07.What's Samsung thinking? Four things we learned at MWC

   BARCELONA -- Samsung's annual Unpacked event is more than just a flashy coming-out party for its flagship smartphones and wearables. It also gives us great insight into the highly competitive market for mobile devices, and Samsung's place in the constellation.
You might call it the State of the Union address from Samsung Mobile CEO President JK Shin.
   So what did we learn this year? What's important to Samsung?
   Battery life is still critical. We're still pining for our smartphones to last an entire day on a single charge, and Samsung has made it clear that it wants to help. Last year, it introduced its own Ultra Low-Power Mode, which, like a government shutdown, slashed all non-essential services so that the phone could limp along with basic communications until you find a power outlet. It was a great idea that didn't pan out.

   This year, Samsung tacitly admitted that it has no silver bullet for the all-day battery conundrum. Instead, it focused on making charging as painless as possible. It added Quick Charge to juice up the Galaxy S6 faster -- twice as fast, the company says, as the iPhone 6. And it also built in new wireless charging capability, a technology that gained a lot of momentum at the show.

   Mobile payments. Last year, Samsung dabbled with an early form of mobile payments on the Galaxy S5. It let you charge stuff to your PayPal account, which protected it with its all-new fingerprint scanner. Now it appears that Apple Pay, which quickly has emerged as a force in mobile payments, is motivating Samsung to double down.
Samsung Pay, coming this summer, will be built around LoopPay, a recent Samsung acquisition. It will use NFC, or near-field communications, just like Apple Pay and Google Wallet. But it can also mimic magnetic stripes, which could help it leapfrog competitors by supporting older payment systems as well.
   Better cameras. That's plural -- the front-facing camera as well as the rear-facing unit. The Galaxy S5 enjoyed a major camera upgrade, with 16 megapixels, HDR capabilities and editing enhancements. For the Galaxy S6, Samsung bumped the oft-ignored front-facing camera to 5 megapixels from 2 MP in the S5 -- and it also added HDR for better selfies in high-contrast settings. And it improved low-light performance.

More@
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/03/04/samsung-mobile-world-congress-jk-shin-apple/24414173/

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Mobile BI Offers Wealth of Opportunities for Channel

In terms of applications running on mobile devices, business intelligence (BI) has always held the most promise for solution providers in the channel. Perhaps most significant to the channel is the fact that most mobile BI applications continue to be tightly connected to internal servers, creating a variety of integration opportunities. New research looks at trends in mobile BI deployment plans and user priorities. According to a survey of 275 executives conducted by the market research firm Dresner Advisory Services, BI has nudged out calendaring for the first time as the second most important mobile application following email. The survey also finds that, in terms of mobile computing platforms, Microsoft is starting to gain mind share even though Apple continues to dominate the category. The study also indicates that interest in enterprise-grade app stores is definitely on the rise. Channel Insider examines key takeaways from the study. 

- See more at: 

http://www.channelinsider.com/mobile-devices/slideshows/mobile-bi-offers-wealth-of-opportunities-for-channel.html#sthash.IO4UFz7G.dpuf

Kaseya Gets Aggressive on Mobile Management Pricing

Kaseya brings new meaning to drop-bottom pricing with the launch of a $1-per-month fee structure that covers mobile computing device and application management.

Kaseya aims to raise the stakes in the management of mobile computing devices and applications. With the release of an upgrade to its MSP platform, the company said it effectively reduces the cost of supporting mobile customers to $1 per user per month.

While managed serviced providers (MSPs) may still bring in as much as $20 to $30 per user per month, depending on the depth and scope of the mobile managed services they offer, that basic mobile device and application management has become a commodity, according to Kaseya CEO Yogesh Gupta

"Customers now want a more integrated mobile experience," Gupta said. "That means we have to go beyond simple mobile device management."

The impact that this reduced cost structure will have on MSPs and channel partners will vary. Many MSPs bury the cost of mobile management inside a larger service while others price it as a distinct service.

Kaseya, which sells both direct and through resellers and MSPs, joins Good Technology and Hewlett-Packard in driving the cost of mobile device and application management down through the proverbial floor. As part of that effort, Kaseya has reworked the backend infrastructure it uses to provide managed services in anticipation of being able to manage mobile computing users at scale, Gupta said.

In general, mobile computing has been a challenge for solution providers because the devices are often acquired direct and the applications downloaded directly from an app store. However, demand for mobile management services has increased as the number of mobile devices being used per user has risen alongside the number of applications they use.

The challenge is that there is no shortage of vendors now offering these services. Gupta said that at $1 per user per month, however, Kaseya only needs to have a million users under management to create a very profitable service. At its new price point, Kaseya has a lot of confidence that it can bring in that number of users either directly or via one of its reseller and MSP partners, Gupta said.




