Videos: Competing for the Mobile Consumer Market, Commercials of Top Mobile Players
Attention consumers!!! Take a look at these videos and you can be the judge of who you would like to support. The production value really demonstrates how competitive the mobile environment has become! Competing for the mobile consumer market is a major objective for many tech companies.
Blackberry
Windows Phone
Apple
Ubuntu
Nokia
Read MoreAfrica leads Europe, US in economic growth, thanks to mobile phones
Dorli Photography via Compfight
This Article was originally published at http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Africa-leads-Europe-US-in-economic-growth/-/2558/1650012/-/cq1t1hz/-/index.html
Researchers at the World Bank and the African Development Bank said the growth is being driven by mobile phone technology, which has opened up access to banking, education and other key services.
According to the eTransform Africa report, ICTs are delivering homegrown solutions in Africa, enhancing entrepreneurship, agriculture, innovation and economic growth.
The report gives detailed data on the positive technological growth that has taken place in Africa and its impact on development.
World Bank director for sustainable development in Africa Jamal Saghir said foreign direct investment is booming on the continent and it is now an easier place to do business.
“The Internet and mobile phones are transforming the development landscape in Africa, injecting new dynamism into key sectors,” said Mr Saghir. “The challenge is to scale up these innovations and success stories for greater social and economic impact across the continent over the next decade.”
Enhanced broadband
The report which analysed data from Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Morroco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Tunisia between January 2010 and October 2012 shows that there is rapid development of mobile broadband with smartphones and affordable tablets across Africa that will bring greater social and economic impact over the next decade.
According to the report released last week, from fewer than 20 million fixed line phones across the continent in 2000, the figure has increased to over 650 million mobile subscriptions — more than the US or European Union, making Africa the second fastest growing region in the world.
Mr Saghir said in some regions more people have access to a mobile phone than to clean water or even electricity.
Some 68,000 km of submarine cable and over 615,000 km of national backbone networks have been laid, greatly increasing connectivity across Africa.
The Internet bandwidth available to Africa’s one billion citizens has grown 20-fold since 2008.
Field Force Apps, 3 Reason to go Native
Field Force Apps – Offline Mode = No Wireless Data Costs
The great thing about native apps is that they can work without an internet connection. This allows enterprises to save on data costs and upload cached information once field force staff get back to the office or if necessary, the closest coffee shop.
Field Force Apps – Camera Integration and Storage
HTML5 and web based solutions do not offer camera integration, therefore attaching photos and storing them on the device is unproven. A native app can integrate with the camera application programming interface and store photos on the device. Therefore users can attach photos to forms and other field force initiatives
Field Force Apps – Native Apps Offer Stability
Native based mobile software offers much more stability than web-based solutions, especially when storing and caching photos and media. Since native apps are running off the device and not a browser, they are able to store files without connectivity. HTML5 offers caching capabilities it has yet to be proven for field force enterprise solutions.
Well, there are multiple options when it comes to building a field force app. If you are interested in discussing how we can implement an app that suits your needs and objectives, fly me an email
Take a look this post about Blackberry 10!
Blackberry is Back, with a New Name, Revamped Brand, and Different Stock Symbol
Read MoreA Great Post that Highlights Blackberry 10 Features and Hardware
Thorstein Hein Introducing the New Hardware
The Potential of Blackberry 10
The smartphone market is growing exponentially year over year, which creates an opportunity for Blackberry to obtain crucial market share. Currently, the consumer market is dominated by iOS and Android, but Blackberry has established strong developers relations and has created a solid foundation with their Blackberry 10 operating system. Anecdotally, Blackberry has an opportunity to capture the third market position worldwide, which could lead to significant increases in revenue for the Waterloo based company.
Name Change from Research in Motion to Blackberry
The New Blackberry 10 Keyboard
Personally, I have used the new Blackberry 10 Keyboard and it works very well. The time I spent using the keyboard functions, the user experience was slick and enjoyable. It actually feels like a physical keyboard and is probably the most responsive keyboard I have ever used. Once Senior IT decision makers and management have the opportunity to access the keyboard, I can see them arming their enterprise team with BB10 devices. Take a look at the video below!
Blackberry Global Reach
There is no denying that people in developing nations love their Blackberry’s. As they mature and move towards powerful smartphone devices, Blackberry brand loyalty could propel worldwide market share by capturing majority in countries like Indonesia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and other growth markets.
Read More
Infographic: How Much Mobile Data do you Use
Going over your data limit is generally pretty expensive and it can add up in a year. Take a look at this infographic to get an idea how much data you use while consuming media via your mobile device.
Read More
Areas to Address when Determining a Mobile Application Strategy
Sippanont Samchai via Compfight
Before we go into detail I am going to define the difference between a web based application and a native based application.
Web Based Apps
A web based app is browser based and generally run off a URL, but can be added to a home screen of a tablet or smartphone. Written in text rather than binary code. Therefore a little less secure than a native apps. Web based apps are progressing rapidly but have yet to achieve the processing power of native based apps.
Native Based Apps
Native apps are your typical App Store and Google Market apps that can be downloaded, unlike web based apps that run in the browser. Native apps are great for enterprise because they can be loaded on devices and are very user friendly. Also they have offline capabilities. Think of a native app as software rather than a webpage.
Do you need Offline Capabilities?
Generally, if your organization needs offline capabilities and your team if constantly working in the field, than a native based app will best suit your organization needs. Native apps are especially beneficial to industrial, oil and gas, manufacturing organizations that may not have connectivity 100% of the time. Native apps are able to store information gathered during “offline mode” and upload the data to a server once connectivity is restored.
Generally, web apps need connectivity, there are methods that allow browser based apps to store information but they have yet to prove useful for enterprise organizations. Basically, if you need offline capabilities native based is your best bet.
Have you thought about Mobile Commerce?
So…this is a tricky one, because web-apps can be responsive (responsive = automatically adapts to the type of device the web-app is being viewed on i.e. a desktop web-app may look different than the mobile and tablet web app). The intelligence of a web app is able to recognize the device and display a mobile, tablet or desktop optimized web based application. Generally, the user experience is pretty good with web based apps. Cost is generally lower and many major brands are using web based mobile commerce platforms
A native based app offers an immersive experience that is catered to each operating system and downloaded to the device. Therefore the user experience is smoother, much faster and offers the opportunity to reach customers through push notifications. Since the user downloads a native app to their device, mobile commerce providers can market flash sales, new products, and other marketing initiatives through a push notification that offers an immediate call to action.
Are you Considering Leveraging the Capability of the Device…Camera, Calendar, Near Field Communications, GPS, Location Aware Offerings?
If an app is meant to leverage the potential of the device, than a native based mobile strategy would best suit your needs and objectives. Although certain web based techniques are being used to integrate the camera features, GPS and Location aware offerings they are unproven and lack user experience.
Read MoreDo you need a Consultation?
