Android - page 54

Read enough articles about NFC and its potential for mobile payments and you’ll find yourself thinking the technology is the inevitable mobile payment platform. Every major mobile platform except iOS already includes or will include support for NFC-enabled devices. There are lots of partnerships being announced between key players like device manufacturers, carriers, and banking or credit card companies. It also just seems to make sense that this is the future.

Until you look up from all the stories about what NFC and look at what’s really happening in the  world. You don’t see much evidence of NFC payment systems in everyday life. NFC isn’t yet emerging into mainstream commerce, but there is ample evidence that mobile payments are taking off without it. Those options becoming mainstream are decidedly low tech by comparison, but that’s precisely why they’re succeeding.

Despite the fact that BYOD is often perceived as a way to reduce technology expenses, nearly three-quarters (73%) of IT managers expect that BYOD will have the opposite effect. The big fear is that BYOD will cause IT spending to spiral out of control.

That’s the news from enterprise technology vendor Damovo UK. The company recently surveyed100 IT directors from organizations with more than 1,000 users about their feelings on BYOD and how it is being implemented in their organization.

One major reason for potentially uncontrolled expenses boils down companies losing bargaining power with carriers as employees begin purchasing their own iPhones or Android handsets. While the cost of the device isn’t likely to be passed on to an employer, monthly costs for voice and data service may be a different story. With unlimited data plans slowly going the way of the dodo, many workers may not want to shoulder data bills associated with their jobs, which may lead to a shared expense model.

Gameloft promised a June 28th launch for their Amazing Spider-Man mobile game, and sure enough, it’s now available. If you’d like to get your web slinging on, it’ll cost you $6.99 — a price I was fully expecting from Gameloft. The game is available now on Android and iOS and features:

Announced in early May, Amazing Alex is Rovio’s first venture away from Angry Birds since the title became a huge hit on iOS many moons ago. Based on the company’s previous success in the mobile gaming space, we’re all itching to see how its next release turns out, but the new teaser trailer Rovio released today gives us very little to go on.

In addition to the 20-second clip, however, the Finnish firm has also announced some more details about the physics-based puzzler.

Whew, what a day. Day 1 of Google I/O was full of sky diving, rappelling, biking, oh yea… and cool gadgets and software!

The Metropolitan Police have released a new smartphone app for Android, iOS and BlackBerry devices that allows Londoners to identify suspected criminals. Called Facewatch id, the free app allows you to enter a post code and then presents a collection of CCTV images of people wanted for questioning by the police, including over 3,000 people involved in last year’s London riots.

Most discussions around BYOD and costs focus on one of two areas. The first is the cost reduction that a company might see if employees provide their own iPhones (or other devices) and pay for their own mobile plans. The second is the cost for mobile management solutions to secure and manage those personally-owned devices along with the apps and data stored on them.

Those are major concerns, but research company ARCchart recently identified a completely different cost of the BYOD trend – the revenues that device manufacturers and carriers are likely to lose as BYOD becomes a standard practice across the business world. According to ARCchart, the worldwide mobile industry could take a hit as big as $40 billion over the next four years as a result of BYOD.

BYOD and ever-increasing mobility are business trends that are forcing many organizations to take a fresh look at security. The idea of employees connecting from home, coffee shops, and even planes has led to an overall increasing awareness of the need to secure remote connections. At the same time, business data residing on the iPhones, iPads, and other mobile devices of those employees is causing the IT industry to take a fresh look at mobile device security.

That is, of course, a good thing. With the focus on mobile security, however, many IT organizations are letting the security and overall design of their core networks to become outdated – and exposing their companies to incredible risks in the process.

It’s no secret, Samsung has been crawling under Apple’s skin for quite some time. Now, with the release of the Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung wants iPhone users to know they can make the switch effortlessly thanks to a free app they’re making available to UK Galaxy devices. The app is called Easy Phone Sync, from developer Media Mushroom, and promises to makes transferring your iOS content over to your new Galaxy device a breeze.

BYOD may be one of the big technology trends out there for businesses, but not every business wants or needs a BYOD program. BYOD is, of course, not a magic bullet for addressing every company’s mobile needs. It also isn’t guaranteed to deliver cost savings compared to providing employees with corporate owned and managed devices.

Companies not pursuing BYOD can still gain value from investing in some of the technology concepts and solutions that becoming a standard part of BYOD programs. After all, BYOD is one of the biggest trends of consumerized IT, but it is only one trend out of many.

Here are five key BYOD lessons that any business or organization can apply even without implementing a BYOD program.

In two days, Sonic the Hedgehog will be celebrating his 21st birthday. While Sonic goes out and parties like it’s 1999, SEGA will be discounting all digitally available Sonic games for you and I to enjoy. For a limited time, you can head over to any of the following gaming/app stores and enjoy the great deals being offered by SEGA.

Many workplaces are looking at options for social collaboration. The idea is to harness the power of social networks as an internal communication and collaboration tool. While there are some powerful and full featured options in this space, a new iOS and Android app called Pride aims to provide the core benefits of social networks in a free service that’s extremely easy to set up, manage, and use. More importantly, Pride delivers a fun and playful experience that is likely to encourage employees to use it while delivering some very tangible business benefits.

