Mobile Productivity Blog

Design Once, Deploy Anywhere: Pyxis Mobile on BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile, and Browser

Pyxis Mobile's approach towards mobile application delivery can be summed up with the statement: "Design Once, Deploy Anywhere."

Last week, Pyxis Mobile presented an early peek into our mobile application suite and Application Studio version 6.3 including a live connection to multiple data sources, screen auto-generation and import, and several soon to be released client features. What made this demo different, was that the resulting application was demoed on BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Desktop Edition, and iPhone!

At Pyxis Mobile we recognize you have options for mobilizing your applications. When evaluating a enterprise mobility vendor, we ask you to consider the following questions:

• What mobile devices are supported by each platform? Are all devices supported from a single application configuration?
• How long will it take to deliver a new application for one device type? For all required device types?
• How long, and how complex is the application deployment process?
• Can the software securely connect to multiple real-time data sources?
• Can you easily make changes to the application, without needing to recompile the client code and redeploy?

The image below is a screen shot from our demonstration, showing all four clients mobilizing the same data from the same configuration. Because the data used in the demo is straight-forward, the creation of the configuration, and the resulting client apps took under 15 minutes. That's 15 minutes to deliver FOUR distinct mobile clients! Because Pyxis Mobile delivers a "rich client" experience, the application takes seconds to deploy and seconds to load on the device (no thick client download nor sync). And finally, as a part of the demo, entities, screens and data were altered, requiring that the user simply refresh the config on the device. No code, no compilation, no re-deployment.

(click for detail)

Very simply, there is no other software, available from any other vendor, that is as powerful as Pyxis Mobile's Application Studio. We welcome the opportunity to speak with you about your mobile strategy. Click here for more information.

 

App From Scratch 3 is tomorrow!

Teams are set and the date is marked! What will surely be the equivalent of March Madness for mobile application development - 10 internal Pyxis Mobile teams will compete in the 3rd App From Scratch competition all day tomorrow.  

As before, the are several categories teams will judged - technical strength, creativity, and market viability. However, this year there are a couple of twists - Cross Platform applicability (Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Desktop Edition, and soon, iPhone) is key and also as a first, we have our first outside non-Pyxis exec judge (stay tuned for details).

Watch this blog over the next few days for details on how we did. If you have ideas, please email us!

On a related note, our Netflix companion app is on BlackBerry App World today! Search for Netflix and download!

"App From Scratch 2009" Mobile Design Contest: Next Week

Good news! The Pyxis Mobile contest that brought you our Netflix application last year is coming again... next week! Stay tuned for what we expect to be the best set of applications ever delivered in 24 hours or less. 

Prepping for the 6.2 webinar

Marc and Nikki prepping for todays webinar.

Concur User Conference 2009

And so it begins... There are some big announcements to be made this morning, starting with our news on the Pyxis Mobile/Concur partnership: http://www.pyxismobile.com/news/release.asp?id=242

SmartFlicks Upgrades & Windows Mobile

Posted on the Pyxis Mobile Application Studio Lab page, SmartFlicks (Pyxis Mobile's free Beta for Netflix on Smartphones) has seen upgrades including Instant Queue Support and also the release of SmartFlicks for Windows Mobile.

View the posts here:

Beta upgrade: http://lab.pyxismobile.com/2008/12/smartflicks-beta-upgrade-new-features.html

Windows Mobile Client: http://lab.pyxismobile.com/2008/12/smartflicks-now-available-on-windows-mobile.html

Please contact us with any questions or comments, and pass it on to your friends!

Back From Orlando: Financial Mobility Summit 2008 Slides and Mobile Survey Results Posted

Stop by the Financial Mobility Summit website for access to many of the slides presented throughout the program. We have also posted the Flickr stream from the event, so if you were unable to make it this year, you can still feel like a part of the event.

Read on after the jump for more information on the conference and the results of our "Mobility in the Workforce" survey.

