What I'd Like From My Next Samsung Phone

I purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note II some months ago and, so far, I must say it's been a pretty good surprise. It's been handy, comfortable both for text and video, and the S Pen is just great. I keep using it every time I've got a long text to write.
And about the size of the smartphone, while I've often heard it was too big and didn't "look like a phone", I've found it quite addictive. When I look down at an iPhone, I now find it so small and feel sorry for its owner.

However, some improvements could be made. I'll list 5 of them, 1 of which is Android-related, not Samsung-related.

1. When you use the S Pen, you have to put it down to use the three buttons below the screen (namely, the "contextual menu", the "main menu" and the "cancel" buttons). They're not part of the screen, which is fine when you're using your fingers but is not when you're using the S Pen. Of course, you can still use your pinkie, but it's neither very handy nor fashionable ;-)
   
   
2. The left and right buttons below the screen (namely, the "contextual menu" and the "cancel" buttons) are no more visible since one short second after the last time they were used. Said otherwise, they're not lighted most of the time. That's perfectly sensible for the smartphone's owner, or someone used to this model. However, when you're handing the phone over to someone else so that he/she may read a piece of news or watch a video, he/she just doesn't see these buttons and ends up pushing the "cancel" button. You've got to warn "don't put your fingers at the bottom of the screen!" beforehand, every single time. Pretty frustrating.
   
   
3. The touchscreen works great. I guess Samsung's got good technology about it. However, when I keep my fingers close to the screen but not touching the screen, the phone sometimes reacts as if I actually clicked. On the same note, the touchscreen sometimes gets confused if there are only a few droplets of rain on the screen. I can't blame Samsung for that, I guess they didn't intend their phones to be used under the rain.
   
   
4. The side buttons, namely the "volume" and the "on/off" buttons are too much on the vertical middle of the phone. When you're holding the phone, you sometimes push the "on/off" button inadvertently. That's even more common if you're handing the phone to someone else, just as for problem number 2.
   
   
5. Android-related : In this world of too many applications, I'd like that the removal of an icon from the main screens also proposed the removal of the application itself.

Two-Factor Authentication with a Smartphone

Passwords are now depleted. We used them too much and we need something else. That's my feeling since a few years.
I just hit upon the article by Randall Stross "Doing the Two-Step, Beyond the A.T.M." among the New York Times news. The article first compares using a PIN code to using a password, just like I did some time ago. It then goes into suggesting the generalization of two-factor authentication with the help of a smartphone. Clearly, there's a need and a market here.

Whatever the solutions that will come up in the next years, they'll have to face the following challenges:

1. Be user-friendly enough.
2. Be applicable both for individual use and for corporate use (at least, integrate in BYOD processes).
3. Allow for safe backup methods in case you lose one of the two factors, for instance, a stolen smartphone.
4. Allow for Single Sign-On : avoid user-side repetitions.
5. Allow for federation : avoid server-side repetitions, like maintaining similar lists of users in multiple applications.
6. Allow for automated patches/updates. There will be flaws in the beginning, that will require patching.

Is Android the New IBM PC Compatible?

(translated from the French article) 

Above is a map giving the date when, for the first time, country by country, web searches related to Android have exceeded those related to iPhones and iPads. The color key is on the left.
Grey means that it hasn't happened yet. White means there was not enough data (approx. 2% of world population).

For information, I made this map with The GIMP, based on graphs from Google Trends comparing the number of web searches containing the names of the various Android smartphones and tablets, iPhones and iPads. The map background is from www.histgeo.ac-aix-marseille.fr. All demographic data used below is from the CIA Fact Book.

First, some facts:

1. The trend is worldwide. It's not yet over but actually present everywhere: searches about Android do exceed those about Apple smartphones, showing a greater interest in the products based on the Google environment.
2. The date when the Google trend exceeds the Apple trend is an interesting criterion to be put on a world map, because it's highlighting clear patterns.
3. In terms of compared populations, thus in terms of potential markets, this is a major trend, as is showing the demographic count below.

