#mobilecon

[24notion]

Our founder + CEO @ivolukas at last years #MobileCon!! 🌐 #24notion

[suryaray-blog]

CTIA combines its shows as carrier influence over phones, apps declines

#SuryaRay #Surya Instead of running two suffering conferences, mobile carrier industry group CTIA hopes to create a single successful “super mobile show”. In 2014 it’s canning its annual spring conference and will instead merge that content with its smaller enterprise-and-IT-focused show, MobileCON, which it typically holds every year in September or October. CTIA’s eponymous spring conference used to be the biggest mobile and wireless event in North America, providing the latest showcase for new phones, services and technology. But in the last five years or so the event has been overshadowed by the CEA’s Consumer Electronics Showcase in Las Vegas and the GSM Association’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Not only do both shows take place right before CTIA each calendar year, but shifting trends in the industry made CTIA less and less relevant. CTIA is a carrier-driven event, but as the smartphone opened up the mobile ecosystem to a wealth of new third-party apps, OSes and devices; the role of the carrier has shrunk. Meanwhile, the importance of the smartphone as a high-powered connected computer has gained primacy, which made CES a natural fit for new device and app launches. CTIA’s other big focus was on the arcane world of network infrastructure, in particular the CDMA technologies used by a good deal of operators in the Americas. But as global carriers consolidated under a single GSM-driven 4G technology, LTE, CTIA’s networking influenced dwindled. MWC, which originally focused on European operators and GSM standards, became a much more worldly conference. While CTIA didn’t specifically cite the competition in its announcement, the big reason for placing its unified super show in the fall can only be to put some distance between it and CES and MWC. The first merged event will be held the week of Sept. 9 in Las Vegas, which positions CTIA to catch new device launches for the holidays. CTIA’s exhibitors and members have been clamoring for a single-show format for years, but I wonder if the move is a bit too late to restore the conference’s luster. As I’ve said before, the biggest problem with CTIA is that, as a conference, it has functioned more as a big podium from which carriers talked down to the industry. That was fine 10 years ago when carriers were the alpha and the omega of mobile, but since then the industry has outgrown the operators. http://dlvr.it/2khdzM @suryaray

[ibmconsulting]

CTIA Show Highlights Insight is the Next Commodity

IBM’s SVP of Global Business Service Bridget van Kralingen said the end game is not to merely extract insight in the world of big data, even though there is amazing power in looking at all of it. In the IBM bi-annual survey of 1700 CEOs, all stated they feared being left behind, but also recognized the great market potential. These CEOs said customer insight is getting more investments with analytics and insights becoming a core capability of their organizations.

[mikebeauchamp]

It’s no secret, my enthusiasm and opinions on tech are heavily slanted towards a certain fruit company in Cupertino. I don’t try to hide it, because I believe you all appreciate that authenticity in my posts here. That said, let me also make one thing very clear: I’m rooting for RIM and the BlackBerry to make a turnaround with BB10. It’s easy to dismiss the company as “dead” as so much of the tech press has (yes, I’ve done it), and I could just as easily spend my time writing their obituary.

But where does that leave us?

Read on for more about why I'm rooting for BB10.

[remotelymobile-blog]

Symantec – Delivering the ‘Easy Button’ of Mobile App Management

As organizations mature in the mobile space and realize that they need more than the bludgeon of device management, they begin to look at more refined solutions of app and information management. A distant cousin to device management, but functionally more refined, app management allows organizations to control the portals to corporate information; mobile apps. Today at MobileCON 2012 , Symantec is making announcements that further remove barriers for enterprises and mobile app developers to develop, deploy, and support mobile app management. These announcements will continue to enhance Symantec’s position as a mobile app management leader.

The first announcement is Symantec is rebranding Nukona App Center to Symantec App Center Ready. (If you are unfamiliar with the Nukona solution, check out the three part interview I conducted pre-acquisition with then CEO, Chris Perret of Nukona; Part I , Part II ,and Part III.) Symantec App Center Ready allows app developers the ability to add enterprise security without any source code changes. This is a massive advantage in enabling a hassle –free security solution. Symantec App Center Ready provides app developers global visibility of their efforts, while at the same time assuring enterprises a secure context. This rebranding will take effect immediately.

Second, Symantec is creating a way for partners in their ecosystem to gain recognition as a mobile solutions provider. Symantec announced the Mobility Solution Specialization for partners. This will provide partners with training, marketing, and funds to deliver trusted mobile solutions. This partner specialization will be multi-tier (gold, silver, bronze) giving partners a way to distinguish themselves in the marketplace. The Mobility Solution Specialization will be available for partners in Q4 of this year.

Lastly, Symantec is helping enterprises remove the confusion of purchasing decisions around enterprise mobility management. Instead of organizations needing to choose between device or app management, enterprises will now be able to have a single, comprehensive security solution for the device, app, and data layers. Called the Mobile Management Suite, Symantec will offer a single package that will deliver all those mobile management pieces under a single license. The Mobile Management Suite license will be on a per user basis rather than per device. This will mean huge savings as mobile devices per user, such as a tablet and smartphone, grows. Symantec will offer the Mobile Management Suite starting now for $122 MSRP per user per year.

Enterprise mobile initiatives, such as BYOD, are quickly driving organization to identify and implement refined approaches to mobility management. End users are no longer content with the draconian and heavy-handed device management approach to security. In this more civilized age, organizations that can find an easy and adaptable path to a secure environment will flourish. Symantec is providing the means for developers and IT to quickly and easily deliver that refined experience to the enterprise for the secure environment of the future.