Ice Cream Sandwich, and other sweetness ...

A well written OS does its job in a clean, consistent, reliable way. A superbly written OS does all that, but then entices you with its attention to detail indicating the developers really care about their work. The latter is the what Android has been elevated to with the release of Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), also known as Android 4.0.

Even with its idiosyncrasies, ICS still proves to be one of the best Android versions released to date. Obviously your mileage may vary (YMMV), but overall it’s one of the most stable mobile OSs that I’ve ever used. Android enthusiasts (like myself) will find a lot to like in the new version. But will still probably find various reasons to want to replace the stock applications with third-party alternatives (read Handcent SMS for one) ... it's not perfect. But the major improvements to the user interface (UI) & experience do help to make ICS better tasting right out of the box.

A Fresh New Look
ICS is by far the most visually appealing version of Android released to date. The holographic interface in Android 3.x (a.k.a., Honeycomb) has been passed on to ICS, though it doesn’t translate that well on smaller displays. On a tablet such as my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the holographic interface looks as if it has some depth, but on a phone such as my Samsung Galaxy S II it appears much more two-dimensional. ICS, however, adds a few new colors to Android’s repertoire, swapping out the old green and gray for a vibrant blue. Might I add the Galaxy S II's AMOLED screen loves these new colors.

Text is also much easier to read thanks to the use of a new high-resolution font Roboto. Roboto was designed to be used on HD displays, and is a massive step up from the old Droid Serif originated in Android 2.x. The font looks a lot cleaner than the default font from Honeycomb, and it complements the holographic UI quite nicely.

Features Galore
Face Unlock and Android Beam were two features that sounded great in theory, but in actual practice they didn't play out too well. Face Unlock lets you unlock your phone by using facial recognition software, but it has one too many bugs to make it really useful. Face Unlock can be difficult to use outside on sunny days, because bright sunlight obscures your face to the camera. Also Face Unlock can be tricked by either a picture or someone who closely resembles you. Face Unlock is not an entirely foolproof security measure (Google even warns that it’s not as secure as a PIN or a lock pattern), but it’s still a novel way to interact with your phone.

Android Beam is supposed to make it easier to share data between devices using near-field communications (NFC). The instructions for Android Beam are quite vague, and it seems to behave differently in each app. To use Android Beam, you must first make sure NFC is enabled and the Android Beam feature turned on under Settings. Once you’ve done that, open the app you’d like to send data from, and simply hold your phone against another NFC device to begin a connection. Your phone should make a noise to announce the pairing, at that point just tap the screen to begin transmitting content. IMHO, it’s an interesting piece of ICS that still seems to need a bit more work to flesh out fully.

Another handy new feature is the ability to resize Widgets to your liking. You do this by holding down a widget briefly, then dragging the sides until the widget is as big or as small as you’d like it to be. Android Honeycomb tablets and certain proprietary overlays have had this feature for a while now. But this is the first time, it's a built-in part of the native OS.

Almost all of the core apps have received major redesigns. Gmail more closely resembles the desktop version, and it’s now much easier to attach photos and other files onto emails. Your inbox is also available for offline viewing (should you not be able to connect online), and a new context bar on mobile makes it easier to quickly compose new emails and delete the ones you no longer want.

The Calendar app was tweaked so you can view multiple Google Calendars at once, and now you can pinch to zoom in or out of events to see more details about them. The old Music app has been replaced with Google’s new Play Music app that is tied to its online music service. You can still play local files, but now you also have the option to stream content from your online music library to your device. Google Talk now lets you sign in using multiple Gmail accounts, and it was just recently updated to support video chat. The Gallery can do some rather robust editing, and the camera now includes a very-easy-to-use panorama mode.

Upgrading
For users coming from Gingerbread (a.k.a., Android 2.3.x) you'll notice a host of improvements. For users coming from Honeycomb (a.k.a., Android 3.x.x) the differences will be more subtle and will mostly be a significantly smoother visual and tactile experience. I found after upgrading my Galaxy Tab 10.1 from Honeycomb to ICS the screen to screen scrolling and app/widget scrolling was significantly smoother.

On the technical side, techie users will notice this is the first version of Android to support preemptive symmetric multi-processing (SMP). For those readers who are less technical, this means the OS will transparently suspend (or preempt) background processes in favor of foreground processes (or applications) which require additional CPU time. This can be verified by looking in Settings under About Phone/Tablet, Kernel Version. This means users with dual-core and quad-core CPU's will find the OS does a better job of handling multiple tasks simultaneously and also means Android will begin to make better use of these multi-core devices going forward.