Census :

• early adopters of Android (yellow and red) : 22.4%
• happy followers (green) : 11.1%
• followers (blue) : 27.2%
• laggards (grey) : 37.2%
• no data (white) : 2.1%

I can identify the following patterns:

• Mid-developed countries are the first to adopt. Look on the map: Central Europe, India, Indonesia, South America.
• Then come the other developing countries, especially Africa and former USSR.
• Developed countries are the laggards. West Europe, United States, South Africa, Japan, Australia.

With notable exceptions:

• Why is Germany among early adopters ? I think that the current actual economic success of Germany resides in its industrial relations with Central Europe. Such relations make that the interests are common and web searches follow.
• Same for France, dragging Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia towards Apple.
• Same for South America dragging Spain and Portugal towards Android.
• The following countries would need further explanations that I cannot provide: China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam. I don't have the necessary knowledge about this region to make assumptions. I think that the reasons why China is late and the impacts of it would merit a whole article by themselves.

Starting from the following hypotheses about Android's most attractive features:

• The relative freedom of its environment.
• The low cost of tablets.
• The diversity of makers and vendors, thanks to Google's policy about it.

I deduce the following:

• There is a real mass market to be taken by Google in new developing countries.
• It's developing countries best interest to push a company that allows reuse, adaptation, competition and enhancement, rather than conforming to closed Apple platforms (thinks about the markets created by the IBM compatible PC in 1981).
• The diversity of actors and thinking heads in developing countries will ensure that Android soon becomes a more diverse and useful ecosystem than that of iOS or even that of Windows on PC or even than anything we have known so far (here again, think about the growth of the PC).
• The direct earnings from making and selling this ecosystem, added to the indirect gains related to just using a better ecosystem, will broadly influence the economies of those early adopters countries and the best among them will probably overtake West countries in terms of technological progress (think of how the US profited from the PC boom).
• Central Europe is certainly the best place to invest industrially right now. early adopters + relatively low costs + stable democracies + known and mastered history and management culture + availability of experienced West Europe managers if needed + European infrastructures + neighbourhood of West European markets + proximity of Turkey for even lower cost of manufacture if required.

Android est-il le nouveau PC compatible IBM ?

Ci-dessus une carte donnant la date à laquelle, pour la première fois, pays par pays, les recherches web concernant Android ont dépassé celles concernant iPad et iPhones. Se reporter à la colonne de gauche pour la légende. En gris les pays pour lesquels ce n'est pas encore arrivé.
En blanc ceux pour lesquels je ne disposais pas de données suffisantes (environ 2% de la population mondiale).

Pour info, j'ai fabriqué cette carte avec The GIMP à partir de graphes Google Trends comparant le nombre des recherches web contenant les noms des différents téléphones Android, iPhone et iPad. Le fond de carte vient de www.histgeo.ac-aix-marseille.fr. Les démographies que je compare ci-dessous sont issues du CIA Fact Book.

En premier lieu, quelques faits :

1. La tendance est mondiale. Elle n'est pas encore achevée mais bel et bien présente partout : les recherches concernant Android dépassent celles concernant les smartphones Apple, montrant un intérêt supérieur pour les produits à base d'OS Google.
2. La date à laquelle la "tendance Google" dépasse la "tendance Apple" est un critère intéressant à positionner sur une carte mondiale. En effet, elle met en valeur des motifs clairement identifiables.
3. En termes de masses de populations et donc en termes de marchés potentiels, cela n'a rien d'insignifiant, comme le prouve le compte démographique ci-dessous.

