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Microsoft Scores Big with iPhone App
Microsoft Plans Updated Surface RT Tablet With Qualcomm Chip And 4G Speeds
Vauxhall Adam Siri Edition Now On Sale, Get Yourself An Apple iCar
Samsung Resorts To Subsidies, Asustek Cuts Prices To Boost Tablet Sales In Brazil
61% Of Small Firms At Risk Through Insecure iOS Devices
Study: App Fail Fallout - Why RUM Is The Answer!
Microsoft Scores Big with iPhone App
Last week Microsoft announced its new Office Mobile app for iPhone, and despite a few stipulations, it is a breakthrough moment for the software giant. The Microsoft Office mobile app is available on Windows platform phones, but it has been unavailable on Apple devices until now. Tech expert Karl Volkman of Chicagos SRV Network, Inc., explains the apps significance and where the Microsoft-Apple partnership can go from here.
"This is Microsoft's first big breakthrough into the iPhone world," says Volkman. "Now you can edit and view documents, spreadsheets and presentations using Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint on your iPhone. Apple fans have been waiting a long time for this, and it is proof that two of the tech industrys leading companies can work together."
Although the app is free, there are still several hoops to jump through. Users must be subscribed to Microsoft Office 365, which costs $99.99 annually. Office 365 allows subscribers additional cloud storage, new software updates and access to software on up to five computers.
"Although the new app doesnt provide access without the Office 365 subscription, it opens the door for Microsoft to further its relationship with Apple and its users," Volkman observes. "The app is pretty bare bones, but also simple to use. Hopefully with regular updates well see improvements with functionality and accessibility. Its a jumping off point that will likely spur more collaboration and better products for end users."
While users will be able to create new documents from the mobile Microsoft Word, there is only one font and three color options. Excel will also allow users to create spreadsheets, but PowerPoint will only be available for viewing and editing presentations. Up until now, only Windows devices had the Office Mobile app, and there are no immediate plans for the app to be available on Blackberry or Android devices. Office Mobile is not currently available on iPad, as Microsoft is keeping its suite available only on Windows tablets.
Karl Volkman is Chief Technology Officer of SRV Network, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois, and an IT Professional with over 30 years of experience.
For more information, visit:
http://www.srvnetwork.com
Microsoft Plans Updated Surface RT Tablet With Qualcomm Chip And 4G Speeds
V3's by Daniel Robinson reports that Microsoft is planning an updated version of its Surface RT tablet for later this year that will add mobile broadband, a feature missing from the current model, and also that several sources are reporting that Microsoft is internally testing a Surface RT based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor in place of the Nvidia Tegra chip of the original model's SoC, with one major significance of that particular ARM-based chip being that it has integrated 4G LTE connectivity, the implication being that an updated Surface RT will have mobile broadband support
Robinson says any updated Surface RT model is likely to ship with an RT version of the Windows 8.1 refresh, and that an updated version of Microsoft's Surface Pro is also rumored to be in the pipeline, but likely to ship after the Surface RT.
For the full report visit here:
http://goo.gl/qZjCr
Vauxhall Adam Siri Edition Now On Sale, Get Yourself An Apple iCar
PockerLint's Hunter Skipworth reports that buyers of General Motors UK's Vauxhall Adam subcompact are now able to get Apple Siri integrated into their cars, with every new Adam sold shipping with Siri connectivity using Intellilink technology. Current Adam owners will also be able to upgrade to a free Intellilink update in order to to get Siri functionality. Owners who want the update will need to take their Adam in to a Vauxhall dealership.
In addition to the Intellilink update, Vauxhall will also release the Adam Siri edition, a special trim package liveried in Apple-esque white or black paint schemes and brushed-aluminum "wing" (fender) mirrors to harmonize with Apple's iDevice design themes.
Owners of what Vauxhall heralds as "the best connected small car on the market" will be able to talk to their ADAM and it will literally answer thanks to its iPhone iOS integration.
Siri works in the Adam via a steering wheel-mounted button. The voice control button on the steering wheel toggles instant hookup with the user's iPhone, with every Siri function available.
Siri Eyes-Free voice recognition can make appointments, send and read text messages and emails, or play a favourite tune stored on an iPhone or other Apple iDevice. Everything is voice-controlled so drivers can keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel. A TuneIn app brings the world of international radio to drivers and passengers: app users can tune in to 70,000 stations and over two million on-demand programs.
The Vauxhall Adam Siri works with iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and other iOS 6 supported devices.
