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Posts Tagged ‘iPad’

iPad 2 Rumors and Noise – What to Believe?

Recently it was revealed that Apple may announce iPad 2 at a March 2 event.  Another revelation confirms that the iPad 2 will have both a camera and home button.

9to5 Mac has uncovered photographic evidence that the forthcoming iPad 2 will arrive with both a front-facing camera and a bezel, the latter of which was rumored to be on the outs, but  will, in fact, be one of the features carried over from the first iPad.

This photos show a screen protector for iPad2. There is a pin hole similar to what you would find on an iPhone 4 screen protector, for the front facing camera. An item of note concerns the hole’s cut, indicating that users would have to hold the iPad 2 in portrait to use the camera.

iPad 2 rumors have also centered on whether the device will have a dual-core processor, a thinner screen, carbon fiber shell, dual cameras, and if the device will be have the same release date as iOS 4.3.

Despite the reliability of the source, these rumors could be just that. Why? An enterprising individual could have easily cut a hole in an existing iPad screen cover to produce the photo above.

Regardless, one thing is certain: there is a lot of noise in the market regarding the iPad 2. Bloggers are discussing everything from the timing of the release to possible features, peripherals, displays, and operating systems. With tables being widely adopted in the enterprise, many organizations are trying to decipher whether information is real or fake. The March 2nd event, confirmed by Apple, will certainly help organizations to uncover what is accurate in regard to the iPad 2, and whether this device will be a fit inside the company’s mobile strategy. At Smartsoft Mobile Solutions, we are excited to see how all these new tablet devices will be accepted inside the enterprise.

 For more information check out:

Trends in the Smartphone Industry and the Effect on Enterprise Mobility

New Carrier-Imposed Bandwidth Restrictions and the Impact on the Modern Mobile Enterprise

Smartsoft Mobile’s Top Four Enterprise Mobility Predictions for 2011

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Posted in Apple, Application Development, B2B Mobile, Devices, Tablets | No Comments »

Smartsoft Mobile’s Top Four Enterprise Mobility Predictions for 2011.

Enterprise Mobility will continue its stunning growth in 2011, with firms pursuing new enterprise mobilization projects. Though these projects will vary greatly in scope, there is a consistent message we at Smartsoft Mobile Solutions hear from our customers; “Make applications that increase productivity, not that get in the way of daily work tasks.” Smartsoft Mobile Solutions sees four major trends driving enterprise mobility in 2011.

1. Tablets Usher a Fatal Blow To Laptops:

2011 will be the year that the laptop dies. Tablet computing devices such as the iPad and RIM’s PlayBook will begin replacing laptops, particularly for executives who are travelling. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure(VDI) will make it easier to do many tasks that are traditionally done via laptops. According to Gartner, tablet sales will reach 54.8 million in 2011 and grow to more than 208 million in 2014. The range and diversity of mobile computing devices — from Smartphones and tablets to barcode scanners and card readers — will escalate in 2011.

2. iPads Will Trump iPhones in the Enterprise

After consumers raced out in droves to purchase iPhones, they quickly brought those devices to work and requested access to network resources like mail, calendar, and contacts: 2010 was the year of the employee-liable device in the enterprise. Next year the trend will shift toward enterprises purchasing and deploying iPads for their employees. Now that enterprises have, for the most part, mobilized their workforce they are looking for ways to mobilize their business. With that process comes the need to manage revenue-generating mobile applications as they traverse between customers, partners, and the enterprise. With its larger screen size and greater computing power, the iPad will be the device of choice for enterprises looking to deploy mobile business applications, more so than its iPhone counterpart.

3. Business Applications Reign Supreme

Applications will reign supreme in 2011. Need proof? The wireless industry’s biggest tradeshow this fall was rebranded from CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment to CTIA Enterprise and Applications, signaling a shift from entertainment-focused content to revenue-building line-of-business applications. In the year ahead, you will also see the rapid adoption of a new kind of mobile application, the “micro app,” which will enable employees to use their mobile devices for transactions commonly conducted via a company intranet, such as inventory inquiries, expense approvals, vacation requests, etc.

