From the category archives:

Mobile

Google’s Coming of Age with I/O 2013

Unlike the last, things have been much calmer at the Google I/O this year. Surprisingly, there has been less in the way of new products and new operating systems. Instead, the I/O 2013 Developer’s Conference this time is only focusing on developers. Given the precedent that’s been set – with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the Nexus 7 tablet and a jaw-dropping demo of Google Glass last year, some of us must be wondering if something was pulled from the program at the last minute or Google didn’t have many major products to show.

Well, this might not be as outrageous as before, but there were some major interesting announcements and demos at Google I/O. Google unveiled slew of updates to many of its core products.  One of them was a complete overhaul of Google Plus interface- with mobile friendly content linked together through automated hashtags. This means that when you’ll post on Google+, it will automatically scan your content, and designate appropriate hashtags. With this one feature Google is knitting together its social, cloud, mobile, and artificial intelligence strategies.

Another major update and perhaps the most exciting one was on Google Maps. It has been completely rebuilt. According to Google, it now has a brand new user interface and has built-in Zagat integration, which will put Zagat scores and editorial reviews for specific restaurants on display. Google also made some improvements to its core navigation functionality as well.  Apart from this, a fury of other new features were unleashed – new APIs for Google Play, new expanded Google’s Knowledge Graph, new conversational search for the desktop, new music service for mobile and much more.

Phew! This is a lot to make one’s head spin. But still there were things that consumers were expecting at the I/O that did not show up. The one question that left countless onlookers wondering was “What happened to Android and Chrome?”

Most of us were quite certain about a new update on Android and Chrome, and some of us were even expecting a new hardware launch. But what’s there to be disheartened about? In my opinion, Google has matured its services to a point where they don’t really need to push out new updates at a breakneck pace. Chrome and Android are mature and stable platforms where they do not require a major overhaul.  We should rather be happy that Google is now focusing more on maturing its core products, instead of creating new ones.  I think it is time that Google’s rapid release of products and acquisitions slow down. It should focus on developing more core products that can generate revenue. Google’s movement will be slower but more measured by consolidating rather than innovating.

This might seem to be a good move for developers and shareholders, but may be a letdown for gadget-hungry consumers right now. But hey, there is an upside – We’ve almost certainly got something to look forward to this summer.

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Mobile Device Management

Talking about BYOD? Then you must talk about Mobile Device Management aka MDM. But the very basic question remains is why do we need MDM software? Let me try to throw some light on why do we need MDM software.

The world of mobility has changed like anything in recent years. A single organization, multiple employees, multiple devices, varied OS configuration, and varied versions of OS and on top of that the devices used to carry the organisational data!

There is constant rise in adoption of Smartphones and tablets – expected growth of smart devices for 2013 is 46.2%. Gartner predicts smart devices will surpass 1 billion this year and 2013 will be the first year smartphones will outsell the more basic feature phones in the mobile market, and will account for 50.1% of all mobile phones.

Let me show some interesting facts about what will be the future of BYOD:

  • By 2015 when 74% CIO’s will support BYOD, 34% of companies will face acute security issues.
  • 54% passwords will be stolen
  • 46% of critical organisational data will be in employee’s devices!

Well that’s not the end of story! With all the smart devices available there are apps. You never know which interface your mobile app is using which features it is blocking and what data they are sharing with other interfaces!

So we need a magical wand that ensures that everything is running smoothly and your organisation is well protected. And that magical wand is Mobile Device Management Software!

According to Gartner:

Mobile device management (MDM) includes software that provides the following functions: software distribution, policy management, inventory management, security management and service management for smartphones and media tablets.

MDM functionality is similar to that of PC configuration life cycle management (PCCLM) tools; however, mobile-platform-specific requirements are often part of MDM suites

In Simple words:

Mobile device management allows administrators to oversee the operation of conventional cell phones, smart phones and similar devices as easily as is done with desktop computers.

