Month: March 2015

Raz Tourgman

As an Android developer here at Nubo, it’s a safe bet to assume that most of the time you can find me coding diligently at my desk. It’s rare that I get to experience a change of pace, so when my CEO asked me to join him at our booth for last week’s Cybertech 2015 conference I was game to put on different hat and venture out to connect with the outside world.

This year’s event drew information security professionals from all over the world including CISOs, CIOs, R&D execs, tech integrators, resellers and consultants. Not too long after the conference kicked off, I realized there wasn’t much time to “warm up” as flocks of curious attendees flooded the startup pavilion. Before I knew it I was a one-man VMI marketing machine! Whether they’d heard of Virtual Mobile Infrastructure yet or not, I welcomed the challenge of illustrating our security architecture and what makes it different from other enterprise mobility and security solutions.

At Nubo I focus on the front-end side of our mobile platform and how to maximize user experience. A large part of this is customizing the platform and our communications trunk for the Android OS. Our team also developed the Control Panel so that administrators can customize users and groups and other configurations in an easy and intuitive manner. We’ve also created a real-time, “WhatsApp” style messaging app so employees can communicate and collaborate with each other.

Above all, our main challenge is to design an app capable of working within a virtual environment, and give users the exact same experience they’re use to with their favorite consumer apps. Essentially Nubo is a virtual device located on a remote server which can be accessed by users’ mobile devices.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had the opportunity to see new faces and get out and connect with them in a less formal setting. It also gave me an opportunity to learn about the myriad of other emerging data protection innovations, such as malware scanning agents and customized OSs.

I met such a diversity of attendees that came from all over Europe (Holland, Spain, Germany, France, Ireland and the UK), Asia (Japan, South Korea, China), Canada, the United States and South Africa. Before I knew it I was a VMI marketing machine, emphasizing to all the unique value Nubo brings to enterprises and their employees.

It was a rewarding and enlightening experience. Meeting with fellow tech and mobility pros as well as consumers lets you hear first-hand what is most important to them, what their priorities are when it comes to working remotely and which mobile applications and features they need the most. This feedback always helps me in understanding the users’ needs and keeping this in mind in my work.

Also receiving such positive feedback from people showing genuine interest in what Nubo can do for their business makes me appreciate the work our team is doing that much more.

Although I’m content returning to the office and to my coding, I’d jump at the chance to get back out and connect with our peers in the vast and fascinating tech ecosystem.

See you at next year’s Cybertech conference!

Israel Lifshitz

When we’re looking for a device nowadays that meets both our personal and business needs it’s easy to forget how spoilt for choice our generation has become. Today keeping up with the torrid pace of mobile hardware and software aimed at making our lives easier can seem like a project in it of itself. But sometimes I remember a different time just before the consumerization of IT went mobile full throttle, when I decided that my laptop just wasn’t enough and shopped for my first portable computer…

I remember it like it was yesterday. The year was 2006, and I was eating, sleeping and breathing my first venture, SysAid Technologies. We were a much, much smaller company back then – 30 people all-in-all. Three years after starting the company, SysAid began to hit stride in its development. Our ideas were taking shape, and our customer traffic was picking up steam and taking off. All of our sales were online, so we needed to receive orders and turn around customer issues 24/7. It was an exhilarating time.

But personally, I was feeling a new kind of pressure and like many entrepreneurs can relate, my notion of what a work-around-the-clock lifestyle meant was redefining itself all the time. Connecting to my business from my home or office simply wasn’t enough anymore. I needed access to my work life no matter where I was. And I didn’t want to carry two devices, one for phone calls and the other for computing. Off I went on my quest for my first BYOD device…

I’d heard about the latest PDAs coming out at the time and how they combined GPS and internet capabilities, with all of the cellular calling and messaging features I had on my Nokia 6010, which I was itching to replace. But what I needed more than anything was online access in a fast, easy, mobile-friendly way.

This was so I could keep track of my customers through our CRM and help desk applications. As I looked at my Nokia, I thought to myself, “Why would I get another cellular phone when I can have one device that can do it all”. And then I discovered my first BYOD device: The HP iPaq hw6915.

HPiPaq

The features listed for this Windows mobile device more than impressed me – they had me at hello. This handset had received great reviews on its effortless Bluetooth connection and quick and reliable wireless network, which was vital for me to stay in the loop on all of the tasks and projects we were managing. The QWERTY keypad promised to blow away the T9 texting of my older device, and I could view applications on a 76mm color screen. I also thought the stylus pen was a nice touch and expected it to become a go-to tool that enhanced my user experience.

In addition to my mobility needs, the iPaq was just as alluring for the gadgetry that could enhance my personal life. I was excited to use the GPS navigation for family or business trips. “I now have a tool that will change my life”, I thought excitedly.

But like those summer blockbuster films with eye-popping trailers that almost always end up disappointing, I realized pretty quickly that my new gadget wasn’t the smoothest tool in the shed. Completing phone calls took longer than it should have which was surprising even back then, and browsing the internet was rough and cumbersome to say the least. My screen looked back at me as if it was screaming “stop trying to cram your desktop interface into me!” I tried to ease both of our pain by using the zoom function, which was particularly brutal. Mobile UX was just an unconfirmed rumor.

