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Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategy.

While use of mobile technologies has potential to transform business, making it possible for an organization to be more agile in serving its customers, it can also disrupt IT. The new generation of employees expects complete freedom to use mobile devices, regardless of whether they are company-owned or employee-owned. most IT departments are struggling to define and implement a bring-your-own-device (BYoD) strategy. To a large extent, they still use the old command-and-control model of Windows-based device management, trying to dictate what devices employees can use and how they can use them. But the old model doesn’t work anymore. not only are new devices flooding the workplace, but today’s mobile devices bring a variety of new operating systems, such as ios and Android, and many applications to contend with.
I must say it's an interesting whitepaper that discusses much more than this so I would like to share it with you !
Downloaded it from : bit.ly/yhmWAW

Microsoft is trying to pitch the Windows 8 to business phone users and ability to control and deploy them via their SCCM (SMS), however the popularity of Win 8 and windows phones are horrible to say the least, if Microsoft really wants to turn the tables around, they will need to start giving away Free Windows 8 phones to corporate enterprises, along with their "free" license of SCCM which businesses already gets included when they buy Microsoft license packs.
Blackberry have been the leader on this field all these years due their easy to use Admin Centre and mail server piggy back, hands down there's no real competition yet to kick them out of the king's throne in this area
Android offer the most extensive control, but require geek like us to do it for them (and some business will find this as a hindrance as they need to hire specialized people to do the job), there's no central control system in place, but it's relatively easy to build, reason why Lenovo is jumping into the Android bandwagon with all their new tablets and phones devices running on Android, as IBM + Lenovo they always take care of the Corporate enterprises for other companies, basically they are in the right spot at the right time, if all goes well Blackberry is going to lose its crown
End users choice will always be the iDrones, however it's the device with the least control by third party, and the one that is the most popular among end users.
HP tried hard with their WebOS, but failed miserably at trying to reproduce the success of its predecessor PalmOS in the business world.
... All that being said....
If work places are to allow people to BYOD then it means the IT team will need to have a GPO set to roll out to any new Windows phones that joins the SCCM system, also will require BlackBerry users to join to the new Domain (which is relatively easy as most updated BB phones are already ready for both personal + business mails and settings lockups), will need a new Android specialist, to either load customized ROMs or some alternative with a custom App that must be installed in their phones and let IT department control the phone, and Ban the iDrones from the workplace; clearly it's meant as an entertainment device instead of an enterprise ready phone

AllGamer said:
and Ban the iDrones from the workplace; clearly it's meant as an entertainment device instead of an enterprise ready phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true. Also not sure if you're being sarcastic. I rep Android to death (ANDRIZZLE). But seriously I work at an Apple Specialist store and with all the courses I had to take to become proficient here I've realized that Apple is trying very hard to push iPhones and iPads into businesses. They actually fit quite nicely with simple to use MDM controls and separate custom profiles for IT to set up for the end user.
Honestly, I think Android is the worst OS to bring into the business world, unless someone can come up with a RedHat for Android. And by that I mean a stable uniformed release for mass consumption. There's too much control to be had over the device by the end user no matter what IT sets up for it to be uniformed across a company like they would need it to be.
Blackberry are the Kings of business mobile right now. They will be until somehow steps up and makes a serious effort to point their whole company in the direction of business. But seeing as how that's only a small percentage of what they actually could have nobody will probably do that. It works well for blackberry because they've already realized that they aren't getting any more popular with the kids and have been able to focus on the strategies of effective business management capabilities being built into a phone.
That's my 2 cents there.