The ideal mobile device management tool:

  • Is compatible with all common handheld device operating platforms and applications.
  • Can function through multiple service providers.
  • Can be implemented directly over the air, targeting specific devices as necessary.
  • Can deploy next-generation hardware, operating platforms and applications quickly.
  • Can add or remove devices from the system as necessary to ensure optimum network efficiency and security.

Mobile device management also means the ability to manage mobile apps that are on each device. You can deploy, manage, block or remove rogue apps on individual or groups of devices, ensuring productivity is high, reducing the risk of dangerous mobile malware and maintaining data security.

So if your organization is planning to go the BYOD way, so I must say that BYOD freedom requires MDM security. In order to enable the kind of freedom BYOD brings, the corporate network and corporate data needs to be protected. The MDM software can be used with both Company Owned Devices and Employee owned devices.  Mobile Device Management (MDM) is a solution that will help with this kind of dilemma.

Source: Garter Reports, IDC , Forrester, Mobility in Enterprise

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BYOD – Here To Stay or a Fad

According to a latest report by Gartner, half of the companies will go BYOD (By your own device) by 2017. With as much as half of the firms worldwide adopting BYOD strategy by 2017, there’s no question that mobile devices are dramatically affecting the way we do business. BYOD is no longer in its infancy and now companies face new challenges as BYOD matures into common practice. But the question for some still remains whether this strategy is here to stay—or just a fad.

While I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter in the comments below, here are my two cents.  BYOD is not a fad! Today, we have an increasing variety of devices at our disposal and users have become very tech-savvy, and the ones getting the newest technologies first. Since users are selecting their own tools that help them to be more productive and effective, then why would businesses want to keep employees from using them? In my opinion, there should be no stopping the employees from bringing their own devices to work, connecting them to networks and accessing data.  It will only empower them to work from anywhere, at any time with no restraints and with increased scope for collaboration and innovation.

I agree to the fact that the proliferation of the devices, has led to a big dilemma for IT – data protection. The moving of data between secure corporate servers and unregistered personal devices has made it very vulnerable to corruption or leakage to malicious hackers or fraudsters – making it hard for IT departments to guarantee protection of the data stored outside the “four walls” of the company.

Despite these risks, I think, companies shouldn’t push back, but instead can deploy a number of different solutions to counter BYOD trends that bring vulnerabilities to information and networks. Mobile device management (MDM), mobile application management (MAM) and other solutions can help bring smartphones and tablets into the office environment without significantly compromising security or ease of use.  MDM and MAM are platforms that figure out device specifications, enterprise apps, and how to manage them. To reap the benefits of BYOD and avoid pitfalls, enterprises should have an open and encouraging mind and use the right technology.

BYOD is happening now, and it is only going to become more prevalent. Its boundaries are being tested every day – from corporate policy, to devices, to the app ecosystem, to security. The companies need to make sure that they embrace BYOD and not fight it! Enterprises need to deploy technologies that allow a clear and consistent view of the user base, in order to deliver the right data, apps, access and device provisioning.

 

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Nokia – Still in the Game?

All the mobile OS making companies are at logger heads, giving one good feature after the other. The big game changers for some time now have been the iOS and Android. The hunger of mobile customers is fast growing and this definitely is resulting in the Mobile/ software producing companies to have to come up with innovative ideas and technology which allows them to be ahead of the other. When one does something, the other is fast to go up the same trail and try to cut corners, and accelerate. Technology, that today is the “in-thing”, is “not so cool” tomorrow.  It’s like fashion, it keeps changing rapidly. When you feel you have “The Best”, something better is already being invented. Old ideas, old values have to be discarded/ changed and newer ones brought into place in order to get to the top. Constant Innovation is a must.

Does one really need to change its old values and ideas, if the old values stand for making the best product? The one that people loved? The one that was the most durable and the one that did not crack even when it fell from the apartment on the third floor? Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting to you, the soon to awake, sleeping giant, NOKIA.

