Mobility From A-Z: 50 Mobile Products We Love Right Now

Mobility From A-Z

When it comes to mobility, the key for solution providers is to translate technology expertise into sellable solutions. The BYOD movement has introduced a handful opportunities for solution providers beyond just simply selling smartphones and tablets. Here we present 50 technologies, apps and devices that enhance security, increase storage, boost productivity and everything else that will help solution providers get the most bang for their mobile buck.

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Absolute Software

Category: Security

Absolute Software has its software embedded into some Samsung mobile devices for constant location and monitoring capabilities. It also supports Samsung's Knox mobile security container functionality, which is designed to separate the personal and business data of device owners. The company is investing heavily in R&D, and its channel program has separate components for ISVs, systems integrators, resellers and distributors.

Abukai Expenses 2.0

Category: Software

In November 2012, Abukai released Abukai Expenses 2.0, a mobile solution that turns pictures of receipts taken by the user into full-blown expense reports. Its more recent integration with Dropbox delivers automatic backup copies of expense reports directly to a user's Dropbox account. Receipts can be reviewed just as they appear in paper copy and be customized to fit an enterprise's specific needs.

Acer W510

Category: Devices

What's cool about the Acer W510-1422 is its keyboard, which detaches, leaving the unit as a full-fledged tablet PC running Windows 8. It's powered by an Intel Atom Z2760, a dual-core 32-bit processor running at between 1.5GHz and 1.8GHz with 2 GB of DDR2 memory and a 64-GB SSD. The 10.1-inch backlit tablet screen has a viewing radius of 178 degrees and resolution of 1,366 x 768. There are front and rear cameras, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and HD audio.

AirWatch

Category: Security

AirWatch sells mobile device management software that has deep functionality to support mobile application control, giving enterprises the ability to whitelist or blacklist certain mobile apps. It also supports containerization to wrap specific apps to enforce policies, provide data encryption and force the use of a VPN. The company does not impact the device owner's personal data. AirWatch has extended partnerships with resellers, distributors and Infrastructure-as-a-Service providers.

Antenna Software's AMPchroma

Category: Software

Antenna Software's AMPchroma offers developers "prebuilt services for authentication, enterprise data integration, notification and geolocation" to speed up app deployment, the company said. The platform ensures security across third-party services and fits a wide range of devices found in a BYOD environment.

Apple iPhone 5

Category: Devices

Lighter than previous iPhones, the iPhone 5 houses a 326- ppi, 4-inch Retina display with a fingerprint-resistant coating over the screen. According to Apple, the 5 is more than twice as fast as the 4S due to the new A6 chip that can fly through graphics-intensive apps and sites quickly and smoothly. The 8-megapixel iSight camera boasts panoramic photos, more editing features and HD video recording. Siri is smarter than before, and additions such as the built-in Passbook app enhance the user experience.

Asus Transformer book Trio

Category: Devices

Asus claimed a world first when it released the dual-mode Transformer Book, a device that added more ports than most on its keyboard dock. Asus' Transformer Book Trio, however, adds a third stage—a desktop mode—to the mix. That is definitely a first for us, and clearly among the coolest solutions of the year.

ASUS VivoTab

Category: Devices

If you're looking for a little bit more from your tablet display, Asus has you covered with the VivoTab. The Windows 8-based Asus tablet boasts an 11.6-inch touch screen with a 366 x 768 display resolution. The Asus VivoTab comes with Intel's Atom Z2760 processor, 2 GB of RAM and a 64-GB SSD. The device also comes with a microHDMI port and a microSD card slot, plus an optional keyboard dock that turns it into a functional notebook.

BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10

Category: Software

Launches such as the smartphone company's BlackBerry 10 operating system and accompanying Z10 and Q10 smartphones were key, but the company's secret weapon is its BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, a mobile device management solution that provides security, application management and device management for not only BlackBerry phones, but for iOS and Android devices as well.