sky tv uk and android

Thought i would post this for other world wider users to give opinions,sky is our version of HBO or ESPN,they android support has been shocking,they don't even support jellybean 4.1 yet and no tablet support etc while all IOS devices are supported .We thought we were getting some where with them and they promised to be more open after stringing us along for months with false claims why they could not bring sky go out on android etc so here it what we got
http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-Go/Sky-Go-on-Android-Forum-response/ta-p/763976
and here is the thread with all the input and waffle we are getting
http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-Go/Sky-is-in-breach-of-its-customer-code/td-p/749576/page/20
whats the views of other countries users of the likes of HBO which runs on 4.2,netflix which does the same
Sent from my Transformer using XDA Premium HD app

it gets better after a barrage of question after the last staement this is what they come back with, to give you an idea how far behind they are, they dont support a single android tablet yet, no jellybean support yet, not support for HTC one seris yet not even on ICS
"Android Q & A
Why is it taking so long to test for JellyBean?
We have been testing the Jellybean operating system across the range of handsets we currently support (and new unsupported devices) and have run into a few challenges around media playback. These are all being worked through by our Android development team and we hope to release before Christmas along with support for the HTC One series. We’re unable to go into further details around these challenges as this is sensitive information. As soon as we have a confirmed date for the next release we will announce it here.
Why are devices blocked?
The main reason why some Android devices are blocked is due to rooting; we are not able to support rooted devices because of the risk to our security measures. All unsupported devices are unable to download the official Sky Go app.
How come Sky is the only company which seems to have such a problem with TV rights issues?
Unlike some other content providers we have a lot of 3rd party content available on Sky Go, we have multiple contracts with varying obligations in order to protect this content. For example, Sky has rights to content in the first pay TV window (following DVD release) whereas some other Movie services do not, therefore our security requirements are different. We have a very sophisticated Digital Rights Management system which we which we work hard to protect. It means we are unable to release one generic app that will work across all Android handsets, and to ensure each handset adheres to our content protection requirements, they do need to be Q/A and tested individually.
How long does it take to test a device?
Generally speaking testing takes a minimum of two weeks, if we run into compatibility issues on any variant of the Android operating system for that device we need to investigate, implement fixes and test them. In addition our suite of services spans many platforms (Mobile, Web, Xbox) and a variety of apps which all tie in to the same backend system and therefore utilise the same working environments, bringing in inter-team dependencies. Releases are scheduled so that multiple updates can be delivered simultaneously.
No other legitimate TV app has these problems, why?
We’re not able to comment on the rights deals other comparable services have with third party content providers
Why can other companies who have the same issues with content/licensing/contractual obligations provide apps that work across the android ecosystem almost immediately?
We cannot confirm if they do have the same challenges we have. Some companies in the UK have third party content and some don’t which may affect the level of protection required.
Why is HDMI out supported on PC / Laptop but not mobile or tablet?
HDMI out on a laptop is not something we are able to control; where HDMI blocking is within our control we must make every effort to block it as this is a contractual studio requirement
Why isn't your Sky Go director leading the push to get Sky Go on all platforms?
Our Director and the team here are all pushing to get Sky Go on as many platforms as we can. We have two equally resourced teams that work on app development for Sky Go, one for Apple development and one for Android. We are platform agnostic and do not have exclusive relationships with any manufacturers. We are well aware of the level of Android penetration in the UK and as such have been working as quickly as we can to develop support for the ever growing number of handsets and operating systems. We are hoping to release support for the HTC One Series before Christmas along with JellyBean. We have every intention of continuing to develop versions of Sky Go for new handsets and new operating systems; the fact of the matter is that we face significant challenges in Android development so unfortunately this will not happen overnight.

Ars: Google’s iron grip on Android: Controlling open source by any means necessary

A few weeks ago, I posted a very unfortunate Google+ post of the creator of Focal and why it was removed from the CM codebase. It was a depressing story and it really started to make you wonder about where CM is going.
This time, after reading an extremely well-written article, I've come to a similarly depressing conclusion: Android by Google is slowly becoming as locked down as iOS, but not in the sense that you think; it's not about what apps let you do what, it's the developers.
We've finally arrived at a critical flaw with the way Android is developed and these days, I can no longer claim that Android (by Google) is "open" anymore.
Feel free to give this a read (Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Ars Technica in any way).
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013...ntrolling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/
It's not just about Amazon's version of Android; CyanogenMod is for all intents and purposes a "fork" of Android. It is designed to work without Google Apps and as we all know, we flash those seperately. But that's the problem, the answer isn't just "Well, I'll just flash the Gapps and it will work like it should". What will happen if new Play Store apps start referring to features in the framework that don't exist in a form that we can flash? What if the license to flash the Gapps gets revoked?
How will CyanogenMod start adding features to apps that were originally AOSP but are now closed source? What will happen when the open source Messaging app is abandoned and turns into a Hangouts feature? How can CM stay on top of that?
It's not as simple as "take the source we currently have and work with it", because what will happen when Google adds a killer feature to an app that depends on some API that is no longer open source?
These are some rather frightening questions to deal with. I don't know where Android is going, but I'm certainly starting to wonder what's going to happen to it.
I'd appreciate any and all input on this.