One thing that must be noted about upgrading to ICS, all icons on the Home Screens will be lost. While the programs themselves are not lost, the icon layout and general positioning of each of the home screens (e.g., icons, widgets, etc.) is lost during the upgrade process. I recommend noting or snapshot-ing each screen so you can return the phone or tablet to it's prior icon & widget layout after upgrade. The upgrade process itself takes about 40 to 60 minutes, and I always recommend a full battery charge before attempting any OS upgrade.

Final Notes
No one can rightly accuse Google's Android team of putting forth a weak or insubstantial OS update. ICS has reworked Android's style from head to toe, giving it a far bolder identity than before with a polished look and logical feel. For the most part, Google has succeeded in splicing together Gingerbread and Honeycomb to create a single experience that can work identically on both phones and tablets.

At the end of the day, ICS does succeed in moving Google and Android forward, and reaffirming its staying power as a mobile OS. With its bold new personality, Android 4.0 is also a sign of Google leaving less of its visual cultivation to the handset makers through overlays, and taking a stronger role in defining its own 'Droid' visual personality.

Next version up ... Android 4.1 a.k.a., Jelly Bean.

Tablets To Replace Laptops ... by 2016

Thanks in large part to industry efforts to make tablets much more powerful and affordable, Forrester Research predicts that tablets will become the preferred computing device for millions of people by 2016. Global tablet sales have been steadily climbing and there's no doubt the futuristic form factor has found its way into many homes & some businesses: over 56 million tablets were sold in 2011. However, will tablets really replace laptops as the preferred mobile computing platform people turn to? Or will tablets go the way of the 'netbook' and fade from the technology landscape?

In a recent Forrester Research market analysis labeled, "Tablets Will Rule the Future Personal Computing Landscape", the research firm projects tablet sales will top 375 million units by 2016. In addition, the research firm generally expects tablets to last about three years before the aging devices are replaced by their owners, meaning about 760 million tablets will be actively in use by 2016.

Globally speaking, about 40 percent of sales are expected to be driven by "emerging markets" while nearly a third will be pushed by businesses.

For those who are still skeptical, the principal analyst involved with the study had this to say:

"I agree that laptops are still preferred today, if you had to pick one device," he notes. But he is firm in believing that preference "will flip in the next few years. Tablets will get good enough at many, but not all creation tasks — plus they'll become so important and convenient for every day use and consumption, that they will become an individual's primary device."


"Over the next four years, tablets will gain new sensors, processing power, and better wireless capabilities for connecting with nearby devices," Frank Gillette, principal analyst on Forrester's business technology futures team, wrote in the report. "This will enable full voice control and dictation, increased gesture control, more situational context, better accessory integration, and software that anticipates a user's needs."
[Source: cnet.com, Frank Gillette (Forrester Research analyst)]

It is important to note the firm counts hybrid or convertible devices as tablets. Examples of such devices include the Asus Transformer and Transformer Prime series, the Lenovo Yoga, the Acer Iconia Tab W500, and the Asus Eee and Samsung 7 series Slate products. Although the latter products tend to break the traditional 'low cost' tablet mold costing in excess of $1000.

Forrester Research also predicts the introduction of a new tablet-like device intended for larger-scale applications. The firm is calling this device a "frame" and expects the device to sport a far larger display and higher-end hardware. Such a larger device may be useful for presentation, entertainment and business applications. The latter hybrid products listed above easily fit into this emerging classification, as most of these products run some iteration of Microsoft Windows.

Many people feel in a business environment, tablets are nice for checking e-mail and surfing the web but that's about it - they're not really business production tools. However, I would be quick to caution what you may view as true specifically for you may not be true for millions of other people - perhaps even your own staff and/or organization.

Many people in a business environment are finding unique and wonderful new ways to put these devices to work for them and their workforce as an incredible new work machine or tool. If you or your workforce uses forms on a regular basis a tablet can be an effective alternative and even replacement for traditional paper forms based functions. When coupled with the right carrier and data plan, data from the field can be collected faster and with less human error and the results analyzed in a much shorter time frame than was possible before.

As just one example, if you are a Realtor imagine your client coming to the closing and signing (or e-signing) all their paperwork on a tablet device. No more printing out contracts only to have them shredded and re-printed when an offer or counter-offer is made and/or accepted.

