Speaking to a number of prospects one thing that routinely comes up is whether you can carry out a job function on a small screen mobile device and wouldn’t a laptop be better? There are normally a number of good reasons why it isn’t practical for example: the time it takes to start-up, ability to operate with one hand, ability to run full applications over a GPRS/3G connections and, finally, how conspicuous you look working on a laptop in a street. Clearly not all these points apply to all job functions and so may not be appropriate but are usually limiting factors for laptops. However, Asus have come up with a cost effective device that may be suitable for some situations.

The EEE PC 701 comes with solid state memory (2gb - 16gb) and costs only £200. It runs a variant of Linux and starts up in around 15 seconds. It has wifi inbuilt and a3G card will be available shortly. Software includes a full version of Firefox and OpenOffice allowing docs to be updated on the go.

The screen is still too small to comfortably run full desktop applications but the inclusion of a full browser will allow for web-based applications to be run be they corporate applications behind the firewall, AppSwing enabled back-office Windows and Java apps, or third party solutions such as salesforce.com or even Google Docs.

I am currently waiting to get my hands on a device so that I can test it out but on paper at least it looks like being a good candidate for an ideal mobile working companion.

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Gave an interview to a journalist from Computerwire yesterday which has resulted in a good write-up which drew the following analogy: “This approach to app delivery to unwired devices, be they cellular or on WiFi, is complementary to what Citrix does to remote PCs, laptops, and thin clients.”.

Article here…

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Microsoft’s Chief executive Steve Ballmer has been speaking about his companies approach to mobile with some interesting thoughts. In particular the usefulness of a browser to business users although he was less than forthcoming on how Microsoft were going to address that.

Full article here…

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One point that was reiterated by Cameron Moll in his book Mobile Web Design was that it is important not to treat the mobile device as a miniature PC and therefore treat it as an extension of such. He states:

” Perhaps the most common blunder committed by newcommers to mobile development is to replicate the PC web experience. This blunder might be referred to as “PC nearsightedness”, wherein a developer’s interpretation of web content is limited to that which is most familar and closest within view: The desktop PC”

I believe that this can also be applied to people who are wanting to gain mobile access to their back-office applications. There is a view that in order to be truly mobile you need to have the whole application with you on your mobile device. Slavishly following this will not give you productivity gains of being mobile. You must concentrate on the process that you want to deliver and then only deliver what is required to achieve that process. Otherwise you might as well lug round a laptop and enjoy all the constraints that brings with it…

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I received this morning my copy of Mobile Web Design by Cameron Moll. Having flicked through it I am looking forward to having a proper read when I am on a flight to Edinburgh tomorrow.
While there are many books on the subject of UI design there are relatively few on the designing for a mobile interface. I guess that is because there are so many different UIs to work towards based on the different operating systems, device and whether you have an installed client or use the browser.

Here we are just beginning to put together our own standards to use for the work we do for our clients based on a few years of customer projects and this has to take into account the relative capabilities of the various browsers available from the basic BlackBerry browser to Safari on the iPhone. Once there is something more meaningful I will post some details of what we have found.

The other interesting thing about the Moll book was that initially it was available as a PDF only version but you can now get a print version from the print on demand specialists Lulu.  I was impressed with the quality achieved for such a low print run (i.e. one copy) while still keeping a relatively low price. I’m not sure that I really have a novel in me but if I did this is perhaps the way to get it published.

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We are getting close to the launch date of the next version of the AppSwing Enterprise Suite which includes support for our new tool: AppSwing Design Studio. This will allow suitably trained partners to create mobile applications from Windows and Java applications for any mobile device. The short video below shows how simple the process can be. You can also see a full screen version of the video here.

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If you are looking for statistics on mobile uptake worldwide then this is the site for you: MobileActive.org. According to their website that are “a global network of people (and their tools, projects, and resources) focused on the use of mobile phones in civil society”. Makes for interesting reading particularly when comparing take up between countries.

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Presented a couple of times at yesterdays Thames Valley Innovation Conference on topics close to my heart. Firstly on the Knowledge Transfer Partnership project we carried out in collaboration with the University of Reading. This was well received and made a bit of a star of Dan, who did the work on the project. The second presentation, on R&D in a small organisation, was the very last of the day and by this time many of the delegates had gone home and so didn’t get the audience it deserved! However, you can see the presentation below (produced in OpenOffice - simply click on the slide to move to the next one) or download a copy here.

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If you work in the public sector and mobile working is on your agenda, then we’d like to invite you to join us at our exciting event. The AppSwing mForum 07 will explore the key issues around successful and flexible mobile working, including:

• Public sector mobile working today: find out the results of AppSwing’s unique survey of trends in public sector mobile working.
• Remote working in action: hear how one local authority has successfully implemented mobile working.
• On-the-spot access to central information: learn how mobile working can maximise the power of your centrally-stored data as well as empowering staff.
• Team working: explore how to create successful remote teams.
• The power of the pen: hear how data can be successfully captured when away from the office – through the digital pen.
• The latest devices: what’s available; what’s right for your application; what’s coming next.

Register now or find out more by clicking here www.appswingforum.com.

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This October AppSwing will be taking part in the Thames Valley Innovation Conference, an event for businesses, innovators, advisors and investors looking to pick up new ideas, learn about new approaches to innovation and hear from innovation leaders. Over 600 delegates are expected to attend, drawn from innovative or technology companies.

I attended last year as a delegate and there were some really interesting sessions so I am looking forward to being part of it in 2007. This year AppSwing will have a stand in the Innovation Showcase where we will be demonstrating AppSwing Design Studio publicly for the first time. This is a drag and drop tool that allows partners to quickly create mobile interfaces from existing applications.

I will also be presenting a couple of times during the day. Firstly to talk about the recently completed KTP project and the impact that has had on the business and secondly about R&D in a small business.

The event is free so if you are interested in seeing some innovative companies, including AppSwing, register now.
You can download the conference flyer from here.

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