It was brought to my attention a bit ago by a client that the iPad 2 with IOS 5 has a flaw that allows the last screen accessed before the Smart Cover lock was engaged.
This is obviously not good for those using the iPad for financial, medical or legal purposes.
The work around until this is fixed correctly is to lock the iPad while on the home screen or a screen which does not display anything of importance (Like “Please Stay Calm” or maybe “Angry Birds”).
A quick search turned up people talking about this on forums and a number of news articles such as this one from cnet.com.
There is mention of a security flaw with Siri that allows people to send text messages, emails and even make phone calls from a password-protected iPhone 4s lock screen.
A couple weeks ago I was watching a conversation about the popularity of certain devices for browsing and thought I would pull out some recent information about our own website, http://www.HomelandSecureIT.com…
Here’s a look at our site for July 1st until August 1st broken down by browser and platform:
Homeland Secure IT Browser Stats
Other than the super-high bounce rate, we see some important information…
Internet Explorer running Microsoft Windows is just darn popular! Followed by Firefox and then Chrome, also on Windows… In fact, they account for about 80 percent of all traffic…
Up next is Safari & Firefox on the Mac… And then down a bit is Chrome on the Mac. Mac is the apparent source of 9.38% of traffic to our site (And less than 5% of our business).
The iPad viewers and the Android viewers accounted for 2% and 1.2% respectively… So a number of people were sitting on the toilet while surfing our site.
Here’s a further break down of mobile user specs:
Homeland Secure IT mobile browser info
iPad, iPhone & iPod dominates this category for sure, with Android 2nd, and Blackberry 3rd… Windows made a horrible showing… And what’s up with Palm? Someone is using that? hehe
I compared these stats to July 2010 and found Android usage has come up considerably, but iPad maintained a steady lead even then.
Looking at the percentage of Windows versus other platforms, Windows has lost only a two percentage points in a year, and those were taken up by mobile devices.
It will be interesting to see what this looks like in another year. I’m guessing mobile device usage will continue to grow, maybe even at an accelerated rate due to the large numbers of new tablets being introduced, and smartphones replacing older cell phones…
What are your experiences with your own website/s?
WCSO Mobile App
My brother, Rick Hoyt, is employed by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Arkansas and he brought it to my attention that their department is the first in the nation to produce an iPhone app…
This thing is so cool that I loaded it on my iPad so I could see what was going on where I used to live!
It will allow you to check the Detention Center intake report, see the Most Wanted, a list of deadbeat dads/moms and more.
The company that made it is Mobile Patrol, LLC of Revolution Technologies, LLC from Rogers Arkansas and I imagine they are going to be swamped with calls from other law enforcement departments wanting their own apps such as this.
How cool is to to able to see the incarcerated individuals right on your phone? Not so cool if it is someone you know, and even less cool, if someone is seeing you there, but hey, none-the-less, it is good for some entertainment.
Click the graphic to check out the app on iTunes, or just click here. Now they just need to produce a twin app to work with Android.
Toshiba Thrive Android Tablet
If you are one of the many looking for an alternative to the iPad and can’t bring yourself to like Windows based tablets, Toshiba may have the device for you.
The Toshiba Thrive 16GB tablet is a brand new product featuring:
- Android 3.1 Honeycomb (Yes, it has Flash!)
- 16GB storage, 1GB DDR2 memory
- 10.1″ Display with 1080p resolution (1280×800)
- NVidia ULP GeForce graphics for fast graphics
- Stereo speakers w/Toshiba sound enhancements SRS Premium Voice Suite
- Dual cameras – 5megapixel on the back (720p capture) and 2megapixel front facing with microphone
- Expansion ports! HDMI to allow connection to your big screen or a projector for presentations, full size SD card slot, USB 2.0 (Both full sized and mini!), docking connector and a stereo headphone jack
- 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0 + HS
It also has a rubberized finish that helps you keep your grip and a replaceable battery!
There are a growing number of Android based tablets, but this one could very well be the best of the bunch (so far)…
To purchase this tablet, call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com – We are a Toshiba partner here in Greenville / Upstate, SC.
If you would like to discuss how this product or any other tablet may work within your business, please call us…
Looks like this Father’s Day could be very good for those dads who have really rocked…
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is shipping on the 17th of June, and pre-orders are being accepted at major retailers now, so dads, be sure to let your family know!
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 comes in two flavors, a $499.99 version which sports 16GB and a $599.99 version which has 32GB.
Anyone want to buy a slightly used, and personalized Apple iPad 2 64GB w/Verizon 3G? I would gladly let it go for slightly less than I have in it in order to get the Android Honeycomb 3.1 operating system, Adobe Flash, dual core processor, yada yada yada… But alas, Verizon has not released their 4G LTE version yet. When that happens, you may be seeing me dump an iPad 2 for just enough to replace it with the Tab 10.1!
If you plan on getting one, or maybe plan on NOT getting one, I’d love to hear what you have to say…
T
rend Micro is offering a service called SafeSync which allows you to access and share your files anywhere, anytime.
For as little as $39.95 a month, you can store your data online, instantly and share it between multiple devices, including iPhones, iPads and Androids. You can even share with friends and family with complete permissions!
You can get more information directly from Trend Micro, and even try it out for free!
http://us.trendmicro.com/us/products/personal/safe-sync/
As your Upstate / Greenville, SC Trend Micro partner, we can offer this all of the Trend Micro product line, including installation, support and consultation. Call us at 864.990-4748 for more information or email info@homelandsecureit.com
Does your business need something other than the Apple iPad and Android based tablets? The Motion CL900 is now available for order!