Or imagine you're an inspector with a clipboard and a traditional paper form. Now imagine replacing your paper form and clipboard with an online form or even an Excel or Google Apps spreadsheet with macros running on a tablet device. And as you fill out the form the information is immediately available in real time for analysis and/or reporting by you or the home office miles away.

These are both real world examples of how tablets can be put to use in your organization as an effective tool to modernize and streamline your workforce. Need help exploring those ideas? We stand ready to help. Give us a call and we'll help you explore the latest technology, including tablets, to see if there's a fit that's right for you.

Welcome to the future.

Start a Company With 'Virtually' No Overhead

In the late -1980s, I graduated college and joined a Phoenix area technology company. In those days - before smartphones, let alone widespread Internet availability - most start-up businesses followed a pretty predictable path. They’d rent office space; buy chairs and other office equipment; install a phone system; install a network of PCs; and hire office staff, sales, marketing, and technical people. Employees were all paid actual W-2 salaries and sometimes even promised a percentage of the company. And many of the software packages used internally had to be custom written from scratch or purchased and modified by on staff programmers.

Given today's ubiquity of wireless, broadband Internet access, smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other truly portable computers, as well as cloud computing services, that startup mentality seems almost quaint now. And it’s possible to start a company now with virtually none of that overhead. Make no mistake you’re no more likely to be successful now than you were in those days gone by, but at least you can funnel whatever little capital you do have toward your actual business - toward the processes and products that you should be focusing on - instead of overhead & infrastructure.

You can probably see where I’m going with this: Whether you’re a fledgling startup with the next killer idea, a small business serving local customers, a growing entity with a multi-location or even regional or national footprint your critical business resources are being stretched in multiple directions. But with the advent of so many new technologies, the time has come to focus on what’s truly important to your business. It’s time to focus on your business and offload as much of the unnecessary day-to-day to other processes ... web or otherwise.

We in the technical community have been talking about such things for years. But unlike the 'paperless office' of decades ago, this time it’s not just talk. It’s possible today to safely, securely, and seamlessly offload a lot of your non-core business processes — and even some core, mission-critical needs. So, whereas my blogs frequently focus on buying recommendations, I’m taking the opposite tack and discussing this time what not to buy. Let’s start with some obvious technological targets.

On-Premises Servers

Ah, the good old days; Flying out to Global Center in San Jose so I could physically put my hands inside a server cage and reboot one single errant web server. Jealous? Well, you could implement a modern version of this silliness by buying, deploying, and managing your own servers and server software. But why would you? Servers are expensive, loud, and complex, and they require a certain level of expertise, either from yourself, your own employees or via a support contract of some kind.

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Modern new businesses should seek to minimize or eliminate their exposure to in-house server hardware and software. With the possible exception of centralized local storage and, for large organizations, user management, there’s little need for this complexity, cost and headache. Small businesses should seriously consider the recently released Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2011 Essentials, which can integrate with a variety of online services while providing just the basics in-house. And with various cloud storage services such as Vault Services, as well as PC management services such as Microsoft Windows Intune, even the remaining excuses for on-premises servers are beginning to fade.

PCs

If you thought the elimination of local server hardware was shocking, you’re going to want to sit down. For a growing generation of startups, even corporate-funded PCs are going by the way side, replaced by employees’ own PCs. This isn’t really as radical as it sounds. If you sign up for a PC management service such as Intune — starting at $11 per PC per month — you can easily manage these employee-owned PCs, ensuring that they’re up-to-date with software updates and security fixes. And in Intune 2.0, coming later this year, you’ll even be able to remotely deploy software to those PCs.

Another related issue to consider is whether every one even needs a PC. Depending on the business and the individual employees, a high quality smartphone might be enough, especially for sales people or other frequent travelers. Even an iPad or other tablet device can work in the right situations.

Email, Contacts, Calendar, and Tasks

If you’re not an email service provider but you still host your own email servers, you’re either constrained by regulatory or legal reasons, or you’re just wasting your time and money. This is especially true now that there are inexpensive (even free) and high-quality choices for email and personal information management (PIM; i.e., contacts, calendar, and tasks).

For young and new small businesses, Google Apps is an excellent choice for email, contacts, calendar, and task management — and it’s free for businesses with ten or fewer employees. Google Apps provides email with a customized domain, and its services are broadly compatible across different devices. The primary interface is via the web, but users can also use popular email clients such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird, although support for other Google Apps services in native apps is mixed. And the full blown paid for all-the-bells-and-whistles version is ridiculously cheap at $50 per user per year.

