This week's MobileCon conference was the place to see the latest wireless technology for the enterprise and consumers. Some of it was good, and some of it was silly. I ventured forth from Internet Evolution's secret underground fortress in San Diego to check things out.
Most interesting: A presentation by Zipcar CEO and chairman Scott Griffin, dicussing how mobile has transformed his young company, even in the few short years it's been doing business.
I saw a variety of products and software for enterprises to manage mobile devices and applications. I learned a new buzzword: M2M, for "machine-to-machine" communicatons, such as sensors on long-haul trucks reporting conditions back to fleet management systems. I saw a couple of the latest Android phones.
No iPhone cases though. Too bad. Love those iPhone cases.
And I saw Alice. Click on her below to see a gallery of photos from the conference.
MobileFocus is an event within MobileCon where vendors show off their latest mobile wares to a corps of hungry journalists. Literally hungry – they put on quite a food spread. This year’s theme: Alice in Wonderland.
I thought about that. But Google Glass isn't slated to be available to developers until 2013 and to consumers until 2014. Who knows how well the glasses will perform, how much they will cost and whether the schedule will slip?
I suspect that, at best, Google Glass will be sort of okay for early adopters with disposable income in 2014. That means 2015 will be the earliest for any sort of mainstream adoption, and even that is very optimistic because it's a new paradigm and perhaps the concept could be rejected by the mainstream.
Lots of companies have been working on heads-up display techology (including the military, where it's deployed). But producing the right product has been elusive. In fact, for many people these displays are, literally, nauseating.
Alan Reiter - As I've written previously, I'd really like to see heads-up displays on eyeglasses become the norm because staring at a phone's screen (and most portable screens) will be considered primitive. At least, I hope it will! Alas, it's years away
Not so many years as that. Its basically what Google is talking about with Glass.
I've used the first generation Samsung Note and like the larger screen and keyboard. Plus, you can use the stylus that comes with it to touch the keys, which generally gives you better accuracy. But it's not something I want to carry around with me in my pocket. I tended to leave it on the desk and make calls using my ear buds.
I think we'll continue to see lots of form factors and an evolution of the touch/swipe interface before the industry/marketplace standardizes.
I'd choose a phone with a bigger screen any day as well. Normally, I don't have any problems typing on my iPhone but all the typos come out when I'm in a hurry (oh the horros of rush emails!)
Bigger screens = bigger spaces between keys on the virtual keyboard = a whole lot more happier people.
Well, you see, that's the difference between you and I. I will often use my phone for extended periods, which is why a large screen is quite useful to me. I very much agree with you: different strokes....
As I've written previously, I'd really like to see heads-up displays on eyeglasses become the norm because staring at a phone's screen (and most portable screens) will be considered primitive. At least, I hope it will! Alas, it's years away.
As for small cellphones, the Internet has changed the way people "view" them. I still like small flip phones, but they aren't practical any more. Tiny cellphones might become the norm one day....with heads-up displays!
I don't use my iPhone for sustained periods of time. I use it for quick hits -- check something on an app, or take a photo. If I'm going to be staring at a screen a long time, I use a tablet or notebook computer.
This suggests that, unlike PCs and notebooks, which tend to look alike, we're going to continue to see different sizes and forms of smartphones for different people's preferences.
Very small cellphones -- much smaller than the iPhone -- look cheap nowadays. Which is odd, because you'd think there'd be a market for people who want a very small cellphone.
I recorded a video when the Galaxy Note I came out, and said I liked the larger screen. Large screens have a lot of value, even with phones. In fact, the Galaxy Note II could be quite useful for vertical market applications, especially with a pen (which I also like).
I used to think the sweet spot for phone displays was four inches. But after using a variety of four-inch displays and playing around with the iPhone 5, I've changed my mind. Four inch displays are too small for intensive Internet use, and the iPhone 5's screen (resolution notwithstanding) isn't good enough.
Frankly, I think the iPhone 5's screen adds very little to usability or viewability. Unless one-handed use is an absolute necessity, larger screens are superior. I'd say 4.3 inch displays might be the starting point for superior Internet use.
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Catch up on the week with one simple serving of Friday File. We've pieced together 10 interesting news bites you may have missed and put them together in bite-size morsels.
I've been excited by a few technology announcements, and bored by many, but Google's I/O announcement this week is the first where I found myself getting choked up and teary.
What's the prognosis for telehealth? Medical professionals have technologies they need; some state legislatures are enacting supportive laws, and both employers and employees tout the benefits. Yet other states have let proposals wither, insurers aren't sure how to charge for services, and physicians worry about liability and patient care.
Cisco's rumored sale of Linksys suggests we may have problem with innovation and profit at the edge of our Internet, and that could be critical to the evolution of many Internet-delivered services.
A survey by JD Powers found that customer interest in product features is lessening as phones evolve. Rather than features, price is driving purchases, and that change could have a dramatic impact on how IT departments secure these devices.
The bring-your-own-device approach isn’t suited to monitoring of enterprise equipment and processes. In these cases, it is up to IT to come forward with gear suited to the task.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
Subsidized handsets, rather than locked handsets, should be the focus of regulators. We're not getting good deals, not fostering innovation, and weakening our power as buyers.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Subsidized handsets, rather than locked handsets, should be the focus of regulators. We're not getting good deals, not fostering innovation, and weakening our power as buyers.
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