A report has been published by iPass highlighting current trends for mobile workers. It took responses from 1,000 enterprises currently making the most of mobile working solutions and virtual desktops.

It confirms that the number of mobile workers around the world is really rising, but has revealed some possible issues with smart phones, as expect by IT security professionals. The survey revealed that many workers use a smartphone such as a Blackberry to access their work emails and more.

“What is particularly concerning is the fact that 54 per cent of Blackberry users said they would move to an Apple iPhone if they were offered one, and 63% of employees prefer their smartphone over a laptop,” says Claire Sellick, Event Director for Infosecurity Europe.

“The problem here is that, whilst it’s relatively easy to defend a laptop against the vagaries of a mobile Internet connection, securing a smartphone is a whole new ballgame for many IT managers,” she adds.

Using a smartphone over a laptop computer does add new risks and problems for IT managers looking to support mobile workers. However many smartphones are combating these problems as new technologies emerge as often as new models of iPhone!

Here at VESK we are at the forefront of helping you work better where ever you are, and security is a high priority. We're always working hard to bring you best solutions first.

A new report out this week shows that, despite the recession, high end smartphones are still proving to be a major draw for consumers.

As more workers turn mobile, the demand for multi-purpose smartphones rises on a daily basis. This could explain why smartphone sales remained strong last year, while demand for other mobile devices remained weak.

Gartner reports sales of mobiles fell by 1% last year to 1.2 billion, while smartphone sales hit 172.4 million. This is a year on year rise of almost a quarter and, according to Gartner's research director Carolina Milanesi, is a "taste of things to come".  

Devices which run the Symbian software, mainly Nokia, remained the best sellers, while Blackberry came a close second with a market share of 16.9%. Apple managed to beat Microsoft to third with a market share of 14.4% for their iPhone. Google's Android system was also very successful last year; it's share rose to 3.9%.

Among the handset manufacturers, Samsung remains on top and has been dubbed the "clear winner" among the top 5 manufacturers.

Gartner have predicted 2010 will be the year for low operating systems, services and applications above hardware.  "Sales will return to low double-digit growth, but competition will continue to put a strain on vendors' margins," said Carolina Milanesi.

This news is likely to be welcomed by many mobile workers who are constantly looking for new applications and services to help them with their daily business on the go.

Many UK companies could see a massive increase in productivity from their staff if they offered mobile working and virtual desktop solutions. A report by an expert at Riverbed Technology believes that offering the right mobile working options to staff would ensure people are less distracted when working out of the office.

Mark Lewis, senior director of marketing and alliances for Riverbed, firmly believes the benefits of good mobile working solutions and applications need to balance out the in-office interaction many workers miss when not in the office.

"There are a number of technologies in place today from a number of organisations, where people can not only access remote applications and files but get access to these with ease and speed," he said.

Research performed recently by Lumison showed that around 50% of office workers expect their bosses to be sceptical of mobile working solutions. They worry that their boss would think they were not completing certain tasks or other staff may not work as hard.

This is not the case however, and many mobile workers reap the benefits of flexible working and networking on the go, without having to miss out on important tasks that used to have to be done in the confines of the office.

Using virtual desktops and mobile working solutions is the key to flexible working, which is a necessity for many workers juggling meetings with external clients, family life and other tasks that don't take place in the office itself.

A growing number of SMEs are experiencing mobile device theft on a daily basis, but it's not the mobile device itself the thieves are after. Business data is becoming more and more irresistible to thieves as they realise competitors are willing to pay for the inside scoop on their competitors. 

Valuable data which once remained behind closed doors is now moving around the country on a daily basis, giving criminals multiple opportunities to strike. IDC research shows 92% of mobile workers have experienced laptop thefts, 54% in the last 6 months alone. The average SME incident occurs once every 251 days, with environments such as train stations and hotels being particularly susceptible.

What you might be surprised to know is that mobile workers aren't just being targeted when on the move. Office thefts are becoming increasingly common too. 35% of office thefts are the result of a break in, while 26% of IT managers suspect internal involvement in the thefts of laptops. 

“The laptop itself is not the issue, but the disruption to business and the risk to customer information, employee records or sensitive company data is far worse," says J2 Software managing director John Mc Loughlin.   

He believes both IT managers and every individual employee needs to take responsibility for their own mobile devices.

