Latest News from Ian Thain

The Innovation Show

Tue, 01 May 2012 12:06:14 EDT

You're just a few clicks away from the first edition of The Innovation Show, from SAP. This brand new, 30-minute online show on May 3rd 2012 at 1400Hrs London time will update you on the latest technologies and IT innovations that are impacting your business. Innovation is anything but business as usual. Innovative thinking has the power to transform how we work, live, and play. Presented by technologist and broadcaster David McClelland, this first show will discuss two key innovation topics: Big data – big challenge or big opportunity? Our experts will be talking big. Enterprise mobility – from creating business-ready apps to device security and the rise of what analysts are calling the “prosumer.”

Best Way to Grow Enterprise Mobility In-House

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:40:00 EDT

Taking a stance of 'Build it and they will come' has never worked in IT and especially now with the Consumerisation of Mobility and the Prosumers (Professional + Consumer) in your Enterprise, whom are expecting or even demanding the same experience as Mobile Apps on the App Stores/Markets. These employees have been covertly educated to expect the best mobility experience and are now turning their thoughts to solutions in their daily tasks, on the go! Just look at the best ranking mobile apps within the App Stores/Markets and the Apps that are being acquired for large sums of money… they would have all done their homework to ensure maximum effect and this is now the target where Enterprise Mobility is expected to shoot for! In-House Mobile Application Development is the key going forward for the Enterprise and many companies nowadays have a Chief Mobility Office (CMoO). It is the CMoO's top responsibility to Co-ordinate Mobility Trends and Directions, reducing any wasted time and effort and ultimately empowering the Enterprise with the benefits of mobility that I have mentioned in previous articles, such as streamlining business processes, rapid response, ultimately gaining a competitive advantage.

TechWave into TechEd Does Go!!!

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 07:45:00 EDT

I just received an interesting piece of information today from the Events team. Let me share it with you... For 2012, our traditional TechWave content will be incorporated into the SAP TechEd conference, taking place October 15-19 at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. We will continue to deliver targeted training on Sybase products as you would expect, plus offer attendees access to SAP TechEd keynote sessions, exhibits, special event and other networking functions.

Five Points the Mobile Info Worker Expects from Mobile Enterprise Data

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:00:00 EDT

Here is #5. Five points the Mobile Information Worker expects from their Mobile Enterprise Data. 1. Always available and on-demand access to information (off-line and on-line). 2. New ways to interact and display data. 3. Reduce data re-entry error, by synchronising data. 4. Capture new forms of data not available before. 5. Custom and or on demand reporting, for example Mobile Analytics.

Five Points for Mobile Apps in Shaping the New Business Enterprise

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:14:00 EDT

Here is #4. Five points for Mobile Apps in Shaping the new Business Enterprise. 1. Cost reduction compared to existing systems. 2. Streamlining business processes. 3. Competitive advantage with up to date data at hand. 4. Increase Employee satisfaction and effectiveness. 5. Rapid response compared to existing processes

Five Points that Makes an Engaging Enterprise Mobile App

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 10:00:00 EDT

Here is #3. Five points that makes an Engaging Enterprise Mobile App. 1. Extend existing systems by innovating in new ways. Just transferring a PC based or paper based solution is NOT enough. 2. Display/Consume data in new ways. 3. Keep UX design familiar to the deployment platform rather than any existing desk bound app. Simple and intuitive with a Corporate Branding. 4. Adapt to your Users. 5. Make sure it is ready and fit for the purpose. Nowadays users expect it to work well first time.

Five Points on How Mobile Developers Improve Relationships with End Users

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 17:00:00 EDT

Here is #2. Five points on how Enterprise Mobile Developers can improve the Relationships with their End Users. 1. Live several days in the life of your user observing work locations and patterns. 2. Have end users in on the design panel as well as the usability and testing. 3. Get buy in from key stakeholders that are part of the end user team. 4. Learn from consumer applications that are popular with users. 5. Listen... The End User has the business expertise.

