HorizonWatching

HorizonWatching 2012 Trend Report: Mobile Computing

I’ve prepared another HorizonWatching Trend report…this one is on Mobile Computing.  I have posted a deck to Slideshare (see embedded deck at end of this post).

The slides provide an overview on the Mobile Computing trend.  In the deck you will find summary information about the Mobile Computing trend along with many links to additional resources.

The Mobile Computing gold rush is in full swing. The “train has left the station”. It's hard to talk to an enterprise customer these days without getting into a discussion about Mobile.

In 2012, the shipment of smartphones and tablets is expected to exceed that of traditional personal computers, including laptops. Enterprise CIOs want to use these personal mobile devices to give better access to their internal data and processes for executives and employees, as well as enabling better purchasing and support services for their customers.

Complicating the CIO’s life are a number of factors:

• employees who wish to use their own devices and applications at work,
• executives and board of directors who want to use their own devices and applications at work
• the wide variety of devices used,
• legacy applications written for a standard desktop screen,
• application level and device management,
• cost controls, and
• maintaining security across the infrastructure.

Some key technology subtrends to watch in 2012 include Voice search and voice assistants, Location Based Services, Gaming, Event-Based Marketing, and Augmented Reality.  On the horizon are applications like Mobile Video and 3D Mobile Internet.   All this has implications for business processes throughout the organization.   CIOs and IT leaders will want to understand how mobile fits into their organization’s unified communications strategy.

The slides provide an overview of the Mobile Computing trend.  Summary information about the Mobile Computing trend is provided along with many links to additional resources.   The slides are meant to be read/studied and the links are there for you to continue your learning.  You may want to view the slides in slideshow mode so you can easily follow the links.

Check out my other HorizonWatching Trend Reports…hope you enjoy them.

Mobile Computing: A HorizonWatching 2012 Trend Report

View more presentations from Bill Chamberlin

Friday Gadget: Augmented Reality Business Card

As gaming technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, we will begin to see that gaming technology make its way into everyday applications.  Augmented reality is an emerging technology that I’ve been increasingly fascinated with as it will further blur the line between what's real and what is generated by computers by enhancing what we see, hear, feel and smell.  I fully expect future movie goers will be experiencing AR in local theatres.

So I was looking for an example of how AR technology could be applied in the business environment and found a neat video I’ll embed below.  In the video, you’ll see a cool augmented reality business card created by James Alliban. 

In the video James shows a business card with a distinctive pattern on it to a computer equipped with a cheap web camera.  Software on the computer automatically renders a simple 3D object (attached to the card as it moves around in 3D) and plays a short video about the person whose business card is shown.  A nice idea if you want to convey more information about yourself than can possible fit on a paper business card. 

AR Business Card from James Alliban on Vimeo.

If you know of other neat AR applications for business, please comment with a link....thanks!