Press release:

IBM and USTA Serve an Interactive Experience to US Open Tennis Fans

Mobile Apps Bring Fans to Center Court
Analytics Technology to Determine Fans' Social Media Champion

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FLUSHING, N.Y. - 29 Aug 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) and the United States Tennis Association (USTA) today introduced new technologies that will immerse fans in the action at the 2012 US Open tennis tournament. During the two-week event, IBM will apply its predictive analytics, cloud computing and mobile technology expertise to connect tennis fans -- no matter where they are -- to what's happening on the courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York.

IBM has created a unique digital environment that provides US Open spectators, athletes and media uninterrupted access to data, facts, stats and content via their tablets, smartphones, PCs and other devices. This enhanced, interactive fan experience uses new technologies that thousands of businesses worldwide are embracing to up their game by uncovering insightsfrom Big Data. 

New for this year's tournament is an iPad app that serves accurate streams of match data, access to live video, highlights and in-depth statistical information. Enhanced social media features enable fans to communicate with other fans around the world. The app also delivers an insider's view of who's gaining the edge on the court and most likely to win -- well before the final score tells the story. It complements iPhone and Android apps that mobile fans can access to connect to US Open action in real-time from around the world.

Off the court, IBM's analysis of the US Open action will extend to the social media arena by determining the Twitterverse's favorite male and female players. IBM is applying advanced analytics software to millions of public tweets generated throughout the tournament to assess which players are the social fans' favorites. The IBM Social Sentiment Index will analyze buzz around the US Open, providing a better understanding of fan sentiment. The analysis will also illustrate how analytics technology can identify important, and otherwise non-obvious trends, to help businesses make better decisions about how to connect with customers.

On site at the Tennis Center, IBM has built the IBM Game Changer Interactive Wall, which extends many of the USOpen.org and mobile app features, providing greater insight into the US Open, both on- and off-court using the power of analytics. Fans can interact with the wall to access live scores, match analysis and data visualizations from the IBM Social Sentiment Index analysis, as well as information about local weather and its effect on player nutrition and hydration, and more.

“We continue to look for new ways to  innovate and strengthen our leadership position in the sports industry, and one of the ways we will do this is by delivering content and information about the US Open to fans in the way that they want to consume it, no matter where they are,” said Phil Green, Senior Director of Advanced Media, USTA. “Working with IBM is a winning partnership because it allows us to create a unique digital environment that delivers stats, video and information to our fans whenever they want it on all devices.”

Delivering insights into what's happening on the courts at the US Open requires an ability to capture and analyze each serve, volley and point. The same kind of analytics technologies that IBM is using to deliver insights to tennis fans, players, coaches, media and sports event organizers are being used to monitor babies in prenatal wards, help police departments prevent crime and enable financial services firms to improve customer service.    

“Big Data is impacting so many aspects of sporting events, that it's no longer a stretch to say that it is changing the way fans watch and enjoy sports,” said Rick Singer, vice president, Sports Sponsorship Marketing for IBM.  “Whether  on the court or in the board room, Big Data is being leveraged to achieve similar goals, such as keeping operations up and running seamlessly, having accurate data readily available for quick decision making, and improving productivity.”

Analytics and Cloud Computing Power USOpen.org

IBM, in its 22nd year of partnering with the USTA, is enhancing the digital capabilities ofUSOpen.org to give users a front-row access to the action on the court.

One of the most insightful features of USOpen.org is IBM's SlamTracker. Based on predictive analytics technology, it leverages historical and real-time match data to deliver a better understanding of what's going on during a match. SlamTracker's 'Momentum' feature maps player momentum throughout a match in real-time, visualizing key turning points such as aces and winning shots, allowing fans to interact with the data to learn more about why a player is winning. In addition, SlamTracker's 'Keys to the Match'  feature analyzes seven years of  historical Grand Slam data to determine the top three things a player must do in order to perform well in a specific match. 