Nokia always stood for durability, best cutting edge technology and the one which created mobile phones keeping everyone in mind. In its arsenal were beauties like 1110 released in 2005 (250 million units sold) (This one I had personally used and was one of the 250 millionJ), 3310 released in 2000 (136 million units sold), 6600 was the first camera phone to sell over a million units, N95 which was viewed as the most professional phone to have existed, sold over 7 million units, Nokia N8 with 6 million units sold. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_mobile_phones). The ability to make the best hardware and to meet demands of everyone must have been a hard thing for them to achieve. It was at its peak, till 2008 when the iPhone 3G took away the first spot from Nokia as the best selling phone of the year and since then, Nokia was never seen on the Top. But, what we are talking about now, is a battle between Handsets, not companies. Let us tread a bit further on that front. In 2011, Nokia had sold 422 million handsets and was still at the top, trailed by Samsung, which took the second spot by selling 330 million handsets. Nokia did lose ground in 2012, to Samsung, the latter having sold 396.5 million Handsets and the defending champion, having sold 335.6 Million handsets. (Not trailing by much, eh?).

What went wrong for NOKIA?

  1. The need to have a good App base. The Ovi Store did not do justice to the beautiful Nokia devices. Nokia had its own application store, but it was a pale imitation of what developers could do with iOS. At that point, it was clear Nokia had lost a lot of the buzz that sustained its brand. Its still-strong position was a legacy of its past strength, and as a result, it began to see its market share slowly deteriorate.
  2. They acted like a very studious kid who had never seen failure in his academics, and then had someone take the first spot with them at the second. That, for someone who was used to staying on the top, was equivalent to failure.
  3. It continued to ignore the U.S. market: Nokia’s inability to make custom phones for the U.S. market didn’t win itself many allies among the local carriers, further accelerating its market share decline. Nokia’s “my way or the highway” approach with its handsets didn’t stick well with the carriers, who were entertaining more nimble players like Motorola. (Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57453290-94/5-blunders-that-put-nokia-in-the-hot-seat/)

Now, the real question to ask is – is Nokia OUT? The answer is a definite NO. Here’s Why!

Nokia may have suffered a blow in its rib-cage and might be out of breath, but it surely is not knocked out. It is again getting to its feet after having collaborated with Microsoft and is providing (at least starting to) with its technologically advanced handsets. (No other company provides the specification as Nokia does, and that too, which suits everyone’s wallet). Nokia’s downward trend was brought about because they looked old and they looked the same (today, the Android devices and Iphone devices all look the same). On the other hand, Nokia, along with the added advantage of WP8, looks stunning.

So what exactly is happening?

  1. Nokia is striving to do something from its own side as well (since HTC and Samsung also have Windows devices in the market). Nokia City Lens and Nokia Cinemagraph are applications that Nokia developed to enhance its sales (wow… a Device producing company went all the way to create an app for its own and the augmented technology that it has, is to be seen to be believed).
  2. Nokia, really means Business and is currently a major player, selling 80% of devices having WP8. Remember, the biggest reason for Nokia’s downfall was the lack of an App store! Well, Microsoft solves that issue too, which again, is a Budding Marketplace, but not too far behind, as it is catching up pretty fast. Nokia lost ground because of an OS that was considered to be lousy; it sure does not face the same problem now.
  3. Talking of appeal – Nokia phones always had an appeal (sorry if you failed to notice!). They appealed to customers from all walks of life and it catered to all. They are even more colorful than they ever were. Excellent design and Sturdier than ever! It can survive getting crushed by a 24 ton truck (well, quite literally J) http://www.wpcentral.com/lumia-920-reportedly-survives-getting-crushed-24-ton-caterpillar
  4. I, personally, would not like to buy a phone which gets damaged, if it falls to the floor, even from my desk! I would not want a phone which is a battery killer! I would not want a phone which gets hot when I touch! I do not want a phone produced by a company which creates devices a dime a dozen, tweaking them a little bit, and calling them a different product! I do not want a device which cannot survive an a little drizzle! But, I do want a phone that is sturdy, has a beautiful camera (at least, better than most), is easy on the wallet (on the verge of being cheap). The entry level phones of Nokia can easily outclass the Level 2 devices of other companies and strives to give me good service and support, right next door.

