Fat Apps Microsoftize Mobile Apps
December 10, 2011
If it seems like a step backward, that’s because it is: Network Computing declares, “Fat Apps Are Where It’s At.” At least for now.
Writer Mike Fratto makes the case that, in the shift from desktop to mobile, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Cloud-based applications that run only the user interface on mobile devices are a great way to save space– if you can guarantee constant wireless access to the Web. That’s not happening yet. Wi-Fi is unreliable, and wireless data plans with their data caps can become very expensive very quickly.
Besides, says Fratto, services that aim to place the familiar desktop environment onto mobile devices, like Citrix XenAppor VMware ThinApp, are barking up the wrong tree. The article asserts:
There isn’t the screen real estate available on mobile devices–certainly not on phones–to populate menus and pull downs. . . . But that is how desktop apps are designed. Lots of features displayed for quick access because you have the room to do it while still providing enough screen space to write a document or work on a spreadsheet. Try using Excel as a thin app on your phone or tablet. See how long it takes for you to get frustrated.
So, Fratto proposes “fat apps” as the temporary alternative, applications designed for mobile use with local storage that let you continue to work without a connection. Bloatware is back, at least until we get affordable, universal wireless access worked out. At a conference last week, one firm told me, “Our mobile app for an equipment manufacturer is only two or three gigabytes.” Svelte? Just like Word.
Cynthia Murrell, December 10, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
New Google App Sneaks Chrome on the iPad
December 3, 2011
In the battle between Apple and Google, it appears that the search giant has come out with new way to come out on top, and search is not the primary focus. Google has created a search app that is superior to the experience of any Android tablet and puts the core Chrome elements onto an Apple product.
If you are wondering why Google has suddenly decided to stop innovating for it’s own products, and has chosen to invade Apple’s, The Next Web article “Google Just Used It’s Search App to Sneek Most of Chrome OS onto the iPad” states:
“The reasons why it has shipped a pack of its most potent apps in one convenient dashboard are evident if you look at the tablet landscape as we know it. Google’s “official” version of Android is losing the tablet race, flat out. Products from manufacturers that have no access to an ecosystem beyond the Android Market have proven not to work. Now, Amazon has launched the Kindle Fire, which stands to quickly attain ’2nd place’ status behind the iPad, utilizing a tweaked version of Android that Google will gain nothing from.”
iOS devices account for 2/3 of mobile searches on Google’s platform, making it the largest outlet for Google’s primary product, ads. Google recognizes this fact and has created an app for its fans who use Apple products.
With such a seamless integration, it appears that Apple may not be able to separate itself from Google, no matter how hard they try. This is a certainly a clever move on Google’s part but definitely not the most innovative. Is this the new Google?
Jasmine Ashton, December 03, 2011
Artificial Solutions and Teneo NLP
November 30, 2011
I learned from one of my two or three readers that Barcelona was home to a natural language processing company. Several years ago, I spoke with a person familiar with the company Artificial Solutions. After a bit of fumbling around, I located a trade show at which the company was exhibiting. The company’s NLP system is called “Teneo.” The application which I recalled was the use of the NLP system for customer support. The company has expanded since I first learned about the firm. The technology has been applied to mobile devices, for example.
The company told me:
Teneo Mobile is a platform independent technology designed to enable companies, organizations, manufacturers and developers to create their own virtual assistant as a mobile app, regardless of platform, mobile device and even language. The Natural Language Interaction (NLI) engine is covered by patents. The system can currently be built in up to 21 different languages, including Mandarin and Russian.
The company, founded in 2001, is owned by its founders, the private equity fund Scope Growth II and some private investors. The company has tallied more than 200 projects in the public and private sector in 30 countries and 21 languages. In the telecommunications sector, the firm’s customers include:
The firm’s technology is based on the Teneo Interaction Engine. According to the firm, its system will:
reason like a human, using advanced linguistic and business rules to decide how best to respond to your customer’s request. Context comes into play here, such as time, date and place, as well as information picked up from previous conversations, customer data retrieved from your CRM system and transaction data from your ERP system. At this point, the Teneo will also eliminate any ambiguities from its initial analysis. Even one word can alter the meaning of a customer’s request. Teneo will instantly and dynamically re-assess content as the interaction develops, to understand what has changed and give the right answers. Natural language is full of subtle nuances, which Teneo is able to pick up and interpret. It understands idiom and slang, even dialect and SMS shorthand – and it’s also sympathetic to grammar, syntax or spelling mistakes.
For more information about the technology and its vertical applications, navigate to www.artificial-solutions.com.
Stephen E Arnold, November 30, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
New Google App Puts Chrome on the iPad
November 30, 2011
Clever? Stealthy? Sneaky? Cute? Smart?
Don’t know.
