Tag Archive for iPad

Most Firms Don’t Know Why They Use the iPad

Most Firms Don't Know Why They Use the iPadDespite the widespread success of the Apple (AAPL) iPad more than half of companies lack a clear iPad tablet strategy according to a recent survey by Dimensional Research. CNET’s Stephen Shankland points out the survey which found that “Most participants, 51 percent, indicated that they did not have a clearly articulated strategy.

iPadThe survey of 448 businesses found that:

  • 22% have already deployed tablets.
  • 22% plan to do so this year
  • 24% plan to next year
  • 20% have no plans to deploy tablets

Dimensional Research polled the firms on whose tablet they intend to deploy and found:

Ann All at ITBusinessEdge.com says the survey is an affirmation that the BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) trend is not hype, 41% of survey respondents said individual employees were using tablets they had purchased themselves.

The research firm also found that 82% of firms will use tablets to complement, and not replace, laptops. This fact is not lost on IT Pros. 42% of IT staff said business stakeholders do not understand the need for more development like new front pages specifically for the iPad.

Many of the companies I’ve spoken with seem to discover multiple use cases they hadn’t imagined for tablets when they begin putting them into users’ hands. And new applications continue to emerge all the time.

What do you think?

What tablet has your firm deployed?

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedInFacebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

Too Late for Cisco to Take on Apple?

Too Late for Cisco to Take on Apple?Chronically under-performing Cisco is finally getting into the iPad tablet market. Cisco (CSCO) will be releasing Cius in July. Technology Review reports that Cisco’s Cius, is bulkier than the iPad, and has a smaller screen (7-inches wide, compared to the iPad’s 9.7). But it packs a number of tricks designed to woo business users.

Cisco logoTested.com says the Cius can connect to a Cisco phone network to port calls from a desk number to the tablet in order to make a user’s desk number mobile. This will enable a person to make and receive voice and video calls anywhere. The tablet features HD quality cameras front and back and can be used with a Bluetooth headset for more private calling.

The tablet can also be used as a desktop videoconferencing device when docked on a special desktop phone, and can smoothly switch between a WiFi a cellular network connection. The Cius can be docked to serve as a videoconferencing device. The dock supports a keyboard and mouse, so the Cius really can serve as a little computer, “It can replace my desktop operating system,” says Tom Puorro, senior director for Cisco’s collaboration technologies told Technology Review.

Tested.com says the tablet runs Google‘s (GOOG) Android 2.2 Froyo on an Intel (INTC) Z650 1.6GHz Atom chip and weighs 1.5 pounds despite its small 7” screen. Tested.com speculates that Cisco has heavily modified the open-source Android to support business-centric features like multi-person videoconferencing and virtual desktop software.

Engadget has a video demo of the product here.

The fully skinned Android tablet seems like a relic of 2010 thanks to the arrival of Honeycomb, a version of Android actually built for tablets–which the Cius isn’t running. Tested.com says Cisco plans to upgrade the tablet to Android Ice Cream Sandwich eventually, but for now, it’s slumming around with version 2.2 (Froyo). Cisco probably spent too much time developing its custom skin and software to upgrade to Android version 2.3 (Gingerbread) or version 3.0 (Honeycomb).

Cisu runs on AndroidCisco has also created its own app store, AppHQ, that has only apps deemed stable and secure by Cisco and segregated it from the Android app market. This gives the IT department greater control over what a Cius user can do. IT managers can shut down access to the Android app market to protect a company from malicious apps according to Technology Review. Companies can even create their own app store within AppHQ and limit employees to certain applications, or apps built in-house.

Cisco has demonstrated a Cius virtual desktop that runs in the cloud and makes use of a dedicated chip in the tablet that encrypts all its data says Technology Review

A Wi-Fi-only version of the tablet will be available worldwide from July 31 at an estimated price of $750. Cisco will sell it along with related services and infrastructure, so the cost to businesses will vary, and could be as low as $650. AT&T and Verizon will each offer versions for their 3G and 4G networks this fall.