Five Points When Building the Business Case for Mobile Enterprise Apps

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 07:45:00 EDT

Today I thought I would put together five steps and five points within to producing 5-Star Mobile Apps. Here is #1 Five points when Building the Business Case for Mobile Enterprise Apps. 1. Create a Visionary Plan for more mobile Apps and know how they will aid and shape your enterprise. 2. Create an ADS (Application Definition Statement) for each App, specifying purpose and intended audience. 3. Create a Budget for devices, if CYOD and include the next two steps. Also include your estimated ROI. 4. Create a plan for a Device Management & Security Infrastructure - Use a leading MDM such as Afaria. 5. Create a plan for an App Dev Team using a future proof Development Platform - Use a Mobile Enterprise Application Platform (MEAP), such as SUP.

How to Test Drive Enterprise Mobility

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 07:45:00 EDT

It's always been an important part of planning an Enterprise Mobile Development… How to get started?... How to take that first step? As a Mobile Evangelist, my experience covers many areas such as presentations, communications and especially technical developer skills, with knowledge of the developer platforms available... the subject of development and building Apps is really close to my heart. I am here to promote in-house Mobile App Development for many Mobile Platforms, though my specialty and skills are based around iOS ;-) and using the best Mobile Enterprise Application Platform (MEAP) around... the Sybase Unwired Platform (SUP) from SAP.

Data Connection and Usage, the Life Blood of Mobility

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 13:00:00 EDT

Now that Mobility is part of our lives, we are all hooked on our Smartphone or Tablet device and take them everywhere we go, but we need to be aware of something that we almost take for granted… Data Connection & Usage! Especially if we are going abroad and hit the tricky subject of Data Roaming, which can become a very expensive situation personally and corporately. Mobile devices give us access to fantastic content that can be delivered and displayed to our Converged Mobile Devices (CMD's). In the past the Cellular Providers made their money on calls and SMS, but for a while now their new cash cow is data and we are hooked!

Tablets Have Come of Age

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:30:00 EDT

This week I attended a Mobile Monday event sponsored by Barnes & Nobile (B & N) which discussed Tablet Computing and promoted their Nook Developer program. The Chair for the meeting was Marek Pawlowski, Founder and Organiser MEX @marekpawlowski and the Panel consisted of Claudio Romanini - Director, Developer Relations, Barnes & Noble (B&N), Stuart Dredge - Freelance Journalist @stuartdredge, Hesham Al-Jehani - Product Manager, Mobile , Comscore and Ben Scott Robinson- creative director, We Love Mobile @bscr. This article is a combination of notes from the meeting and my thoughts.

Why Your Wireless Expert Could Be Your Mobility Team MVP

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 11:00:00 EDT

It may be an unusual angle, but your Enterprise IP Wireless Expert may be your best ally around when it comes to implementing your Mobile Device Security Strategies. The reason why I think this is that all of smartphone and tablet devices support wireless connectivity, and most data plans provide incentives for users to access the web via IP connectivity rather than the carrier’s network. Hopefully this makes sense as it reduces airtime charges for users, often with little or no trade-off in performance and flexibility and relieves congestion in the carrier voice network. So it's a Win-Win situaton, right? Well... what users (and some mobility professionals) might overlook, however, is that a lot of the networks over which Enterprise Mobile Devices might connect to the web are completely unsecured, and that could be very dangerous.

The Exception to the Rule Is Your Greatest Risk

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:37:34 EDT

Here's a common scenario and one that will become more common with the ever increasing penetration of Tablet Devices in the Enterprise... Your Senior Exec just got their iPad. They love it. They use it everywhere. Literally everywhere! That’s a scary word for anyone involved in securing Corporate Data, yet enabling access to sensitive corporate data on a tablet can be a risky proposition. There are three reasons why... Executives are often early adopters of new mobile technology like the latest smartphones and tablets, even when company policy around their use is not fully formulated. This opens the door for security rules exceptions to accommodate these users. (But that’s OK, because the Execs are the most trusted people in the company, right?)

Remote Mobile Security vs Local Mobile Security

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 07:45:00 EDT

As I have already mentioned in many articles, Mobile Apps and Mobile Business Processes are becoming a routine part of daily work life, yet companies still wrestle with mobile security. They are totally correct to worry about how easily mobile devices are lost and stolen. They are also concerned that employees are quick to find new ways to use mobility for work while giving little thought to the security implications of what they do every day. I think this is due to the years of working behind the office-centric firewall which has made it possible for workers to do what they do every day without even thinking about security, as the corporate IT infrastructure protects them.

