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10inch Android Tablet out in UK next two weeks

by on October 13, 2010 in Android, Google

Engadget is reporting that the Tegra Advent Android tablet could be available in the UK next week in Dixons for £249. I’m not surprised that Advent come to market first as I remember picking up one of the first available netbooks in the UK from Dixons which happened to be an Advent branded machine.

I’m probably going to pick one of the devices up when they are released in the UK.  While I love the open nature of Android I do worry that the fragmentation of the system will prevent a genuine contender to the iPad.

Update, i’ve found the official release from Dixons:

Dixons Retail, parent company of PC World and Currys has today announced the exclusive UK launch of two new tablet computers; the Advent Vega and the Advent Amico in a move which will bring tablet computing to the masses.

The Advent Amico, at only £129.99, using Android 2.1 with a 7” touch screen and WiFi, offers customers a great introduction to the fun and convenience of tablet computing.  It is only 15mm thick and is great for downloading quality videos, games and music to enjoy anywhere. With the addition of a camera it offers customers fantastic value for money as an entry level tablet.

The fully featured Advent Vega at £249.99 is a quality and affordable tablet computer, brimming with features. It has a capacitive multi-touch 10.1” screen and an nVidia Tegra 2 dual core 1GHz processor making it one of the fastest tablets on the market, perfect for high quality video and sound playback and indeed more powerful than many netbooks.

Popular sites such as BBC iPlayer, gaming sites, MySpace, Yahoo! Mail and YouTube can all be accessed with ease on the new Advent Vega.

The Android 2.2 operating system coupled with the fastest processor for tablets on the market enables users to easily navigate their way around the functions and programmes on the Advent Vega.  With a 4Gb SD memory card as standard, up to 10 hours continued use, only 14mm thick, a 1.3 megapixel camera and WiFi capability, the Advent Vega is a very capable tablet, ideal for portable computing, at an affordable price.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Apple and Android growth continues unabated

by on October 9, 2010 in Android, Apple, Google

Good Messaging love the headache created by the fragmentation of the mobile market. As Android and Apple continue their consumer assault Android and iOS phones are beginning to proliferate in the Enterprise. Meaning the poor Enterprise IT shop has to manage devices from Nokia, Blackberry, Apple and Android. Good is one of the ways they can reduce overhead and impose some security on devices by placing the Good client on the devices.

Below is a chart from Good that highlights the type of phone activated with their client between May and September. It doesn’t include Blackberry but it does show how Apple and Android continue their unabated growth.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Android in a Plane

by on September 27, 2010 in Android, Google

Engadget reported yesterday that Thales and Panasonic are developing Android based platforms to support in flight entertainment systems.  I know this may be a small example but is it another piece of evidence to add to the case being made that Microsoft are losing the next big Operating System battle?

Will Android and iOS take significant chunks out of Microsoft’s desktop dominance, or worse will the true cloud based vision become true and make the device operating system irrelevant?   In either case can Microsoft respond and protect their revenue streams?

I’m not sure I see too much evidence of a response from Redmond.  While they say they are ‘all in’ with cloud do they really understand the pressure their base OS market is coming under or do sales of Windows7 in the Enterprise and current low consumer adoption of Android/Chrome OS desktops hide the reality from Microsoft executives?

Engadget article here

And here is the video from RunwayGirlMaryKirby youtube site

Popularity: 2% [?]

More Android in the Enterprise

by on September 23, 2010 in Android, Google

Computerworld highlight further research showing the growing rise of Android smart phones in the enterprise.  The research carried out by ChangeWave points to 60% growth over 3 months in Enterprises looking to deploy Android.

An August survey of over 1,600 corporate IT buyers conducted by ChangeWave Research found that 16% of those polled said their firms were using Android-based smartphones. That’s a six-point jump since May, representing a 60% increase in three months.