Not very continuous, but here's my thoughts about the article:
The Gapps license is meant to lock the makers of Android phones into Google, so users get locked within Google and Google can gain revenue from the users. After going to that extent to make sure Google gets to keep the device's user, what's to gain if Google users of the device who flash CM to be locked out of the system instead of keeping them "trapped" with the Google ecosystem even with a non Google ROM? Doesn't make any sense does it?
I suppose we will still have to flash them like we flash the Play Store now. Unlike Amazon, CM (for now) actually still relies on Google and doesn't "divert" revenue to another company and therefore Google would be more than happy to let their apps be used. But if CM does start going the Amazon way, I believe Google may lock CM out.
Those APIs take time to develop, take the Maps API for example - you think they spent millions, if not billions mapping the entire world and even roaming every street just to make sure you can find your way around for free? They'll need to recoup their costs somehow.
While Android is open source and contributed by Google for free, don't forget Google is a company, not a charity. They have to make money or their shareholders won't be happy. Even if their shareholders are massive fans of open source they also have thousands of employees to pay, and all that costs money. And don't forget, when a company is providing free stuff for you to use, you are not their customer - you are their product. Android will change in ways that will keep Google profitable and keep competitiors unprofitable, while keeping the users as comfortable as possible so they will continue to be their product.

cccy said:
Not very continuous, but here's my thoughts about the article:
The Gapps license is meant to lock the makers of Android phones into Google, so users get locked within Google and Google can gain revenue from the users. After going to that extent to make sure Google gets to keep the device's user, what's to gain if Google users of the device who flash CM to be locked out of the system instead of keeping them "trapped" with the Google ecosystem even with a non Google ROM? Doesn't make any sense does it?
I suppose we will still have to flash them like we flash the Play Store now. Unlike Amazon, CM (for now) actually still relies on Google and doesn't "divert" revenue to another company and therefore Google would be more than happy to let their apps be used. But if CM does start going the Amazon way, I believe Google may lock CM out.
Those APIs take time to develop, take the Maps API for example - you think they spent millions, if not billions mapping the entire world and even roaming every street just to make sure you can find your way around for free? They'll need to recoup their costs somehow.
While Android is open source and contributed by Google for free, don't forget Google is a company, not a charity. They have to make money or their shareholders won't be happy. Even if their shareholders are massive fans of open source they also have thousands of employees to pay, and all that costs money. And don't forget, when a company is providing free stuff for you to use, you are not their customer - you are their product. Android will change in ways that will keep Google profitable and keep competitiors unprofitable, while keeping the users as comfortable as possible so they will continue to be their product.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, I appreciate the input! I was looking forward to intelligent discussion and it's great that the first reply is just that.
I would like to clarify though; my concern is not so much about Google making money; they are a business and deserve to make money in whatever way they see fit. We have something they want (ad clicks and search history) and as long as they provide an experience worth using, I don't mind that transaction at all.
My worries start with what the custom development scene will look like one or two years from now if the base apps that make Android useful on its own (and by extension, useful to custom developers) have been molded into Google Play apps or frameworks or APIs.
In parallel, it's also starting to make sense why Cyanogen continues to put effort into alternate applications such as Apollo and Focal; they saw this coming way before we did.