Enterprise Mobility and Regulation

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EDT

Whether you build a Mobile Apps as part of a public product or service, or develop in-house Mobile Apps to support your own business processes, it is useful to keep an eye on what the government regulators are up to regarding all things mobile. There is a lot of debate about what, if anything, requires regulation, and what those regulations should be. For example, many companies have developed customer facing mobile applications that enable them to engage directly with their customers. These are especially popular among retailers, but they also commonly used by insurance providers, financial services companies, and various kinds of publishers. Many of these mobile apps do more than provide special features, products, and services for customers. They also provide a direct communication channel to customers.

SAP Executive Interview with Raj Nathan

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 05:15:00 EDT

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview...Raj Nathan, EVP and CMO, Sybase, an SAP company. As Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Worldwide Marketing and Business Solutions Operations, Dr. Raj Nathan is responsible for all marketing initiatives for Sybase and its subsidiaries, Sybase iAnywhere and Sybase 365. In this role, Dr. Nathan leads a global marketing organization setting Sybase's technology direction and go-to-market initiatives. Under his leadership, Sybase continues to be recognized for visionary technology that meets the direct needs of customers and partners. Dr. Nathan’s work experience has taken him around the globe, and has run the gamut from hardware to software, and from large companies to small including Unisys and Siemens Pyramid. Raj earned his doctorate and master’s degree from Iowa State University, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Madras, in India.

The Importance of Future Proofing Mobility

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EDT

I have talked a lot about the need to Mobilize Existing Business Systems and Processes in an innovative and strategic way and at the heart of this for Mobile App development is the Mobile Enterprise Application Platform or MEAP. This is important because mobile technology is evolving so rapidly. Companies need to be in position to take advantages of new innovations as they come to market. The world is increasingly unforgiving of those who fail to keep up, as I have said before... Don't be left in the Starting Blocks! There is a lot of competitive advantage in Mobility and you need to invest in your vision to reap the reward! You need to also build a Business Mobility Infrastructure that is capable of accommodating new mobile technologies. You might say, but with all the advances that we’ve seen in the past couple of years, with so many new models of smartphones, and now tablets, what more can there really be? How many ways can device manufactures package a Converged Mobile Device (CMD - I'm bundling both smartphone and tablets here)? You're probably asking...Isn’t all this mobility frenzy going to settle down?

Rapid Deployment Solutions for Mobile

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:00:00 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... Hari Subramanyam, Global Rollout Manager, RDS Mobile Solutions Assembly & Packaging, SAP. In this interview I find out... What SAP offers for customers to get started with mobile solutions. What is currently available today. What rapid deployment solutions are being planned for the future

SAP Executive Interview with John Sims

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:22:00 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... John Sims, President, Sybase 365. In this interview I find out... What the biggest challenges is to Sybase 365 operator customers today

Business Web

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 07:29:00 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... Jason Yotopoulos, Head of Research, SAP. In this interview I find out... What is SAP Research’s vision of enterprise computing in the future. What is the concept of Business Web

Operator Services and Sybase 365

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 07:02:00 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... William Dudley, Group Director, Product Management, Operator Services, Sybase 365. Sybase 365 addresses three core markets (1) Operator Services, (2) Enterprise Services and (3) Mobile Commerce. Bill is responsible for Product Management of Operator Services. In this interview I find out...

More Mobile Commerce and Sybase 365

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 06:35:00 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... Matthew Talbot, Senior Vice President, Mobile Commerce, Sybase 365. Sybase 365 addresses three core markets (1) Operator Services, (2) Enterprise Services and (3) Mobile Commerce. Matthew is responsible for Mobile Commerce. In this interview I find out...

SAP Executive Interview with Sanjay Poonen

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:32:00 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... Sanjay Poonen, President and Corporate Officer, SAP Global Solutions and Go-to-Market. Sanjay J. Poonen is President of Global Solutions and Go-to-Market for SAP AG, responsible for SAP’s entire portfolio of Industry, Line-of-Business, Analytics, Mobility, Technology and Database Solutions. Poonen is part of the Global Customer Operations leadership team, dually reporting to Bill McDermottand Jim Hagemann Snabe, co-CEOs of SAP AG. In this interview I find out...

