Five Ways to Mix Business and Personal Data on Your Smartphone
Smartphones now make up almost half of all phone sales, and many millions of people use them for personal communications as well as work-related tasks. yet, few people want to carry multiple phones at all times just to separate the workday from their home life. here are five ways you can access your business and personal accounts without having to carry two phones.
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1. Virtual Machines
One method of making a personal phone safe for work data is through software installed onto your personal phone by your employer. Mobile Device Management (MDM) software like Microsoft’s system Center can control settings on your phone, making sure your security setup is safe for work data. another option is virtual machine software like VMware’s MVP, which was demonstrated at CES on an Android-powered LG phone, which allows a phone to maintain a separate business environment with its own apps and settings, like a phone within a phone, making a clear distinction between work and personal data. These solutions are still very new, so they may not be an option yet at your workplace.
2. Remote Desktop
Similar to using a virtual machine, there are many apps that allow a smartphone to access a Mac or PC, letting you see and control the programs running on the faraway computer. Examples include TeamViewer on iOS and Android, or LogMeIn on iOS and LogMeIn Ignition on Android. such remote desktop apps provide another way to have a clear line between work and personal data, but this method relies heavily on having a reliable data connection. Without that, you won’t be able to see your work computer or access any of its programs or data.
3. Proxy Account
For some purposes, there are ways to access the data from one type of account via another account. For example, using forwarding and filters, it’s possible to forward messages from your work email account automatically to a specific folder or label in your personal account. this is also common on calendars, where you could give your Google Apps for Business Calendar work account full proxy access to allowing you to see and manage it through your personal Google Calendar. you can even use Google Voice to forward calls from one of your numbers to the other. Some of these options are available through other systems as well, like Exchange with Outlook.
4. Multiple Accounts
LogMeIn IgnitionHaving multiple accounts, similar to using multiple login profiles on a computer, is another possibility. though Android phones don’t provide multiple profiles, they do allow syncing with multiple Google accounts. Google’s Calendar app uses this to display calendars from multiple accounts, all comingled on the same screen. Google’s Gmail app does something similar, but keeps the data from multiple accounts separate, allowing you to switch among them. you can even have different notification sounds for each account, so you know by the tone when work or personal email arrives. Windows Phone 7.5 just added some limited syncing options as well, allowing access to 25 Google calendars on a handset, and a “Send Mail As” option that can include your work email address.
5. Multiple Apps
For those instances where one app won’t work for both work and personal purposes, then two apps will have to do. On any phone this is common for email, where you might use the Gmail or Yahoo mobile apps for personal mail, and the Email app which can use Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync for access to your company’s Exchange server. If you want to keep your Web browser bookmarks, cookies, and cache separate, you can use the default smartphone browser for personal while installing another browser, like Dolphin, on Android and iOS for work.
What’s best?
What method works best for you depends on your circumstances. In general, comingling your data isn’t a good idea, and many companies have policies against accessing your work mail through a personal email account. In a business where data security is vital, MDM or virtual machine software is best. If you always have a strong data connection from your smartphone, a remote desktop app will also keep sensitive data safe. Short of that, most people are likely to have a mix of apps that support multiple accounts, like Gmail on Android for their email, while using multiple apps for other activities where one app can’t do both.
Joseph Fieber has 25 years experience as an IT pro, with a background in computer consulting and software training. Follow him on Google+, Facebook, or Twitter, or contact him through his website, JosephFieber.com.
Five Ways to Mix Business and Personal Data on Your Smartphone
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Categories: Technology Tags: business environment, lg phone, microsoft, personal data, security setup
Shopkick rides surge in shopping with cell phones
Holiday shoppers whipped out their mobile phones to help them find the best deals, in yet another sign of how the cell phone is becoming more and more of a shopping and e-commerce tool.
More than half of U.S. cell phone owners said they used their phones at least once during the holiday shopping season, using it to call a friend for shopping advice, to look up product reviews while they were in the store or to check for better prices elsewhere, the Pew Internet & American Life Project said in a report.
Among shopping apps, Palo Alto’s Shopkick announced Tuesday that its smart-phone app drove $110 million in revenue to its retail partners, such as Target, Old Navy and Toys R us. the app encourages shoppers to go into stores by rewarding them once they’re inside, giving them points that they can redeem for goodies such as iTunes gift cards and Facebook Credits. it also gives its 3 million users points for finding and scanning products in the store.
It calculated the $110 million figure by factoring in the number of shoppers that went into the store, scanned a product and purchased it or took advantage of special offers and deals in the app.
During the holidays, Shopkick users saw 1 billion deals in the app, walked into 5 million stores and scanned 10 million products, the startup said.
Yukking it up: One of the projects at Twitter’s “Hack Week” last week was to come up with the best worst job recruiting video of all time. they succeeded. the “At Twitter, the Future is You!” video is so corny, it’s hilarious. And since Friday, it’s received more than a half million plays on YouTube.
But we couldn’t help noticing Twitter’s video bears a resemblance to a “Saturday Night Live” skit called “Laser Cats,” with SNL Producer Lorne Michaels playing the big boss in the same deadpan style as Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, who used to be a stand-up comic.
This article appeared on page D – 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Shopkick rides surge in shopping with cell phones
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Categories: Technology Tags: cell phone owners, holiday shoppers, product reviews, target
Windows Mobile 7 And The Smartphone Market
Microsoft has come up with a new improved mobile platform with Windows Phone 7. the new mobile platform which was recently unveiled in Taiwan is available with the Nokia Lumia series and HTC’s two new phones: HD7 and Mozart.