LiquidSolstice said:
First, I appreciate the input! I was looking forward to intelligent discussion and it's great that the first reply is just that.
I would like to clarify though; my concern is not so much about Google making money; they are a business and deserve to make money in whatever way they see fit. We have something they want (ad clicks and search history) and as long as they provide an experience worth using, I don't mind that transaction at all.
My worries start with what the custom development scene will look like one or two years from now if the base apps that make Android useful on its own (and by extension, useful to custom developers) have been molded into Google Play apps or frameworks or APIs.
In parallel, it's also starting to make sense why Cyanogen continues to put effort into alternate applications such as Apollo and Focal; they saw this coming way before we did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the custom development scene wouldn't get affected much. After all, remember the old XDA-Developers? Windows was all locked down, but the cooks still managed to make customized ROMs. What's more, Google wouldn't want to lose their "products" - Google wants us to continue to use their services so they can earn money, they wouldn't lock us out.
What competitors lack is the capability to access Google's services (Frameworks, APIs, etc) as Google has ways to block them (Which is why we had circumvents like device spoofing). If you had a device designed for Google's version of Android, I am sure Google would still enable access if you use a custom ROM. The point of locking those competitors out is to force them to embrace Google's version of Android and not use their own forks which would keep Google out of certain aspects of the user's phone, decreasing revenue. Therefore, if you could roll your own custom ROM, it makes sense for Google to continue supporting you so you still completely rely on them instead of "outsourcing" to other competitors.
CM puts effort into alternate applications because as you can see right now, CM's starting to roll their own commercial forked devices - what happens after that? If you have seen the ways of other commercial versions of Android (Amazon, China brands, etc), they start replacing certain revenue generating aspects of the phone to use their own service instead of Google's. Certainly not what Google wants.
In short, I would say, if you are a small custom ROM user, Google isn't going to come after you, they want you to use their services! But if you are a competing company, expect your devices to be locked out from Google in the hopes that they eventually force you to bow to them and convert all your users completely to Google's "products".

Samsung's advantage.

Samsung is using its control of the device to its best advantage.
Samsung’s strategy to move into software and services is starting to bear fruit as it ChatOn IM service has broken the magic 100m user number.
This number has doubled in the last four months and is showing particular strength in China, India and the US.
I expect the number to grow strongly as ChatOn is installed on almost every Android and Bada device that the company makes.
The service is available in almost every country and supports 63 languages.
These are numbers from Samsung and there is no indication regarding how these numbers are counted or how active these users are.
Despite this, all of them will have at some point signed up meaning that they now have an account with Samsung.
This moves Samsung into contention with WhatsApp (300m users), Line (100m+ users) and BlackBerry (75m users)
This is the key advantage of controlling the device.
One can ensure that your app is front and centre and this seems to be working to great effect for Samsung.
This is a good step forward for a company that to date has largely just been all about hardware.
Samsung knows that it must move up into software and services if it is to preserve its margins and ChatOn is looking like a good start.
Samsung now has a relationship with 100m users. It may be a tenuous and fickle relationship, but at least it is there.
Samsung is now in a position to encourage those ChatOn users to try other things like games, social networking, music and so on.
If it can do that and get those users using its services then it will be well on the road to becoming a Digital Life supplier.
This is exactly what it must do to preserve its profitability as hardware commoditises.
This will bring it into direct conflict with Google and is why I believe that the big battle in tech over the next 5 years will be Samsung vs. Google. (see here for more details).
Everyone scoffs at Samsung’s ability to write software and 8 years ago I was among them.
Things are quietly changing.
Samsung is showing some signs of confounding its critics and soon I may have to afford Samsung a position in my list of Digital Life contenders.