During the two-week tournament, USOpen.org transforms into a massive, data hungry environment that demands unhindered access to accurate and reliable content to serve the demands of millions of tennis fans. Each year, IBM helps the USTA expand its infrastructure to meet these demands and then scale back to support regular operations following the tournament. This elasticity is made possible by the IBM SmartCloud, which enables the rapid creation and dynamic allocation of resources while offering transparent and real-time access by a multitude of devices, such as smartphones, tablets and televisions.  This cloud environment -- powered by IBM servers and storage in three geographically dispersed locations virtualized as one --  ensures continuous availability and scalability required to support such a high profile event. The benefits include reduced costs and reliable operations. 

For more information about how IBM is helping the US Open tap into Big Data to transform the fan experience, visit www.ibm.com/sports

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Nuance Introduces Nina, the Virtual Assistant for Mobile Customer Service Apps

Press release:

Nina is the First Virtual Assistant to Understand What is Said – And Who is Saying It;
First to Provide an Open SDK for Mobile App Developers

Burlington, MA – August 6, 2012 – Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) today introduced Nina, the virtual assistant for mobile customer service apps. With Nina, companies can quickly add speech-based virtual assistant capabilities to their existing iOS and Android mobile apps, greatly enhancing the self-service experience for their customers. Nina combines Nuance speech recognition, Text-to-Speech (TTS), voice biometrics, and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) technology hosted in the cloud to deliver an interactive user experience that not only understands what is said, but also can identify who is saying it.

Nuance also announced that USAA, a leading financial services provider that serves members of the U.S. military, veterans and their families, has adopted the virtual assistant for use within its popular mobile app. A pilot is planned for August and the functionality will launch to all USAA members early next year.

“USAA’s innovative solutions are designed to make life easier for our highly mobile military service members, and increasingly for all members who now expect to get things done when, where and how they want.” said Neff Hudson, assistant vice president of emerging channels for USAA. “We believe that the virtual assistant has tremendous potential to make it simpler, faster and more satisfying for our members to manage their financial affairs on their mobile devices.”

Nina is significant because it is the first virtual assistant customer service app to incorporate both speech recognition and voice biometrics into a single integrated solution. Nina is also the first solution that provides an open software development kit (SDK) to support the rapid integration of virtual assistant capabilities into existing mobile applications. In addition, Nina is the first to allow organizations to brand their own virtual assistant persona, including the visual appearance and implementation of optional custom TTS voices.

“Nina is a watershed innovation for the automated customer service industry, not only because it brings the virtual assistant directly into an app, but because it raises the bar through its level of interactive dialog and language understanding,” said Robert Weideman, executive vice president and general manager of the Nuance Enterprise Division. “Nina provides our customers a major competitive differentiator by enabling more successful self-service through their mobile apps. We are especially pleased to further our partnership with USAA, a company known for its innovation and approach to delivering a premier mobile customer service experience to its members.”

The Nina Virtual Assistant for customer service is comprised of:

• Nina Virtual Assistant Persona: Nina is a pre-made virtual assistant persona, which developers can leverage for their app, or use the available source code to quickly create a custom persona, including changing visual persona elements such as being awake, asleep, listening, processing, or answering a request. Nina also includes a range of existing Nuance text-to-speech voices, and Nuance can develop a custom TTS voice for an optional development fee.
• Nina Virtual Assistant SDK: To enable the rapid integration of virtual assistant capabilities into mobile apps for Apple iOS and Android, the Nina Virtual Assistant SDK has three components:
• Nina Core APIs – Binary APIs that provide access to the core cloud services, such as speech recognition, text to speech and NLU. This provides the most control and customization possible to the mobile app developer.
• Nina Virtual Assistant APIs – Source APIs that provide mobile app developers with access to customize the persona, as well as providing control of all modes of input, including speech recognition, text to speech and touch dialogs.
• Nina Reference Designs – Source code of Nina Virtual Assistant apps and functions, including the Nina Banking Assistant, deliver pre-designed templates and tasks for store location, bill pay, account information and over 200 other banking related queries. Developers will be able to leverage the reference designs to rapidly develop their own virtual assistant capabilities for travel, insurance, retail, government and more.
• Nina Virtual Assistant Cloud: The power and intelligence of Nina, including Nuance’s industry-leading speech recognition, TTS, NLU, interactive dialog management and voice biometrics services, is delivered through Nuance’s hosted platform, Nuance On Demand.