What precautions can you take? There are a number of devices available to minimise laptop thefts. These include tried and tested cable locks and newer technology such as GPS tracking. GPS trackers are being installed in a growing number of mobile devices such as smartphones due to the formation of new apps like Google Goggles and Augmented Reality. 

Encryption and other security software is also available to protect valuable data should it fall into the wrong hands. 

Virgin Media has launched a range of travel passes which allow mobile workers to access the internet anywhere in the EU from any mobile device. 

The passes start from as little as £4 and have a download cap, which means workers won't be hit with a massive bill when they return to the UK. The travel pass bundles were released on Monday and aim to make customers' internet expenditure more predictable. 

Director of mobile at Virgin Media Jonathan Kini says the service means that mobile workers will "never have to worry about accessing the internet while they're abroad. Whether it’s searching for the best pizzeria in Rome on your mobile or uploading photos onto Facebook with a laptop and mobile broadband, customers now have control over what they spend on holiday

24 hours of data via a handset is charged at £6, while an hour's consumption costs £4. Alternatively you can purchase a 1 day pass via a mobile broadband dongle for £10 or a 30-day pass for £60. Once the user reaches their download cap they're automatically cut off, while users will also get a text message when they've consumed 80% of their allotted data. 

The launch of the bundles follows stringent pricing regulations on voice and data from the European Commission. These regulations are believed to spurred operators to try to stimulate roaming demand for mobile broadband. 

Many mobile workers have been put off using mobile broadband abroad after landing huge bills for mobile usage in the past. In fact, just this week a 22 year old student has been hit by an £8000 bill after using his Orange mobile broadband dongle overseas. 

It's believed other mobile virtual internet operators will soon follow suit, after the EU last year instructed operators to put some mechanism in place by March 2010 to ensure users aren't hit by "bill shocks" on their return to Britain. 

SMEs are being urged to re-think their wireless management strategy after a new survey reveals the right management policy could save firms up to 35%.

Gartner's Key Enterprise Wireless Service Policy report predicts that 80% of the Fortune 1000 companies will be using wireless internet to pool voice and date by 2014. Despite this prediction, many firms are yet to outline policies for wireless internet management as the technology expands. 

When creating a policy, Gartner encourages firms to "look across IT" and not be limited by a networking or telecom group. 

“A good method to ensure a strong policy is to incorporate a centralised team across IT that will be impacted by mobile and wireless decisions,” said Gartner's Phil Redman. “Wireless policies don’t have to be large documents. Often the best, most-read and most widely adopted policies are brief and to the point.”

Gartner has come up with 12 guidelines to help SMEs establish effective wireless policies. One of these guidelines outlines the need to identify eligibility e.g. deciding who should receive a subsidised service. This could depend on the job title, salary and job function. 

Other guidelines to consider are IT support, technical support, security and procurement procedures. Another aspect to consider is personal versus corporate liability - Gartner recommends firms negotiate services and take responsibility for the end user. 

The move towards corporate liability programs marks a step away from personal liability programs as the number of mobile workers rises on a daily basis. The rise in smartphones and other mobile devices means a smart wireless strategy is essential for business to succeed and move a step ahead of their competition. 

IDC have revealed that America has the most mobile workforce. New research shows that in 2008, 72% of US workers worked on a mobile basis for at least some of the time.The number is set to grow by 76% to 120 million in 2013.

The world's number of mobile workers could top 1 billion by the end of this year and by 2013 more than a third of the world's total workforce is set to work on a mobile basis. 

Mobile workers are already quite prevalent in the Western world with advanced mobile technology, such as virtual desktops and smartphones, but it's set to be the emerging economies of Asia and the Pacific region which are set to make the biggest difference. 

The Asia and Pacific regions, excluding Japan, represent the largest number of mobile workers for IDC's forecast; there were  546.4 million mobile workers in 2008. This is set to rise to 734.5 million workers in 2013; the equivalent of 62% of the world's mobile workforce. 

Western Europe's mobile population is also set for a huge boost. IDC predict there will be about 129.5 million workers in 2013; about 50% of the total workforce. 

Japan's mobile worker population will represent 75% of it's total workforce in 2013; about 49.3 million workers. 

This figures might seem high but, with technology advancing every day, it seems the predictions could become reality very quickly and could have an impact on every mobile worker in the near future.

