Archive for August, 2009

Is That a Projector in Your Pocket?

Thursday, August 13th, 2009 | located in mobility | No Comments »

A recent article in Forbes about cell phone manufacturers adding video projection capabilities to smart phones and PDAs got me thinking about the mobility benefits of such a product.

A salesperson’s array of hardware to pack for road trips has definitely grown over the years—but (thankfully) has also shrunk in size and weight. Laptops and cell phones, for example are much lighter and smaller. And mini LED projectors, I discovered, are not only much smaller—3M makes one that apparently fits in your shirt pocket—but also much less expensive (around $350 to $800 US). The point is, now salespeople have a viable option for showing business presentations to clients using a projector rather than a tiny laptop screen.

In 2010, mini projectors are expected to not only grow even smaller, but actually become part of cell phones themselves. Samsung is now shipping a mobile phone with an embedded LED projector to customers in Korea, and says its Samsung I7410 phone will be available to customers in the European market later this year. The phone is supposed to project Powerpoint slides and product images, for example, up to 50 inches in height, and include a 5-megapixel camera and high-resolution, color touch screen. The phone is expected to cost a whopping $980 US.

Assuming projection quality is decent, is this kind of compact functionality worth the price? Analysts seem to think so—sales of embedded projectors are expected to exceed $1.1 billion by 2012, according to Insight Media.

How likely are you to buy such a device? Would a built-in projector help your team increase sales?

How Secure is Your Smart Phone?

Thursday, August 6th, 2009 | located in Tips and Tricks | No Comments »

Have you ever put your phone down in a busy restaurant and ALMOST forgotten to pick it up again after paying the check? Or felt your pockets just before exiting a cab or airport security check and noticed you’d left your phone behind? These specific scenarios might not strike a chord of recognition with everyone, but most people I know have either lost a mobile phone or come close to losing one at one time or another.

In the past, losing a mobile phone—or worse, having yours stolen—may not have been a big deal (beyond the phone itself, would-be thieves might gain some personal phone numbers and make some unauthorized calls). But today’s era of smart phones and business mobility raises the security stakes significantly. For mobile business users, a lost or stolen mobile phone is more than just the absence of the device itself. It’s the loss of important, often competitively sensitive information—recent strategic emails and phone messages to sales contacts, for example, and even access to corporate database systems.

So how do you protect yourself? Awareness is the best defense against identity theft, fraud, and trade espionage. The more you know, the better you can prepare yourself for the unexpected. The following tips might just help keep you safer than sorrier:

1. Make sure mobile business users know the risks and understand the need to secure their devices.
2. Use passwords to secure access to your mobile phone.
3. Use encryption when possible to secure data.
4. Use software firewalls, patch management, antivirus and antispyware software.
5. Use a belt clip or purse lease to attach your phone to you physically when travelling.

Got your own ideas for protecting mobile data? Let us know your thoughts.