Availability

The Nina Virtual Assistant SDK and cloud service is available now from Nuance in US, UK and Australian English, with additional languages to be made available later this year. Nuance provides professional services in support of Nina and virtual assistant implementations.

For more information about Nina: http://www.nuance.com/meet-nina.

About Nuance Communications

Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) is a leading provider of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with devices and systems. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.

Two Apps, TuneIn and iHeart Radio, Put Radio Online

The following is an excerpt from an article in 

The New York Times
Monday, August 06, 2012

Two Apps, TuneIn and iHeart Radio, Put Radio Online

By BEN SISARIO

For the radio industry, there may be no better symbol for the challenges of adapting to the digital age than two candy-colored mobile apps.

The apps, iHeartRadio and TuneIn, are aggregators — conduits for thousands of online radio streams. With a few taps on a smartphone, a listener can dart among a pop station in New York, gospel in Atlanta and talk almost anywhere.

Both have quickly amassed big audiences. TuneIn, which offers 70,000 streams from around the world, has more than 30 million monthly users. IHeartRadio, owned by the broadcasting giant Clear Channel Communications, has been downloaded 95 million times and has attracted more than 12 million registered users.

For broadcasters, these aggregators can help reach audiences in the growing but increasingly fragmented world of online radio, which can mean anything from a customized playlist on Pandora or Spotify to an iTunes stream.

“Our mission is about getting our content to as wide an audience as possible,” said Anil Dewan, the director of interactive media at KCRW, a public station in Santa Monica, Calif., whose digital outlets include TuneIn, iHeartRadio, iTunes, Spotify and an app of its own.

At the same time, many broadcasters say they worry about the rising costs of online royalties; the plans of the companies behind the apps; and the possibility of being lost within the aggregators, like needles in enormous digital haystacks.

Both aggregators let users find stations by typing a city, genre or station name into their search bars. TuneIn also points listeners to any station currently playing a given artist or song; iHeartRadio has an extensive custom-radio function, modeled after Pandora.

But as businesses they represent two poles of media. TuneIn, in Palo Alto, Calif., which started as a simple directory, transformed itself into an app purveyor two years ago, with streams that include not only radio and podcasts, but also emergency scanner signals.

Farm Software Tries to Make Its Mark - Digital Domain

The following is an excerpt from an article in 

The New York Times
Sunday, August 05, 2012

Farm Software Tries to Make Its Mark - Digital Domain

By RANDALL STROSS

THE world doesn’t necessarily need the gazillion-and-one games that seem available on smartphones. But it could use more apps and services that address the needs of business people with specialized needs.

Like farmers. FarmLogs, a start-up based in Ann Arbor, Mich., is a one of a few new companies that are making a pitch to farmers. It offers a cloud-based software service — no software is downloaded; only a Web browser is needed — that embodies the latest technology. But in reaching its intended customers, the company must often rely on an old-fashioned medium: in-person selling.

Jesse Vollmar, 23, and Brad Koch, 22, graduated from Saginaw Valley State University last year and were running their own small I.T. consulting company when they decided to try to make easy-to-use software for farms like the one on which Mr. Vollmar grew up in Caro, Mich., about 90 miles northwest of Detroit.

The two received funding from Y Combinator, a seed fund in Mountain View, Calif. During a three-month residency in Silicon Valley last winter, under Y Combinator’s aegis, they worked on farm management software aimed at tracking all of a farmer’s field activities. In one view, a farmer can see rectangular representations of what is planted on each field. A click leads to a log of what was done when on each field: tilling on this date, fertilizing on that date, spraying on another.

With the data stored in one place, it can be combined with information from other sources and used by the farmers. If they need, they can also share it easily with consulting agronomists, crop insurance agents, the Agriculture Department and others.

Nathan Engelhard, an early customer who farms 1,000 acres in Unionville, Mich., says FarmLogs gives him the ability to take his iPad out into the field and make entries himself. “FarmLogs is a money saver,” he says, “because I don’t have to write things down on a scrap of paper and pay someone to sit in an office and enter them into the computer.”

