Are You Ready For The Olympics?

Mobile smartphone technology has reached a critical mass over the last few years which means that London 2012 will be the first truly mobile Olympics. We’ll be able to watch the events, tweet about them, share videos over social networks and much more.  There are also apps for iPhone and Android users to keep you up to speed on all the latest events and news.

What does this mean for your business?

It certainly means your business is going to use mobile data in the summer like you’ve probably never used it before.  In the UK, research suggests that more than a quarter (28 per cent) of people plan to keep up with events online - via their laptop, tablet or smartphone.

Our advice is to make sure you’ve factored for this in your mobile tariff.  Exceeding your plan’s mobile data allowance, or worse still, browsing the mobile web with no data plan can be a very expensive experience.

The demand for bandwidth is going to affect fixed broadband services too, particularly during peak times.  Businesses must recognise that this huge demand for online services is likely to cause a significant headache for their IT department.  The official advice for businesses on the London Olympics site is to devise a clear staff policy for watching the Games, and to position TVs around the office as viewing points, rather than having everyone watching on their individual computers.

It’s perhaps a good time to reinforce your HR policy on ‘mobiles phones & driving’. How many people do you see using their mobile phone behind the wheel, it’s not beyond the imagination for someone to be watching Usain Bolt sprinting down the 100 metres whilst they’re driving down the M6!

For advice on any aspect of your business communications, contact 8020 Ltd on 01387 250008.

Andrew Edgar

Managing Director

8020 Ltd

http://www.8020ltd.com

How sweet is Google’s latest update?

Initially released in November 2007, Google’s Android operating system (OS) has grown and evolved over the years into what is now the most globally distributed smartphone OS available, with over 300 million devices shipped.

Yet despite Android being the most prolific mobile OS, the iPhone is still the best selling handset.  This is simply due to the sheer amount of different Android handsets available on the market. 

Google releases the Android OS as “Open Source” software which is free.  Software developers from handset manufacturers then take the code and customise it into their own software release.  We therefore see handsets, from vendors like Samsung or HTC, issued with slightly different versions of Android, with different custom user interfaces, themes, menus, pre-bundled apps etc.  This is what is referred to as fragmentation.  The main problem with fragmentation is the Android eco-system is slow to deliver software updates.

With Android 4 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich), Google hoped to limit the fragmentation somewhat by putting some restrictions on what handset vendors are allowed to change in the OS.  In theory this results in a faster software update to the end user (as well as a more consistent experience across different handsets) but in practice it hasn’t really helped that much.

Without doubt Android 4 is the best release of the Android mobile OS yet in terms of performance and features, and is therefore a desirable update for any Android user.  Many end users are still waiting for their handset vendor to release the version 4 update though.

Maybe Google will get it right with Android 5 (aka Jelly Bean) which is purported to be on its way.  One thing is for sure – without limiting fragmentation of the platform even more, they’re not likely to come anywhere near the consistent user experience currently delivered by Apple’s iOS, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 or Research In Motion’s Blackberry OS platforms anytime soon.

For advice on any aspect of your business communications, contact 8020 Ltd on 01387 250008.

Andrew Edgar

Managing Director

8020 Ltd

01387 250008

www.8020ltd.com