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I wrote about the Cius here and don’t think it is an Apple Killer. Cisco will give its big partners a deal, but Cius also depends on an existing Cisco telephony infrastructure. I don’t see the Cius fitting in the Cisco product line-up since they jettisoned the Flip and are reportedly shopping Linksys and WebEx. The built-in virtual desktop looks pretty cool, though.

What do you think?

Can the Cisco Cius knock off the Apple iPad?

Does the Cius make sense in the non-consumer Cisco?

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedInFacebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

Tablet Notes

Tablet NotesiPad sold three million units in the first 80 days after its April 2010 release. Its current sales rate is about 4.5 million units per quarter, according to Bernstein Research. This sales rate is blowing past records. iPad is outselling iPhone and the DVD player, the most quickly adopted non-phone electronic product.

Apple iPad Will Fail in the Enterprise

Dell logothe Apple (AAPL) iPad would ultimately fail in the enterprise. That is what Andy Lark, Dell‘s (DELL) global head of marketing for large enterprises and public organizations told CIO Australia.

… longer term, open, capable and affordable will win, not closed, high price and proprietary [Apple has] done a really nice job, they’ve got a great product, but the challenge they’ve got is that already Android is outpacing them.

Apple is great if you’ve got a lot of money and live on an island. It’s not so great if you have to exist in a diverse, open, connected enterprise; simple things become quite complex.

Mr. Lark claimed Dell had taken an enterprise approach toward tablet PCs. This approach will ultimately give Dell an edge. Dell has a major stake in Microsoft Windows and the desktop PC market. “We’ve taken a very considered approach to tablets, given that the vast majority of our business isn’t in the consumer space,” he said.

The cost of Apple products was another deterrent to iPad deployments. Dell’s Lark claims that the economics on a fully loaded iPad did not add up. “An iPad with a keyboard, a mouse, and a case [means] you’ll be at $1500 or $1600; that’s double of what you’re paying,” he claimed. “That’s not feasible.

Despite the company’s history with Microsoft, it had embraced both Windows Phone 7 and Android operating systems “…Our strategy is multi-OS,” Lark said. “We will do Windows 7 coupled with Android Honeycomb, and we’re really excited. We think that giving people that choice is very important.

Outlook on the iPhone and iPad

Pst Mail an iPad appHelp has arrived for Apple (AAPL) iPhone and iPad owners who need access to their Microsoft (MSFT) Outlook e-mail. AppScout says users can check their email even when they don’t have an Internet connection.Pst Mail from Arrow Bit is an iPad app that provides offline access, potentially saving money on the user’s data plan. With the app, you can carry around a year’s worth of messages with you. Pst Mail can interact with the Mail app on your iPhone or iPad to reply to or forward messages. It can also open pst files created with any version of Microsoft Outlook.

AppScout says to find messages in large pst files, Pst Mail includes an advanced search feature. You can search by sender, recipient, subject text, message body, or even attachment name. You can also limit the search to a particular time frame. The developers offer a free lite version of the app in the iTunes Store, which has all the same features as the full version but is limited to the number of messages a user may open in each folder. The full version costs $9.99 in the iTunes app store.

GoToMyPC: iPad App

GoToMyPC Citrix (CTXS) has launched an Apple (AAPL) iPad version of GoToMyPC, a remote desktop application that lets you log in to your computer and control it on the go. Up until recently, you needed a PC to log in to a remote PC using the service. But the iPad app lets you do it anywhere you can get an internet connection on an iPad.

Mobilputing says GoToMyPC is hardly the first app of its type for the iPad. LogMein, TeamViewer, Parallels, and Splashtop all offer similar apps. But the GoToMyPC app has tight security features including 128-bit AES encryption, user authentication, and dual passwords, oriented for business.