4. Mobile Middleware Will Be Increasingly Flexible for the Enterprise

As each business requirement and work-flow is different, enterprises will seek mobile vendors that provide a flexible middleware solution that can quickly be tailored to individual business needs. Mobile Enterprise solution providers must adapt quickly to customer needs and be responsive to the desired flexibility of clients. Allowing clients to quickly develop micro apps based upon specific businesses needs, with the desired user experience, on the enterprise’s desired platform, and quickly configure mobile middleware, will be the new standard business practice.

The New Year will ring in with exciting new opportunities for business to reduce costs and improve performance through enterprise mobilization.  A key to mobile project implementation success will be to select the right mobile partner to fit your business needs. As leaders in enterprise mobility, Smartsoft Mobile Solutions will continue to help our clients successfully achieve their enterprise mobility objectives in the coming year.

For More Information Check Out:

Leadership in Enterprise Mobility: Five tips to Improve Your Business Efficiency in The New Year

Tablets: Taking the Business World by Storm

Blackberry Playbook Review
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Posted in Apple, Application Development, B2B Mobile, Blackberry, Devices, Enterprise Mobility, Mobile News, SAP, Tablets | 4 Comments »

Tablet Usage In A Retail Environment

In retail, the attraction of tablet devices lies not only in their ability to relay information quickly and easily to a back-end system, but also in their ability to seduce the customer. Apple in particular has demonstrated a unique capability to produce devices that end-users yearn to play with. With its large format touch screen, the iPad (or other devices) doubles as both a useful information display device and as consumer eye candy. In a retail environment, this is a powerful combination. With over eight million iPads live in the market, this device is particularly attractive to retailers and those who wish to incorporate this fast growing device sub-segment into their mobile enterprise strategy. With many new tablets coming to market with both front and rear facing cameras, the businesses will see huge opportunities in the interactive technologies of rich native applications.   

Furniture boutiques, for example, can use iPads to demonstrate different products. Custom applications could be used to demonstrate new furniture – perhaps even superimposing the furniture into a photograph or the customer’s living space. A rich native application could in fact offer an interior decorating suite, including suggestions derived from location based trends. Allowing the user to drop and drag products based on room dimensions would really make for a sticky app, one that drives revenue and up sale opportunities at the point of purchase.

In a restaurant, customers could flip through meal options electronically and point to the most appetising option. Caloric content as well as allergy alerts could also be incorporated directly into the application which is now an interactive menu. This interactive application could be a real market differentiator for a restaurant.

For the sale of large, high-value products with plenty of options, such as vehicles, the tablet represents an excellent aid for a salesperson trying to ingratiate themselves with a customer. What better way to sell heated leather seats in a luxury car than with a video and data about winter temperatures in that dealership’s location?

How can retailers use back-office systems in conjunction with tablets to enhance this rich customer experience still further? Linking data immediately to customer relationship management systems could allow a retailer to instantly access a customer’s purchase and service history and make sales decisions using information integrated into the sales application. This becomes particularly important when trying to sell the higher-value items, where the interaction between the customer and the salesperson is more personalized and proactive. A key in retail is the cross-selling of products. Knowing a customer’s affinity for certain products and their purchase history can create a type of mega associate. Every day at Smartsoft Mobile Solutions, the product development team is working on the incorporation of next generation retail applications, using many of the technologies discussed here.

