In the past few years, use of smartphones has rapidly evolved from a fringe accessory to an absolute necessity. Today it has permeated almost all spheres of our lives, allowing us to access information and communicate with one another anytime anywhere.According to ComScore, the number of smartphone users has surpassed the desktop users. We spend more time with our smartphones than any other device (source: eMarketer 4/15). Most notably, when we use smartphones, we spend the majority of our time using mobile apps (source:ComScore). This trending not only shows that we have passed the tipping point of mobile adoption and usage, but sets a clear precedent that we prefer to use mobile apps than the web because they provide a better user experience. Mobile apps are therefore quickly disrupting traditional service delivery, communication and customer engagement methods in every sector.Based on the reports from ComScore, eMarketer and Campus Computing Survey, it is no surprise that in the education sector, students expect their institutions to engage, interact with and educate them on demand through their mobile devices and mobile apps. In response to this, many campuses have hastily implemented a campus mobile app. But most of these campus mobile apps fall short of replacing the existing services available through the web; providing messaging capabilities; and engaging students. For institutions to provide an effective and integrated mobile app experience to their students there are a few critical requirements that should be adopted into their mobile strategy:IntegrationTo users for whom their mobile devices and specifically mobile apps are portals through which they connect to everything and everyone, it is imperative that the campus mobile app delivers existing web-accessible services natively through mobile apps. This means that the campus mobile app must integrate with existing applications - ERP, LMS, Library, Dining Services - and re-present the web functionality in the form of native mobile apps - app for registration, app for course assignments, app for searching library, app for today's lunch menu. If an institution isn't providing these mobile apps, it is losing the opportunity to attract, engage and retain its customers - students.MessagingWith most users using their smart phones for communicating and accessing news, delivering messaging functionality is key to a campus mobile app strategy. Targeting news, announcements and alerts to students and tracking the effectiveness of those communications is imperative not only to student success but to student retention.Student EngagementUnlike web development, mobile development can be more easily extended to end users. This presents institutions with a unique opportunity to involve students in the mobile app development lifecycle like Bryant University did here and here. Selecting a mobile platform that provides an easy-to-use app development GUI augments this strategy. Engaging students in the mobile app development lifecycle positions institutions to provide a better student experience, one that is informed by students - if not built by or with them.Mobile apps are here to stay. They are driving and re-defining the way we consume and communication information. Institutions must adopt an integrated, one-stop-shop campus mobile app and mobile-first mentality in delivering education and communicating with their students in order to adapt to their customer's expectations and stay relevant.The author, Anjli Jain, is founder and Chief Strategist of Kryptos Mobile
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Microsoft might have been late for the party but it certainly made an impact. It announced a number of products at its global event today including the well needed and anticipated Lumia smartphones. There was a time when Nokia had scattered its Lumia smartphones into various price segments but ever since Microsoft took over, it substantially slowed down the process of pushing out the number of devices. This transition is rightly done, so as to focus more on the software experience. Windows as a mobile platform has never been very popular but it finally seems that Microsoft is ready to make it shine.The new Lumia smartphones will come in two flavours the Lumia 950XL and Lumia 950. The former, as the name suggests, is a large smartphone and it is like an amalgamation of the highly popular Lumia 1020 along with the Lumia 1520 only with a slightly smaller and much sharper display. It comes with a 5.7-inch AMOLED screen with a QHD resolution (2560x1440) which makes it the first ever Lumia smartphone with such a high resolution display.The phablet comes with a brand new 20MP (1/2.4") camera sensor along with a Carl Zeiss f/1.9 lens and PureView software technology. It can also shoot 4K videos, has OIS (optical image stabilization) for sharper pictures and a three tone RGB-LED flash. The front camera also sounds impressive coming with a 5MP resolution and an LED flash.Other promising features include wireless charging, something which makes life much easier. There is also a big 3,430mAH battery that should go easily for two days straight. The most impressive feature however, is the USB Type C connector which can make the Lumia 950XL into a full-fledged PC by handling three crucial tasks, data transfer, video out and of course charging. Yes, this pocket device can also be converted in a full Windows 10 PC along with the help of Microsoft’s Continuum feature and a display dock. The handset will be powered by a Snapdragon 810 octa-core chipset with 3GB of RAM and to keep away with the heating issues faced by this particular processor, a liquid cooling solution has been used which is also used in Microsoft's tablets. Pricing starts at $650 (Rs. 42,000) which doesn’t sound insane at all.The Lumia 950 is a more subtle handset with a 5.2-inch display, but has the same AMOLED display with a 2K resolution making slightly sharper than the XL. The 950 uses the same 20MP rear camera and a 5MP front minus the flash. The chipset used here is the Snapdragon 808 six-core processor along with 3GB of RAM which again sounds great for a Windows device. There is smaller 3,000mAh battery and just like the XL, the 950 can also be converted into a PC via the USB Type-C port and the display dock. The handset is said to start hitting stores in December with a price tag of $550 (Rs. 35,000).Microsoft also announced the Lumia 550 which will be catering to consumers who wish to experience Windows 10 Mobile on a more affordable platter. The handset has a very nominal price tag of just $139 (Rs. 9,000) will be arriving in December. The smartphone comes with rater low-end hardware including a 4.7-inch LCD display with a 720p resolution, a Snapdragon 210 quad-core 1.1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage which will be expandable via microSD card. In the camera department there is a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP camera in the front all topped up with 4G LTE support.