The Grasp of Google --- Pondering escape plans

This might seem like a really weird topic to some but its becoming one that I feel will benefit many in discussing:
Since 2010, I've remained on the fence about Google and to a lesser degree Samsung and Apple. Some days I'd wake up and they would be the company I LOATH and HATE because of some thing they did that had bad optics (Hello Google's purchase of Boston Dynamics). Other days, I'd wake up and think they were the best company in the world because they did something that really pushed the envelope of technology or did something that had fantastic humanitarian potential or something that was just genuinely felt altruistic in nature.
As time went, those days of "evil" creped closer in to being the daily status quo and those altruistic events have been diminishing. 2016 marked the year where we saw a huge uptick in the unethical usage of data Google and companies who could claim close affiliation (either by direct partnerships or making use of their technology) began to absolutely abuse the information they've gathered on us over the last 10-20 years depending how early of an adopter you were.
Events such as PRISM, Harvard Analytical and Fusion GPS all illustrated the unethical use of data gathering techniques and has inspired the application of the Jellinik Curve and other addiction methodologies into applications.
It's been my goal in 2019 to get myself as much out of this "game" as possible. The big realization I had a number of years ago (which, I'm sure many others have had) is that if you aren't paying for something with money, you are paying for something through some other means; usually through information. This doesn't necessarily preclude that paying for something means they aren't ALSO doing stuff with your data too to some nefarious end (Hello False Dichotomy).
After all this background, my usecases are pretty simple:
- Any application I use on my phone has to be front someone or someplace (company) that, with some research, seems like they have ethical standing.
- My information going through their network needs to be encrypted in some way. Obviously the higher the better within operational tolerances (IE I doesn't bog down the equipment into unusable).
- It has to be cloud based with the same information being accessible across multiple devices.
- A mobile webapp is highly welcomed (it's harder to mess with your on phone data if you can use a webapp as opposed to an APK, but, of course that comes with usability and potentially security problems).
Insofar, I've tested/played with the following apps that are starting to become my daily drivers.
- Protomail to replace Gmail. (paying for yearly subs)
- Timetree to replace Google Calendar (Still not sold on this one)
- Cryphon to replace Hangouts/Messaging (kind of, sort of)
- Waze to replace Google Maps (Sure, Waze is owned by Google now, but its lacking some the issues --- I'm very open to another long term solution)
The one that's personally killing me is Google Voice. It's been my daily driver since 2008. I have 8 different Google Voice numbers I use for various things.
- 1 is for personal
- 1 is a "business personal"
- 5 are for business
- 1 is a spam line
I can't find any solution to Google Voice that allows for the number of phone lines without it costing an arm and a leg.
All this said, I'd like to see what the XDA community thinks about this topic in general and what app suggestions people may have.
At the end of this year, I'd like to be at a place where I can use an Android and have absolutely zero Google apps installed (including Play Services).

99.9%+ of people don't care about going non-Google. Even after many privacy abuses over the years. Even after a Play Store filled with 99.99%+ adware, trackers and malware & where clean apps are the very rare exception rather than the norm. Most people simply don't care about this stuff. Congratulations on caring enough to make changes.
Google is a filthy company, much like Microsoft and Apple. CIA /NSA partners. No different in other countries. You get exactly what you expect from such State Mafia pairings. Android only gets worse and more restrictive as time goes on.
F-droid.org for all open-source apps that aren't reliant on any Play Store spyware. F-droid.org forums for any help. Probably the best way to start on your journey. I use Osmand on the odd occasion I need GPS. It is OK. I am looking into hosting my own ejabberd server for chat. I have some way to go...it's all new to me.
Removing as much Google spyware on a new device (after rooting) is essential, IMO (If not flashing with new Google-free firmware). That means all the stock Google apps and more - gone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0G6mUyIgyg
https://qz.com/1145669/googles-true...nd-nsa-research-grants-for-mass-surveillance/
https://exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/

I feel like over the next few months we're going to start to realize this as a society, especially as we close into the 2020 election in the US and Directive 13 and 15 close closer in at the EU.
To me, its important to get ahead of the game a bit.
Ideally, from my perspective, I don't see the need to have the newest phone on the market. This ecosystem has taught us that we'll see a new product every year no matter what but that newest product will always interface the buyers as abused beta testers. The technology never seems to be good until the a generation or three later.
That being said, a phone a few years back usually has a good development group around, especially thanks to XDA.
Besides dealing with the information that's on the company's servers, however, I have a learning concern that even inside Android, without GAPPS installed, there is still some potential for abuse of person's information stepping from the various repositories designed for call logs, calendar, GPS data etc that, in theory, every Android going back to 1.0 has.
Part of my hunt for good apps are ones that don't rely on that underpinning technology.