Mobile Developer Program, Your Way Forward

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:27:16 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... David Brutman, Senior Director, Developer Marketing, SAP. David Brutman leads the Developer Program at SAP Marketing. Previously, he held product positions at SAP as a Developer, Product Manager, and Product Marketer in the User Interface area leading to market products like SAP NetWeaver Gateway, SAP NetWeaver Portal, and Duet Enterprise. In this interview I find out...

Developing Enterprise Mobile Apps

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:16:15 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... Bryan Whitmarsh, Senior Product Manager, SAP. Bryan Whitmarsh is a Mobile Solution Manager for SAP. As a member of the SAP mobile group, Bryan is responsible for bringing future generations of mobile applications and platform products to the market. Bryan has over 15 years of experience in solutions management and technical consulting in mobility. In this interview I find out...

Global Messaging and Sybase 365

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 07:46:00 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... Howard Stevens, Senior Vice President, Global Messaging Solutions, Sybase 365. Sybase 365 addresses three core markets (1) Operator Services, (2) Enterprise Services and (3) Mobile Commerce. Howard is responsible for both Operator Services and Enterprise Services. In this interview I find out...

Mobile Device Management and Security

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:03:58 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... James Naftel, Senior Product Manager, SAP. James Naftel is an Afaria Product Manager at Sybase, an SAP company. In this position, James drives product strategy for Afaria, Sybase’s market leading mobile device management solution. His areas of focus include mobile solutions, device management, application management, and security. In this interview I find out...

Managed Mobility Momentum

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:43:00 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... Willie Jow, Global Vice President, Managed Mobility, SAP. Willie Jow is a 19-year veteran at SAP via Sybase acquisition. As Global Vice President of Managed Mobility Solutions, he is responsible for recruiting and enabling the SAP ecosystem partners to offer hosted mobile solutions and services to enterprise customers. This includes SAP overall managed mobility portfolio and joint go-to-market programs. In this interview I find out...

Mobile Commerce and Sybase 365

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 07:18:00 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... Haridas Nair, Vice President, Product Management, Mobile Commerce, Sybase 365. Sybase 365 addresses three core markets (1) Operator Services, (2) Enterprise Services and (3) Mobile Commerce. Haridas is responsible for Product Management of Mobile Commerce. In this interview I find out...

Electronic Medical Records Mobile App

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:23:10 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... Dr. Josep M. Picas, CIO, Hospital de St. Pau Barcelona. Dr. Josep M. Picas. M.D, at the University of Barcelona. Diploma at the ESADE Business School of Barcelona. He is the President of the European Association of Healthcare IT Managers (Brussels). From 2009 he is the CIO of the Hospital de St. Pau inBarcelona, Spain. He began his career in 1974 as a medical doctor; he was appointed Director of the Hospital de l’Esperança, in Barcelona, in 1979. From 1982 to 2004 he was the Director of PAMEM, a public HMO operating in Barcelona. Director of the Primary Care of Barcelona City, from 2004 to 2007 and CIO at the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona in 2008.

Trends, Tablets and Tapas

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 04:00:00 EST

Last week at Mobile World Congress 2012, was a very interesting time in Barcelona, Spain. I was lucky enough to meet and interview many of the Mobile Movers and Makers in the SAP community (see the list below).During the week I gathered the trends and futures on Mobility, Tablets, Messaging, mCommerce, Device Management & Security, Mobile Application Development and lots more from...

SAP and Samsung Partnership

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:55:16 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview Oliver Bussmann, CIO at SAP and BC Cho, Head of Global Enterprise Business Team, Mobile Communications - Samsung Electronics. In this interview I find out... What Oliver Bussmann thought the main trends were at this years MWC? What was the news about Samsung and SAP?

SAP Executive Interview with Chris McClain

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:47:00 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview...Chris McClain, Executive Vice President, Global Mobile Sales & Solutions, SAP. Chris is responsible for SAP’s driving customer success with SAP Mobile products. This organization supports SAP’s objective to lead the Mobile market with the Sybase Unwired Platform as the industry's platform of choice and launch new mobile applications. In this interview I find out...

SAP / INE and Afaria

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:44:00 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... Jose Antonio Perea Yustres, Head of Innovation and Mobility, Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) - Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) is the national statistics institute for Spain. Affiliated with the Ministry of Economy and Tax, INE performs largescale statistical operations including demographic, social and economic census. In this interview I find out...