Apple Sued Over Apps Giving Information to Advertisers

Apple is being sued over the collection and sharing of user data with outside companiesApple (AAPL) and Apple app developers have been sued over the collection and sharing of user data with outside companies (which I wrote about here). Two suits were filed in the Northern District of CA against the iPhone and iPad manufacturer. Apple is named in Lalo v. Apple, 10-5878.

Lalo seeks class action and claims that iPhones and iPads are encoded with identifying devices that allow advertising networks to track what applications users download, how frequently they’re used, and for how long. “Some apps are also selling additional information to ad networks, including users’ location, age, gender, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and political views,” reports Bloomberg’s BusinesWeek.

According to Wired the second suit, Freeman v. Apple seeks both monetary damages and a court order to stop the profiling by app makers being sued are Pandora and Dictionary.com, Toss It, Text4Plus, The Weather Channel, Talking Tom Cat, and Pimple Popper Lite.

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedInFacebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

Wage Inflation Drives Foxconn Out of China

Wage Inflation Drives Foxconn Out of ChinaFoxconn, the largest exporter out of China and a major assembler of Apple (AAPL) products like the iPhone and the iPad wants to set up shop in BrazilReuters reports the company is considering a $12 billion investment in Brazil manufacturing.

The company, the quintessential Chinese manufacturer, is known for its brutal conditions and plant suicides according to Business Insider. Foxconn finds itself at the vanguard of Chinese labor problems, notably inflation and shortages.

Inflation is driving Foxconn out of China

Apple Computers logoThe inflation is driving Foxconn out of China. Reuters says that the Brazilian government and Foxconn are now negotiating a range of details, including facilities location, financing, taxes, broadband infrastructure, and logistics. “We’ve been talking to them for three months,” said Aloizio Mercadante, Brazil’s science and technology minister.

Mr. Mercadente also told reporters Foxconn is planning to begin assembling Apple’s iPad tablet PC at its plants in the South American country by the end of November. “The negotiations are far from complete but I’m confident,” said Mr. Mercadente.

Calls to Foxconn’s spokesperson went unanswered. Apple declined to comment.

Wage inflation in China has raised questions over the country’s future as the preferred outsourcing destination for multinationals in search of cheap labor. Financier George Soros recently told the SFGate that Chinese wage inflation is “Somewhat out of control.” And the Financial Times cites a recent US Bureau of Labor Statistics report which shows that between 2002 and 2008, real hourly wages in China’s manufacturing sector doubled, while they rose by barely 20 percent in the U.S..

Wage inceases in China outpace US wages

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The race to the bottom continues, apparently, Apple believes that $0.80/hour is too expensive for Chinese workers to build iPads. Who is going to buy a shiny new iPad when nobody can afford to buy them because we are all working a McDonald’s?

What do you think?

Could you afford an iPad3 at $0.80/hour?

Will America ever make anything again?

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  • Foxconn in Talks on $12 Billion Brazil Expansion, Rousseff Says (businessweek.com)

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedInFacebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

Tablets Notes

Forrester Report Casts Doubt on iPad Competitors

Tablets NotesThe New York Times cites a recent Forrester (FORR) report on the state and near future of the tablet marketplace titled “iPad Challengers Have Flawed Product Strategies.”

The report’s main conclusion was that Apple’s (AAPL) iPad competitors have not addressed pricing, distribution, and product differentiation adequately to make a case to consumers.

  1. The new tablets are too expensive. Apple has, unexpectedly, kept iPad prices comparatively low. The Motorola (MSI) Xoom starts at $100 more than the iPad and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab can be had for $250, but that does not include a two-year contract with a mobile carrier. Someone should be coming in to undercut this market, but that has proved harder than it looks.
  2. The wrong stores are selling tablets. Forrester’s research shows that one of the least desirable places to buy a tablet is at a cellphone store. But many tablet makers continue to rely on wireless carriers as a primary retail channel, which Forrester’s report concludes is a bad bet.
  3. The new tablets are not distinguished enough.  The average user does not care about specs because it’s about the apps that run on these toys.
  4. The new tablets are not Windows. Forrester’s survey said the number one operating system people want on a tablet is Windows. If Microsoft (MSFT) is not going to release a true tablet-ready OS until late-summer 2012, those who want a Windows tablet may have to wait for two generations of tablets.