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Mala BhargavaThere are no prizes for guessing what’s trending on social media right now. It’s Microsoft’s launch of a whole ecosystem of devices, spanning all sizes, from the small Microsoft Band to the giant Hololens with its “Mixed Reality” experience and everything in between.The global launch event, held in New York, was intended to be a showcase of the Windows 10 ecosystem of devices and software and though it may have started off in the familiar style of throwing statistics at the audience, went quickly on to a dramatic start with a demonstration of the Hololens. Interestingly, though one may have expected to see CEO Satya Nadella take the stage, it was Terry Myerson, executive vice president of the Microsoft’s Windows and Devices Group and later others were up to demo various products. Only towards the last eight minutes of the two-hour event did Satya Nadella appear on stage to wrap everything up with a reminder of Microsoft’s new vision and strategy.A Different MicrosoftThis energetic event changed pace to slow down somewhat as details of how the products would be used and what was unique about them began to be laid out for the audience. The event was live broadcast from Microsoft’s site with millions watching. The reception to the products launched was immediately obvious on Twitter as each product was welcomed with quite some enthusiasm. It was also quite obvious that this was a different Microsoft from that of the Balmer era. Previous events may have been energetic and lively enough, with the booming Steve Balmer, former CEO, bursting on to the stage with announcements, but today, the shift in thinking and direction was palpable.Project XRay and the HololensTerry Myerson kicked off with a demo of the Hololens, its impressive and exciting augmented reality product, showing how it could turn your living room into a gaming arena. Using the fame, XRAy, “mixed reality” was shown off with which virtual objects can interact with the real world and a user, wearing a holographic glove, can interact right back. Creatures from a game can pop out of surfaces and corners around and the whole experience can be as immersive as if it were real. Gaming is by no means the only use case for the Hololens and Microsoft has opened the technology up to developers now.Redesigned Microsoft BandA slim bracelet style fitness band, the Microsoft Band can work with other platforms and does the usual fitness measuring but also has a barometer sensor to figure out elevation. It can tell you exactly how your golf swing is going and can tell the difference between practice shots and real ones. The band has Cortana integration, which makes it extremely powerful as it joins the rest of the Microsoft ecosystem.Lumia 950 and 950 XL: Computers in your pocket Windows phones have receded into the background for the past year or so, being able to offer little competition to Apple’s iPhones and a whole universe of Android devices, many of which are at rock bottom prices. The Lumias are now back with the 950 and 950 XL, 5.2 and 5.7OLED displays and no major difference in specs from each other. The big difference from the older Lumias is that these are on Windows 10 and will fit into the ecosystem by syncing with other Windows 10 devices such as your laptop and will let the user take up where he left off from one place to the next. There’s a new 20-megapixel (Pureview) camera on these phones which, incidentally, are supposed to be liquid cooled.The Surface Pro 4 and Surface BookThe Surface hasn’t been in India right from the start and one doesn’t know whether this situation will change, but it was a product that had everyone the most excited, along with the Surface Book. The Surface Pro has impressive specs including a fingerprint sensor, high-res display, long battery life and special cooling technology. It includes a pen and eraser on the back which also triggers off Cortana and is thinner than the MacBook Air. The Surface Book is an entirely new device and it’s a laptop on which the screen can be pulled away to separate. It has 12-hour battery life. It’s claimed to be faster than the MacBook Pro.Satya Nadella closed the event by reminding the audience that mobility was not about the devices but about the people who were the real hub of mobility. And that devices weren’t about hardware but about the software that held everything together in an ecosystem. Microsoft is, for the first time in a long time, seeming not only to be aligned with the present but moving forward with a better vision of the future than others.