It is believed that WP8 will be the savior and help NOKIA out of trouble. The way I see it, it looks like NOKIA will stand up and save the day for Microsoft.

There was a time in everyone’s life when Super Mario was the best game that they had ever played (Aah! the nostalgic feeling. I still feel it is the best). In the same breadth, the Nokia handsets have some way or the other touched our lives and has stroked a distant cord in our hearts. Dull would be the day when the world shall cease to hear the famous Nokia caller tune anymore!

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Enterprise Mobility Tools Data Hub using MongoDB

We have been working with various Enterprises for their Mobility solutions ranging from Hospitality to Technology businesses. We have learnt from our experiences that Enterprises generate enormous amount of data with their tools which they need to use to analyze, process, deliver and monetize.

This blog discusses about challenges which we have faced with MySQL as a data hub for Engineering Physics measurement tools which we had created for one of the set of mobile solutions and how did we quickly and successfully transplanted the Data Engineering from MySQL to NoSQL data technology like MongoDB.

Problem: The tools which we were working on were generating the resulting information per use in a fashion which could not allow the fixed schematron of the data from the initial point. The data generated per use could vary from a small set of columns with data size in KB to a large set of hundreds or thousands of columns with data size in hundreds of MBs.

For Suite of tools:

  • Different tool configuration could generate resulting number data threads in a scaled out manner. Every optimization results may have additional new and different useful worker data threads which you cannot predict. Fixed set of column structure in this case was not a good data scale solution while you want to save the data.
  • Every user of the tool would have its own set of defined configurations which could change over the period of set of usage runs. Dynamic scaling of number of configurations saved per software, and association (and isolation) of them per software run and monitoring them individually stored a good amount of information.
  • The results generated and monitored for Operating System platform will be different from the ones generated for other platforms moving forward. Grouping of results, software and configurations in scaled up manner was not a feasible approach.
  • Approaching these challenges with SQL based or file system based solutions was not viable as the performance on the calculations and graphical interpretation of data require more quicker responsiveness.
  • The scale, amount and type of data we will have for new tools would require us to store them horizontally.
  • We also had to think up front about the data which the new tools will generate in order to manage them in correct way.

 Solution:

The solution needed to cater a humongous useful and non-useful data to be catered and managed in an efficient way so that the resulting information can be stored, managed and interpreted in seem less manner. The data responsiveness, dynamicity and magnitude of the data was a differentiation factor in order to move towards NoSQL data store technology from SQL data store technology. Our observation already shows significant improvement in the result interpretation performance in the solution due to faster data transmission and manageability. Hence scale out was a preferred way than scale up.

A sample example use case which we can take is the following:

  • One user run generated a raw CSV of 148KB with only 24 data column worker threads.  The tool could have ‘M’ number of data worker threads. The magnitude of ‘M” and ‘N’ can be anything as a machine can have any number of process threads running at a time and tool data capturing libraries do capture that.
  • Considering a micro sub-set for resulting information the more you run the computation threads more you will get horizontal as well as vertical data.

 

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Is Windows 8 to be blamed for the slump?

Let’s not deny that things are not going well in the PC market. There has been 13.9% decline in PC sales as compared to the same quarter last year according to IDC, marking the biggest decline since they began publishing quarterly numbers. The first quarter of 2013 was surely rocky for PCs.  With IDC blaming Windows 8 for failing to provide a positive boost to the PC market, what may not be, though, is everyone’s insistence on pinning this on Windows 8.

Really? How can the launch of Windows 8 stop people from buying new PC’s? Even though the buyers can choose from a multitude of options, they were quick to point the finger at Windows 8 just because they were afraid of the very different Windows 8. It’s surely a stretch to lay the blame for the decline of an industry on a single piece of software.

Why The Slump?