 

Following Google's announcement this week that the company is introducing a new "mobile first" principle, the internet giant have announced a whole host of new applications which could really benefit mobile workers. Google have decided to follow on from the success of applications such as Maps Navigation and develop a new range of applications which really could push competitors out of the market.

The decision to turn away from PC development and focus on the mobile industry follows predictions that smartphones could outsell PCs in as little as 3 years. Half of all internet connections are now rumoured to be on mobile devices, particularly in developing countries such as Indonesia.

So what are these new "magic" apps for mobile workers?

Google Voice has been designed so that users can bypass networks to make calls. This was originally launched back in March 2009 but has since been dramatically improved. Currently the app is only available to users in the US and features centralised voice mail and the ability to make conference calls. Once launched in the UK, it could save mobile workers thousands of pounds in calls every  year.  

Google Googles allows users to take pictures of buildings, landmarks or other objects anywhere in the world and then perform a search on Google. This could help mobile workers who have a tendency to get a little lost. 

Adobe Flash will also be compatible with the Android operating system. This is set to rub salt into Apple's wounds after it was forced to change iPad advertising because Adobe Flash wasn't compatible with the iPad software. This means the iPad is unable to show a number of important websites properly, including The New York Times. This could be great for mobile workers who use Flash on a daily basis e.g. website design or presentations. 

Google's Voice Recognition is now so advanced that it even translates spoken phrases into different languages. This will help mobile workers while on the go and on overseas business meetings. 

Other exciting apps currently in development include phone cameras which will translate foreign language in seconds e.g. menus and software which allows users to have a live conversation, while speaking completely different languages. 

 

 

 

There are growing fears among mobile phone operators that Google will change the game, following its entry into the mobile phone market. It recently released its Nexus One which is doing well and its Android operating system is now used on a wide range of mobile devices. 

Google's chief excutive Eric Schimdt this week tried to assure the mobile industry that their entry into the industry was designed to make telecommunication companies more money, instead of turning them into "dumb pipes". Many anxious operators took the news dubiously and its not hard to see why. 

Since its launch in 2008, the Android operating system has gone from strength to strength and now 60,000 handsets with the operating system are shipped everyday. 

Google told competitors at the Mobile World Congress that the firm have no intention of building a rival infrastructure to compete. Instead the firm will use WiFi as it becomes increasingly available. Google will then allow users to choose operators to be used in conjunction with the phone e.g. when WiFi is not available. The question is, will people want to pay for internet access when they can get it for free?!

While the firm try to assure operators they're not a threat, they have announced plans to introduce a "mobile first" principle, with all key projects and applications to be designed specifically for use on mobile devices. The mobile phone is "fundamental to everything you do and it's the extension of everything we are", said Schmidt. 

So should mobile operators really fear Google? Of course they should! As mobile devices turn more and more complicated, the web is the only platform who holds the answer. And who is the probably the world's biggest internet expert? Google! While mobile operators inevitably know more about mobile devices, Google knows more about the internet which is inevitably going to be the biggest draw to smartphones in the future. 

Mobile workers are going to need the best technology available to them and, with the right research and investment, there's a good chance Google could be the main company to offer that. 

 

On Tuesday it was announced that Skype, a popular mobile working tool, will be available on select US smartphones from March. 

Verizon Wireless has joined forces with the internet call service to form Skype Mobile, a service which will allow Blackberry and Android users to make Skype to Skype calls across its 3G network. The software will be available to US Verizon customers with data plans from as early as next month, with similar plans for UK consumers to be announced later this year.

Skype is so popular because it allows users to make cut price international calls. This new service will also allow users to make international calls to any phone at Skype's standard rates. The application will also mimic popular social media sites, allowing users to send and receive instant messages and see their contacts' statuses. 

It's believed the application will be available on 9 handsets in late March and will later come pre-installed in new handsets. 

The move means that Verizon Wireless will become the first large US mobile operator to allow it's users to make free or low cost calls using Skype. Verizon had previously been opposed to VoIP technology, such as Skype and Google Voice, because it allows users to make calls using the data portion of their mobile tariff. This would cause a dent in operators' traditional voice service revenues, which pull in around $700 billion a year. 

"Over time traditional network-based mobile carriers face the real prospect of losing a major slice of their voice traffic and revenue to new non-infrastructure players that use VoIP," said Gartner's Akshay Sharma.

This announcement will come as welcome news to many mobile workers who often spend thousands of pounds a year communicating with overseas business associates for hours at a time.