The mobile platform is a means for Microsoft to recover lost ground in the mobile market which has drastically changed in the last three to four years. Windows Mobile 6 wasn’t much of a success as the iPhone won accolades for its path-breaking design and features. even the Android OS was touted to be an iOS killer and is indeed revving up competition.
The new offering from Microsoft which is Windows Mobile 7 is a clean break from the previous version. Windows Phone 7 has to capitalize on its features and market well and is still not an iPhone/Android killer. It can though put up a worthy fight with the biggies. the Nokia Lumia series which has Windows Mobile 7 has a touch screen keyboard which does work well and the applications which support mails, music and video are fantastic. Additionally, according to analysts, the new OS boasts of clarity and simplicity.
Windows Mobile 7 apps offer different choices to the market and differentiate from the crowd. one of the best parts of WP7 is that it supports Zune and Xbox Live integration. there are a number of third party applications related to social media like Twitter and Seesmic.
Windows Mobile 7 application development involves optimum utilization of the.NET framework. Microsoft has molded the framework for apps creation. Developers can write programs in different languages which are supported by the framework, one of them is C#. the apps are run within a runtime environment which is termed as Common Language Runtime or CLR.
One can use several approaches while developing apps for the Windows Phone 7 development. one can make use of Silverlight or one can even use the XNA framework. Silverlight was the original choice of the developers for creating rich internet applications. Silverlight is slowly becoming popular but has a long way to go to compete with other similar technologies. there has been better market adoption though in recent years. one of the developments is that Netflix is now using Silverlight to stream videos one of the most popular TV channels NBC recently used Silverlight for the broadcast of Olympic games.
On the other hand, XNA is Microsoft’s own game development framework which has been widely used for making apps for Windows and Xbox 360. the XNA is almost perfectly suitable for games development.
Windows Mobile 7 And The Smartphone Market
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Categories: Technology Tags: mob, mozart
CBS 5 – KPHO Get better sleep with your smart phone?
PHOENIX (CBS5) –
To get a better night's sleep, some people would do almost anything. But now you don't need a doctor to sleep better, you just need a smart phone and a new application.
We talked to an employee at Best buy in Phoenix; he sleeps with a wristband that monitors how much deep sleep, light sleep, and no sleep he gets throughout the night. Then he synchronizes that information with his phone, and he practically becomes his own sleep clinic.
“I went to bed at about 1 in the morning took me obviously, about 20 minutes to fall asleep,” Walter Mack said, who works at the Best buy near 22nd Street and Camelback Road. he bought UP from the company Jawbone. it comes with software and a wristband that tracks his sleep habits on his iPhone.
“I probably had less dreams this night,” Mack said, showing us what he has learned on his phone. Best buy sells a bunch of these fitness trackers that you sync up with your smart phone. While Mack told us he just wants to be healthy, it could have larger implications.
“I really like that there's are these tools out there now to measure how much sleep we're getting,” said Lauri Leadley, the founder of Valley Sleep Center, which has five valley locations. She said while these smart phone applications are a good start, nothing beats a real sleep study that nowadays, most insurance companies cover.
“This would actually record 12,000 times faster than a device you would normally wear, like an app,” Leadley said, describing the equipment they use to track sleep habits.
So while these applications, ranging from $100-$175 may kill the curiosity, they won't stifle the snore.
“I just notice the days I work out harder are the days I get better sleep,” Mack said, saying nothing beats a healthy lifestyle.
If you're interested in trying these applications you can get them online or at some valley stores. right now, though, the UP wristband that Mack used is currently recalled because of poor battery life, but the company should be rolling out a new version soon.
Copyright 2011 KPHO. all rights reserved.
CBS 5 – KPHO Get better sleep with your smart phone?
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Do farmers compare prices via smartphones?
Getting a lower price, it appears, is an unconditional quest for many consumers. At least, that’s one conclusion I draw from a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers that found 33% of urban and 26% of suburban consumers wielded smartphones in store aisles to compare prices. In comparison, 9% of those living in rural areas made these price checks, according to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.
Retailers have to figure out a plan to contend with the new ways that consumers shop. In the days of yore, before smartphones, data plans and reliable cell phone signals, shoppers used e-commerce sites to check prices, which was easier than going from store to store. now, with the Internet in their pockets, consumers can stand inside a store and check the prices of many sellers without trekking home or to another mall.
I have some theories why fewer rural shoppers engage in in-store price checking. One, smartphone penetration may not be as high in rural markets as in cities. Two, the wireless signal may not be fast enough to warrant an online search. And, three, rural consumers may have fewer stores to choose from, an especially significant factor if the consumer doesn’t want to wait for a product to ship.
Retailers aren’t going to ignore rural consumers, but they shouldn’t be forgotten either. Smartphone adoption is going to increase. more than 126 million U.S. consumers will own a smartphone by 2013, a 147% increase from the nearly 51 million smartphone owners in 2008, according to research firm eMarketer.
While many rural consumers may not be checking prices while in the stores, there’s nothing to prevent shoppers from checking prices from their desktop computers. everybody wants the best deal.
Look for more on the subject of who the smartphone shopper is and how they shop in stores in a story I’m writing for the March issue of Internet Retailer.
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Do farmers compare prices via smartphones?
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Categories: Technology Tags: penetration, pockets