The article found here also contains a good summary of where Android sits within the overall marketplace and what the major analysts are saying about the Enterprise smart phone market.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Will Android growth in US take a hit when iPhone is released from AT&T?

by on September 21, 2010 in Android, Google

A Credit Suisse report (found via Apple Insider) has calmed fears for AT&T management and investors that if/when the iPhone moves to other carriers large swathes of subscribers will follow.  While this may be accurate I’m not sure this is the story.  For me the story will be more iPhone versus Android.  I’ve spoken to many people and businesses in the US who have moved to Android as their smartphone platform because they (for whatever reason) do not want to be on AT&T’s network.  This has resulted in a market share of the smartphone market of circa 20% in the US.  In the UK however where the iPhone is available on all main carrier networks the growth of Android and market share has lagged the US to circa 10%.

My question is:  will the momentum created by Android be maintained if/when iPhone is released on other US networks.  I would argue that it will.  The market gap that Android has filled in the US has allowed device manufacturers, carriers, retailers and Google build a market presence that will be difficult for Apple to stop.  It also supports investment in the Android platform which still requires improvements to UI and marketplace to compete successfully with Apple.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Google add two factor authentication to Apps

by on September 20, 2010 in Google, Google Apps

Google Enterprise have an event in Paris today where they showcase the fact that they now have 3 million customers and 30 million.  They will also announce a couple of new features including; two factor authentication and Doc co-editing on different devices including Android and iPad.

Only cloud computing is able to deliver the whole package of productivity-enhancing collaboration, superior reliability and virtually unlimited scale at a price that’s affordable for any size organization. Our Atmosphere event is a nice opportunity to step back and fully appreciate the power of the cloud with customers and future customers alike.

Full Google Enterprise article here

Popularity: 1% [?]

Google Apps march on with 55k seat win

by on September 17, 2010 in Google, Google Apps

It’s still early days for the Google Enterprise team and they no doubt have a small market share if you take a look at the market place today.  Wins such as Ahold however provide Google with the beachhead to attack Microsoft’s dominance.  As I have said before if Google are not on your organisation’s 2 – 5 year strategy and architecture roadmap then you are behind the curve.  That doesn’t mean to say Google is the answer but they certainly have to be evaluated and if necessary used as a mechanism to reduce cost of other competitors.

The other big element of Google winning large deployments is that it gives the internal Google service teams experience of migrating, deploying and managing enterprise services.  Such skills are not easily acquired and often take several years of  internal development before becoming effective.

Ahold, an international food retailing group based in the Netherlands, that operates leading supermarket companies in Europe and the United States, including Albert Heijn, Albert / Hypernova, Stop & Shop, Giant Food and Giant Food Stores has gone Google. Ahold has over 2,900 stores around the world with a local presence in the communities they serve.

Ahold made the decision to move to Google Apps to provide its global workers with a single web-based platform for communication and collaboration, replacing Ahold’s existing email domains and systems in Europe and the US. Ahold chose Google Apps for its 25 GB of storage per account, integrated IM (Google Talk) and a series of additional features that facilitate communication, including video based communication tools, automatic translation and shared calendars.

The global deployment of Google Apps will bring a number of benefits to Ahold employees, among them:

  • Consolidation and standardization to a single mail system and global address book
  • Improved productivity through the use of efficient e-mail and instant messenger tools, as well as powerful personal and shared calendars
  • Training support with new video based communication tools, including video IM
  • Improved collaboration within and between operating companies and functions
  • Improved international communication with features such as automatic Message Translate, allowing users to translate e-mails from and into different languages with one click of the mouse or real-time translation in Google Talk.

    • Popularity: 1% [?]

    Android set to be 2nd largest mobile OS: what next?

    by on September 12, 2010 in Android, Google

    Google may not yet be monetizing Android but they are laying a huge platform for future growth.  Microsoft built a multi billion annual business off the back of Windows. If Google can replicate their mobile success story in the browser and PC market they may well be set to take some of those billions off of Microsoft.  Within a couple of years we will have Android TV’s, Phones, PCs and probably any other device that requires an OS.  Android Cars anyone?