Blue Jeans Network Mobile App

Category: Networking

Blue Jeans wanted to make sure its videoconferencing service was accessible by even the most on-the-go users. That's why it launched a Blue Jeans iOS app for the iPhone and iPad. In addition to letting users host or join video calls with up to 25 participants, the app enables HD screen sharing and a calendar feature to keep track of meetings. The app works across a range of video and audio protocols.

Cisco Meraki Systems Manager

Category: Software

The Cisco Meraki Systems Manager puts a new spin on mobile device management software by giving administrators a centralized dashboard for the entire corporate network from mobile devices to the data center. Users can create detailed security policies, configure endpoints, and manage mobile apps and device access on smartphones and tablets.

Citrix XenDesktop 7

Category: Virtualization

Citrix's XenDesktop 7 unifies Microsoft Windows-based applications and desktops and delivers them as a service to any mobile device including iOS, Android, and Windows 8 tablet PCs and smartphones. Three primary manual tasks need to be done only once: workload provisioning, bulk application publishing and Windows application migration. It features the company’s HDX Mobile technology, which enables any Windows application to function intuitively and transparently on mobile devices.

Citrix XenMobile

Category: Software

Citric XenMobile is a secure and compliant solution that encompasses all mobile devices as well as applications. XenMobile lets IT control enterprise apps no matter the employee's device of choice. In the case of an employee leaving the business, IT can wipe all sensitive information from the personal device without interfering with personal data or information. Production applications not quite up to par in the security and compliance arenas are made up to par by XenMobile.

CTERA

Category: Storage

Solution providers looking for an alternative to prebuilt cloud solutions could consider building a private storage cloud with mobile access from a vendor such as Ctera. Ctera's enterprise cloud storage solution offers a WAN-optimized platform for deploying cloud storage applications to mobile workers, remote offices and branches via cloud storage gateways, endpoint agents, mobile apps and a cloud service delivery portal. It includes enterprise-class file sync and share capabilities between predefined teams or on an ad hoc basis, and provides access to data via users' own mobile devices

Dell Latitude 10

Category: Devices

This is an Atom-based tablet that runs Windows 8 as if it were built from the ground up to do so. And perhaps it was. People in retail, health-care and other industries will appreciate the long life of the Latitude 10's two-cell battery. An optional four-cell battery increases time between charges to about 14 hours. The 10.1-inch IPS multitouch panel is protected by Gorilla Glass and is bright and viewable from any angle.

DriveHeadquarters

Category: Storage

DriveHeadquarters, aka DriveHQ, provides an enterprise cloud service that includes remote file server, online backup, file sharing, folder synchronization, drop box, FTP, drive mapping, email and Web server hosting services. Customers can access 100 GB to 1,000 TB of storage space for up to 20,000 subuser licenses. Initial backup to the cloud can be done by sending in an external hard disk with a business' data. The DriveHQ File Manager is available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone 7 platforms to let users manage cloud files and folders, download or upload files, view images, share folders, or create drop box folders.

Dropbox

Category: Storage

Dropbox, the standard against which much of the file share and sync industry is measured, is a prime example of how to turn consumer-focused, mobile-device-friendly technology into a business opportunity. The company in April introduced Dropbox for Business, a version of its service with single sign-on capabilities for improved security, and in June followed up with the introduction of its first formal channel program. Dropbox introduced its first developer platform in July, which gives software and service providers ways to add Dropbox capabilities into other business-focused mobile applications.

Fiberlink MaaS360

Category: Security

Fiberlink got its start by managing corporate laptops. But it has certainly evolved, creating a pure mobile device management cloud-based services offering called MaaS360. Channel partners told CRN that the product doesn't require a significant installation nor does it need support expertise. MaaS360 provides selective wipe capabilities to address BYOD, robust reporting features and a mobile application management component for businesses managing corporate mobile applications.