Forrester speculates that an Amazon (AMZN) tablet could change the market. Amazon could offer more attractive terms to media partners than Apple. It already has scads of credit-card numbers for easy one-click app purchases. It has media offerings like streaming video. It now has some experience designing, marketing, and selling its own hardware with the Kindle.

Cisco Cius

CiscoDoes anyone remember Cisco’s Cius? In case you don’t No Jitter has an article from June 2010 by Zeus Kerravala of the Yankee Group. The Cius was purported to be a tablet that can dock into a base station and can act as a video phone. When undocked the device operates like a tablet computer that can be carried around and shared between workers.

Mr. Kerravala says the Cius tablet isn’t really meant to be a replacement for a laptop or an Apple (AAPL) iPad type of tablet. It’s a communications-centric tablet that can provide an easy interface into vertically specific applications, make videoconferencing portable and create a new way for people to interact with one another. The Cius will be centered on visual communications and not productivity applications like word processing and spreadsheets.

The Cius uses  Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system, perhaps to attract developers. The article says the Cisco (CSCO) of a few years ago would have chosen to build its own interface. Android is a key to the success of Cius. The likelihood of developers building applications for an Android-based Cisco device is higher than developers creating applications for a Cisco operating system.

According to the article, the Cius is to be priced under $1,000, comparable to a high-end Cisco IP phone. While no network operator partners were announced at the time, Cisco said that the device was WiFi, 3G, and 4G capable.

Are the End Days Nearing for PCs (and Macs)

GigaOm‘s Ryan Kim recently wrote that the glory days of the PCs are fading with the rise of more nimble smartphones and tablets. Wi-Fi provider JiWire confirmed this trend over the Christmas holidays. JiWire, which operates 35,000 public Wi-Fi hot-spots in the U.S., saw new iPad connections increase by 33.8 percent and new Android (GOOG) users were up 47.9 percent while new Mac users were down 28.1 percent and new PC connections were down 12 percent over the Christmas holidays. Mr. Kim writes that this trend marks people’s dependence on computers is waning as they find more utility and portability in smartphones and tablets.

This trend is shaking up the computer world according to GigaOm. Gartner (IT) recently predicted that PC sales would decline 10% in the face of increased tablet sales. And as mobile networks ramp up to 4G and Wi-Fi usage grows, it’s only fueling the interest in mobile devices. This is a major shift that is forcing all the big players to adjust. The author points out that:

  • Microsoft (MSFT) re-entered the smartphone game at CES 2011 with Windows Phone 7 with Windows OS on ARM (ARMH) designed chips.
  • Intel (INTC) is working hard to get its chips to run on mobile devices though it’s still an uphill battle displacing ARM-designed chips.
  • HP (HPQ) bought Palm last year and is prepping a line of WebOS tablets and smartphones.

Apple (AAPL) is forcing these changes on the industry according to Mr. Kim. the iPhone and the iPad made mobile computing more user-friendly. Apple CEO Steve Jobs predicted that overall PC usage would decline and suggested that lightweight devices like the iPad would do most of the tasks people needed. GigaOm says that companies that embrace this new reality, are the ones best positioned for the future. The new iFuture means PC manufacturers will have to accept that the switch to mobile devices may come at the cost of traditional computer sales. The article concludes that manufacturers can let someone else lure their PC customers away with a tablet or smartphone or they can build one themselves.

Tablets Are Hammering The Notebook Market: Acer Sales Off 10%

The BusinessInsider reports that Acer (ACEIY) has warned that its 2011 Q1 sales will be off 10%. The Taiwanese PC maker is blaming Apple’s iPad and it tablet cousins for devastating its key netbook business.

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedInFacebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.