PC sales problem doesn’t begin or end with Windows 8.  Even if Microsoft may well tweak the operating system and make it easy for users— problem solved — PC sales would have probably still slump. The reason for that are the price challenges faced by OEM’s. Buyers balk at the high priced PC’s and pass on Windows 8 not because they dislike it but because they are not willing to pay the current rate for hardware that exploited it. Also, the rise of tablets and smartphones has certainly made them less necessary in our day-to-day lives.  PC’s have just become a functional alternative. That’s not to say that PCs are dead in the water or will ever disappear, but that PC sales have entered a period of slow decline as tablets grow more popular. Tablets handle user’s most frequent activities, albeit consumers still need PC’s. PCs have always been capable of doing more. The iOS version of Office is still a compromised experience on a tablet.

The other reason for the slump is that the PC manufacturers at the time of Windows 8 launch were too cautious with the initial rollouts of the touch enabled PC’s.  Therefore, many of the products that properly showcased Windows 8 and its touch capabilities weren’t that widely available because of the supply constraint. As a result, these supply problems were heightened by consumers’ perception of Windows 8 devices with Microsoft’s own promotional commercial of being touch enabled. People thought that they would get a touch machine while they received a standard Windows 8 laptop.

Give it Time!

In my opinion, Windows 8 is in its infancy stage and will take time to mature. It is too early to say whether it’s a success or a failure. It is new, different but at the same time the old and familiar is still there. Windows has a long heritage it can leverage and it needs to be prepared for hard work and maturing as needed.  Also, not ignoring the fact that the PC industry is in a decline and the Windows 8 launch in the world would have done nothing to change that.

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Google Glass – The Next Big App Platform

 



The time of Google Glass is almost upon us, it is now being released to a handful of people. With Google Glass being around the corner it’s time that we prepare our services for this new device type. App developers should waste no time thinking about its possibilities. This new platform will surely make an app developer’s wildest dreams come true.

Glass is making big inroads in Enterprise. It has the potential to shake up enterprise mobility as much as the introduction of the smartphone and tablet.  Since the device is completely hands free it will make multitasking easier than ever before.  With Google releasing the developer guidelines for its Google Mirror API, it is evident that a lot can be done with Google Glass. A range of apps have been already announced or demonstrated. To name a few are those for Facebook, Path, The New York Times and Gmail. The potential uses of Glass are reaching to Banking, Travel and other industries. It is bound to explode with more and more pioneering apps.

One thing in particular that stacks the deck in for developers to develop Glass Apps is that the major Silicon Valley venture capitalist firms Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins have partnered with Google Ventures to create Glass Collective to provide seed funding for developers with innovative ideas for the Glass platform.  This brings a great opportunity for the ones who want to jumpstart their ideas

Google Glass opens up even more development options for consumer and enterprise applications.  This not only serves to advance the economy but also advances mobile technology in general.  Just like the introduction of mobile apps into cars, Google Glass opens up mobile paths that were once unfamiliar with traditional mobile devices.

However, any new platform launch brings with itself more complexity. With an already complex eco-system for app developers, there is a need to take heed.  And the release of more and more variations and versions will always add to the chance of things going wrong at some point. However, this would be a small price for all of us to pay for a chance to be part of something that screams out to be the “the next big thing”.

 

 

 

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Mobile Backend as a Service … What’s beyond the pretty face?

As the need for mobile applications continue to skyrocket, the need to make the ecosystem around it grows alongside. With the BYOD wave, the need to make the infrastructure supporting this apps robust grows. We have heard a lot about front-end for mobile apps – sleek functionality, cool UI and form factor. But there is another discipline that is emerging to make the deployment of these mobile applications quicker and faster. For a lack of a better term…this has been coined as mobile backend as a service. Existing middleware solutions become limited in a consumer-driven app world. And so there needs to be a more elastic solution

Here’s how the pyramid plays out.

So as you can see, this is a layer between middleware and the platform itself and addresses some key areas in mobile development – data storage and retrieval for your mobile app. Does the data on your app reside in a place that is network accessible? Is it accessible for all the operations on the website. Will users who access this data from your mobile app be able to authenticate through existing security infrastructure. All these questions are answered by the MBaaS solution.

