Archive for the ‘Android’ Category
Android in the enterprise - Droid Pro
The new Droid Pro looks like an exciting device and gives a great preview of the integration of Android into the mobile enterprise. The flexibility of Android and the robust set of 3rd party applications allows carriers & OEMs to build phones that uniquely target a demographic. The inclusion of a keyboard draws in the BlackBerry fans. But I also appreciate the inclusion of a robust email client for Microsoft Exchange support and QuickOffice for Microsoft Office document editing. The Pro contains a Skype client which is nice for small business use but seems awkward that it co-exists with enterprise level apps like Exchange email & Office document editing. Motorola should also make available enterprise level mobile device management and a enterprise class application store on the phone. This would be a competitive alternative to a BlackBerry.
Android saves businesses money
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704652104575494102654241766.html
At the bottom of this WSJ article was an interesting tidbit on the cost savings associated with using Android in a business. Now that email access is a commodity service across devices, people have choice. The savings of $1000 per employee per year by using Android over RIM is additional business value support for the consumerization of the enterprise:
Mattson Technology last year migrated from Microsoft’s software and email to Google’s Web-based applications. The Fremont, Calif., supplier to chip manufacturers stopped using BlackBerrys in favor of Android phones for 300 of its employees.
Android phones cost 20% to 30% less than BlackBerrys, said Matt Hough, Mattson’s senior director of global IT. Combined with lower server costs, the switch to Android saves the company $300,000 a year, he said.
Android UI - ripped off from Windows?
While we make an iPhone app for accessing SharePoint, we’re always looking at the other smartphones. We make sure our iPhone app integrates will with the iPhone UI - contacts & calendar look like iPhone contacts and calendars. Where it makes sense, we try to follow the UI patterns on the existing device so that a user’s muscle memory works on the device and our application. Here is what I noticed on the DroidX running Android 2.1. The similarities to my Windows laptop really struck me:
