Mobilize conference – more connections, more screens to manage

Thursday, September 30th, 2010 Karen Ambrose Hickey, Editor

Today, I attended the GigaOM Mobilize Conference wanted to share some of the things that I heard and thought about.

4G for 4 Wheels
Doug VanDagens of Ford Motor Company talked about innovation in car/phone technology. Voice is the primary input, for obvious reasons, so they are focusing on usability with that. However, I still envision more screens. So with more connectivity in the car, this could be another screen to manage and connect. Another connection point needing security and a quality connection. What if you drive across an international border. Is that considered roaming? Will my car alert me that I’m roaming and costing more? Can I have that added to my iPass service please?

Next Big Thing: Meet the New Workforce

Evan Kaplan, our CEO, talked about the Mobile Workers’ Bill of Rights. I will cover that in a post for next week. However, one of his points is that it’s not the “Millennial” that companies need to worry about. The connected, mobile employee can be (and is) of any age. And they want it the way they want it. Period. I had a couple of discussions with people on that. Many liked our “Bill of Rights.” We like our devices for personal reasons. I cannot be more productive on something else. Although, as one blogger pointed out…”I love this phone, until I get the next one in 6 months.” (Thanks for the feedback by the way! )

It’s the User Experience
Many presentations focused on the importance of user experience. Native apps vs. web apps, device development, design aesthetics, networks, bandwidth and whitespace in the spectrum. All of these affect the end user’s experience, and depending on that experience, will shape their choices. Design and build with the customer in mind (although a few speakers pointed out that no one was really keeping the enterprise in mind).

More screens
It was amazing to see the press tables – laptops, iPads, smartphones. I saw one tweet mention the lack of netbooks. Many people had at least two, if not three devices. I brought three and used them all!