In the battle between Apple and Google, it appears that the search giant has come out with new way to come out on top, and search is not the primary focus. Google has created a search app that is superior to the experience of any Android tablet and puts the core Chrome elements onto an Apple product.
If you are wondering why Google has suddenly decided to stop innovating for it’s own products, and has chosen to invade Apple’s, The Next Web article“Google Just Used It’s Search App to Sneak Most of Chrome OS onto the iPad” states:
The reasons why it has shipped a pack of its most potent apps in one convenient dashboard are evident if you look at the tablet landscape as we know it. Google’s “official” version of Android is losing the tablet race, flat out. Products from manufacturers that have no access to an ecosystem beyond the Android Market have proven not to work. Now, Amazon has launched the Kindle Fire, which stands to quickly attain ’2nd place’ status behind the iPad, utilizing a tweaked version of Android that Google will gain nothing from.
iOS devices account for 2/3 of mobile searches on Google’s platform, making it the largest outlet for Google’s primary product, ads. Google recognizes this fact and has created an app for its fans who use Apple products.
With such a seamless integration, it appears that Apple may not be able to separate itself from Google, no matter how hard they try. This is a certainly a clever move on Google’s part but definitely not the most innovative. Is this the new Google?
Jasmine Ashton, November 30, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Inteltrax: Top Stories, November 21 to November 25
November 28, 2011
Inteltrax, the data fusion and business intelligence information service, captured three key stories germane to search this week, specifically, the highs and lows of recent analytics news.
On the high side, was our story “Speech Analytics Market Approaches Billions” that chronicled the success of applying unstructured big data analytic techniques to recorded speech, such as in call centers.
On the low side, we found “Mobile BI Takes a Surprising Misstep” explores how the once bustling mobile BI market recently took a hit.
And somewhere in the middle, we found “In-Memory Databases Cause a Stir” attempted to draw the line between traditionalist and futurists of analytics.
It’s a wild ride every week in the world of big data analytics. Sure things go bust, underdogs appear from nowhere and divisions are drawn. Stay tuned to see where it all leads.
Follow the Inteltrax news stream by visiting www.inteltrax.com
Patrick Roland, Editor, Inteltrax.
November 28, 2011
Turkey Argument: Which Came First iPhone or Android?
November 28, 2011
The competition between Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android apparently wasn’t laid to rest with the death of Steve Jobs. While Jobs heatedly demanded in his biography that the Android was a stolen Apple product, the search giant Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt begs to differ.
In the recent CNET article “Google’s Schmidt: Android ‘Started before the iPhone Effort” Schmidt was quoted saying:
Steve is a fantastic human being and someone who I miss very dearly. As a general comment, I think most people would agree that Google is a great innovator and I would also point out that the Android effort started before the iPhone effort.
While the Android company was founded in 2003, several years before the launch of the first iPhone, Apple launched the iPhone in 2007 and the first Android was not released until 2008. Also, Schmidt’s service on the Apple board of directors during the iPhone’s development, gives his claim a bit less credibility.
As both company’s products continues to advance, I’m sure that the feud between Apple and Google will not end here. However, why did the turkey cross the road? To get either an iPhone or an Android device?
Jasmine Ashton, November 28, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Talking to a Mobile Phone: Who Did Artificial Intelligence First?
November 25, 2011
First, Google worked on its Android before Apple got in gear with its iPhone. Now, Microsoft did voice search on a phone before Apple. You can get the scoop in a serial content experience; that is, a video, referenced in Forbes’ “Microsoft’s Craig Mundie On Siri: Been There, Done That.” More and more frequently I marvel at the expertise of a commercial enterprise, public relations professionals, and “real” journalists to cook up scintillating insights. Here’s the passage which caught my attention on Turkey Day:
Mundie, in fact, contends that Apple has been stressing that feature on the new phone due to a lack of other truly novel improvements in the latest version of the phone.
I understand sour grapes. I mean the tablet thing must have annoyed some professionals at Microsoft. The only point I would mention is that Apple sells a modest number of mobile phones yet sucks in more than half of the money. Unlike Microsoft, Apple did not have to induce a mobile phone player to make phones. And unlike Android, Apple seems to have so far avoided the “what operating system version to I have” problem.
How does one address a slow news day when you are a “real” publication? Maybe do a video interview? Thank goodness Beyond Search is neither “real” journalism nor a “real” consulting firm. The goose is indeed unreal.
Stephen E Arnold, November 25, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Adobe Back Out of the Enterprise
November 16, 2011
We came across another interesting write up from Megan Feil on the shifting business approach at Adobe. Here’s what we found:
When the markets invariably change, does a company follow suit and 180 with the changing times? Well, we know how Adobe responds after reading Mac World’s report on Adobe’s restructuring in their article, “Adobe to Reduce Enterprise Software Investment.” Adobe sees digital media and digital marketing products as the areas with the potential for astronomical growth and they want to cash in.