SAP and Mobile Apps

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:23:00 EST

At Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I had the great fortune to interview... Nick Brown, SVP, Solution Management, at SAP. Nick Brown is senior vice president (SVP) of strategy for SAP’s mobile applications. In this role, he is responsible for driving strategic market development, product strategy and overall business planning together with the mobile applications unit and the regional/global mobility COE (Center of Excellence) teams as well as helping SAP customers become better-run unwired enterprises.

Helping to COPE with Enterprise Mobility

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:00:00 EST

Over the last year I have been quite a convert in the area of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) as part of the Consumerisation of IT in Enterprise Mobility. It allows the Prosumer in the company to bring their own device into the workplace, increasing their productivity. Less training etc ! Mobile Weapon of Choice ;-). Though for the Company it brings in the areas of device management and security above and beyond any reduction in cost of supplying any such devices. Some would class it as a win-win and it has been for a while.

Mobile Apps Have to Have the LOOK!

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:15:00 EST

Branding and Corporate Identity is another part of the Mobile Application UX that will be important from 2012 onwards. Compliance to a standard corporate visual design helps to build a consistent look and feel for your brand, that you have already have spent time and money on. Now you must visualise the look that the Mobile Application will be designed around. Nowadays we can take a number of approaches, such as Paper, Pencil & Stencil and digital means. I prefer the digital way forward. There are a number of Applications that aid iterative RAD design processes such as Balsamiq Mockups, iMockups (iPad Application), App Layout (iPad Application), Mobile elements available for PhotoShop, Illustrator and Fireworks.

What to Build in Your Mobile Apps

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 07:22:00 EST

What should you always keep in mind when building your Mobile Business App? Mobile Applications should be available everywhere, though there may be restriction if Wireless 3G/Wifi is not. This may be because of geographic location or maybe restriction on the usage of radio signals. Personally I am a great believer of building as much of the Application in an ‘occasionally connected – always available’ model that allows data to be stored locally on the mobile device and updated bi-directionally back to the backend systems when available, minimising down-time for Application and the Information Worker.

It's the Mobile Apps Experience That Counts

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 07:18:00 EST

User eXperience or UX groups User Interface, User Interaction and Graphic Designs together that in turn aids, how your Mobile Application is perceived, learned and ultimately used. The key points of UX are the focus on real end users, the validation of their needs & requirements, understanding the users’ working models ultimately to design for a awesome user experience. Building Applications that use Native features will achieve high quality Applications with added value for the user. Follow Tablet and Smartphone Guidelines. For iOS it is the Apple HIG (Human Interface Guidelines), as these are there to advise and guide

It's All About Beautiful Mobile Apps

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:54:03 EST

Mobile Business Applications should help users get their jobs done, intuitively, effectively and efficiently. This can be achieved with a Beautiful Mobile Application, which in turn means a great experience and that’s no different from consumer to business Applications. Now that the Prosumer (Professional with Consumer expectations and knowledge) is part of every workforce, it is most important to satisfy your Mobile Information Workers with adequate, correct, and consistent information, in new innovative ways

App Economy Bucks the Global Economic Trend

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:49:52 EST

Over the last week I have seen a number of tweets and blog postings that have brought to everyone attention the fact that, Mobile App demand is being eagerly supplied by the growing Mobile Developer Community. I have seen this over the last few years by attending some local Mobile Developer Groups and Communities. Take the article from Paul Krill of InfoWorld, He states that "Demand for iPad, iPhone, and Android apps has created nearly half a million jobs for developers of mobile and social apps". Check out the full article here

Mobile Application Investment in Europe Grows

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:07:40 EST

I noticed a very interesting tweet this morning from Nick McQuire of IDC, in which he states that IDC Research Predicts European MEAP Market Growth in 2012, even over the rise in 2011. This is fueled by the increase in Mobile Application investments... "IT teams need more efficient and industrialized development and management tools for mobile enterprise applications to help them streamline and simplify app deployment across a fragmented mobile environment," said McQuire. Check out the Press Release here. This covers so many areas that I am extremely passionate about as an Enterprise Mobility Evangelist at Sybase/SAP...