Elements of a lean BaaS solution

Context-driven mobile apps – Apps need to super contextual. There needs to be location-specific information, access to third party social graphs. So, the signals and data emerging from this app help the developer to create a compelling experience.

Native push notification – Native push notifications allow the developer to signal the user that

an important, contextually appropriate activity is currently available through the notifying app. For example, if traffic congestion exists on the user’s current driving route, a native notification will alert her to this and allow her to select this alert, engaging the appropriate app. Now this is powered by backend-as-a-service

Cloud based storage – datacenters are inelastic and cumbersome for off-device data storage. BaaS helps to store all this data using either NoSQL (i.e., Apache Cassandra, MongoDB, or Windows Azure Table Storage) or SQL (i.e., IBM DB2, Oracle MySQL, or PostgreSQL) data store.

The cloud to cloud connection – as more and more services are being powered by the cloud, it is important that the BaaS solution integrates with other clouds through some APIs.

Data portability – a good BaaS solution should allow the developers to port existing data on other cloud platforms

Analytics – makes a big piece of the BaaS puzzle. The developer’s console needs to access this information to drive advertising driven revenue models and

User management in the cloud – allows an administrator to add/remove/ edit users, and it also allows users to access the app’s features from multiple sources. It removes the need to maintain multiple user stores.

 

 

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InfoStretch Mobile Roundup – 11th April

Mobile Scoop

News and Insights

Samsung Unveils Enormous 6.3 Inch Galaxy Mega Smartphone

The Samsung Galaxy Mega line, which will hit Europe in May, is led by a monstrous 6.3-inch phone – the biggest smartphone yet.

Salesforce.com and Rackspace Gear Up For Mobile Developers

Rackspace is launching pre-packaged mobile “stack” specifically for mobile applications and Salesforce.com is beefing up its mobile software development kit (SDK) and is coming out with “quick start” packs to jump-start HTML5 or hybrid mobile applications.

The First Facebook Phone: A Little Too Much Information

The HTC First, which features Facebook’s new Home interface,  will appeal only to the most devoted of Facebook users.

Inside Citi’s Mobile Strategy

Citi unveils its mobile banking strategy to consumers.

Twitter Is Building A Gateway To The “Web” of Mobile Apps

Twitter is making a move to become the jumping off point for discovering, browsing and accessing the mobile.

 

Research Papers

Apple Gaining Ground on Android and Samsung in U.S. Smartphone Market

The latest U.S. Smartphone study by ComScore says that Apple has gained significant market share in both smartphone hardware and operating system.

More Android Apps Downloaded in Q1, But Apple Had Higher Revenue

According to a report released by Canalys, fifty one percent of the apps downloaded during Q1 of 2013 were downloaded from Google Play.

Microsoft To Make Leaps In The Mobile Enterprise

An exclusive survey on mobile app deployment plans by Aberdeen Group show that Microsoft Windows Phone 8 and Surface tablets are poised to make a profound leap.

 

Fun Read

The 21 Ways Google Makes Money From Mobile (Infographic)

Take a look at the list showing how well Google is using its mobile tools to generate mobile money.

Watch Google Show Off 4 Glass Apps

Google posted a video from SXSW event last month on YouTube that gives us an opportunity to learn a little more about Glass and, more importantly, allows developers to discover what will go into coding for the same.

What If Jesus Had An iPhone

Cartoonist Brad Colbow imagined just how digital this member of the Holy Trinity would be if he were one of us Apple fans.

 

Mobile Trivia

Which of the following is not an actual mobile operating system?

  • MeeGo
  • Sonos
  • Tizen
  • Firefox OS

Don’t forget to check out the answer in our next mobile round-up!

*The answer to the previous Mobile Trivia “Which mobile tech giant is trying to recharge its business with a Microsoft partnership that revolves around the”Lumia” brand? is Nokia.

 

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