Source:
http://www.channelinsider.com/mobile-devices/kaseya-gets-aggressive-on-mobile-management-pricing.html

Flexible nanogenerator harvests muscle movement to power mobile devices

The consumer world is becoming powered by mobile devices, but those devices are still powered by being tethered to a wall or a reserve power pack. What if you could generate power for your mobile devices simply by moving your body, and the power source was almost unnoticeable? A new device developed at the National University of Singapore aims to fulfill both of those requirements.
The flexible nanogenerator resembles a small, stamp-sized patch that attaches to your skin. It uses your skin as a source of static electricity, and converts it to electrical energy — reportedly enough to power a small electronic device, like a wearable. The device, presented at the MEMS 2015 conference last week, can generate 90 volts of open-circuit voltage when tapped by a finger. The researchers presented the patch as a self-powered device that can track the wearer’s motion. Electricity The power generates thanks to the triboelectric effect, which is when certain types of materials can become electrically charged through contact and friction with another material — in this case, the patch gains the charge through fiction with human skin. When the two materials are pulled apart, they generate a current that can be harvested. An electrode is needed in order to harvest the current, so the research team installed a 50nm-thick gold film to get the job done. The gold film sits below a silicone rubber layer composed of thousands of tiny pillars that help create more surface area for skin contact, which in turn creates more friction.


  Source: 
http://www.extremetech.com/mobile/198519-flexible-nanogenerator-harvests-muscle-movement-to-power-mobile-devices

Code on the Strip

Visual Studio Live! is hitting the open road on the ultimate code trip to help you navigate the .NET Highway.

Our first stop is Las Vegas, situated fittingly near Historic Route 66. Developers, software architects, engineers, and designers will cruise onto the Strip for five days of unbiased and cutting-edge education on the Microsoft Platform. Explore hot topics like Visual Studio 2013, ASP.NET, JavaScript, Cross-Platform Mobile, Data Management, HTML5, and so much more.

Code with .NET gurus, test-drive ideas with industry experts, and get top-of-the-line advice from Microsoft insiders in workshops, 60+ sessions and fun networking events – all designed to make you better at your job.






BONUS CONTENT: Modern Apps Live! will be a part of Visual Studio Live! Las Vegas at no additional charge. This unique conference has a single focus: building a modern app from start to finish.

Code on the Strip — register before February 25 and receive $300 off your registration!


Source:
http://vslive.com/events/las-vegas-2015/Home.aspx

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Lenovo’s Motorola Being Groomed To Kick Apple, Samsung Butt in China

Lenovo knows a thing or two about rising to the top. Just ask every other PC maker on the planet -- by volume, Lenovo is the top supplier of PCs around the world, sitting on top of HP, Dell, and every other player. Samsung and Apple should take note of this, as Lenovo is turning its attention to the mobile market and has its sights set on China.

The company already has a mobile presence in China with its own branded devices, though with the $2.9 billion Motorola Mobility acquisition now complete, Lenovo is setting itself up to be a major force in the high-end handset market. Up to this point, Samsung and Apple have owned this territory.






Motorola Mobility boss Rick Osterloh told Reuters that it has high hopes of being success in China, which he noted is a big market.

"We believe that what we're really going to succeed in doing is hopefully take some share from other people in the [Chinese] market," Osterloh added.

Source:
http://hothardware.com/News/lenovos-motorola-being-groomed-to-kick-apple-samsung-butt-in-china

Mobile Media Summit

Date: Wednesday, 04 March 2015
Time: 9:30 – 19:00
Location: Hall 8.0, Theatre F
Recommended Audiences: Advertisers, Marketers, Brands, Agencies, Publishers, App developers, Mobile tech companies

Attendance at Mobile Media Summit @MWC requires an additional fee. Click here to learn more about registration fees and register for the programme.

Mobile Media Summit @ Mobile World Congress will focus on mobile media and advertising global best practices from the top global brands and agencies. With superior keynotes, panels, and case studies, the agenda will combine world class speakers and insights to make MWC productive and stimulating.

SPEAKERS
Ajaz Ahmed, AKQA, Founder & CEO
Zaid Al-Zaidy, McCann London, Chief Executive Officer
Saul Betmead, Young & Rubicam Group, Chief Strategy Officer
Simon Bond, BBDO Worldwide, Global CMO
Kayla Green, Saatchi & Saatchi, Director of Digital Strategy
James Hilton, M&C Saatchi Mobile, Global CEO
Ben Jones, AKQA, Chief Technology Officer (Keynote)
Vik Kathuria, Razorfish, Global Chief Media Officer
Jeff Malmad, Mindshare, Managing Director of Mobile
Rachel Pasqua, MEC, Senior Partner, Mobile Practice Lead
Mark Read, WPP Digital, CEO
Chris Satchell, Nike, Consumer Technology Officer (Keynote)
Kristin Scheve, DigitasLBi, VP, Media Director
Jide Sobo, MEC Interaction, Head of Mobile
Eric Weisberg, JWT New York, Executive Creative Director
Ethelbert Williams, Kimberly-Clark Professional, Global Director, Integrated Marketing





Source:
http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/mobile-media-summit/

Updated mobile apps for Docs, Sheets and Slides

With Google Docs we want to help you work better, everywhere you are. So today’s Android and iOS updates forDocs, Sheets and Slides make it easier to get things done while you’re on the go.  

Doing, not just viewing 
You’ve asked for more editing tools on mobile, so today’s improvements include real-time spell-checking in documents, hiding rows and columns in spreadsheets, and grouping shapes in presentations.

Keeping your content safe 
Online security is really important, so we offer functionality like two-step verification to protect your Google account. Starting today, Google Docs supports Touch ID on iOS, so you can unlock Docs, Sheets and Slides with your unique fingerprint.



Source: 
http://googledocs.blogspot.ro/2015/01/updated-mobile-apps.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+GoogleDocsBlog+(Google+Docs+Blog)