Mobility and UX Tweets

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:43:00 EST

If you have been following me over the last few years, you would know that I am a Mobility Evangelist passionate on Mobile Technologies, Hardware and Apps, especially with respect to in-house Enterprise Mobile Application Development and the usage of Mobility in the Enterprise. I thought this week I would start to let you know how strongly I feel with respect to Mobile UX (User eXperience) and Design. Check out my latest tweets...

Mobility in Business Is Now a Necessity!

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST

If you have been reading my articles and blogs you will know that I am a staunch believer that the iPad is the Corporate Mobility game changer and enabler for the future and the Future of Mobility is NOW! I totally believe that the Mobile device is a tool for the future worker that can be unlocked with the forward thinking and design of bespoke business apps. Having a Mobile Device and never building Corporate Apps is like having a Swiss Army Knife on a Survival Trip and never using it.

Developing Your Enterprise Mobile 'iDea'

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EST

In my last article I looked at the motivation behind and part of the iOS Developer's DNA. I mentioned that many great apps had started with a great 'iDea' that was either inspirational, formed by personal needs or to better apps that did not quite do it as well as they could have. It is very easy for the developer to get to thinking of how to use the technology first, but this is not a great approach and can limit the opportunities for applications. My friend Anne Skare Nielsen, at Future Navigator in Denmark (http://www.futurenavigator.dk/) identified the formula to be an innovator...

The iOS Developers DNA

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:00:00 EST

I have been lucky enough to travel over the last few years and either attend or work at events that centre around the iPhone and iPad, one of which being Apple's World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, but also regional iOS Developer User Group events. During this time I have met many great iOS developers each with their own stories of how their apps started with an 'iDea' (sorry for the 'i' pun, could not resist it) and more... Why they got into developing for Apple iOS, along with their motivation and each with pretty good levels of success in Apple's App Store.

iPad Is NOT an iPhone

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:15:00 EST

This title may be an obvious statement to us all, but a lot of applications and therefore application developers on the Apple App Store seems to have lost sight of that fact. I believe that over 90% of these applications have the potential to be awesome on the best tablet device around, but are sadly falling short of the mark. I have been using the iPad since it was launched in the UK and there is nothing more frustrating to me than iPhone applications on the iPad. Let's face it, the iPad is the first computer designed purely for hand-held mode. It's not a tablet with a touchscreen. It's not a Windows PC that happens to be mobile...It's a custom designed purpose built device designed to view the web and operate applications purely by using the screen...Oh and what a device!

NFC and iOS: Will It Become a Reality in 2012?

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:00:00 EST

Lately there has been a lot of rumor on the web about the iPhone 5 and iPad 3. One thing that most people and technical loggers seem to agree on, along with more internal memory for running of programs and a faster processor is a thinner design and new innovative features such as the use of NFC (Near Field Communication). Yes still speculation until the time the next iPhone will be announced, which will probably be in June at Apple's WWDC (World Wide Developer Conference), but worth talking about in advance. As a quick example of NFC, think of something many thousands of us use daily, the London Undergrounds successful use of the Oyster card and beyond that card payments , such as Barclaycard's Contactless Payment systems.

Mobility Tweeting again…

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:30:01 EST

The question to Buy or Build in #Enterprise Mobility? Unless you want to dance to somebody else’s tune, build… you’ll get more ROI and advantage #Mobile #Apps not only extend existing #systems but look at new circumstances of use freeing your workforce to use them in innovative ways Think of a #Mobile #Device as a building, the [...]

Traveling Light with iOS

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 EST

The world is becoming a mobile place and even if you are not a mobile worker in your daily job, you will want to interact while on the move, in your personal life. That is why the Smartphone, iPad or Converged Mobile Device as I like to call it, is a great success... It gives you access to everything you want in the palm or your hand. Some may say that tablet devices will become our day-to-day third device along with the laptop and the mobile and I would partially agree with that statement providing one thing...The Laptop is the new Desktop and the Tablet is the new King of Mobile Computing. I use my iPad whenever I travel as a replacement to my MacBook Pro, for presentations, document creation, spreadsheets, email, etc. It is such a delight now to travel light with such a powerful and mobile device. Take it from someone that has 10 years of business travel under his belt, mostly with heavyweight Windows Laptops. So what I decided to do in this article was to list the reasons why I think the tablet devices are becoming hot stuff and making laptops less attractive to leave the confines of the home and office. In fact this article along with others was created totally 'on the go' with my mobile workhorse iPad.