    What does this mean for Enterprise?

    I believe the consumer market is now a leading indicator for Enterprise IT.  Google and Android are still very much on an Enterprise learning curve but they are coming and more fundamentally the principles that Google deploy (cloud with an open client platform) will prove just as important as other vendors look to mimic their offer.

    IT is going to go through significant change in the next 2 – 5 years.  Here are some of the trends that I think will become evident:

    • The need to support multiple base operating systems.  IT shops typically understand Server and Client OS and like to standardise as much as possible.  Well not only will they need to add Mobile OS to the mix, they will also have to manage multiple OSs – Apple, Microsoft, Blackberry, Symbian and Android.
    • They can do this however because the client and mobile platform will be relatively generic with all the intelligence located in the cloud.
    • Middleware providers such as Good should earn good money in the transistion from single client OS to multiple OS and cloud.  During the transition IT shops will need middleware to enforce standards.
    • IT shops will need significantly less people within infrastructure and a more than likely a different supplier mix.
    • I’m not sure the outsourcing model as we know it today will survive.
    • Money saved on people costs and outsource arrangements will be invested in a number of different areas:
      • application development that generates true value to the business.
      • fund the demand for network bandwidth that will explode over the next five years
      • improve front line helpdesk services

    So a fascinating time is set for Enterprise IT, CIOs that can react quickly to the new IT industry will add business value and create competitive advantage, those that don’t will not only disadvantage their own career but also the business they serve.

    Popularity: 1% [?]

    Why Google should buy Skype

    by on September 8, 2010 in Google, Skype

    It is clear that Google would like to compete with Skype with their Google Voice product.  I’m just not sure trying to grow Google Voice organically will work.  The closest analogy I can think of is very quick and clear cut competition between Google Video and Youtube, which eventually led to the acquisition of Youtube by Google.

    • Google tried with Google Video but realised that Youtube’s brand had too much of a lead
    • Google Search/Account id allowed Google a unique chance to monetise Youtube
    • Youtube is a massive web property, for Google not to have control could be a threat in the future

    I believe all three of the above reasons can be applied to a Google purchase of Skype.  While Google Voice is a good product I think Skype has too much of a brand lead for Gvoice to ever take over. To monetise Skype Google could push Skype into their Google accounts and search results while inserting ad words into Skype calls.  They could easily keep the Google Voice brand for their Enterprise apps and keep the Skype brand for consumers.

    Imagine a Skype/Youtube and Google TV combination, which can be transferred to a desktop and mobile phone platform.

    Popularity: 1% [?]

    More Google Voice and Gmail features

    by on September 1, 2010 in Google, Google Apps

    Ok Google so just stop teasing us poor Europeans with all the blogs on the additional features that can be found in Google Voice/Mail ;-)

    Michael Bolognino just released a blog post on Google Voice Blog explaining some of the really nice features that Voice/Gmail has built in, in case any of you lucky North Americans who has a Voice account didn’t know here are a few really nice features:

    • Chrome click to dial extension:  see a number in Chrome and simply click to dial.  In my experience click to dial is the most popular feature when a UC system is deployed
    • Call recording: click 4 and both parties are informed that the call is being recorded (I don’t think it is transcribed)
    • Switch calls: a large number of calls require moving from one phone to another (eg from a mobile to landline or vice versa)  Google Voice allows the user to quickly switch the call from a chosen list of devices

    I’m not sure Google/Cisco/IBM and Microsoft fully appreciate that voice remains at the centre of the UC&C tower – I think Cisco probably understand this more.  If one company can capture the voice element they will have an extremely good opportunity to attack email, instant messaging and collaboration platforms that are multi billion pound/dollar markets.  If Google keep innovating Voice they have a real chance at creating a spearhead for their Google Apps business……now please Google can you launch in Europe?

    Popularity: 1% [?]