Nuance Dragon Dictation and Dragon Search Apps Now Available in Saudi Arabia

Dragon Apps Make Debut in the Middle East, Providing Saudi Consumers wtih a Faster and Easier Way to Send Text Messages and Emails, Update Twitter and Facebook, Search for Web Content and More Just by Speaking

Burlington, Mass. and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – March 28, 2012 – Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) today announced that its Dragon Dictation and Dragon Search applications for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad are now available for free in Saudi Arabia in the Apple App Store, supporting the Standard Arabic language. Already downloaded by tens of millions worldwide, Dragon Dictation and Dragon Search allow people to quickly and easily dictate SMS text messages, emails, social media updates, mobile Web searches and more, up to five times faster than typing.

The launch of Dragon Dictation and Dragon Search in Saudi Arabia marks the first deployment of Standard Arabic Dragon voice recognition for iOS applications, and the debut of the Dragon Apps in the Middle East. According to a recent Arab Advisors survey of mobile phone users in Saudi Arabia, 47 percent of respondents who use applications prefer to use them in the Arabic language, and that iPhones have a 40 percent share of all smartphones operating systems in Saudi Arabia.

“We are very excited to bring the power of voice to Saudi Arabia via Dragon Dictation and Dragon Search, marking our debut in the Middle East as part of a response to global demand for voice interfaces and applications,” said Anil Kumar, Regional Director, Nuance Middle East and Balkans. “With availability in 29 countries, Dragon Dictation and Dragon Search make it incredibly easy for mobile consumers all over the world to bring their ideas to life by just speaking.”

Dragon Dictation is iOS-5 compatible and features a pop-up toolbar with app icons that enable users to easily send their dictated text to email, SMS, Facebook, Twitter, or the clipboard. Dragon Dictation also includes a convenient Auto Save function that retains dictated text when the user is interrupted by an incoming phone call.

Dragon Search is now also available on the Saudi Arabia App Store, allowing users to simply speak any search query in Standard Arabic to quickly and easily find information and answers on the mobile Web. Dragon Search is the only app to feature Nuance’s unique and innovative Dragon Search Carousel, which delivers faster, smarter search results within seconds across multiple channels all at once including Google, Yahoo!, Twitter, iTunes, Wikipedia and YouTube.

Both Dragon Dictation and Dragon Search are available for free from the Saudi Arabia App Store.

Dragon Dictation and Dragon Search are also available in the US, Canada, Mexico, UK, Germany, Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Australia, Denmark, Brazil, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland App Stores. In addition to Standard Arabic, the Dragon Dictation and Dragon Search support U.S, UK and Australian English, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Taiwan Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Bahasa Indonesia, Hungarian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, European and Canadian French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, European and Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, European and Americas Spanish, and Swedish. And with multilingual capabilities, all Dragon app users are able to easily switch between supported languages as they come available.

To learn more, visit www.NuanceMobileLife.com. Also be sure to follow us on Twitter @NuanceMobile, and become a Fan of Dragon Mobile Apps on Facebook.

Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) is a leading provider of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers around the world.  Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with devices and systems. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications.  For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.

Younger Shoppers Using Technology

Excerpt from an article in

The New York Times

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Younger Shoppers Using Technology, Not Salespeople

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD

When Nadia Karim goes shopping, she doesn’t wait around for salespeople. She saves items from apps and Web sites on her cellphone as a shopping list. And as she browses one store — recently trying on Sam Edelman flats at Nordstrom — she uses the phone to check out styles at competitors like Macy’s.

“In all honesty, because I shop so much, I feel sometimes I know the brands better than some of the associates,” said Ms. Karim, 26, an analyst at Intel in Phoenix.

For a generation of shoppers raised on Google and e-commerce, the answer to “Can I help you?” is increasingly a firm “no,” even at retailers like Nordstrom that have built their reputations around customer service.

