Category Archives: Mobile

App Store, Citrix, iPad, Mobile, ShareFile, Storage

Citrix Enhances ShareFile Cloud Data Sharing for iPad

Image representing iPad as depicted in CrunchBase

Citrix today released major updates to its ShareFile app for iPad, designed to provide a collaborative work experience on the go. Today’s advancements enhance the company’s popular file sharing service with new IT control capabilities to ensure the security of company data when accessed from a mobile device and productivity features for users. ShareFile for iPad is available immediately for download from the App Store.

“The needs of our customers are at the forefront of every design choice that we make,” said Jesse Lipson, VP and GM, Data Sharing, Citrix. “Our customers – from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies – live mobile workstyles and expect it to be easy to store and share their files and content from anywhere. ShareFile for iPad provides a powerful user experience while meeting IT’s mandate for security.”

What Is New

  • Intelligent device security policies: New “poison pill” option
    enables IT to set data expiration policies, plus multiple preferences
    settings allow IT to decide whether files can be opened in third-party
    applications or saved offline.
  • Enterprise Active Directory integration: ShareFile for iPad
    connects to Active Directory and SAML enterprise identities for a more
    seamless and secure user experience.
  • Improved auditing and reporting: Enhanced capabilities help IT
    to track and log user activity.
  • Offline access: Advanced options allow users to save files
    locally for offline access and editing.
  • Quickoffice integration: Integration with Quickoffice enables
    users to edit Microsoft Office documents and save them back to
    ShareFile.
  • Easy access to multiple accounts: Redesigned interface makes it
    simple to view multiple ShareFile accounts and folders, providing
    users with easy access to all of their data.


Customer Relationship Management, M&A Activity, Mobile, Telecommunication, Xerox

Xerox Acquires UK-based WDS for Wireless Customer Experience Management

Xerox  has signed a definitive agreement to acquire WDS, a firm that provides technical support, knowledge management and related consulting to the world’s largest wireless telecommunication brands.

WDS uses a proprietary cloud-based platform called GlobalMineTM to capture, analyze and manage millions of technical support interactions across thousands of different mobile device types. WDS uses this data to help clients adjust, in real-time, any systemic issues and/or customer experience problems that their end-users may be experiencing with their devices or service.

Based in the United Kingdom, WDS has over 2,000 employees in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

“WDS’s expertise in the telecommunications industry strengthens Xerox’s already broad portfolio of customer care solutions – differentiating us as a trusted partner for a rapidly evolving industry that requires reliable, accessible and scalable ways to support the complexity of their consumers’ needs,” said Chris Tranquill, president of the Xerox Telecommunications and Technology group.

Through its more than 48,000 call center employees who support clients in 150 locations, Xerox is a leading provider of customer care solutions, handling more than a million consumer interactions every day via the phone and Web.

Founded in 1995, WDS is led by CEO David Ffoulkes-Jones, who will continue with the company after the acquisition closes. “By focusing on the customer experience, wireless brands can drive greater loyalty and differentiation,” said Ffoulkes-Jones. “With Xerox, we now have the ability to accelerate our global expansion, add more value to our customers and deliver greater opportunities to our employees.”


Customer Relationship Management, M&A Activity, Mobile, Technical support, Xerox

Xerox Acquires UK-based WDS for Wireless Customer Experience Management

Xerox  has signed a definitive agreement to acquire WDS, a firm that provides technical support, knowledge management and related consulting to the world’s largest wireless telecommunication brands.

WDS uses a proprietary cloud-based platform called GlobalMineTM to capture, analyze and manage millions of technical support interactions across thousands of different mobile device types. WDS uses this data to help clients adjust, in real-time, any systemic issues and/or customer experience problems that their end-users may be experiencing with their devices or service.

Based in the United Kingdom, WDS has over 2,000 employees in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

“WDS’s expertise in the telecommunications industry strengthens Xerox’s already broad portfolio of customer care solutions – differentiating us as a trusted partner for a rapidly evolving industry that requires reliable, accessible and scalable ways to support the complexity of their consumers’ needs,” said Chris Tranquill, president of the Xerox Telecommunications and Technology group.

Through its more than 48,000 call center employees who support clients in 150 locations, Xerox is a leading provider of customer care solutions, handling more than a million consumer interactions every day via the phone and Web.

Founded in 1995, WDS is led by CEO David Ffoulkes-Jones, who will continue with the company after the acquisition closes. “By focusing on the customer experience, wireless brands can drive greater loyalty and differentiation,” said Ffoulkes-Jones. “With Xerox, we now have the ability to accelerate our global expansion, add more value to our customers and deliver greater opportunities to our employees.”


Customer Relationship Management, Customer service, M&A Activity, Mobile, Technical support, Telecommunication, Xerox

Xerox Acquires UK-based WDS for Wireless Customer Experience Management

Xerox  has signed a definitive agreement to acquire WDS, a firm that provides technical support, knowledge management and related consulting to the world’s largest wireless telecommunication brands.

WDS uses a proprietary cloud-based platform called GlobalMineTM to capture, analyze and manage millions of technical support interactions across thousands of different mobile device types. WDS uses this data to help clients adjust, in real-time, any systemic issues and/or customer experience problems that their end-users may be experiencing with their devices or service.

Based in the United Kingdom, WDS has over 2,000 employees in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

“WDS’s expertise in the telecommunications industry strengthens Xerox’s already broad portfolio of customer care solutions – differentiating us as a trusted partner for a rapidly evolving industry that requires reliable, accessible and scalable ways to support the complexity of their consumers’ needs,” said Chris Tranquill, president of the Xerox Telecommunications and Technology group.

Through its more than 48,000 call center employees who support clients in 150 locations, Xerox is a leading provider of customer care solutions, handling more than a million consumer interactions every day via the phone and Web.

Founded in 1995, WDS is led by CEO David Ffoulkes-Jones, who will continue with the company after the acquisition closes. “By focusing on the customer experience, wireless brands can drive greater loyalty and differentiation,” said Ffoulkes-Jones. “With Xerox, we now have the ability to accelerate our global expansion, add more value to our customers and deliver greater opportunities to our employees.”


Health care provider, LifeWatch, Medical, Medicine, Mobile, Smartphone

LifeWatch V: Smartphone with Healthcare Sensors Built In

LifeWatch AG, a wireless cardiac monitoring service and home sleep test provider in the U.S.,  today released LifeWatch V, a healthcare smartphone. The smartphone allows patients as well as health- and wellbeing-conscious consumers to self-operate a wide range of embedded medical sensors, wellness-related applications, cloud-based services and 24/7 call center support.

By using the barely visible sensors on the phone’s frame, patients as well as health- and wellbeing conscious consumers can track, capture, collect and analyze their health and medical measurements anywhere anytime. The features include ECG, body temperature, blood glucose, heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, body fat percentage and stress levels (heart rate variability). All collected data can be retrieved from the cloud for a follow-up anytime anywhere. Users can thus take corrective action, plan their diets and activities, securely share the information with a health provider or family member, trend and analyze the data and more. Patients are also able to program the unit to remind them of their drug type, dose and intake time.

LifeWatch V was designed with a flexible service-product ecosystem in mind, allowing easy integration of services. The LifeWatch V handset unit includes a service enablement platform to support the transmission of medical data to be analyzed, evaluated and communicated to health professionals and call center personnel around the clock. The device wirelessly interacts with a cloud-based environment allowing users direct access to a wide range of valuable complementary medical and wellness related services.

LifeWatch intends to launch the healthcare solution smartphone world-wide. In the initial markets LifeWatch has identified several local partners to enter into strategic partnerships.


Blackberry, iPhone, Mobile, ShoreTel, Telecommunications, Unified Communications, Voice

ShoreTels Cloud Division Announces Unified Communications for iOS, Android, Blackberry

Image representing iPhone as depicted in Crunc...

ShoreTel today announced the release of ShoreTel Mobility for customers of ShoreTel’s M5 cloud division. The solution extends the voice and unified communications (UC) applications businesses love to the smartphone. The initial launch will support iPhones and subsequent releases over the summer will add support for other smartphone and tablet devices including Android and Blackberry. Users are able to leverage a single converged device for both business and personal communications, and access deskphone and UC capabilities on their iPhone without having to learn a new interface.

In addition to offering users a dual persona, ensuring easy separation of personal and business identities on a single mobile device, ShoreTel Mobility automatically and securely selects the best available network – Wi-Fi or cellular – without any action by the user. The solution is available to ShoreTel’s Cloud Division clients for a monthly fee per user.

“I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on the ShoreTel Mobility application. I’ve been wanting this for 4 years now and I’m glad that M5, as part of ShoreTel, will be one of the first in the market. I have no doubt that true corporate mobility will improve productivity for our remote and traveling employees,” said Derek Stewart, Finance and Operations manager at Foursquare.

“The way people work has changed. Instead of fighting the trends of mobility and bring-your- own-device, we are empowering our clients to embrace them by extending our cloud phone system capabilities to the device that users love the most – their own,” said Dan Hoffman, ShoreTel Cloud Division President. “The solution represents a win-win, giving our customers the ease of using the device that is already in their pocket and giving the enterprise a way to reduce costs, while maintaining a consistent corporate identity and caller experience.”

Users enjoy the following benefits:

  • Identity – Business calls to and from any ShoreTel Mobility
    user are made using their business phone number, not their personal
    mobile number. This means corporate identity is maintained and the
    company, not the employee, owns the contact relationship. Employees no
    longer need to reveal personal mobile phone numbers and can instantly
    tell if an incoming call to the mobile device is personal or work
    related.
  • Convenience – Users can leverage all of the benefits of the M5
    cloud business-phone system that they enjoy when using a deskphone
    including: transferring calls to other employees and utilizing
    four-digit dialing. Coaching tools such as barge and whisper are
    available to management.
  • Metrics – Mobile calls are no longer omitted from the phone
    system’s business intelligence. Records for business calls made to and
    from the mobile device are included along with deskphone calls, giving
    management true visibility into employee performance and the health of
    the business.
  • Network Flexibility – ShoreTel Mobility can significantly
    reduce direct dial and international roaming charges on the smartphone
    by utilizing software that switches networks automatically,
    intelligently and securely between wireless and cellular for the best
    available coverage at any given moment.

For more information about ShoreTel Mobility in the cloud, the M5 Unified Communications Suite, or other products, please visit www.m5.net.


CloudTest, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Mobile, Mobile operating system, SOASTA, Tools

SOASTA Releases CloudTest Mobile Test Automation Platform for iOS

SOASTA today released CloudTest Mobile, to deliver complete performance and functional test automation of mobile apps across distributed mobile devices. The CloudTest Mobile platform provides precise capture and playback of all continuous touch gestures including pan, pinch, zoom and scroll on iPhones, iPads, and iPods. See the CloudTest Mobile demonstration here.

Today, mobile developers can easily automate the testing of their mobile apps on iOS 6. CloudTest’s unique approach of residing inside the app allows developers to precisely test their apps when new mobile operating systems are released.

“Starting today, developers are working on iOS 6 versions of their Apps and automated functional testing is a real problem for these developers,” stated Tal Broda, VP, Engineering, at SOASTA. “Today, CloudTest provides full support for capture and playback of any App running on iOS 6 including any gesture or any UI element.”

SOASTA also announced today support for Appcelerator Titanium 2.0 platform, which gives Appcelerator’s 300,000 mobile developers seamless access to CloudTest Mobile’s test automation capabilities. See release here.

“The explosion of web and mobile applications along with the proliferation of mobile devices, makes manual testing obsolete. With today’s rapid development cycles, time to market requirements and technology changes, developers require a new set of automation solutions to support multi-touch gestures and 3D gaming,” comments Tom Lounibos, CEO SOASTA. “Now, with CloudTest Mobile, developers can quickly develop, test and deliver their mobile applications with the quality their users expect. Our support for Titanium 2.0 will make this especially seamless for Appcelerator’s mobile developer community.”

CloudTest Mobile delivers affordable, accurate, and complete mobile app testing using real mobile devices. Traditional testing solutions have employed device emulators and optical recognition approaches that are not precise or reliable enough to test this generation of mobile apps. CloudTest Mobile captures the start and end points of each gesture, the journey between, and the speed with which the gesture is performed. It uniquely conducts testing from within the mobile app, replacing brittle optical recognition approaches and enabling validations based on variable values and internal app state changes. Distributed mobile devices are accessed over the air, eliminating the need for tethering or “jail breaking” and allowing mobile devices – anywhere – to be used in a test.

CloudTest Mobile is available today. Download your free version of CloudTest Lite here. SOASTA will be hosting a webinar titled, “Are Your Mobile Apps Rock Star Ready?” on Tuesday, June 19 at 10:00am PST. For more information or to register, please click here.


Bytemobile, Citrix, Citrix Systems, M&A Activity, Mobile, Mobile network operator, Video

Citrix Acquires Mobile Data, Video Optimization Provider Bytemobile

Image representing Bytemobile as depicted in C...

Citrix today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Bytemobile, a leading provider of data and video optimization solutions for mobile network operators. This acquisition gives Citrix a key strategic foothold in the core infrastructure of more than 130 mobile operators in 60 countries around the world, significantly extending the company’s market reach, and enhancing the broader Citrix strategy of powering mobile workstyles and cloud services.

With the advent of the Cloud Era, mobile operators are experiencing explosive growth in network traffic, driven by the combination of new consumer devices, rich multimedia content, and high speed 3G, 4G and LTE networks. By joining forces, Citrix and Bytemobile will be able to offer these operators combined solutions that deliver a high quality user experience to mobile subscribers, while helping operators manage the exponential growth of mobile network traffic with the best performance, visibility and efficiency. The acquisition builds on a strategic partnership announced earlier this year that combined the Bytemobile Smart Capacity™ technology with the Citrix NetScaler® line of cloud networking solutions.

This transaction has been approved by the board of directors of each company and is expected to close during the third quarter of 2012. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Citrix expects to discuss the acquisition in greater detail when it reports financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012. Upon the close of this acquisition, Bytemobile will form a new Service Provider Platforms team as part of the Citrix Cloud Networking product group.

The acquisition of Bytemobile expands the market reach of Citrix from its existing leadership position with enterprise and cloud provider customers, into the rapidly growing mobile telecommunications space. Bytemobile brings Citrix leading technology, award-winning products, a strong customer base, and 12 years of customer relationships and deployment experience in mobile telecommunications. Bytemobile customers today serve more than 2 billion subscribers and process more than 20 petabytes of data traffic through customer networks daily.

Based near Citrix Silicon Valley headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., Bytemobile has approximately 300 employees, including product, sales and services teams around the world. In addition to optimizing mobile data and video traffic, Bytemobile solutions enable mobile operators to differentiate data service plans based on a wide variety of factors, including quality of experience and subscriber usage.

“The cloud and mobile revolutions are rapidly converging, and mobile operators are at the heart of this convergence,” said Klaus Oestermann, group vice president and general manager of cloud networking at Citrix. “With the integration of Bytemobile technology, products and intellectual capital, Citrix will be uniquely positioned to be a leader in the global mobile data and video infrastructure market in the LTE era.”

Since announcing their earlier strategic partnership at Mobile World Congress in February 2012, Citrix and Bytemobile have collaborated to deliver the Bytemobile T1100 Traffic Director, which helps operators scale next-generation mobile networks and apps with the application delivery intelligence and performance of the NEBS-compliant Citrix NetScaler platform. With this acquisition, Citrix and Bytemobile will further accelerate the ability to bring mobile operators a wide range of powerful solutions to enable mobile workstyles and power cloud services.

“The integration of Bytemobile will enable us to extend our value proposition to the edge of the network, bringing content closer to the end user,” continued Oestermann. “The benefits to network operators and their subscribers include faster, more efficient, more reliable, and more manageable networks; higher performance resulting in better service and a better user experience; and scalability to process growing volumes of data traffic at a much lower cost.”

Citrix plans to build on Bytemobile as the center of its go-to-market strategy for mobile network operators – retaining and growing its investment in the Bytemobile brand, technology, products, employees and customer relationships. Bytemobile will continue as an independent product group within the Citrix cloud networking group, leveraging clear synergies with adjacent technologies such as Citrix NetScaler.

“We are excited about the significance of this transaction for the industry, our customers, our employees, and our stockholders,” said Chris Koopmans, chief operating officer of Bytemobile. “With the rollout of LTE and other next-generation networks, the mobile data market is poised to grow dramatically in the coming years. The addition of Bytemobile solutions to the Citrix portfolio will accelerate the fulfillment of our vision and investment in the future of the industry.”


App Store (iOS), Business Processes, Collaboration, iPad, Mobile

FileTrek Releases Management Tool on iPad

Image representing iPad as depicted in CrunchBase

FileTrek, Inc. today released FileTrek for iPad, a management dashboard tool designed for workgroup managers and other team members to easily and transparently track the flow of projects, data and collaborative activity while on the go. FileTrek for iPad provides live activity updates of projects, displays how project files are related and how those files are being changed, with real-time data syncing and updates. The FileTrek iPad app is built for members of workgroups that require timely distribution of frequently updated files and the ability to track those files and data wherever it resides.

“The speed of the mobile work environment can make it very difficult for managers and team members alike to meet in-person to review and report on the status of shared projects,” said Carol Mason, Director of Product Management at FileTrek. “Managers want to view data and activity while on the go, and team members want to report the status of their work without having to write a report or make a phone call. FileTrek for iPad simultaneously presents three up-to-date feeds of information – people, projects and data, all on a single pane of glass. It will change everyone’s mindset as to how to get projects done with greater efficiency, and even have some fun while doing it.”

The dashboard app is an extension of the FileTrek solution launched on February 15, 2012. The application is the only combined cloud-based file sharing and tracking solution on the market. FileTrek is designed to allow secure file sharing, project collaboration, and the ability for managers to track content and data with enhanced compliance-friendly audit reporting. The solution is easy to use, transparent to users and can scale across thousands of desktops and mobile devices to maximize individual and workgroup productivity.

FileTrek for iPad features include:

With FileTrek for iPad, a worker in the field can access data through a tablet and have the same secure view of spreadsheets, presentations and memos as a manager in the company offices. Any existing FileTrek project or document that has been synced or shared can be added to the dashboard with a single click. There are no limits to the number of “favorite” projects, people and files that can be tracked.

FileTrek’s innovative data tracking feature allows users to obtain a comprehensive view of all activity within a workgroup or project, who has worked on it, and the various changes that have been made to it. The app provides reliable access to the most recent versions. A file map tracks project dependencies and illustrates how files are related.

Receive live activity updates of all your FileTrek projects, access and revisions. You can see up-to-date sharing activity within a project, who has been added, who has been removed, information on what files have been reviewed, changed or removed, An intuitive cover flow interface allows users can visually flip through snapshots of files to easily access and view all the documents and files related to the project(s) they are working on.

FileTrek for iPad is an innovative solution for people that manage multiple projects at any given time such as sales staff, real estate agents, creative services professionals, health care providers, etc. The dashboard is particularly useful for members of workgroups that require timely distribution of frequently updated files.

FileTrek for iPad is free and available now for existing Team and Enterprise accounts from the iOS App Store. Follow this link to download. For any company registering a new Team or Enterprise account with 20+ users on an annual purchase plan prior to July 31, 2012, they will receive a new iPad free.


China, Financial Services, Mobile, Mobile payment, Partnerships, Payment

i2c, KargoCard Partner for Prepaid, Mobile Payments, Loyalty Solutions in China

i2c, Inc., a payment processing technology company, and KargoCard, a Shanghai-based prepaid service provider, have partnered to deliver prepaid, mobile payment and loyalty solutions to merchants in China. i2c will provide payment processing services to enable KargoCard to offer a robust suite of products within China.

“KargoCard is an established leader in their market with a rapidly growing distribution network, strong management team and an impressive client list,” said Amir Wain, CEO of i2c. “Their drive to revolutionize the Chinese payments industry aligns perfectly with i2c’s commitment to bring innovation to global payments.”

In a recent report by Mercator Advisory Group, China was estimated to be the world’s largest prepaid market in terms of market potential. With several high-profile clients like Beard Papa, Happy Lemon and Cloud Nine, KargoCard is set to grow exponentially in this market. To support KargoCard and i2c’s growing presence in the Asia-Pacific region, i2c is building out a new data center in Shanghai.

“Our tremendous growth and aggressive expansion plans require an established processing platform that offers superior flexibility and scalability. i2c’s platform provides this, as well as a rich feature set that will allow us to better serve our customers,” said KargoCard CEO David Suzuki.