Microsoft also, suddenly, has a very viable alternative for cloud-based email, contacts, calendar, and task management in Office 365. Even though there’s no free option, it’s not too expensive — starting at $72 per user per year — and it’s a tad more compatible with Microsoft Office-centric shops including integrated Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (for document collaboration and sharing) and Microsoft Lync (for presence and online communication).

Office Productivity Software

Speaking of Office, it’s worth pointing out that although Microsoft Office 2010 is a mature, highly capable Office productivity suite, it might be overkill for some people. Fortunately, there are several free alternatives, and there’s no reason you can’t mix and match between free and paid offerings, depending on your needs.

One of the best and most obvious of the free Office alternatives is actually another feature of Google Apps called Google Docs. As its name suggests, this service offers web-based versions of Docs, Spreadsheet, and Presentation. And although they’re not quite as powerful as the native apps, and they can’t work while you’re offline, they look and work just like the real thing and could offer enough horsepower for many users. Google Docs are included with Google Apps and include either 8GB or 25GB of Google cloud-based document storage. Heads up for Microsoft Office power users, you’ll experience some fidelity issues if you try to share documents between Office and Google Docs. Especially if you use Excel macros.

For those who still feel they need an Office option that installs locally, look at Open Office. This package offers open source versions of Writer, Calc, and Impress. And although they’re not completely compatible with Microsoft Office, they can work while you’re offline, they look and work just like the real Microsoft thing and offer a lower cost option for many users.

Phones

Another way to appear bigger and more professional than you are is to implement a virtual (VoIP) phone system , such as that offered by Vocalocity. This service is completely web-based and can also provide 800 & fax numbers for customer support and sales, local numbers for geo-diversity, customized hold music, and call routing to any phones — starting at just $39 per phone per month.

Google goers should of course look into Google Voice as well, although this service is geared a little more toward individuals and micro businesses. But Google Voice is a great addition for cell phones. In my humble opinion, every business cell phone user should be using Google Voice for their cellular voice mail. It's speech-to-text feature will text or email you any messages left on your voicemail Inbox with about 95% accuracy.

Office Space

Let’s not stop with Office software: For new and very small businesses, an actual office with a physical presence often isn’t required at all. But thanks to new services, even the smallest business can appear to be big and successful. The key here is to do what bigger companies already do for satellite locations, and rent space where you can drop in at set times for meetings with potential and current clients and perform other face-to-face duties.

Many of these occasional office space services provide a permanent address for your business, where mail and packages can be routed and collected, a permanent receptionist crew, a phone that rings and calls that are directed to the correct employees, no matter where they are and what kind of phones they use. An entry-level package that grants companies 5 days of office space per month, along with the mailing address, receptionist, and phone services, should cost about $200 a month — a far cry from the rental fees on a permanent address.

Post Your Tips!

There are so many excellent ways for up-and-coming companies to save money, and I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface here. If you have some tips of your own, please post a comment below, and I’ll look at compiling them for a follow-up blog posting.

Welcome to the future.

A Somber Anniversary

As September 11th approaches and we prepare to give pause to remember the events of that day on this the 10th anniversary, it is imperative that we continue to be vigilant. There are news reports of how Al Qaeda is attempting to infiltrate our nations technology infrastructure ... mostly utilities ... in hopes of causing more panic and mayhem. Utility companies are being asked to increase physical security and take steps to increase their cyber-security. We must remember these terrorists have not given up. They are still bent on our destruction.

In light of this I think it only prudent to put out a call to all Americans to stay vigilant. During these days and weeks as we approach the 10th anniversary we all need to have a heightened sense of awareness as it regards our own personal cyber-security. Be extra cautious about opening emails that look suspicious. Be wary of links in emails. Beware of attachments. And be extra observant when using banking & financial institutions web sites to be sure they have not been 'hacked' or hijacked.

I'm not saying to ignore messages or delete attachments. But rather to take an extra few seconds to be certain that email is really coming from the person you think it is. Make certain your anti-virus software is properly installed and working. Make sure you are using a good quality hardware and software firewall. Make sure your operating system and application software is updated with all the current patches. Take all the steps necessary to protect yourself from those who would seek to harm you and this great nation we call home. The data you save may be your own!

God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

Be Thankful for More Than Technology

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. Were you thankful? Really? What for? Your Windows 7 laptop? Your Android smartphone? Your HDTV? We need to move beyond that and be thankful for what really matters in life.

I think Abraham Lincoln said it best in his 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation speech; "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven, we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity, we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign land, to set apart and observe the third Thursday in November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens."

I can truly say I am thankful for my family, the people in my life, and the manifold blessings from God above. But I have no delusions. Tomorrow the Androids will still be churning, the HDTV's will still be in razor sharp focus and the laptops will be processing at full power. But it is nice to have one day set aside to remember the One who made it all.

God bless America.

Keith

The cell phone ecosystem

Some of you may not think of a cell phone as being part of an ecosystem. But Webster defines ecosystem as "a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment". I'd say that fits.

Some of you who read my blog regularly know I recently upgraded to an Android based phone. At it's recent press release with Verizon for the new Motorola Droid X, Google stated that 160,000 Android based phones were being activated per day! Think about that for a minute. So I wanted to circle back and report my findings and feelings on my first several weeks with my myTouch 3G Slide (MTS) on T-Mobile.

I have to say the Android ecosystem is very different than the RIM ecosystem. The RIM ecosystem is well defined and set. By that I mean when you get a BlackBerry and take out of the package to start using it most all the apps are already there. The phone, calendar, contacts and e-mail of course. But also a notepad app and some other built-in common apps. Over the years I came to rely on those apps. They became integrated into my world. Their ecosystem became intertwined in my ecosystem.

And now along comes the Android to upset the apple cart if you will. But the Android ecosystem is far different than the RIM ecosystem. Oh yes, it still includes the phone, calendar, contacts and e-mail pieces, of course. But the follow on apps like notepad and others were not there. But in there place is a rich marketplace of applications, many of which are free. And if the devil is in the details, then the devil in here is determining which app will be the best fit for you.

In one sense this was easy with the BlackBerry. Here's what we included take it or leave it. But now you have a marketplace environment where you can browse and search for and peruse a wide variety of apps for any given need. so to that end I want to tell you about some of the most useful (if not cool) apps I've found thus far.

First, I have to say I love the tight integration with Gmail & Google Apps. I wasn't even home from the store and my new MTS already had all my e-mail, contacts and calendar items in it's memory bank.

Next, I really like an app called ColorNote. It allows you to enter notes and then color code them for various purposes. It's also great for making checklists for going to the store and then checking off each item as you get it.

Next is an app called Handcent. This app takes text messaging to a new level allowing you interaction to be more graphical and fun.

Next is Google Sky. What a cool app! Have you ever been out looking at the night sky and wondering what that star or planet was? Enter Google Sky. Activate Google Sky, hold your phone up to the same place in the sky and your screen will show in real time what stars, planets and constellations are in that location (using GPS and star chart data).

Next is an app I picked up this week from another MTS user, Key Ring. Key Ring allows you to store all your grocery store and other UPC based loyalty cards. Never again do you have to remember your store cards. You bring them up on your phone and have the cashier scan your phones screen. Neat!

Next is Movies by Flixster. This app shows you all the movie theaters in a 25 mile radius and their movie times. It also allows you to integrate with your Netflix queue and add, move, or change the list of movies in your queue.

And last but not least is a totally geeky app called WiFi Analyzer. This app uses the MTS onboard WiFi to check signals and levels and track signal strength and channel usage of nearby WiFi systems. This is great for the IT guy who needs to see if there's a dead zone in a WiFi network.

All things considered I must say I like this new ecosystem. It's new. It's different. But it allows you to customize your smartphone in ways that were unimagineable just a few short years ago. And it reminds me as a technology professional why I love technology ... because it's a moving target.

Welcome to 2010 ... welcome to the future ...

Abandon all hope all ye who enter in.

I just love this quote from an Egyption pyramid. I say this every time I go over the top for the first drop on a really big roller coaster. And now I say it to those of you who are entering college ... just kidding. But here's something I'm not kidding about.

As some of you may know, I am a Microsoft Registered Partner. In that capacity I received notice of a deal for college students that is just too good to pass up. The Microsoft Office Professional Academic 2010 promotion, the details of which are at this URL:

http://www.microsoft.com/student/office/en-us/default.aspx

In a nutshell your college student can get Microsoft Office Professional 2010 for $80. Check the URL for details, limitations and restrictions.
 
Enjoy what's left of the summer. And stay cool out there.