Google Chromebook Pixel

Category: Devices

Chromebook Pixel delivers a 12.9-inch display with a 0.55mmthin multitouch layer that's fused directly to its 2,560 x 1,700-pixel LCD. It also includes 4 GB of memory, a 32-GB SSD, two USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, an SD/MMC card reader and DisplayPort output. The Pixel boasts 239 ppi. Just 0.64 of an inch thin, it is surrounded by a machined metal enclosure, a polished glass touchpad and a piano hinge that doubles as a heatsink and triples as a Wi-Fi antenna.

Google Nexus 4

Category: Devices

Google and LG teamed up to create a smartphone that is sold unlocked and able to operate on more than 200 networks worldwide. The Nexus 4 has a 4.7-inch, 320-ppi touch screen equipped with a gesture-typing keyboard and runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor for speed. Google sets the Android phone apart with features such as Google Now, the real-time information center, as well as Google Answers, the search-by-voice feature.

HP Elitepad 900

Category: Devices

Hewlett-Packard's second go at the tablet market after the failed TouchPad is all business. The ElitePad 900 runs Windows 8 Professional and features Intel's new Atom Z2760 processor. The 10.1-inch display has a resolution of 1,280 x 800, plus a microSD card slot, 2 GB of memory and up to 64 GB of SSD storage. The ElitePad 900 comes with an optional keyboard dock and an optional HP ElitePad Expansion Jacket that extends the tablet's battery life for up to 20 hours.

HTC One

Category: Devices

Light and thin with solid aluminum, the sturdy HTC One sports a 4.7-inch Super LCD 3 screen with 468 ppi. The touch screen is lined with dual front stereo speakers with built-in amps, which HTC calls BoomSound, possibly one of the best stereo systems to make its way to the smartphone. The Sense 5.0 UI comes with BlinkFeed, a feature that collects real-time news and social media relevant to the user and places it on the home panel. Another new feature is Zoe, which records 3 seconds of video for each picture captured.

IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS

Category: Software

Thanks to IBM, companies are able to extend business applications running on System z mainframes to Web, cloud and mobile environments in a cost- and time-effective manner. Though infrastructure is evolving, a large amount of COBOL code remains in use across many industries. IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS opens the door to new, innovative solutions from developers without the cost and time involved in completely abandoning COBOL code.

Imation Ironkey

Category: Storage

It can be hard for solution providers to offer external storage devices for mobile users, as the vast majority of such devices are sold direct by the manufacturer or via online direct market resellers. One exception is the Ironkey line of secure portable storage solutions from Imation. The Ironkey line includes USB flash drives and external hard drives, all of which combine storage capacity with enterprise-grade security for business and government clients.

Intel Atom

Category: Chips

Intel's Z2760 Atom processor, based on the chip maker's new 32nm architecture, code-named Clover Trail, can be found on a number of new Windows 8 tablets, and with good reason. The Atom Z2760 is a dual-core 1.8GHz processor specifically designed for Windows 8; the chip comes with Intel's Graphics Media Accelerator technology plus improved energy efficiency for longer battery life and lower thermals than previous chips.

Ipanema AppsWork Suite

Category: Networking

WAN optimization specialist Ipanema recently unveiled mobile support for its AppsWork suite of network monitoring software, giving network administrators, and Ipanema's growing base of MSP partners, the ability to monitor network performance directly from their smartphone or tablet. The mobile version of AppsWork arms administrators and partners with real-time visibility in application and network performance through either an iOS, Android, Windows or BlackBerry device.

JDI Backup JustCloud

Category: Cloud

JustCloud is a Windows 8, Windows RT cloud storage and file synchronization app from JDI Backup. Users can create a free account and install the app on their desktops and mobile devices, which will then automatically sync files across all systems. Users can access their media, documents and other files on the fly from the application and share content with third parties. The app features unlimited cloud storage, plus 256-bit SSL encryption to protect users' data.