For more information check out:

Tablets: Taking the Business World by Storm

Mobile Marketing-Trends

Using Your Smartphone to Shop, a Game Changer

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Posted in Apple, Application Development, B2C Mobile, Enterprise Mobility, Google, Mobile Commerce, Tablets | 7 Comments »

Tablets: Taking the Business World by Storm

Since the release of theiPad tablet eight months ago Apple has sold over eight million units, including three million in the first 80 days. Obviously the market was ready for tablets, as this device had much more success than Apple’s first venture into the tablet space, with the Newton Message Pad 100, released in 1993 with little traction. If you look around offices recently chances are you see employees using the iPad tablet, for taking notes, sending emails, and surfing the web. The 9.7in touch screen display, allows for a very vivid and smooth user experience.  The three axis accelerometer allows for smooth integration between portrait and landscape views, which users of other Smartphones such as the iPhone and HTC Incrediblehave become accustomed to.  Connectivity of the device is achieved by both Wi-Fi and 3G. With carriers such as AT&T and Verizon both anticipated to sell the iPad, sales growth of the device will continue to accelerate.  However, there are going to be many new players in the tablet space, and the odds Apple will continue dominance in the tablet market is slim. Ten Android based tablets will be released by the end of the year, some with a price point as low as $149.99. Blackberry’s Playbook will enter the market in late November running a QNX operating system, and syncing with Blackberry’s Enterprise Server. Cisco and Dell are also rapidly developing tablets, mostly using the forthcoming Gingerbread and Honeycomb android operating systems. These new tablet have one major competitive advantage over the iPad, that is the incorporation of Adobe Flash. This will allow the users of these new tablets to view much more rich content and video from websites.

With all of the new tablets hitting the market, many companies ask how can they use these new platforms to grow their business? To answer this, first let’s look at the usage.

 

If the current iPad usage trends hold for the new tablets coming to market, we can assess the following:

  • Applications will be king (91% of owners downloaded an app)
  • Gaming is very big on these devices (due do the larger screen controls)
  • Shopping is very important (tablets blur the line of a laptop)
  • Banking and personal finance usage  will continue to grow
  • The large screen allows for the ingestion of more readable content (books, magazines etc…)
  • Productivity due to rapid enterprise adoption will drive development efforts

With the rapid adoption of tablets, it is important to make these new platforms a key focus of a mobile strategy. New devices, and also new operating systems developed specifically for tablets, will abound. For example, many tablet manufacturers are holding off the launch of Android tablets until the release of Android 3.X, known affectionately as Honeycomb.  Innovative application developers such as Smartsoft Mobile Solutions are developing enterprise applications that enhance business productivity, using the features that are exclusive to these tablet platforms.  The future of the tablet market will be rapidly changing, and having a reliable mobile partner that stays current on evolving industry trends is crucial to having a successful mobile strategy. 

For more information check out:

Blackberry Playbook Review

Best Practices: Defining Mobile ROI in Retail

Best Practices: How a Retailer Should Select a Strategic Mobile Partner

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Posted in Apple, B2B Mobile, B2C Mobile, Blackberry, Devices, Google, Mobile Commerce, Mobile News, Tablets | 7 Comments »

Mobile Marketing – Trends

Mobile Marketing has seen growth of over 600% in the past year.  The Kelsey groups forecasts 2000% growth by 2013. This is due to several factors, one being the growth of connected devices (mobile devices connected to the internet). These devices can be Smartphone’s, such is the Blackberry Bold, Droid Incredible or iPhone, Pads such as the iPad, or even e-readers such as Amazon Kindle and Nook.  The goal of Marketing is to generate awareness and induce the purchase of a product or service, so the use of this new and rapidly growing medium to expand a company’s messaging is a natural step.  The average web user typically buys in seven days, while the typical mobile user purchases a product or service in one day. While this increased conversion rate is staggering, there are several factors that can impact this number:

  • Age of the user
  • Device that is being used
  • Social economic status
  • Quality of the mobile marketing campaign
  • Brand affinity of the of the mobile user

Based on a recent Nielson Study, here are some interesting demographics for iPad users:

How are mobile marketers engaging these mobile users? There are a variety of ways. From SMS (Text Message) coupons and promotions, to advance promotional campaigns based on customer shopping affinity and location based services.  According to a Millennial report, here are some trends that mobile marketers will continue to advance in the next year:

  • Augmented Reality
  • Growth of the Mobile Web (100m new users a year)
  • Fix of the GPS battery drain problem
  • Custom mobile site and applications for campaigns
  • Linking CRM databases into mobile marketing
  • New entrants into mobile
  • Coupons to incorporate time and context
  • Mobile Ad networks will continue to grow in popularity
  • Growth in Mobile Search
  • Growth in M-Commerce
  • Competition for the Mobile Wallet

While innovative application developers such as Smartsoft Mobile Solutions continue to incorporate the latest technology into their applications and follow industry trends to provide the firm’s customers with best-of breed mobile applications, the mobile marketing landscape continues to evolve dynamically.