But instead of getting defensive, some stores and brands are embracing the change by creating new personal touches that feature gadgets rather than a doting sales staff. Bobbi Brown has touch-screen televisions to demonstrate the perfect smoky eye, something that was once the exclusive domain of makeup artists. The basketball star LeBron James’s shoe store in Miami has 50 iPads to describe its merchandise. Macy’s is testing cosmetics stations where tablets offer reviews and tips. And at C. Wonder, shoppers use a touchpad to personalize the lighting and music in dressing rooms (there is also a button in case, olden-days style, they need to call for help).

The self-service theme, which started years ago with checkout at groceries, has progressed to the point where shoppers can navigate entire stores without once having to say, “Just looking, thanks.”

Companies are adding the technology now because it has gotten cheap enough to make it feasible and because Apple and other tablet and touch-screen makers are increasing their sales efforts. Stores also don’t want to risk losing those customers who are not content shopping from home but nonetheless prefer Pinterest recommendations, Zappos reviews and Fashism feedback to interacting with someone behind the counter.

News Release from Symantec - GALAXY

Norton Mobile Security Protects Samsung GALAXY Smartphone Users Worldwide

 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – March 6, 2012 – Norton by Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced that Samsung Electronics will provide Norton Mobile Security, an application for Android OS, to select smartphone users worldwide. Samsung will offer a full-featured, complimentary 90-day subscription of Norton Mobile Security in multiple languages to Samsung GALAXY users through Samsung Apps.

“We are pleased to extend our valued relationship with Samsung by helping to protect more of its customers’ devices and data from theft, loss and mobile threats,” said Janice Chaffin, group president, Consumer Business Unit, Symantec. “With smartphone sales now outpacing PC sales, cybercriminals are devising new threats everyday to steal from mobile users. Consumers need to be protected more than ever.”

Norton Mobile Security combines anti-theft features with powerful antimalware to protect user’s important data from loss, theft, viruses and other threats through the following features:

• Remote Locate — Shows you the location of your smartphone so you can find if it’s lost or stolen.
• Remote Lock — Lets you remotely lock your lost or stolen phone via the Internet or SMS to keep critical data safe and block unauthorized access.
• Remote Wipe — Lets you remotely erase the data on your phone via SMS, blocking access to your private information. In addition, your phone is instantly locked if its SIM card is removed or replaced, so it can’t be used with another SIM card.
• Anti-malware — Scans all files and application updates downloaded to your mobile phone and automatically detects and removes threats without slowing you down.
• SD Card Scanning — Gives you the option of automatically scanning SD (Secure Digital) memory cards for threats when you plug them into mobile phone.
• Automatic LiveUpdate — Automatically downloads and installs security updates keeping you a step ahead of cybercriminals.

Norton Mobile Security can be downloaded from the ‘Utility’ category in Samsung Apps or by entering ‘Norton Mobile Security’ into the search query at the Samsung Apps. Norton Mobile Security supports all Samsung Galaxy Android smartphones, including Galaxy S2 LTE, Galaxy S2, Galaxy Neo, Galaxy S Hoppin and Galaxy A. It is available in nine languages, including Korean, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, and Traditional Chinese languages. A one-year license costs $29.99USD.

Windows 8

Windows 8 Consumer Preview Is Ready for Business

At CeBIT, Kevin Turner demonstrates how Windows 8 delivers a no-compromise experience.