In North America, GM's Chevrolet Spark (1LT, 2LT) and Sonic LTZ and RS integrate Siri through the cars’ standard Chevrolet MyLink infotainment system. Spark and Sonic owners simply connect their iPhone with the MyLink radio via Bluetooth, pair with the system, and use the steering wheel voice activation button to begin and end sessions with Siri in Eyes Free mode.
Both the Spark and the Sonic also come with six months of GM OnStar's premium Directions and Connections service. OnStar brings added safety, security and connectivity to these vehicles, including services such as Automatic Crash Response, Stolen Vehicle Assistance, Vehicle Diagnostics and Roadside Assistance.
Most smartphone owners can also download the RemoteLink Mobile App, which allows OnStar subscribers to control and manage certain vehicle functions from their phone. For more information on OnStar’s services, visit:
http://onstar.com
For demo video (Adam), see:
http://goo.gl/8ABZ8
For demo videos (Chevrolet), see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4aVDp-OQaA
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYthriH-0QM
For more information, visit:
http://goo.gl/Mpvl2
For Hunter Skipworth's report:
http://bit.ly/1bUMh0p
Samsung Resorts To Subsidies, Asustek Cuts Prices To Boost Tablet Sales In Brazil
Digitimes' Aaron Lee and Adam Hwang report that inorder to boost tablet sales in the Brazil market, Samsung Electronics is offering subsidies to its local sales agents to cover 30% of sales prices on average, while Asustek Computer has lowered retail prices by 15%, and possibly further to 30%, industry sources in Taiwan cited retail channels in Brazil as indicating.
Lee and Hwang notge that Brazil is the world's third-largest PC market due to its high population and relatively low PC penetration as well as a foothold for the Latin America market, aand that ccording to IDC, local own-brand vendor DL Electronics enjoys the largest PC market share at 30.15% in Brazil in the fourth quarter of 2012, followed by Samsung with 26.78% and Apple with 13.81%, while in Brazil's tablet market, Apple and Samsung lead in the high-end segment, Samsung, Asustek and Acer dominate the mid-range segment, while DL Electronics and other local vendors monopolize the low-end segment with sales prices of US$200-250 according to local sources.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20130618PD218.html
61% Of Small Firms At Risk Through Insecure iOS Devices
With more and more employees using their own devices to remain active and connected while out of the office, IT management has become more complicated than ever, according to Soluto, which has added iOS management to its IT management service. Large organizations may enforce all sorts of systems on their employees, but among small businesses the Soluto says the situation is dire.
Among small business employees who use their iPhone to access work email, 37% dont even have a basic passcode on their device (according to a survey of Soluto customers). Furthermore, most or all of the employees at 61% of small businesses with in-house IT, dont have proper security settings configured on their iPhones (e.g. not allowing simple passcodes like 1234). The situation is even worse among small businesses that use an external IT services provider, where at 78% of them most or all the employees are lacking such proper security settings.
"The risk here is not that your competitor is sending secret agents with Ninja costumes to steal your phone," says Tomer Dvir, Soluto's co-founder and CEO. It's that your child will accidentally post the contents of a sensitive work email on Facebook. Or that friends at a bar will take your phone to play some practical joke that could have disastrous results. It's alarming how many people do not think about these trivial situations until they actually occur."
According to Soluto, 42% of employees who have an unsecured iPhone configured with their work email think it makes sense for their employers to enforce a password requirement on their iOS device. So, if even the employees who dont secure their devices see the value in it - why dont employers use such systems? Because they are complicated.
Soluto (http://www.soluto.com), maker of an IT management service used by millions, has introduced its iOS management solution for small businesses, allowing every small business IT and IT service provider to protect and improve the mobile device experience of their employees and co-workers. The new service enables remotely securing devices, wiping devices in case of theft, installing applications, configuring roaming settings and more.
Support up to 3 devices for free (PCs, iOS, or both) or buy one of Soluto's premium plans starting at $0.99 per device (PC or iOS) per month. For more information about Soluto's plans visit:
http://www.soluto.com/upgrade-now
Survey Methodology
Soluto surveyed their user base and Facebook community in the US, UK and Canada to research iOS security practices. They had 698 responses from IT managers and 2,621 responses from people who do not work in IT, 32% of whom have an iOS devices on which they access work email, 53% of whom work for a small business (defined as less than 50 employees).
Study: App Fail Fallout - Why RUM Is The Answer!
SOASTA, Inc. has announced the findings of its 2013 Website and Mobile App Survey. Conducted online by Harris Interactive, the SOASTA survey questioned 2,046 American adults. The survey found that almost nine out of ten Americans associate negative feelings with brands that have poorly performing websites and mobile apps (88%), and have a negative reaction when a website is too slow (83%).