Kibits

Category: Cloud

To meet the growing need of BYOD and rapid development for untethered workplaces, startup Kibits released Collaborate.com, a cloud and mobile-native project management app for iOS and Android. Kibits' communication infrastructure—secured by 256-bit SSL network encryption—gives users real-time access to people, documents, tasks, links, locations, photos and videos, as well as chat, comments and ratings.

Lenovo Tablet 2

Category: Devices

Lenovo gets the tablet form factor just about perfect with Lenovo Tablet 2, a 10.1-inch dockable Windows 8 slate that's light, powerful and supports (and includes) a stylus. Built around an Intel Atom dual-core processor and 1,366 x 768 IPS panel, Lenovo provides a sure grip thanks to its rubberized coating and a 1.3- pound heft. The Tablet 2 has one USB 2.0 port, a microSD card slot, miniHDMI output, headphone jack and a dock connector. On higher-end models, Lenovo adds a SIM slot, which presumably would be more for data access than for making phone calls.

Meru 802.11ac Access Point

Category: Networking

Meru's AP832 is its first-ever wireless access point supporting the new 802.11ac, or 5G, standard. According to Meru, the AP832 is able to reach top-notch, 1.3-Gbps speeds because of its unique, single-channel architecture. The 802.11ac standard also delivers big bandwidth improvements compared with the prior-generation 802.11n standard, which means companies deploying Meru's AP832 are better able to handle the growing number of smartphones and tablets running on their networks.

Motorola ET1 Enterprise Tablet

Category: Devices

Motorola's ET1 Enterprise Tablet is a rugged, manageable Android-based appliance designed to help improve workforce productivity in health care, hospitality, manufacturing, retail and any industry that can benefit from custom applications running on a durable mobile device. For app development, the company offers free tools that can be used to target this and other mobile devices running Android, iOS as well as desktop systems.

Nvidia Tegra 4

Category: Components

Nvidia's Tegra 4 arrived with some notable improvements from previous generations. The mobile SoC boasts a quad-core ARM Cortex-A15 processor running at 1.9GHz, plus a second-generation power-saving core to boost battery life. Nvidia's Variable SMP architecture allows the SoC to use the single battery-saving core for low-power tasks while shifting heavier tasks to the four primary cores for maximum performance. The Tegra 4 also features 72 graphics cores that process graphics six times faster than the Tegra 3 platform, according to Nvidia, and can support Ultra HD resolutions of up to 3,200 x 2,000.

OpenPeak ADAM

Category: Virtualization

OpenPeak's Advanced Device and Application Manager allows mobile device and application management to be deployed as a cloud hosted service. With ADAM, businesses can remotely push and remove apps, set password policies, configure VPNs, define policies, and lock and wipe devices. ADAM's Sector is a personal device application that separates work and personal profiles via a virtual workspace that allows company-approved applications to run on the "work" side of personal mobile devices. It also lets users run their existing applications on the device's "personal" side.

Parallels Desktop 8 For Mac

Category: Virtualization

Parallels Desktop for Mac allows users to run Windows applications on their Apple Macs without rebooting. The latest version, Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac, runs Windows and Mac apps side by side while offering users full performance and control. To use Parallels Desktop for Mac, users can just move all their PC programs, documents, photos, music and browser bookmarks to their Mac. Users can take advantage of multiple view modes to customize the level of integration between Mac and Windows without compromising performance.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 600

Category: Components

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 is a worthy successor to the ultraprevalent Snapdragon S4 mobile SoC. The Snapdragon 600 is already powering some of the top smartphones on the market, including the HTC One, the LG Optimus G Pro and select models of the Samsung Galaxy S4. The 28-nm quad-core CPU runs at up to 1.9GHz and comes with an Adreno320 GPU, plus integrated LTE, Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11n/ac wireless support.