Compte démographique :

• early adopters d'Android (jaunes et rouges) : 22.4%
• happy followers (verts) : 11.1%
• followers (bleus) : 27.2%
• laggards (gris) : 37.2%
• no data (blanc) : 2.1%

 J'identifie les tendances suivantes :

• Les pays en bonne voie de développement sont les premiers à adopter. Voyez : Europe Centrale, Inde et Indonésie, Amérique du Sud.
• Puis viennent les autres pays en voie de développement, notamment Afrique et pays d'ancienne URSS.
• Les pays développés sont les retardataires. Voyez : Europe de l'Ouest, États-Unis, Afrique du Sud, Japon, Australie.

Avec toutefois des exceptions notables :

• Pourquoi l'Allemagne et l'Autriche sont-elles parmi les early adopters ? Je propose la véritable réussite allemande actuelle qui consiste à utiliser à plein profit la proximité avec l'Europe Centrale. Ainsi, les échanges sont tels que les préoccupations sont communes.
• Même chose pour la France et ses partenaires commerciaux majeurs, anciennes colonies, que sont le Maroc, l'Algérie et la Tunisie.
• Même chose pour l'Espagne et le Portugal, qui ont des préoccupations communes avec leurs rejetons géants d'Amérique du Sud.
• Reste à comprendre la zone Chine, Birmanie, Thaïlande, Cambodge, Laos, Vietnam. Je n'ai pas les connaissances nécessaires pour faire des hypothèses sur cette zone. Les tenants et les aboutissants de cet étonnant retard de la Chine mériteraient un article à eux seuls.

En partant du principe que trois des atouts d'Android sont :

• La relative liberté de son environnement.
• Le prix bas des tablettes.
• La diversité des fabricants et revendeurs, grâce à la politique Google sur ce sujet.

Je déduis les éléments suivants :

• qu'il y a un réel marché de masse à prendre par Google,
• que les pays en développement ont tout intérêt à appuyer un fabricant qui autorise la réutilisation, l'adaptation, la compétition et l'amélioration, plutôt que d'adopter les plateformes fermées d'Apple (pensez à la libération du compatible IBM en 1981),
• que la diversité des acteurs et le nombre de têtes pensantes dans ces pays vont bientôt faire d'Android un écosystème plus varié et plus utile qu'iOS, que Windows sur PC, voire que tout ce que nous avons connu jusque-là (là aussi, pensez essor du PC),
• que le gain direct lié à la fabrication et la commercialisation de cet écosystème, ajouté au gain indirect lié à l'utilisation de ce meilleur écosystème, vont largement influer sur l'économie des pays early adopters et que les meilleurs de ceux-ci vont rattraper ou dépasser les pays occidentaux en termes d'avance technologique (là encore, pensez essor du PC),
• que l'Europe Centrale est certainement le meilleur endroit pour investir à l'heure actuelle. early adopters + coûts assez bas + démocraties stables + historique et culture managériale connue + disponibilité de nombreux managers de l'ouest expérimentés à l'est + infrastructures européennes + proximité des marchés ouest-européens + proximité de la Turquie pour des coûts de main-d'œuvre plus bas si nécessaire.

Saving Money with IT Security Processes. Example 2/26: Retrieving Stolen Smartphones and Laptops

Article number 2 in a series dedicated to giving examples of the way IT security processes can help your company save money.

Companies lose a lot of money in stolen smartphones and laptops. It does not just amount to the price of hardware, it also includes the quantity of time lost by workers without their tools, the quantity of work needed to report the incident and to, optionally, declare it to the police and to an insurer. Besides, the devices can contain valuable information that the company will miss and that may be dangerous to put on the public place or in a competitor's hands.

It's possible to address the loss of smartphones and laptops with a sound BYOD* process. I'm not talking about a policy, I'm talking about a process, that includes:

• Securing information flows from/to devices with appropriate extranet and telecommuting tools.
• Making sure devices that will save company's property locally do have encryption features, access control features and geographical tracking activated.
• Inventory the types of devices and establish required procedures for each type, because the list is ever-growing, you can't do without managing it clearly.

* I'm talking about BYOD because it's time to face it: most devices are now no longer company devices.