Motion CL90 Windows 7 Tablet
Effective today, the Motion CL900, the latest addition to Motion’s suite of enterprise-built tablet PCs, is now available for shipping with the standard 4 week lead time from Authorized Motion Reseller Partners.
The CL900 is a rugged, lightweight and powerfully equipped tablet PC purposefully designed, developed and built for business. At a starting price of only $899, the latest Tablet PC from Motion packs performance, power and integrated features into an ultra-mobile and lightweight design.
The Motion CL900 comes standard with:
- Bluetooth
- WLAN
- Integrated Front and Rear-Facing Cameras
- Corning Gorilla Glass Display Protection
Additional options include:
- Up to 2GB of RAM
- Up to 62GB Solid State Drive (SSD)
- Gobi Connectivity (WWAN)
There are also some supporting accessories available, including a unique desktop docking station and protective display film, as well as extended warranties.
Homeland Secure is happy to be able to offer these tablets to our Greenville / Upstate business clients! For more information, please contact us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
Dell’s Global Head of Marketing was interviewed by CIO recently and one statement made global headlines, “Apple iPad will fail in the enterprise: Dell“.
He claims that the iPad is too expensive to win in the enterprise market and that other devices may very well beat it out… Of course Dell would like to think that their own will be the “winner” in the tablet wars.
We’re seeing tons of tablets hit the streets, from the beloved Apple iPad and iPad II, to the more cutting edge Android based tablets like the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy series, but still, the businesses we work with are hesitant to embrace the technology, especially the Apple iPad, due to the expense primarily.
Some Microsoft Windows 7 based tablets are actually gaining the interest of our clients, such as those from Motion. These are hardened tablets which charge quickly, offer complete compatibility with existing infrastructure and a proven user interface.
What are your thoughts for tablets for your business? What are you using? What gets you excited?
Those of you who are using a notebook computer or mobile device such as an iPad, iPhone, Android or Android tablet and connecting to those public free wifi access hotspots may want to just ditch the WiFi after what I heard about today…
In spite of what I said about safe browsing from public wi-fi hotspots using a VPN a while back, it sounds like a “proof of concept” is about to be published which states that the mere action of connecting to a public WiFi hotspot, then establishing the VPN can potentially give away the VPN credentials. This could potentially happen whether it is an open (unsecured) access point, or a rogue (man-in-the-middle) AP.
If this is true, which we should know in a few weeks, then it sounds to me like ditching WiFi all together is not a bad idea if your data is valuable. 3g and 4g connectivity through your wireless provider may well be the best bet.
Obviously, this is not platform specific (Mac would be just as vulnerable as a Windows PC), and it is not a bug in the operating systems or VPN software.
I will be posting more information should it be proven to be a legitimate threat. Until then, stay safe….
Motion CL900 Windows 7 Tablet
I can hardly contain myself! One of our favorite vendors, Seneca Data, just announced a new line of ruggedized tablet computers that they will be offering in the coming months!
The Android and iPad tablet wars are going full strength, but it looks like Microsoft’s Windows 7 isn’t out of the running just yet.
Oh I already hear what you are saying, “Why Windows!??!?!” The Samsung Galaxy S tablet running Google’s Android OS, the well established Apple iPad and coming 2nd generation iPad are all fun machines, but fall flat when it comes to business applications. Don’t get me wrong, there ARE people using them for business, and there are a growing number of applications for both platforms. However, Microsoft Windows 7 is the cock of the walk when it comes to business use. Over 90% of the applications our clients use are written specifically for Windows, with no support for Apple Mac OS X or mobile / tablet operating systems at all. Most of these Windows applications do not even have comparable or competing applications on other platforms.
That brings us to just why I am excited about the Seneca Data Motion CL900. ALL these Windows applications will run on it because it is running a full Windows 7 Professional OS. That means, our clients who have legal, medical or other proprietary software will no longer have to use a remote desktop application to run the program on a server, they can run it directly on their tablet.
While you would not want to use this type of device for AV editing (I would say Photoshop is out for sure…) it should offer plenty of power to run typical suites of applications, from Microsoft Office, to Prevail, and certainly all cloud computing / SaaS solutions.
Possibly of more importance to many people, this tablet, unlike the current Android and iPad devices, is a ruggedized! It can survive a 4 foot drop as well as being water, dust and splash resistant!
The CL900 allows the use of optional external devices. Currently, the list of devices includes a magnetic stripe readers and a biometric / finger print reader that mount securely to the side of the unit to expand the capabilities.
There is also an optional docking station that permits easy docking for charging, and more comfortable desktop usage…
Some specifications of the CL900 are:
- Intel Atom 1.2Ghz processor designed for tablet computers
- Connectivity via Mobile Broadband, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS
- Ruggedized case. Display features Corning Gorilla Glass
- 10.1” screen featuring HD 1366 X 768 resolution
- Multitouch & active stylus capable
- 10.9″ x 7.06″ x 0.61″
- 2.1 lbs
- Up to 8 hours battery life
- Expandable
- Quick charging
We should have one in our hot little hands to test as soon as it is available and will report back here our thoughts. Until then, we will hang back and wait.
If you would like more information or would like to be notified when the Motion CL900 becomes available, you can reply to this post, or email info@homelandsecureit.com