Remotium

Category: Security

Mobile startup Remotium is only recently getting its operations off the ground yet it won the "most innovative" award in the RSA Conference 2013 Innovation Sandbox contest. The company's mobile security technology secures corporate data by using a virtual-instance technology that runs mobile applications on public or private clouds and streams the visualization elements to the mobile devices. The functionality keeps corporate data off the employee's mobile device.

Samsung Exynos 5 Octa

Category: Components

It wasn't that long ago that smartphones made the jump to dual-core processors. Samsung, however, quickly upped the ante this year with its Exynos 5 Octa—and if you're wondering what the 'Octa' refers to, well, it's the processor's eight cores. While that may seem like overkill for a smartphone, Samsung puts the Octa to good use by having one quad-core ARM Cortex-A15 processor, running at up to 1.8GHz, as the primary CPU for heavy lifting, while a second quad-core ARM Cortex- A7 processor, running at up to 1.4GHz, handles lighter tasks while consuming less power.

Samsung Galaxy S4

Category: Devices

Samsung packs Hummer horsepower into a Mini Cooper footprint. Its 5-inch full-HD LCD packs an eye-popping 441 dots-per-inch. The S4's Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 SoC contains four ARM v7 cores at 1.9GHz and 2 GB of DDR3 RAM. This phone can display two apps at once along with a third video window, if desired, and can control audio and video components with its IR emitter. The 13-megapixel rear camera takes amazing photos and can embed pics from the front camera. Samsung also introduces Group Play, which allows as many as eight Galaxy S4 devices to join in an ad-hoc Wi-Fi network to share music, pictures or documents, or to play games.

Samsung Knox

Category: Virtualization

Samsung Knox is an end-to-end Android security solution with a container solution that separates a mobile device's business and personal use. Samsung supports the separation SE Android and file system level encryption, which it claims protects business data and applications from data leakage and virus and malware attacks. Samsung Knox is targeted at IT departments looking to deploy corporate mobile device strategies.

Samsung Smart PC 500T

Category: Devices

Samsung's Smart PC 500T Tablet is built around an Intel Atom Z2760 32-bit processor and comes with a 64-GB SSD, 2 GB of system memory (the processor's maximum) and Windows 8. Samsung's detachable keyboard (included) adds two USB ports. In addition to an 11.1-inch five-finger multitouch screen and 1,366 x 786 resolution, Samsung layers on a Wacom digitizer that works with its S-Pen stylus for pressure-sensitive control over digital input. There's also Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios plus a global navigation receiver for geopositioning.

Sencha Space

Category: Software

Sencha Space is the company's new HTML5 platform answer to BYOD security concerns. Sencha Space looks like any other application on a personal mobile device. Once the app is open, it reveals all business-related apps in a secure sandbox. A company's IT department has complete control over adding, updating and removing apps from any mobile device remotely. Developers also can design apps that communicate with one another, sharing sensitive data among apps in a secure environment.

ShoreTel iPad, iPhone Dock

Category: Networking

The ShoreTel Dock is a docking station that transforms Apple's iPhone and iPad into a business-grade desk phone. The dock is meant to be used with iPhones and iPads running ShoreTel's UC suite, which arms mobile devices with instant messaging, extension dialing and other enterprise UC capabilities. By simply sliding their iPad or iPhone into the dock, users have access to a full dialing pad and a handset, just as they would on a traditional desk phone. According to ShoreTel, the dock also charges iPads and iPhones, and optimizes the quality of calls placed and received on those devices.

ShoreTel Mobility 7

Category: Networking

ShoreTel Mobility 7 is purpose-built to deliver enterprisegrade UC applications to Android and iOS devices. The software provides enterprise telephony, instant messaging and the ability to view users' presence statuses directly from a smartphone or tablet. Mobility 7 also allows users to extend their business line to their personal mobile device, and to host and join conference calls. ShoreTel said its new Today view also lets users integrate their corporate calendars directly within their native Android or iOS calendars. ShoreTel Mobility 7 supports more than 50 mobile devices across the Android and iOS platforms.