While 88% of Americans associate negative feelings with brands that have poorly performing websites and apps, SOASTA is releasing the tools for free to make bad apps a thing of the past.
SOASTAs 2013 Website and Mobile App Survey reveals how Americans feel about companies and their brand if they do not fulfill a users online expectations.
This is important because new research surveying over 2,000 Americans shows:
76% are willing to wait up to 10 seconds for a page to load, but it will affect their perception of the brand in the mean-time
72% stated the most important thing is the site works when needed
83% hate it when a website is too slow
As such, SOASTA decided to raise the bar by releasing their enterprise-grade Real User Monitoring (RUM) solution, mPulse, complete with new features such as:
Collection of ALL the Data
Custom Timers
Custom Metrics
End-to-End Views of Real User Impact
For those Americans who said they have a negative reaction when a website takes too long, 28% would visit a competitors website, 27% would not trust the website, 18% would not visit that page again, and 13% would think the site may have been hacked. More men than women said they would visit another website (32% v. 25%).
Most Americans said what is most important to them when it comes to a website or mobile app is that the product works whenever they need it (72%). This was followed by American adults who said products that are fast and have no waiting time (62%); perform as expected (62%); do not crash (53%); provide trustworthy results (45%); and are fun to use (38%).
SOASTA acquired the pioneers of RUM, LogNormal and the Lognormal team developed mPusle LITE along with the SOASTA development team for a perfect marriage.
Using real user monitoring (RUM), mPulse effectively and non-invasively measures the real user experience by providing customized metrics and timers, and grants real-time, actionable intelligence via stunning visuals to operations and marketing professionals. These features enable business to remain competitive and improve customer retention by optimizing the user experience on mobile and web applications. A free version, mPulse Lite, is now available with custom metrics to enhance RUM analytics for everyone.
mPulse has enhanced our business by providing us with actionable data to see the real user impact on our business, said Charanjeet Singh, CTO of Backcountry, an online retailer for premium outdoor gear and accessories. Our users are the driving force of our business, and by better understanding them, we can provide the best possible service to keep them coming back.
The new release of mPulse extends SOASTA's technology leadership in RUM with its acquisition of Lognormal and the work by industry veterans Buddy Brewer and Philip Tellis. Brewer and Tellis are best known in the performance industry for their creation and contributions to Boomerang, the leading open source RUM solution on the market today.
Collecting all real user data and integrating it with third party back end data sources such as New Relic, AppDynamics, Amazon CloudFront, CA Wily and OpTier, mPulse provides complete and immediate insight to issues such as high exit rates and low app usage. It measures user experience with custom metrics tied to the business, furthering a companys ability to respond intelligently to an applications performance on actual user behavior. Delivered with stunning, intuitive and interactive views, customers can see what matters to the business before it impacts revenue, brand and reputation.
New Features in this release of mPulse include:
* Collection of ALL the Data Running on SOASTAs massively scalable analytics engine, mPulse collects all the data on up to billions of beacons, without compromise. With 100% of the data to report on, no blind spots in user behavior are overlooked.
* Custom Timers From banner ads, to social media widgets and vital page fragments, mPulse now gives developers and designers the control they need to create custom timers based on what matters to them. Measure beyond simple page speed to custom components and 3rd party services to provide indisputable, finite data for Service Level Agreement (SLA) management and enforcement.
* Custom Metrics By enabling companies to define the values that measure their specific business goals, whether that is revenue or conversion rate, mPulse delivers results that are unique to each company.
* End-to-End Views of Real User Impact SOASTAs growing partner ecosystem includes the likes of OpTier, Tealium, SiteSpect and Instart Logic. mPulse aggregate and correlates front and back-end data to deliver comprehensive views of user impact on the entire technology stack.
As the leader in enterprise tag management, Tealium enables customers to easily deploy innovative analytics solutions, Said Jeff Lunsford, Tealium CEO. SOASTA's mPulse is one of those enterprise solutions that provides customers advanced notice and rich intelligence about how real user performance impacts their web and mobile business.
Since its release, mPulse has been widely adopted by companies and business leaders so that they can quickly respond to real user experiences and provide effective resolutions quickly, said Tom Lounibos, SOASTA CEO. Our customers tell us that the user experience is paramount. mPulse Lite puts powerful RUM analytics in the hands of everyone so companies of all sizes can further customize real-time analytics and make informed business decisions based on the activity of real web and mobile users.
All of these new capabilities are available now. You can sign up for free mPulse Lite at:
http://www.soasta.com/free
For more information about SOASTA, visit:
http://www.soasta.com
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