Pride was created by mobile and social enterprise startup DoubleDutch, a company that delivers mobile CRM and event management solutions. The company’s approach is all about using mobile technology to engage with key partners – customers, clients, sales staff, event attendees, and pretty much anyone else involved in a business. That shows through in Pride as well as the companies other products.

On average, iOS is the most expensive mobile platform for developers. It’s the second most profitable mobile platform overall behind RIM’s BlackBerry. One in three mobile developers can’t earn enough money to living from the apps that they produce.

Those are some of the details contained in a new report from mobile analyst and strategy company VisionMobile. The report delves into the heart of the so-called app economy and provides a range of information and statistics about app development, its costs, and the income potential that comes from being an iOS, Android, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone developer. If you’re considering a career as a mobile developer, this is must-read report. For the rest of us, it’s a fascinating sneak peek into the experience of app developers around the world.

CloudOn is one of the more interesting options for working with Office documents on the iPad. The company offers a cloud-based version of the core Microsoft Office apps plus Adobe Reader. Unlike a virtual desktop solution, CloudOn provides just the applications and not a full Windows desktop. When it comes to creating and editing documents, CloudOn’s app relies on popular cloud storage options: Box, Dropbox, and Google Drive.

As a startup, CloudOn has seen strong growth since it launched its service earlier this year. The company announced a new round of funding this week ($16 million) and used the opportunity to tease users with details of its upcoming plans, most notably support for group editing and collaboration as well as expansion beyond the iPad and Android tablets. 

Enterprise security vendor Fortinet decided that the best way to understand members of the millennial generation (or Gen-Y) and their potential impact on IT and security policies was to ask them directly for their views on technology in the workplace. What Fortinet learned will probably keep CIOs and IT leaders up at night.

Most millenials view BYOD programs and the ability to choose the technology they use for work as a right rather than a privilege and have few qualms about outright ignoring policies that restrict that right – even in situations where they know that important data breaches could be the result.

Most worrying for IT leaders, however, is that most young workers feel that device and data security is their personal responsibility even when sensitive business data is stored on or accessed from their personal iPhone, iPad, or other device.

According to a poll conducted by discount site CouponCodes4u, less than one-quarter of American consumers will consider buying Microsoft’s newly unveiled Surface. The discount site used the poll to study the overall tablet space and to determine brand awareness and perceptions across the U.S. market. It found that only 22% of respondents would consider buying one of the Surface tablets.

The survey, which was taken by 1,578 Americans in the 21 to 35 age bracket, also found high brand loyalty among tablet owners for both the iPad and for Android.

Foxconn Chairman and President Terry Gou didn’t get where he is by mouthing off details about secret products he is building to the press, but according to a new report, he’s just confirmed that the iPhone 5 is coming… and it’ll make the Samsung Galaxy S III look like a hunk of junk. If it didn’t already.

On-demand news radio service, Stitcher Radio, dropped a nice update in the laps of Android and iOS users today. Starting today, Stitcher Radio will follow in the footsteps of services such as Pandora or iTunes Genius, by providing personalized recommendations based on your listening activity. This new feature has been dubbed “Smart Station” and claims to be a first for talk radio.

Thanks to Apple, every manufacturer now feels like they need their own voice assistant and so begins the borderline mental illness campaign of conversing with your phone. Samsung announced their own version S-Voice, which is launching with the new Samsung Galaxy S III in a couple of days. Now, LG has decided to jump on the voice wagon by announcing their own voice assistant service Quick Voice.

iPhone users on the go will now have access to the same great Google offers as Android users thanks to the new Google Offers app for iOS. The app allows users to browse and redeem hundreds of local offers as well as deals from the dozens of participating deal sites. With Google Offers for the iPhone you’ll enjoy:

One of Steve Jobs’s favorite quotes was by Wayne Gretzky, a famous hockey player: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” From the beginning, Apple has been all about looking ahead to the next greatest thing, not concerning itself with aligning with other companies.

It might be Google’s turn to take a lesson from Apple and do the same, or they may miss out on an opportunity of monumental proportion. What is the opportunity you ask? AirPlay.

Google’s VP of Product Management, Bradley Horowitz, announced that Google has partnered with Flipboard to integrate Google+ streams into the popular magazine-styled reader. Google+ will join Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and a host of other social services available on Flipboard thanks to new extended APIs. This new integration is a great step forward for users, especially those who enjoy accessing all of their social content from a single app such as Flipboard.

It’s safe to say the majority of us already know the story behind Peter Parker and how he came to be Spider-Man. In case you aren’t familiar with this iconic story, Gameloft has released a prologue video to not only familiarize you with the history, but to show off some more in-game footage.

If you’re a dad like me, the only tie you want for Father’s day is this one. What we do want, are some kick ass games for guys. EA has answered our plea, and graciously discounted a slew of manly titles across multiple platforms.

This NFL season is about to get squawky thanks to Andy Reid and his decision to sign five new free agents to the Philadelphia Eagles. At a brief press conference, Andy Reid announced the five newest players, and boy were they an Angry bunch. Newly signed Red Bird, Bomb Bird, Yellow Bird, Terrence, and The Mighty Philadelphia Eagle, are ready to crush all the swine populating the NFC East.