Is Your Next Laptop a Smartphone?

The smartphone might not be one's first choice for spreadsheets and documents, but let's face it, everybody has one (in business, anyway, all over the world), and those that have one will buy a new one sometime in the next two years as cellular products and wireless technologies continue their rapid evolution. The level of capability in contemporary smartphones is remarkable and continues to grow.

Smartphones are as powerful as PCs from just a few years ago, with significantly better software, user interfaces, and flexibility. Smartphones won't replace the laptop for typical business users, but over the next few years, many people -- my guess is 12% to 15% of business users -- will be able to leave their laptop at the office and handle essentially all of their mobile computing and communications tasks with a pocket-sized device.

As you might guess, size here is both an advantage and a challenge. Smartphones need to be as small as possible for mobility while still maximizing the size of the keyboard and the display. The keyboard on a smartphone, be it physical or screen-based, is obviously never going to get bigger than is acceptable for the two-thumb typing technique, although I predict a surge in add-on Bluetooth and USB keyboards that can be quite effective for writing longer missives. The display is similarly constrained, although being able to connect (via wireless) to an external display with better resolution -- the TV in one's hotel room, for example -- should become quite popular in the future.

Networking, storage and processing aren't really issues anymore, as tiny devices can have lots of each, and a connection to the Internet addresses any concerns here in the same fashion as for computer users everywhere. A much bigger issue is battery life.

So, you might conclude at this point that there are really no showstoppers with respect to replacing a laptop computer of any form with a smartphone. But, should you conclude as such, you would be ignoring the effect of the culture surrounding the PC: From IT departments to enterprise users to just about every technology user on the planet, the PC is viewed as the mainstay of personal and corporate IT and thus a core requirement. But it is nevertheless very likely that we'll still be carrying both a notebook or Mobile Internet Device and a smartphone for some time -- well into the foreseeable future. I think that my 12% to 15% number above will grow over time, however, as Web services and cloud computing become the popular, if not dominant, model for enterprise IT.

For now the convenience of needing only one tiny device -- again, one that everyone needs to carry anyway -- is so compelling that more progress toward the single-device solution is certain. Personally, as one who lugs way too much technology around every week, I can't wait.

Blackberry Business Application Development – The Next Big Thing?

It's enough to look around and see the booming increase of mobile phones and handheld computers; almost everyone has at least one cellular device, if not more. Increased simplicity has caused 'premium'-featured models to be introduced to the 'entry-level' customers. Today business-people actively perform functions on mobile devices that were formerly reserved for laptops or netbooks.

Netbook sales took off over the past few years, and for good reason: these tiny, light computers were tailor-made for the mobile user who increasingly performed most office-related activity online. Netbooks provide some of the convenience and functionality of a full-fledged notebook while weighing less than half of even the lightest units and boasting battery life that can in some cases take you through an entire day without recharging.

But many netbook users quickly bump up against the limitations built in to this form factor. Screens are cramped, and processors are barely adequate for running Windows. In addition, a notebook computer - even if tiny and lightweight - is still a notebook computer, requiring you to stash it, and the inevitable accessories, in some bag that you have to carry around with you.

Evidence of the mobile craze is everywhere. According to a survey by Synovate, a global marketing and research firm, 70 percent of users surveyed in 11 global markets use their hand held mobile devices for non-voice data applications and one-third use them to access the Internet.

According to Dataquest estimates, the total market size of enterprise mobile applications in India stood at Rs 560 crore in FY 09, up from Rs 347 crore in FY 08 a growth of 61%.

Mobile application development is a huge boom in the technology sector. These applications have expanded the use of wireless technology immensely. The new developing applications have bought the revolutionary changes in the use of mobile phones.

Competition is getting tough day by day with ever changing technology and increasing demands for more advance applications, innovation in this field is key to success. Several companies have entered in the field of development of mobile applications and they are introducing the latest apps based on the new technologies with ever increasing benefits.

A reputable web application development company that specializes in software application development can develop mobile applications to integrate your business transactions through mobile or wireless devices and content delivered systems. A mobile application developer with a solid background in project analysis, documentation, test plotting, and project maintenance can help you on the way to your making revolutionary mobile applications.

Business Mashups, a software development company headquartered in the the city beautiful, Chandigarh, is extending its software development services and this time for the latest BlackBerry platform.

Business Mashups has been one of the pioneers on the IT market to offer bespoke software development services using web technologies. Among the most requested solutions are business applications and sophisticated web-based systems. No matter what type of business need it is, Business Mashups leverages industry standards from HTML to AJAX, works alongside with Eclipse, NetBeans, and Java Development Environments.

The BlackBerry product line, created by Research in Motion (RIM), includes handsets and software both for individuals and businesses. The integration of smartphones and software provides advanced access to emails, notes, tasks, contacts, and many more.

With all the mobile platforms targeting their app store towards average consumer, enterprise mobile applications market in India has still not reached a critical mass, but is gaining momentum.

Business use of mobiles requires a different set of features, namely strong email support, web browsing, a good screen, software support and local connectivity options.

Blackberry was created with business use in mind. Blackberry wins for business use and security. Besides its e-mailing and call functions, blackberry developers have now provided applications to make the Blackberry a handy asset to both the small and medium sized businesses. The access to various third-party applications for the Blackberry has made it a vital toll in today’s business environment.