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Microsoft Corp unveiled on Tuesday (6 October) its first laptop, a line of Lumia smartphones, a new Surface Pro tablet and an updated version of its wearable fitness tracker, Microsoft Band, all running on Windows 10, its latest operating system. Windows 10, launched in July, is part of Microsoft's push to win a bigger share of the market for tablets and smartphones, now dominated by Apple Inc and South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Microsoft said the laptop, the Surface Book, will start at $1,499 and is twice as fast as Apple's MacBook Pro. It will be available from Oct. 26, with preorders starting on Wednesday. The laptop has a 13.5-inch display with 267 pixels per inch and features a track pad made of glass. Microsoft, whose shares were up 0.9 percent at $47.06 in late morning trading, said there were now 110 million devices running Windows 10. The company unveiled three phones at an event in New York. The Lumia 950 and 950XL will have starting prices of $549 and $649 respectively when they go on sale in November, while the Lumia 550 will cost $139 when it becomes available in December. The Lumia 950 includes a 5.2-inch display and a hexacore processor, while the larger Lumia 950 XL has a 5.7-inch display with an octacore chip. The specs on the budget 550 had not been released as the event continued. The new Surface Pro 4 tablet - a larger but thinner and lighter version of the Surface Pro 3 - is priced at $899 and will be available from Oct. 26 with pre-orders starting on Wednesday. Launched nearly a year and a half after its predecessor, the Surface Pro 4 features a 12.3-inch screen with 267 pixels per inch. It runs on 6th-generation Intel Core processor and has 16GB of RAM and 1TBB storage. Surface Pro 4 is 50 percent faster than Apple's MacBook Air, Panos Panay, the corporate vice president for Surface Computing at Microsoft, said at the event. Microsoft also said its new tablet and smartphones will come with Windows Hello, an automatic biometric sign-in option introduced earlier this year. The feature allows users to scan their face, iris or fingerprints to verify their identity and give them access to Windows phones, laptops and personal computers. Microsoft also introduced a Surface Pen, which has year-long battery life, 1,024 pressure points and comes in five colors with inter-changeable pen tips. The 950 and 950XL handsets feature a 20-megapixel rear camera, have up to 32GB of storage, 4K video and use liquid cooling technology. Microsoft said storage on the phones could be extended to up to 2 terabytes using a memory card. The Microsoft Band 2, which allows users to monitor their fitness and exercise regime, will be priced at $249 when it becomes available on Oct. 30. Unlike its predecessor, Microsoft's entry product in the wearable technology market a year ago, the new Band has a curved display, which uses the Corning Gorilla glass 3, and has a barometer sensor to track elevation. (Reuters)
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Smartphones have taken over the tech world and we just can’t get enough of them. A number of announcement and launches have already happened this year, but there are still a bunch of handsets which will be making an appearance in India just before the year comes to a close. Here is a list of upcoming smartphones that will coming to India in the coming few weeks.Gionee Elife E8The Chinese smartphone maker has been missing in action, but it will be making a comeback this month with its new flagship smartphone, the Elife E8. The new handset will be the first smartphone from the company that will incorporate a fingerprint scanner since a number of OEMs have already added this feature to their models. It will also be a large 6-inch device which means that you will definitely need large hands to handle the device.Moto X StyleMotorola has already announced the Moto X Play in India, but now it’s the turn of its bigger brother. The Moto X Style will be a larger and more powerful version out of the two and will be placed as the company’s more premium offering. It will offer high-end hardware and will look very similar to the last year Moto Nexus 6. The price is expected to be close to the 30K range.Microsoft Lumia 550, 950, 950XLMicrosoft will finally reveal new handsets under its Lumia line which will include the budget friendly Lumia 550, and two higher-end models, the Lumia 950 and 950 XL. All three of the handsets are expected to be the first handsets that will be running on the mobile version of Windows 10 along with the latest hardware.Sony Xperia Z5 seriesSony made a comeback this year and announced three new smartphones at IFA 2015 in Berlin. The new Xperia Z5 series includes the Z5 itself as well as the Z5 Compact and the world’s first smartphone with a 4K display, the Z5 Premium. All the smartphones come with an appealing waterproof design, Sony’s new superfast 23MP camera and a fingerprint sensor on the right edge, which is a first of their kind. Sony has been known to price its handsets on the higher side, and this year we can again expect some wallet crunching prices.iPhone 6S, 6S PlusThe newest and the most advanced iPhones were announced just last month and both of the smartphones will be heading to India later this month. The new iPhones come with the same design and style as the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus but will have improved hardware, a new camera and the most intriguing feature, Force Touch. Apple fans should definitely make a note as unofficial prices indicate that the 6S will start from Rs. 62,000.Nexus 5X and 6PGoogle also announced two handsets this year, one being a direct upgrade to the Nexus 5 from LG and also the new Nexus 6P, the first ever metal Nexus smartphone which is made by Huawei. Both the smartphones will run on the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow update and come with a new 12.3MP camera with updated features and fingerprint scanners at the back which Google calls Nexus Imprint. Prices for the Nexus 5X will be starting at Rs. 31,990 and the 6P will set you back at Rs. 39,999.Xiaomi Mi 5Chinese giant Xiaomi or better known as Mi, is expected to announce its new flagship smartphone this year. While the handset is still under the rumour mill, it is expected to arrive with a 2K display, a metal body and a fingerprint scanner. Knowing Xiaomi, the handset will come with a pocket friendly price tag and will be sold through a flash sale model in India.