After my first week of using the iPaq, it was heartbreakingly obvious that this device wasn’t what I imagined. I looked forward at least to using this phone’s GPS on a weekend road trip. Because the phone didn’t come with any navigation software out of the box, I installed some very expensive software but even then it still wouldn’t work properly on the device.

My vision of finding the device that could do it all had been swiftly and unequivocally shattered. One week was all it took for me to make the divorce complete. For the time being, my solution was to go right back to my old Nokia phone and my laptop.

One year later, my friend kept raving about another new and hyped device, Apple’s first iPhone. I wasn’t on the Apple bandwagon like many others back then and was hesitant to buy into the hype. When a coworker showed me his and let me play with its features, I saw how easy it was to browse and pinch in and out of web pages and photos.

iPhone

I like much of the rest of world knew smartphone technology had just taken an evolutionary leap. I was sold hook, line and sinker. Don’t get me wrong, the first generation iPhone was far from perfect and I remember losing a lot of dropped calls. But as far as its browser and email, I was able to use my most critical business applications in a way I’d never experienced before on a mobile device.

This may have been before BYOD became the buzzword for the age that our enterprise culture was heading, but innovations that helped make mobile productivity easier were partly what inspired me not just be a BYOD believer, but to contribute to the advancement and security of our mobile work experience.

Today, as I continue to learn and work with my team at Nubo towards making Virtual Mobile Infrastructure the new BYOD reality, I still never fail to get a kick out of the innovative devices, apps and wearables that are transforming both our work and life. Every now and then I get taken back to the first time I tried to BYOD with my HP iPaq and it’s amazing how far we’ve come. Perhaps the only thing more amazing, is where we’re going.

David Abbou

The year’s Mobile World Congress wrapped up on Friday and as usual this conference was the perfect platform for many of the industry’s most recognizable players to announce their latest and greatest in gadgetry. Here’s a look at upcoming devices that you’re most likely you see popping in the enterprise:

Samsung strikes back with the S6 and S6 Edge

No sooner had the latest 2014 Q4 sales figures come out showing that Apple had surpassed its rivals in worldwide smartphone sales did Samsung fire back with its new handsets, the S6 and S6 Edge. Consumers are especially interested at this time to see if Samsung has done anything to distinguish itself from the rest of the Android market, which is flooded with low-cost alternatives that have been gnawing away at its market-share. The Galaxy S6 definitely sports some noticeable differences from the Galaxy S5 and even similarities to the iPhone, starting with design. This new iteration looks markedly more sharper and has a more upscale look and feel. Goodbye plastic frame, hello metal and glass. With the S6 Edge, they’ve also thrown in a curved glass display which extends half-way down either side of the device and give it a truly premium look. These models however are not waterproof like the 5, and the removable battery is no longer as well. The Exynos process is also a question mark and it will be interesting to see how it performs against the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 used by most other Android offerings, but its promised fast-charger claims it can boost your phone by 30 percent in 30 minutes. Both phones also have wireless charging built in. Although it won’t announce Samsung Pay for another few months, an improved fingerprint reader demonstrates a readiness to handle mobile payments.

Both the S6 and S6 Edge, are virtually identical in size, so it will be interesting to see which of the two wins over more consumers, and if that will be enough to snatch back market share from the iPhone. They hit the market in April.

Microsoft angling to be budget kings with the Lumia 640 and 640 XL

Also coming out in April, Microsoft twin Lumia models are aiming to conquer the budget price-bracket with its new smartphone and tablet, the 640 and 640 XL. They come with a free one-year subscription to Office 365, which permits installing the software on one more laptop or PC. They both come in a plastic frame, but while the 640 looks and feels like a budget phone, the 5.7-inch 640 XL has a matte finish that gives it a much more polished look. Both have identical, 8GB storage and up to 128GB on the microSD card. You also get up to 30GB of free OneDrive storage. But for consumers and BYOD users who don’t want to fork over the kind of cash demanded by iOS and Android models, these Windows Phones offer an impressive incentive to give them a spin instead.

The 640 will run you just $155 US while the 640 XL will cost $240 US. It’s widely expected that both of these models will be upgradeable to Windows 10 when Microsoft rolls them out in the fall.

How Will Silent Circle’s Blackphone 2 Impact the Enterprise BYOD Model?

Swiss-based SGP Technologies first targeted security-conscious mobile professionals with the Blackphone last June. Its Blackphone 2 is a step up in design with an all-glass frame and larger HD display. It also includes more RAM and a longer lasting battery.

But more importantly, SGP revealed that they will now be shifting priority to selling its devices and encrypted comms software to enterprises. Blackphone’s PrivatOS is considered a more privacy-focused Android OS, and the Blackphone 2 is designed to integrate with MDM systems.

Sony releases its new Xperia Tablet 3, no check that 4…!

It seems like only a year ago the Xperia Z2 Tablet was announced at the last Mobile World Congress. Wait… yes… it was just a year ago! Then this past fall, the Z3 was unveiled. Now we’re being told to get ready for new Z4 Tablet, coming out in June. The Z4 however is more of a direct successor to the Z2 as the Z3 had a much smaller display and competed more so with the iPad mini. Running Android Lollipop 5.0, the Z4 Tablet has a 10.1-inch display and 6,000 mAh battery which promises 17 hours of video playback.

The camera at the back provides an 8.1 megapixel camera, while the one at the front is 5.1 megapixel. The slate, featuring 32 GB of built-in storage, is also waterproof and dust-resistant.