leveraged by most apps. This is an important point (IMHO) which I covered in detail in 2010′s The App-centric Enterprise.

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New Features Help Enterprises Remotely Manage their Distributed Android OS- and iOS-enabled Mobile Device Fleet with a Simple Software Download

NEW ORLEANS, May 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – CTIA WIRELESS® 2012 Booth #MR-1423 – 3LM, a provider of enterprise-grade security, management and remote access for mobile devices and applications, today announced the release of version 3.0 of its security and management platform. Version 3.0 extends 3LM’s Mobile Device and Application Management (MDAM) support to any Android OS-based mobile handset or tablet operating on the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) platform, adds in several new security and management features, and introduces security and management support for Apple’s iOS-enabled iPhones and iPads.

Responding to increasing market demand to support the leading mobile OS’ in the U.S., 3LM introduced significant new features to its MDAM platform that enable companies to remotely manage and secure corporate data on Android- and iOS-based mobile handsets and tablets. As Android and Apple’s iOS represent 78 percent marketshare of all mobile application downloads, according to ABI Research, and 76.9 percent of total smartphones in the U.S. as of December 2011, according to ComScore, 3LM’s enterprise-grade management and security is giving enterprise IT greater peace of mind when adopting the Android or iOS platform throughout  their organization.

“Android and iOS mobile devices created the BYOD market, and we purposefully built the 3LM security and management solution to ensure Android and iOS mobile devices are enterprise-ready,” said Tom Moss, CEO at 3LM. “We introduced a new generation of corporate mobile security and management capabilities with the 3LM embedded Android solution, and we’re now taking it to the next level. As the Android and iOS platforms continue to outperform the growth of all other mobile OS’ combined, 3LM is enabling IT and corporate end-users to use their Android and iOS-based mobile devices to their fullest potential.”

Through strategic partnerships with industry leaders, the 3LM solution is embedded in Android devices from leading device manufacturers. 3LM provides IT with capabilities to help remotely manage and secure data both on the device locally and while in transit to the enterprise. Existing 3LM features include enhanced Android device management and security, mobile application management (MAM) and secure remote access (VPN).

The new features of 3LM include the following:

Support for Apple iOS devices
New, more friendly user interface for the IT administrator
Integration with enterprise Active Directory
Control usage of ADB on employee devices
Prevent 3LM DM app from being removed by end user
Prevent Copy & Paste between corporate apps and non corporate apps
Wi-Fi SSID whitelisting
Wi-Fi configuration (SSID, security type, password)

Availability
The 3LM enterprise solution is generally available direct through 3LM and through strategic partnerships. 3LM is embedded on mobile devices from leading handset manufacturers including HTC, Motorola, LG, Sony Mobile, Kyocera, Pantech and Sharp.
The 3LM solution will be demonstrated at the CTIA WIRELESS® 2012, being held May 8-10, 2012 at The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in booth #MR-1423; New Orleans, La.

About 3LM
3LM is the only company providing enterprise-grade security, management and remote access for Android-based mobile devices across multiple Android handset manufacturers, giving security-conscious IT departments the required Android support and data protection needed to mobilize their business. The Company is a wholly-owned but independently managed subsidiary of Motorola Mobility and is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif. For more information, visit: www.3LM.com or follow the Company on Twitter at: @3LM_News.

Global Business Intelligence (BI) software vendor, Yellowfin, and Actian Corporation, pioneers of the record-breaking analytical database Vectorwise, will host a series of Webinars, Tuesday 8 May Australian EST.

The Mobile Business Intelligence Best Practices Webinars will explore the intensification of enterprise mobility and dissect the major trends and non-negotiable best practices of Mobile BI.

Register for a Webinar time here:  http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFCommunityNews-Webinar-Invite-Mobile-Business-Intelligence-Best-Practices-113397

“Attendees will learn about the forces driving the development of mobile analytics and how to successfully harness Mobile BI to advantage their organization, minus the undue cost and complications of traditional vendor offerings,” said Yellowfin CEO, Glen Rabie.

