• Mobile Worker Population - the mobile worker population is forecasted to grow an additional 5% by 2014 to 1.2 billion. What is significant about this trend is that means 1/3 of the global workforce would be classified as “mobile”
• B2B Trends – some of the continued trends with in B2B mobility revolve around the need for real-time decision making, workforce productivity and business intelligence
• Continued Growth of the “Knowledge Worker” – Krebs notes importance of differentiating between “task/line workers” and “knowledge workers.” Typically, mobility has been primarily focused on the task oriented or line workers which require very linear and simple mobile workflows. While the rising sector of knowledge workers operate in a more dynamic environment, where lookups, cross-validation, and data access are critical. The important statistic here – line workers are expected to decrease by 11.8% while knowledge workers will rise by 19.1% through 2014.

You can watch the entire presentation here.

Flurry Analytics has gathered data surrounding the amount of time consumers spend on mobile apps versus web browsers. In their findings they discovered that the average consumer spent more time on mobile apps than on web browsers during June 2011 than during June 2010.

ht: http://gigaom.com/

• Get mobile workers input early on: get clarity on their current process, get their input, and clarify the need for the transition
• Dont’ expect the technology to do the work for you: plan for training, prepare your workforce and take time for input & revision

Be sure and read the entire article here.

Getac Releases World’s Smallest, Toughest Tablet - Getac UK has announced the launch of its 7 inch fully rugged tablet, built to be the smallest and most robust Android tablet on the market.

NASA Builds Six-Foot Crossbow to Harpoon Comets – Yes, you read that right. After all, Landing on a comet’s surface is risky business, so engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center are working on a harpoon gun that can spear the heart of the comet, collect a sample of subsurface dirt in its tip and reel it back into the hovering craft.

The Growth of Mobile Commerce - According to Forrester, mobile commerce is expected to reach $31 billion by 2016. This represents a compounded annual growth rate of 39 percent from 2011 to 2016.

The Growth of RFID - The global RFID market is expected to reach $1.08 billion by the end 2011. This market is expected to reach $3.9 billion by 2016 at an estimated compound annual growth rate of 29.3 percent.

Q4 2011 – Service Level Agreements
Create your own SLAs by defining results and notifications based on changes in status. Closely linked to dispatching services, but extensible to other implementations. SLA’s allow you to build your rules specific to each customer and/or cost code. You can further fine tune the implementation by associating SLAs with specific equipment, project, or location categories.

Q4 2011 – Delivery Dispatching
Now you can create manifests and dispatch out couriers to pick them up. Keep track of last know courier locations and status. Manage dispatching tasks in real time through the new delivery dispatch board.

Q3 2011 – DATArrive  Updates
We’ve included a number of new miscellaneous updates including:

• New labor report: Pay Types Exception Report
• New deliver report: Receiving Exceptions Report
• Dispatching: Cloning service dispatching events
• Dispatching: showing nearby agents based upon their current GPS location
• Universal: Task classes – categories to break out tasks based upon the applicable service
• Universal: improved and easier-to-use terminology page

Q3 2011 – Cabin Services
Used for any service managing stocking, cleaning, auditing, security, or other servicing tasks in a dynamic mobile environment such as a airport, bus station, or motor pool. Real time dispatching lets you view and assign missions throughout the day. Dynamic data feeds can be implemented for automated mission creation based upon your own custom rule set.

This Amazes Me - Lytro is a camera like none other. Unlike a conventional camera that captures a single plane of light, the Lytro camera captures the entire light field, which is all the light traveling in every direction in every point in space. Since you’ll capture the color, intensity, and direction of all the light, you can experience the first major light field capability – focusing after the fact. Focus and re-focus, anywhere in the picture. You can refocus your pictures at anytime, after the fact.

RIM is BBX? - Research in Motion announced the name for its new operating system this week…BBX. One problem – that name is taken. Basis International, a software company based in Albuquerque, N.M., holds the trademark for a slight variation of that name, BBx, and it said it was taking unspecified legal action to protect its rights.

iPad and iPad 2 Represent 98% of Tablet Activation –  Apple’s iPad and iPad 2 tablets continue to dominate in the enterprise market, according to the Good Technology Device Activations Report for the third quarter of 2011. 4% of all tablet activations in the enterprise were for Android tablets, while the iPad and iPad 2 were responsible for 96% of activations.

Who is Driving the NFC Bus? - Far from being a passenger, mobile marketing, along with consumer loyalty, will be in the front seat as well and will be critical in helping to drive the growth and adoption of NFC.

A Growing Market: The global market for medical device outsourcing services will reach $44.7 billion by 2017, according to a new report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Apple Who? iOS 5 What? A new report from market research company NPD claims that 44 percent of current and future U.S. smartphone owners are considering Windows Phone 7 handsets.

Data is the new $$: Today, nothing ties the IT environment to the line of revenue generating businesses more than data.

Context, Preferences, Attitudes: New research from Forrester introduces how companies will use mobile devices to deliver better customer experiences in their own context.

Edison didn’t invent the lightbulb. He mainstreamed it through product design and marketing.

Ford didn’t invent the automobile. He mainstreamed it through cost reductions and marketing.

And once again, Apple has taken power-user technology (a.k.a. Pentagon research technology) and placed it in the hands of everyday consumers. The lesson here – at the end of the day, great technology alone does not win the war. Great technology must also be usable and accessible.

Can you answer the question in one sentence? Can you clearly sum up your company ethos, the passion behind what you do, the goal of business?

Recently, a few of us at Sierra Data Systmes have been focusing on that very question it has been an extremely helpful process. From a one sentence elevator pitch to a paragraph “about us,” every – word – matters.

So what do you do?

New Hardware from Casio: Casio has announced a new version of its DT-X8 rugged handheld terminal that comes with built-in support for RFID and NFC.

More Options from Sprint: Sprint’s new direct connect service is beefed up with some new features and set to release October 2.

The Focus on Mission: In her first company wide email, Meg Whitman says HP must be focused on their mission.

NASA Wants You: Earlier this week, NASA announced the International Space Apps Competition asking scientists, engineers, and ordinary citizens to develop apps for smartphones, desktops, and websites that use publicly released scientific data to study things like weather-related hazards and other pressing issues.