Adobe is changing things up for their company, but predictably choosing the safe route. It will continue to invest in its Creative Suite products and place more emphasis on HTML 5. As far as marketing goes, they plan on investing in analytics and reporting, especially on mobile devices and social networks.
Mac World quotes their CFO’s statement:
“We believe that by focusing resources on two large initiatives and shifting our business model, we can drive faster and more predictable growth in [fiscal year 2013] and beyond,” CFO Mark Garrett said in a statement.
Their enterprise software brought in less than 10 percent of their overall revenue last quarter, so it seems like they might be making a good move for their business. In regards to enterprise software in general, Adobe seems to be snubbing the possibilities this market has for expansion. With the consumerization of information technology, there are wide open spaces of room for companies to innovate software and applications for the enterprise. It’s all about tapping into what users want: business intelligence with intuitive ease.
We think that this shift is illustrative of how a company’s direction can shift. It is interesting to note that they are concentrating on HTML5 instead of Flash for the mobile world. We did find that Polyspot’s business intelligence approach was already poised to handle the mobile economy. Our colleague Constance Ard over at Answer Maven is pretty adamant about mobile: “If companies do not account for personal and business mobile devices in their enterprise information management they will suffer the consequences.” Guess it’s good that there are software companies that can help.
Andrea Hayden, November 16, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Mindbreeze Offers Standalone Enterprise Solution
November 14, 2011
CMS Wire follows the latest trends in enterprise CMS in “Forrester Wave Q4 2011: Bye-Bye Enterprise CMS Suites, Content-Centric Apps Are King.” Content needs are becoming more complex and organizations are turning to multiple solutions and away from a single CMS suite.
“The first dynamic that the Forrester report identifies shows that companies are no longer looking to a single enterprise CMS suite to solve all their content needs. There are a number of reasons for this, but looming over them all is the fact that changing content-types and greater use of, and need to manage, unstructured content is pushing many companies to use whatever application suits, from whatever vendors are providing those applications, to solve specific business problems. And then, of course, information workers have to be able to use all these applications.”
Relying on the variety of vendors might not be the solution to the changing enterprise landscape. Instead, choosing an agile and capable vendor like Mindbreeze seamlessly solves all of your business needs on multiple levels: mobile, web, and enterprise. When multiple vendors are utilized, information workers are forced to train on a variety of platforms and applications. Using one flexible solution like Mindbreeze saves valuable training time.
“SharePoint, and in particular the new release, Forrester argues, which provides ‘ECM for the masses’ has forced many vendors to rethink strategies and move towards more content-centric development. As a result, competing vendors have been obliged to move toward specific content sets to differentiate themselves from it. Consequently, the market is now divided into a number of different types of players.”
Instead of being forced into this trend, and choosing different vendors for different content, choose one reliable vendor like Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Applications are still content-centric, but in a smart and streamlined way, all underneath the banner of one dependable name.
*Disclaimer – Mindbreeze is currently upgrading their website. Links will be checked and if problems arise they will be updated. Thanks for your patience.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 14, 2011
MIndbreeze Mobile for SharePoint
November 8, 2011
Mobile devices are quickly gaining ground on personal computers as the primary entry point to the internet and other online resources. Any discussion of enterprise software is incomplete without devoting attention to mobile access. Waldek Mastykarz analyzes the effectiveness of SharePoint 2010’s mobile device support in, “Inconvenient SharePoint 2010 Mobile Redirect.” Mastykarz’s main complaint with SharePoint mobile access is its unsuitability for internet-facing Web sites because its lack of support for anonymous users. We learned:
Not only is the standard mobile experience useless on an Internet-facing website, but it also cannot be turned off. The mobile redirect is baked into the request processing module provided with SharePoint (the SPRequestModule HTTP module) and there is no on/off switch provided that you could flip to make it go away.
The author explains several workaround options for mobile access, but is quick to mention that no workaround is seamless and none completely fix SharePoint’s limitations. A solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze Mobile is a better overall fit for this and other SharePoint shortcomings. We learned from Fabasoft that:
Fabasoft Mindbreeze Mobile uses a browser-based Client that is specifically adapted to the requirements of smart phones such as BlackBerry, iPhone and Android. Only three kilobytes of memory and the installation of one single certificate are required. After these steps are taken, the corporate installation of Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise – and thus all connected data sources – can be accessed through the usual Mindbreeze URL.
Additionally, Mindbreeze maintains continuous checks of existing access rights. Improving the users’ experience, every information object can be opened in Mindbreeze mobile in a preview mode that features the accompanying metadata. Enterprise solutions are useless without effective and efficient mobile solutions. Look into Mindbreeze as a good solution for increasing the usability of SharePoint’s mobile enterprise access.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 8, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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