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By Arshad Khan According to International Data Corporation (IDC) APeJ Server tracker, the x86 Server market in India grew by 39 per cent year-on-year in terms of unit shipment in Q2 2015, while the revenue upswing was of the magnitude of 64 per cent year-on-year. Investments from cloud service providers, e-tail companies and telecommunication providers majorly contributed to this quarter's positive sentiment, said IDC in a release. The main reason for the growth is cited to be the extraordinary growth of e-commerce companies in India which not only helping entities to expand but also enhancing the growth of other technologies such as storage, server and security. Ruchika Kakkar, Server Market Analyst says, "Investments from cloud service providers and e-tail companies is expected to rise furthermore, as there is an enhanced focus on building and upgrading home-grown data-centres in India."Several e-tail companies in India are faced with infrastructure latency challenges and peak-season traffic outages. This is expected to bring-in more investments to build a robust infrastructure." The non x86 server market grew by 15 per cent year-on-year in terms of unit shipments and 18 per cent in terms of revenue in Q2 2015. BFSI and Communications & Media verticals were the major contributors to this growth, primarily owing to technology upgrade and refresh deals, which are expected to continue in the coming quarters. According to Gaurav Sharma, Research Manager - Enterprise (India), "Upgrade and refresh deals continue to flood the market as ramping up infrastructure becomes the key to sustain and grow in this data driven era. Verticals like Banking and Communication & Media are expected to invest more in compute due to an increased indirect demand of supporting conventional as well as e-business transactions more effectively. " Among vendors, in India x86 market, Dell displaced HP as the leader in Q2 2015 with 39 per cent market share in terms of unit shipment, followed by HP with a market share of 34 per cent. Lenovo's market share dropped from 19 per cent to 11 per cent year-on year. Although white box providers (others) lost marginal market share on a comparative basis, they witnessed 20 percent year-on-year growth in Q2 2015, in terms of absolute unit shipment. IDC predicts the server market in India is expected to grow in the coming quarters owing to government campaigns like 'Digital India' and "Make in India'.