Rabie said Webinar participants would learn:

• The latest trends shaping enterprise mobility and Mobile BI
• Why Mobile BI is different from traditional BI
• How to avoid costly mistakes in deploying Mobile BI
• How to ensure the success of their Mobile BI deployment

Rabie said the Webinar series would suit organizations that:

• Want fast and easy answers to business questions anywhere, anytime
• Want to respond to changes in their business environment quickly
• Want to create BI content once and access it from any device without further complication or cost

“If the ability to empower more people with understandable and actionable information in shorter time frames is important to you and your business, then this Webinar is a must,” said Vectorwise General Manager, Fred Gallagher.

There are three concise forty minute Webinars scheduled throughout Tuesday 8 May Australian EST.

To register for a session, click here:  http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFCommunityNews-Webinar-Invite-Mobile-Business-Intelligence-Best-Practices-113397

About Yellowfin

Yellowfin is a global Business Intelligence (BI) software vendor headquartered and developed in Melbourne, Australia. Yellowfin is a highly intuitive 100 percent Web-based reporting and analytics solution. www.yellowfinbi.com

About Actian: Incite Action

Actian Corporation is the first to unveil a cloud development platform for building Action Apps. Action Apps are lightweight consumer-style applications that automate business actions triggered by real-time changes in data. Actian products incite action at more than 10,000 customers worldwide by driving their mission critical workloads and providing rapid action insights to their data. Actian is headquartered in Redwood City, California with offices in New York, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Melbourne. Stay connected with Actian Corporation on Facebook and Twitter.

For further information, interviews and images or product demonstration, please contact:

• Lachlan James, Communications Manager, Yellowfin on +61 3 9090 0454 or lachlan.james@yellowfin.bi
• John Ryan, Marketing Manager, Actian on +61 3 8530 1722 or john.ryan@actian.com

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200% ROI within first year seen by Austin Convention Center

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – April 25, 2012 – “Tablet Project Leaders: What have key managers learned about their recent deployments?” will feature panelist Jeff Moore, Database Administrator, City of Austin, Texas at the TabTimes TABLET STRATEGY conference on April 27. Moore will show how the Austin Convention Center eliminated paper-based work orders and achieved 200% ROI with the FileMaker platform for iPad and iPhone apps.

Moore’s session will occur immediately after the lunch break on Friday, April 27, 2012 at the Dream Downtown hotel in Manhattan. Attendees at Moore’s TabTimes panel will learn how Austin’s innovative approach can help other IT staff quickly and easily create iOS apps and realize similar business benefits.

The Austin Convention Center, home of the South by Southwest Festival, is a huge facility covering six city blocks, and is known for its advanced technology, with miles of fiber and Ethernet cable, over 600Mbps of available bandwidth and providing nearly 6,000 simultaneous wireless Internet connections.

Moore led the center’s move to mobilize event services with new iPad apps created, deployed and managed with FileMaker software. Since 1990, he has been an advocate for Apple products in the enterprise. Moore is featured in this FileMaker case study video.

“About 10 percent of all orders take place on the show floor, and we estimate saving $12,000 annually because we don’t have to travel back to the service desk to fulfill them,” said Moore. “We also save about five hours per event by having booth diagrams right on hand – that translates to additional tens of thousands in annual savings, conservatively.”

FileMaker, Inc., an official sponsor of the conference, is a featured vendor within the exhibitor showcase.

Download the FileMaker white paper authored by Ziff Davis Enterprise: “An innovative option for fast iPad and iPhone development” for more info.

About FileMaker, Inc.

FileMaker is the leader in easy-to-use database software. Millions of people, from individuals to some of the world’s largest companies, rely on FileMaker software to manage, analyze and share important information. The company’s products are the FileMaker line – versatile business software for iPad, iPhone, Windows, Mac and the web – and Bento, the personal database for Mac, iPhone and iPad. FileMaker, Inc. is a subsidiary of Apple.

Customer contact:
800-325-2747

http://www.filemaker.com

Media contact:
Kevin Mallon
408-987-7227
kevin_mallon@filemaker.com