inShare2

HANNOVER, Germany — March 6, 2012 — In his CeBIT keynote speech today, Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft Corp., showed how Windows 8 will bring together the potential of a tablet with the power of a PC. He also invited IT professionals around the world to test the recently released Windows 8 Consumer Preview, now available for download at http://preview.windows.com. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview offers a more robust experience for testing the world’s most popular operating system and is available to the widest range of people yet following the initial release of the Windows 8 Developer Preview late last year. “Windows 8 will deliver no compromise experiences on a range of devices from tablets and PCs to desktops. It will give people functionality they love and the enterprise-grade capabilities that IT departments demand,” Turner said. “We encourage IT professionals to begin using it to get a firsthand experience of how Windows 8 will give people a beautiful, fast and fluid experience with the mobility and familiarity they need to effortlessly move between what they want to do and what they need to do.” “We believe Windows 8 will bring an evolutionary solution to Windows users that delivers business productivity, while helping IT to manage and secure new devices using their existing infrastructure and tools,” said Al Gillen, program vice president, system software, IDC. “Windows 8 will help bridge the demands that end users are placing on IT departments with what IT wants for its business — a smooth transitional path to add tablet devices into an existing Windows client infrastructure.” Windows 8 highlights for enterprise organizations include the following: • Great user experience. Windows 8 bridges the gap between a personalized experience for users and the security and management features that IT professionals trust. Features include the new Windows 8 Start screen and fully immersive Metro style apps. People can be more productive with both multitouch and traditional keyboard and mouse interfaces. Critical line-of-business apps also can benefit from an immersive full screen, allowing people to easily interact with the app. • Tablets without compromise. Windows 8-based business tablets are built for touch and are deeply personalized. Powerful, connected Metro style applications are the focal point to create an immersive experience that helps eliminate distractions while having the productivity benefits of a PC. In addition, it works well with a mouse and keyboard. It also enables organizations to use Windows 7 productivity and line-of-business applications, and IT departments can leverage their existing infrastructure to help manage, secure and support it. • New possibilities for mobile productivity. For people who are increasingly mobile, Windows 8 helps them stay connected and productive in a more secure way. Windows 8 includes Windows To Go — the ability to provide users with a full corporate copy of Windows 8 (along with users’ business apps, data and settings) on a USB storage device. Windows 8 also includes improvements to DirectAccess and built-in mobile broadband features that natively support 3G and 4G telecommunication. And Windows 8 can stay always connected with Metro style apps. • End-to-end security. Features such as Trusted Boot and improved BitLocker drive encryption, AppLocker and claim-based access control help protect corporate data across the client device, the network and back-end infrastructure. • Advancements in virtualization. With Windows 8, users can get a virtualized experience with high-definition graphics, support for touch and support for USB devices on a local PC. It will be easier for IT departments to implement virtual desktop infrastructures in a more cost-effective way. In addition, Windows 8 includes Microsoft Hyper-V, a high-performing client virtualization technology that enables enterprise developers to develop, debug and test multiple configurations of apps and operating systems on a single PC instead of each configuration requiring its own PC. • Improved management. Windows 8 easily integrates into most existing client management infrastructures, and management tasks are easier with Windows PowerShell automation. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview will be available worldwide for download to users running Windows 7-based PCs in English, French, German, Japanese and simplified Chinese. As Tami Reller, chief financial officer and chief marketing officer, Windows and Windows Live Division, shares in this video at http://win8.ms/lfolnd, Windows 8 will give businesses a personalized experience that is both convenient and productive to fit well with today’s changing work styles. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview is available for download and evaluation at http://preview.windows.com. Additional resources and information are available at http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/business orhttp://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/windows. Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. Some information relates to a prerelease product, which may be substantially modified before it is commercially released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

E-Books on Tablets

Excerpt from an article in

The New York Times

Monday, March 05, 2012

E-Books on Tablets Fight Digital Distractions

By JULIE BOSMAN and MATT RICHTEL

Can you concentrate on Flaubert when Facebook is only a swipe away, or give your true devotion to Mr. Darcy while Twitter beckons?

People who read e-books on tablets like the iPad are realizing that while a book in print or on a black-and-white Kindle is straightforward and immersive, a tablet offers a menu of distractions that can fragment the reading experience, or stop it in its tracks.

E-mail lurks tantalizingly within reach. Looking up a tricky word or unknown fact in the book is easily accomplished through a quick Google search. And if a book starts to drag, giving up on it to stream a movie over Netflix or scroll through your Twitter feed is only a few taps away.

That adds up to a reading experience that is more like a 21st-century cacophony than a traditional solitary activity. And some of the millions of consumers who have bought tablets and sampled e-books on apps from Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble have come away with a conclusion: It’s harder then ever to sit down and focus on reading.

