The term 'Building Automation System' (BAS) often brings in an impression of heavy duty equipment, convoluted procedures and monotone grey shades in the mind of many. Unlike incredible advances in the Home Automation space, what with intelligent controllers like read more
This article describes how Android is fast becoming a platform of choice for the Test and Measurement industry, primarily driven by lower costs, better features and upgradability for Android based tablet solutions compared to proprietary devices. HSC presents trends as well as tips on how to approach adopting Android for your next Test and Measurement product.
To survive, businesses must find innovative ways to stay competitive in their market. Not only is this true for their products and services, but also for the technology used internally within a company. When many people think of Android technology, they might think of the app store, some project management sites, and a means for checking email during an extended lunch. But embedded Android technology wields so much more power than a productivity checklist app. And if you don’t already know about it, you definitely should. So here are just a few waysbusinesses are leveraging the value of Android to operate smarter than their competition.
Lately, the Android OS has been experiencing phenomenal success. The most recent reports from IDC show that 81% of all smartphone devices sold in Q3 2013 are running Android. If you’re familiar with the industry, this may not surprise you. But what might surprise many people is that Android is being actively used in devices beyond smart phones – and the adoption rate is exploding in these areas as well. The operating system has already been deployed in business IP phones, medical devices, set top boxes, gaming consoles, car dashboards/rear-end systems and a variety of additional vertical markets with new ones coming up every month. Those who have been tracking our coverage of the benefits of using Android beyond phones (see our articles on IoT and Android vs Linux) already know that for any system currently based on Linux that has a need for a rich UX and networking options, Android makes a lot of sense.
Marissa Mayer recently brought the Yahoo workforce back to the office. For years, Yahoo let their employees work remotely, as long as the job was done and done well. This all changed in 2013 when Mayer stated in a memo to staff: “To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important so we need to be working side-by-side.” But while Yahoo-ers have returned to the office setting, many others are doing the exact opposite. According to globalworkplacestatistics.com, the percentage of workers based in a home office has grown around 4% each year since 2009.
As the adage states: the customer is always right. Companies like Zappos, Dillards, and probably even your local “ma-and-pa” grocery store have built their reputations on remarkable customer service. Zappos, for example, stands out from the clutter by encouraging website visitors to call their headquarters with any questions, 24-7. They’ve provided a unique personal touch in an increasingly person-less internet. Companies with attitudes like the Zappos team are rare, yet data shows that customers react positively to their approach. By investing more in customer service, they are able to generate more word-of-mouth referrals and decrease the amount of push advertising.
Big data makes it possible to track and record information in ways George Orwell only dreamt…nay…night-terrored about. The “big brothers” in this digital age are the people behind the scenes taking billions and trillions of data points and making decisions based on the analysis. But fear not – this kind of information can be used for plenty of good! Big data is what makes Google more accurate in predicting flu-outbreaks than the CDC. Big data is what the Obama campaign team used to purchase undervalued television advertising times in highly valued swing-state zip-codes. And big data is what marketing professionals, supply chain managers, and decision makers at all levels are clamoring for more of.
When it comes to supply chain management, there is no such thing as business as usual. The modern day supply chain is experiencing exponential innovation. Companies like Wal-Mart have fine-tuned this process to place their efficiency levels at competitive advantage heights. You might be thinking, but it’s a supply chain: raw materials, manufacture, ship, sell…everyone knows what to do so how can some be so much better? The same reason we all know that eating healthy and exercising is a good idea and yet many of us still neglect to do it; it’s hard work.
Say goodbye to the traditional work environment. With embedded Android technology now powering so much more than just smartphones, many industries are leveraging the OS to increase efficiency, productivity, and security. The flexibility of Android as an embedded platform gives businesses the freedom to customize the system to meet their exact needs. Integrating Android with everything from conference room displays to X-ray machines, adoption of the OS at the enterprise level is trending steadily upward. Here’s a look at how Android is changing the nature of the workplace:
In the book Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson, Johnson explains the adjacent possible as a series of rooms and doors. Growing on the idea that innovation takes time and great entrepreneurs often stand on the shoulders of the technology that came before (think YouTube using Adobe and internet connection). He uses the metaphor of rooms and doors to show what is possible right now: if you are in one room, you open a door to get to the next room and expand your world, but you cannot get to a room five doors down without first opening more doors and building more rooms in between.
The concept of 'Internet of Things' or IoT in short is not new at all. In fact, technologists and visionaries have been postulating this concept since the beginning of the Internet. While the idea has been around for decades, some attribute the credit of coining the term to Kevin Ashton in 1999. IoT is a grand vision of all kinds of devices, being able to collect data using a variety of sensors and be able to communicate with each other using 'internet like concepts'. And when we say devices, we don't just mean 'phones, tablets and TVs' - this grand vision includes all kinds of 'devices' - ranging from 'in-body devices (from pacemakers to Ray Kurzweil's futuristic ingestible nano robots to 'wearable devices' (smartwatches, blood pressure monitors, smart glasses) to regular communication devices (phones, tablets), to home devices (fridge, washer-dryer, alarm systems) to entertainment devices (TVs, Set Top Boxes, Gaming consoles) and even including transport devices (cars, trucks, ships, airplanes).
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