Silent Circle

Category: Security

Silent Circle earlier this month made news by shuttering its encrypted email service, citing the potential for government intrusion. The company, however, still keeps voice and text messages out of sight from people snooping or conducting surveillance through the use of strong encryption. The company supports iOS and Android with its mobile apps: Silent Phone, which encrypts mobile VoIP calling, and Silent Text, which encrypts text messages and enables users to permanently delete messages from device registries. The company recently extended its VoIP encryption service for audio and video calls to laptops and desktops and added a feature so a Silent Phone subscriber can make an encrypted call to a non-subscriber. Silent Circle has a referral partner program and a program for service providers to implement and manage the service.

Sony Vaio PRO 13

Category: Devices

Sony's Vaio Pro 13 featherweight is just 0.68 of an inch thin and tips the scales at just 2.34 pounds. In silver or black, this sleek unit is wrapped in carbon fiber and offers options for Intel's fourth-generation Core i7 Haswell, a 512-GB SSD and Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro. It includes a 1,920 x 1,080 (full HD) IPS display, backlit keyboard, SD card reader, two USB 3.0 ports and a full-size HDMI port. Wireless radios on board are Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and Wi-Fi with Wi-Di support.

SugarSync Manager

Category: Cloud

SugarSync Manager is an adept cloud storage application for professionals to back up, sync, access and share their documents and more. Instead of dragging files into one folder to sync, the SugarSync Manager backup storage system automatically keeps multiple devices in sync, mirroring changes on any one device to all other devices so configured. This cloud storage backup is reliable, secure and easy to use and is available for download for Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Mac OS X as well as Windows 8. SugarSync implements the same level of encryption technology used by government and financial institutions.

Ubuntu Edge

Category: Devices

While resellers can purchase the most powerful phone in the world right now, they can't actually take delivery of the Ubuntu Edge until May 2014. This phone is powerful enough to double as a desktop PC and incorporates bleeding-edge technology such as a sapphire-crystal screen that can only be scratched with a diamond, and silicon anode batteries that are thinner, lighter and longer lasting than today's lithium-ion cells. Edge has a 4.5-inch 1,280 x 720 display, front and rear cameras that will be more about color accuracy than megapixels, LTE radios for Europe and the U.S., Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band Wi-Fi and NFC.

Unison

Category: Cloud

Unison is a collaboration app that allows groups to share updates, documents and feedback without email piling up. Instead, Unison features private "rooms" where teams can collaborate. The team can be from the same company or from different businesses working together on a project. The app is cross-platform, supported on iOS and Android, as well as Windows and Mac, and runs on Chrome, FireFox and Internet Explorer, among others. Unison's cloud-based servers are hosted on Amazon Web Services and, according to Unison, data is kept in the U.S. Traffic between clients and the cloud servers is secured using military-grade 256-bit encryption. The company offers two programs for MSPs, VARs and other partners.

VMware Horizon View 5.2

Category: Virtualization

VMware's Horizon View 5.2 includes gesturing capabilities, which provides Windows desktop products re-rendered as touch-friendly applications for Apple or Android tablet PCs. For instance, users who run an application such as Microsoft Word on a tablet would find the menu bar larger and easier to touch than without the gesturing capability. Horizon View 5.2 also provides simplified access to virtual desktops and applications using any HTML5-capable browser without the need for pre-installing client software.

ZipCloud

Category: Storage

Cloud-based file storage, backup and sharing services developer ZipCloud has in its arsenal a business version that allows sharing of files with employees, clients and co-workers. An administrative control panel provides each employee with his or her own account for backing up, sharing and sending files, all with centralized control including fully automated backups. ZipCloud provides free mobile apps that allow users to access their files from iOS, Android and BlackBerry mobile devices. For solution providers, ZipCloud provides for instant addition of new accounts, a control panel for managing customers, the ability to brand the solution if desired, and complete control of pricing and margins.