“It’s like trying to cook when there are little children around,” said David Myers, 53, a systems administrator in Atlanta, who got a Kindle Fire tablet in December. “A child might do something silly and you’ve got to stop cooking and fix the problem and then return to cooking.”

“These apps beg you to review them all the time,” he said, but he remains a fan of the device.

For book publishers, who have already seen many consumers convert from print books to e-readers, the rise of tablets poses a potential danger: that book buyers may switch to tablets and then discover that they just aren’t very amenable to reading.

Apple Loophole Gives Developers Access to Photos

Excerpt from an article in

The New York Times

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Apple Loophole Gives Developers Access to Photos

By NICK BILTON

SAN FRANCISCO - The private photos on your phone may not be as private as you think.

Developers of applications for Apple's mobile devices, along with Apple itself, came under scrutiny this month after reports that some apps were taking people's address book information without their knowledge.

As it turns out, address books are not the only things up for grabs. Photos are also vulnerable. After a user allows an application on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to have access to location information, the app can copy the user's entire photo library, without any further notification or warning, according to app developers.

It is unclear whether any apps in Apple's App Store are illicitly copying user photos. Although Apple's rules do not specifically forbid photo copying, Apple says it screens all apps submitted to the store, a process that should catch nefarious behavior on the part of developers. But copying address book data was against Apple's rules, and the company approved many popular apps that collected that information.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

The first time an application wants to use location data, for mapping or any other purpose, Apple's devices ask the user for permission, noting in a pop-up message that approval "allows access to location information in photos and videos." When the devices save photo and video files, they typically include the coordinates of the place they were taken - creating another potential risk.

"Conceivably, an app with access to location data could put together a history of where the user has been based on photo location," said David E. Chen, co-founder of Curio, a company that develops apps for iOS, Apple's mobile operating system. "The location history, as well as your photos and videos, could be uploaded to a server. Once the data is off of the iOS device, Apple has virtually no ability to monitor or limit its use."

News Release from Symantec

Symantec Survey Reveals Significant Adoption of Enterprise Mobile Apps, IT Focuses on Balancing Benefits and Risks
 
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Feb. 22, 2012 – Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced the results of its 2012 State of Mobility Survey, which revealed a global tipping point in mobility adoption. The survey highlighted an uptake in mobile applications across organizations with 71 percent of enterprises at least discussing deploying custom mobile applications and one-third currently implementing or have already implemented custom mobile applications.

Despite this adoption, almost half (48 percent) of survey respondents mentioned that mobility is somewhat to extremely challenging and a further 41 percent of survey respondents identified mobile devices as one of their top three IT risks. Yet in the face of these challenges, IT is striking a balance between mobile benefits and risks by transforming its approach to mobility to deliver improved business agility, increased productivity and workforce effectiveness.

Click to Tweet: 71% of organizations are already using or planning to use custom mobile applications: http://bit.ly/xUEG5F

“We are impressed by the pace of mobile application adoption within organizations,” said CJ Desai, senior vice president, Endpoint and Mobility Group, Symantec. “This cultural change from refusing mobile devices not long ago, to actively distributing and developing mobile applications, has introduced a new set of challenges and complexities for IT staff. Encouragingly, from a security perspective, a majority of organizations are thinking beyond the simple case of lost or stolen mobile phones.”

The State of Mobility Survey reveals the challenges organizations are grappling with in accommodating the mobility tipping point and also identifies and quantifies mobility-associated risks as perceived by IT decision makers. In this survey, more than 6,000 organizations from 43 countries bring to light the change in the usage of mobile devices and mobile applications.

Mobile Devices Now Critical Business Tools
The significant adoption of mobile applications demonstrates remarkable confidence, by organizations, in the ability for mobility to deliver value. This confidence is further supported by a rare alignment between expectations and reality. Generally, the gains expected from new technologies far exceed the reality upon implementation. However, for the smartphones and tablets currently in use, 70 percent of those surveyed expected to see increased employee productivity, yet 77 percent actually saw productivity gains after implementing. Furthermore, 59 percent of respondents are now relying on mobile devices for line-of-business applications, another sign that mobility has graduated to mainstream status.