Business Mashups has long identified with the trend by providing offshore blackberry development services. Our experts can create appealing applications over different BlackBerry OS Platforms. Whether you need BlackBerry Apps Development for Store, business automation application, sales force automation, transaction management or intranet applications such as executive MIS on mobile, CRM,etc, we have a team of qualified hands to meet your blackberry mobile application development under your budget and timelines.

Mobile Application market in India

India has huge mobile application requirements. An initial look at the market place throws up large number of consumer segments in need of immediate access to important information. Mobile applications is a major development area in India and has resulted in software firms creating or enhancing their efforts in telecom operations. The earlier withdrawal of attention had resulted in a lag in the learning curve with respect to new processes. Companies are again scrambling to make up for it through redoubled efforts.

With 400 million mobile phone subscribers, and the growth showing no signs of plateauing, India is expectedly being touted as a mobile hotspot globally. Today, mobile has become the only medium to reach out to a large part of India's population. No consumer business worth its name is ignoring the potential of reaching out to customers through mobile applications, for customer service, marketing and of late for transactions. By and large, that is what is driving Indian enterprise mobile applications adoption in the initial phase of the market rollout.

That is both good news and bad.The good is that when the adoption becomes mainstream, it would suddenly see exponential growth. The bad news is that this is also the reason why the transition from a hype cycle to an adoption cycle is taking so much time. Today, the market size of enterprise mobile applications in India is a very small fraction of the potential.

According to Dataquest estimates, the total market size of enterprise mobile applications in India stood at Rs 560 crore in FY 09, up from Rs 347 crore in FY 08a growth of 61%. While that growth figure looks quite impressive, it is on a small base and I believe that it will accelerate for the next few years.

There are two reasons why the enterprise mobile applications market has still not reached a critical mass. First: the adoption is happening more on the front-end, which typically requires a longer decision cycle as well as longer implementation time. Secondly: most integrators in the enterprise space are still trying to push traditional mobile applications which have worked in developed markets, which are B2E or B2B applications, and are targeted at enhancing productivity and efficiency, as part of their solution to the CIOs.

2008 saw significant take-offs in customer facing applications such as m-banking, which was launched by many large banks through downloadable midlets, WAP sites as well as through SMS. Then there was m-payments, where India is now being seen as an early adopter, as well as a lot of other m-commerce applications.

Major players in the application space include Mobiquest, ValueFirst, Obopay, Mospay, CanvasM, Mindtree, Spice Digital (earlier Cellebrum), Telenity, Netxcell, among others.

The adoption in the intra-enterprise space is low but gaining momentum. We are still at a stage where only a few sectors like retail and BFSI are using mobility apps for conventional areas like sales force automation, transaction management, etc. Field force automation and integration, mobile transaction management, asset tracking and management, bill payments/receipts, ticketing, Intranet applications such as executive MIS on mobile, are currently in vogue. However other areas like CRM, remote data collection and management, queue buster solutions, integrated handhold solutions with other technology solutions like RFID, location-based services are also fast catching up.

Vertical-wise
Its a well known fact that the first and primary adopter of enterprise mobile applications has been retail. The next rung is occupied by BFSI and pharma, and they are closely followed by the transportation and logistics department.

A new entrant on the mobility street has been the government. Governments across India are busy mobilizing their operations and their workforces. The sector has emerged as an enthusiastic consumer (of mobile enterprise apps), and has niche requirements of developing its wireless capability, especially for domains of security, reliability, and scalability of its operations. Another area that the government is exploring is tracking and locational services.

Apart from these, there are a lot of sectors that hold huge potential for effectively deploying enterprise mobility solutions. Some of these can substantially contribute towards crafting the success story of enterprise mobility. One of the most promising sectors is healthcare. From blood bank tracking to bedside monitoring to real-time monitoring of surgeries, healthcare is one area that holds tremendous scope for deployment of mobility solutions. The other potential verticals are defense, aviation, energy utility, and telecom.

The Challenges
While even sending bulk SMSes to the sales force was considered to be a mobility sort of adoption (and a large number of our SMBs are still in that stage) a couple of years back, we have now evolved to reach what the experts call the email stage. A major chunk of enterprise mobile applications in India right now is mobile email. So clearly, maturity is an issue, and on that front at least, the growth rate speaks volumes about the potential that the Indian market holds.

That apart, because market maturity will only come gradually, the biggest challenge in the way of enterprise mobility applications is the security of data being transferred. Most vendors concur that the first question their customers put up is related to the security of data being transmitted. They want to ascertain how reliable their mobility solution is.

However, experts insist that security vis-a-vis mobile applications, is no longer an issue that cant be dealt with effectively. That is because most developers are now taking care of security issues right from the stage of inception.

The other big factor, that has been especially relevant to the Indian market is the low RoI, that leaves little incentive for application developers. And though a lot of players have mushroomed in the application development picture, a lot of them are targeting the overseas market, rather than the Indian one. The Indian market is more lucrative for VAS application developers, given the consumer base.

Apart from that, integration is another issue. Although most mobile applications are a sub-set or even an extension of the business applications, their integration with the overall IT infrastructure remains a challenge for most enterprises, especially for mid-sized ones. And with unified communications being the buzzword across the industry, the convergence between voice, video, and data points has become more crucial than ever. Thus, one of the biggest ailments seems to be patching-up of the pieces. Accommodation of an application in the existing infrastructure has always been a yardstick for success in India. But enterprise mobile apps, though displaying an integration drive, are yet to reach that stage of seamless integration.

Unless that happens, it is difficult to expect that intra-enterprise applications would really take-off.