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"Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine." - Peter Sondergaard, Gartner ResearchWith e-commerce leading the way, there is an explosion of data from buying and non-buying habits; the Indian retail industry has undergone a major transformation over the last decade. With urbanisation and fast economic growth both organised and un-organised retailers are facing tremendous competition. For a change, the competition is largely home-bred, set off by the ascent of technology. With the spiralling growth of mobile devices, e-tail has seen some early success and is fast expanding. To remain competitive, the traditional brick-and-mortar retail sector has to embrace technology with the intensity that's been powering E-commerce companies recently. Technology and data insights sit on top of the pyramid for digital first and offline companies.To keep a robust supply chain and improve customer experience, technology plays a key role in remaining competitive for the offline world. A retailer has to embrace powerful tools to understand customer-buying behaviour patterns. Today, all retailers need one important tool - data analytics, which could prove critical to the longevity of Indian retail. Companies that are agile and open to the power of data are more likely to fight off the E-commerce wave by offering superior customer satisfaction. According to a recent KPMG report, nearly 40% of the world's retail contribution will come from India and China. Companies that take a data-driven approach to decision making will thrive.The data comes from various sources and various channels. It is important to collate them together in order for a retailer to gain valuable insights that can improve the way in which they merchandise to how they target with optimal communication and how to maximise both sales and profit. This is applicable both to online and offline shopping.The business implications of offline dataRetailers should start by studying customer choices. Why does a customer prefer to turn left as soon as they enter the store? Why pause at an item and not the other? How much time is spent considering a purchase, which is then not purchased? What goes in a typical basket? What is the shopper profile - do they shop weekly or fortnightly? What are the general colour preferences of products in the basket?All these details are captured as unstructured data either by camera footage, sensors in baskets or detecting the volume of products on the shelves with the help of IoT devices. With analytics, this raw indecipherable data is mined and analysed. Then it's structured in an understandable format which can be used to cater to the kind of patterns that are prevalent to that geographical area.For example, residents of a particular locality may be more likely to stock up on perishable products because the closest super-market is about 4km away. A retailer would want to ensure that they have perishable commodities that have a longer shelf-life. To break this down further, the retailer can arrange their supply chain in a manner that allows them to sell ripe mangoes at one store and unripen mangoes at another. This data-driven insight allows companies to make smarter decisions based on offline buying behaviours.It is estimated that less than a handful of companies are already using data analytics to monitor customer purchasing behaviour. Loyalty cards and vouchers are simple examples of the traditional ways of tracking how a customer cashes in. The potential to capture data in the online world is far greater in this regard. However, things get a bit more complex in the offline world. But this can also be an advantage as customer feedback is immediate. All the customer data should then be on-boarded to a data sifting platform that makes sense out of the input.Making data the centre-piece of strategyInformation from offline channels like call centre data, point-of-sale data are invaluable. If the customer has taken the effort to make that call, he is all the more inclined to give valuable feedback about your product. The call centre representative can capture this information in easy, simple-to-use software. Data collected is then transferred to a platform that keeps unstructured data and gives actionable insight. In the past, all information was about purchases, but never about the journey taken to arrive at the buying decision. That should be the domain of data - giving insight into what motivated a customer to buy the product, or not. Understanding why a customer chose to 'not' buy, is all the more valuable, because despite your precise targeting, the demographic is not responding favourably to the product. This has a direct impact on the retailers marketing, merchandising and product strategy.Data comes in many formats. For example, Wi-Fi hotspots can interact with customer and video cameras can provide heat-maps of what is of interest to customers. All this can be used to map customer behaviour. One of our studies in the US found that 62 percent of shoppers keep their Wi-Fi switched on while walking into a store.By just keeping their Wi-Fi on, retailers can read the digital footprint of a customer. For example, is the right side of your outlet seeing weak traffic? What's the demographic of shoppers visiting your store? Can you make it mandatory for shoppers to pass through the right side to arrive at the product that sees the most traffic? Thus, data gives scope to make smart and informed decisions. With retailers vying for customer footfalls and eyeballs, being able to give a customer a fulfilling and personalised experience gives the extra edge to companies. Only technology and digital data can help the marketing team achieve this task. It's ironical really - to serve the best offline experience, you have to take it online first. It's no surprise that Data Management Platforms are much sought after, but are yet to unleash their truest potential.Integrating offline and online is still an unconquered frontier. Since so much data is being captured and monitored, companies have to build trust with their customers, and everything starts with having a robust security framework. But the one thing that's definitive for any organisation - data can make or break a business. The author Subramanian Gopalaratnam, is global head of innovation and technology for Xchanging
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AT&T has selected Juniper Networks Contrail Networking to provide software-defined networking capabilities in its AT&T Integrated Cloud (AIC) infrastructure.As part of the AIC, a foundational element of the company’s software-centric network, AT&T will use Contrail Networking to help automate and virtualize the network to rapidly scale and accelerate the deployment of new services.It is a platform capable of handling the scale and rigor of the most demanding cloud environments, bringing added benefit to the AIC.With Contrail Networking, based on OpenContrail, AT&T can quickly incorporate new capabilities into its network while decreasing development time and cost. Contributing to the open source community is crucial to driving the software shift at AT&T and within the industry.“Juniper and AT&T share a common vision for a customizable cloud network experience that is highly scalable, secure, automated and can readily adapt to customer needs,” said Ankur Singla, corporate vice president and general manager of Cloud Software at Juniper Networks. “Juniper is pleased to be working with AT&T to help them usher in the future of networking, while embracing the open source community.”(BW Online Bureau)
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