Mobile Initiatives Significantly Impacting IT Resources
As with the adoption of any new technology, mobility is challenging IT organizations. Almost half (48 percent) of respondents mentioned that mobility is somewhat to extremely challenging, while two thirds noted that reducing the cost and complexity is one of their top business objectives. In Symantec’s view, this increased pain level indicates the transition from small pilots and tactical implementations − where policies are often bypassed and exceptions are made − to enterprise-wide deployments where policy standards across a larger scale introduce greater complexity. This also suggests that many implementations are not yet taking sufficient advantage of their existing enterprise systems and processes, which would alleviate much of the pain and cost that comes with larger scale and resource duplication.

Mobility Risks Impacting Organizations
Mobile adoption is not without risks, and IT organizations recognize this challenge. Approximately three out of four organizations indicate maintaining a high level of security is a top business objective for mobility and 41 percent identified mobile devices as one of the top three IT risks, making it the leading risk cited by IT. Concerns are wide-ranging, from lost and stolen devices, data leakage, unauthorized access to corporate resources and the spread of malware infections from mobile devices to the company network. With mobile devices now delivering critical business processes and data, the cost of security incidents can be significant. The average annual cost of mobile incidents for enterprises, including data loss, damage to the brand, productivity loss, and loss of customer trust was USD$429,000 for enterprise. The average annual cost of mobile incidents for small businesses was USD$126,000.

Recommendations
Organizations that choose to embrace mobility, without compromising on security, are most likely to improve business processes and achieve productivity gains. To this end, organizations should consider developing a mobile strategy that defines the organization’s mobile culture and aligns with their security risk tolerance.

Some key recommendations include:
Enable broadly: Mobility offers tremendous opportunities for organizations of all sizes. Explore how you can take advantage of mobility and develop a phased approach to build an ecosystem that supports your plan. To get the most from mobile advances, plan for line-of-business mobile applications that have mainstream use. Employees will use mobile devices for business one way or another – make it on your terms.
Think strategically: Build a realistic assessment of the ultimate scale of your mobile business plan and its impact on your infrastructure. Think beyond email. Explore all of the mobile opportunities that can be introduced and understand the risks and threats that need to be mitigated. As you plan, take a cross-functional approach to securing sensitive data no matter where it might end up.
Manage efficiently: Mobile devices are legitimate endpoints that require the same attention given to traditional PCs. Many of the processes, policies, education and technologies that are leveraged for desktops and laptops are also applicable to mobile platforms. So the management of mobile devices should be integrated into the overall IT management framework and administered in the same way – ideally using compatible solutions and unified policies. This creates operational efficiencies and lowers the total cost of ownership.
Enforce Appropriately: As more employees connect their personal devices to the corporate network, organizations need to modify their acceptable usage policies to accommodate both corporate-owned and personally-owned devices. Management and security levers will need to differ based on ownership of the device and the associated controls that the organization requires. Employees will continue to add devices to the corporate network to make their jobs more efficient and enjoyable so organizations must plan for this legally, operationally and culturally.
Secure comprehensively: Look beyond basic password, wipe and application blocking policies. Focus on the information and where it is viewed, transmitted and stored. Integrating with existing data loss prevention, encryption and authentication policies will ensure consistent corporate and regulatory compliance.
Symantec’s 2012 State of Mobility Survey
Symantec’s 2012 State of Mobility Survey was conducted by Applied Research from August-November 2011. The results are based on 6,275 organizations in 43 countries in North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), Asia Pacific, Japan and Latin America. Among small businesses, we spoke with the person in charge of IT. Among enterprises, we contacted senior IT and C-level professionals. For the purposes of this survey, mobile devices refer to handheld devices such as the Blackberry Smartphone, iPhone, Android, iTouch and other similar devices. Laptops are not included in the definition of mobile devices.

Resources
State of Mobility Survey Report
Infographic: Enterprises At The Tipping Point In Mobile Adoption
SlideShare Presentation: State of Mobility Global Results
Mobility: Rising to the Challenge Blog
Mobility in Business Today Blog
State of Mobility Survey Press Kit
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