 For more information check out:

Using your Smartphone to Shop: A Game Changer

Mobile Geo-Location Tools and Usage in Retail

Mobile Couponing Uses in Mobile Commerce Applications   

Smartsoft Mobile Solutions, Inc. gathers the information in this newsletter from a variety of sources.  It is our intent to provide unbiased, accurate information.  We do include trend information and “street talk” that we find relevant or worthy of consideration.  We also leverage our worldwide team of employees and partners to provide timely, newsworthy information.  Using less formal channels, combined with our real world experiences allows us to supply with information critical to decision making in our mobile world.

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Posted in Apple, B2C Mobile, Blackberry, Enterprise Mobility, Mobile Commerce, Mobile Marketing, Mobile News | 5 Comments »

Samsung Galaxy Pad Preview

The Samsung Galaxy Tab. It’s big. It’s bad. It’s seven inches of glass and liquid crystals covering one of the most advanced mobile chipsets known to man or beast.  Make no mistake — this is n0tt a cell phone.  It’s a tablet computer that happens to run on the Android operating system.

The Tab will change the way you live your digital life.  Even if you never have the pleasure of using one, its game changing nature will affect every mobile device (Android or otherwise) from here on out.  Business usage of the iPad (Should this be Tab?)is over 60%, but a front facing camera is a feature that is lacking. The front facing camera on the Samsung Galaxy Tab will allow  for smooth video conferencing, and even more business adoption for the Galaxy S.  The processor will be dual core, allowing for quick usage and multi-tasking.  Just as the iPad was billed as the Kindle killer, the Galaxy Tab could be a very strong competitor to the iPad, which has had basic market exclusivity since its inception. Look for many more “pads” by the end of the year and the first quarter of 2011. This is a major growth market, due to rapid adoption of business usage, and mobile enterprise application developers will certainly take advantage of these new devices when developing rich native applications.

For more information check out:

Droid 2 a Deep Dive

Smartsoft Mobile Solutions, Inc. gathers the information in this newsletter from a variety of sources.  It is our intent to provide unbiased, accurate information.  We do include trend information and “street talk” that we find relevant or worthy of consideration.  We also leverage our worldwide team of employees and partners to provide timely, newsworthy information.  Using less formal channels, combined with our real world experiences allows us to supply with information critical to decision making in our mobile world.

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Posted in B2B Mobile, B2C Mobile, Devices, Google | 2 Comments »

Apple News and Trends Flash

Smartsoft Mobile will now be offering an aggregation of platform information and rumors in a special four part blog series. For the first installment Apple is highlighted… Enjoy!

Apple

  • iPad used for business 73% of time
  • White iPhone 4G launch delayed due to a light leak
  • Apple released iOS4.2 Beta for Developers on July 27, 2010
  • Sales of iPhone 4G were 2m in one month
  • Sales of iPod were 3.3m in Q1
  • Apple is now the world’s third largest computer manufacturer (including iPad)
  • 82% of iPhone 3G owners waiting for bugs to be worked out before iPhone 4G upgrade
  • iPad is trouncing internal sales expectations; as a result LG can’t make enough screens
  • Beginning on July 30, 2010, customers can purchase iPhone 4G in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.  iPhone 4G is available for purchase through Apple’s retail and online stores and Apple® Authorized Resellers.
  • iPhone 4 will move to Verizon Q1 2011
  • iPhone 5 rumored release as early as Q1 2011 due to issues with iPhone 4G

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Posted in Apple, Devices, Mobile News | 7 Comments »

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