FMS 2008 Day 2

8:41	CPW:  Day Two, and that fantastic Chris Willis kicks the event off... He's charming.

8:41	CPW:  Bill Chambers, the author of the Book "Go The Distance" and Regional VP from Manulife has taken the stage.

8:42	CPW:  Bill's life has been filled with challenges, starting in his teens when he was injured in a near-fatal motorcycle accident.

8:43	CPW:  After the accident, his physical therapy was based around using a peg board to rebuild his motor skills. Thsi "peg board" came to represent life's great challenges.

8:46

CPW:  With his life now changed, (partial blindless and loss of hearing), many of his dreams became impossible. After a some time, new dreams and challenges, including distance running, ,came into play. 150 distance runs, including 4 Boston Marathons, marathons in 31 states, multiple countries and continents, and runs a marathon every 5 weeks. He's won many awards, but the piece of doweling from the peg board is still the greatest example of success.

8:47	CPW:  So why distance running? Clarity of the goal. The next race has a date and a distance. There is a plan for training, and with work, you can reach your goal.

8:49	CPW:  A new goal at 40 was to become a "Master Runner". At that point, his cancer was discovered. His doctor was pessimistic that Bill would run again. Bill fired him. He needed a doctor to work with optimism.

8:49	CPW:  Cancer was another wall to push through, and a supportive team, just like in a marathon, would help him through ir.

8:50	CPW:  4 months after radiation treatments, he ran the Rocky Mountain Marathon and finished. This set a new set of goals (race in all 50 states).

8:55	CPW:  Setting specific SMART goals, managing those goals daily, managing the achievability of the goal, and executing on a plan based on a time limit leads to a successful finish. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely)

8:56	CPW:  The running analogy ties across all parts of business and life.

8:59	CPW:  Bill's book is available at: www.stridingtosuccess.com/book.html

9:00	CPW:  There is no point in running a marathon, or doing anything if all you want to do is finish. There needs to be a deeper goal, with challenges ahead.

9:01	CPW:  Defeat is not an answer or a solution.

9:09	CPW:  Chris Perry, President of the Americas Sales and Customer Service, Markets Division for Thomson Reuters has taken the stage.

9:11	CPW:  Markets Division powers the world's markets. Create transparency, provide insight through independant news and content to enable decisions and are the trusted connection between people transactions an ideas.

9:11	CPW:  They power financial markets, newsrooms, and individuals.

9:13	CPW:  The world has become smaller for TR, with equal-sized operations in the three major sectors of the world (NA, EU, and APAC).

9:13	CPW:  155 countries and 40000 customers

9:15	CPW:  Financial markets exist on connectivity. TR brings together Thomson Financial's buy side IB an dcorporate clients with Reuters sell side community to create one unique, large and global electronic marketplace - "The Professional Internet."

9:17	CPW:  The key to this information is availability. People want this untethered.

9:19	CPW:  - Great video on the progression of technology and information -

9:21	CPW:  Chris is now asking the audience who had a Newton. "Was anyone here NOT born when the Newton was available?" Now Palm, and next Windows CE. Information and transactions on a Newton were demanded, but the technology was not there. Now, with new devices, there is a freedom to do more.

9:23	CPW:  Handheld computing in the 90s was similar to today, but it was not ready. Now, in the 00's the devices, network, and desire exist to deliver information to any location at any time.

9:28	CPW:  Trends and the Future of Mobility: How do vertical markets drive adoption of mobile applications? - New stronger devices, improvements in network, internationalization - Challenges include: stability of networks, security of third-party apps, user understanding, changes to the device set.

9:30

CPW:  Thomson Reuters has: Content, Network & Design Expertise, and Strong Customer Relationships. ("We don't however, wake up every day thinking about financial mobility.") So, Thomson Reuters works with Pyxis Mobile who focuses on: Usability, Mobile Experience, and is the Trusted Mobile Brand. Together, that creates Thomson ONE Mobile

9:40	CPW:  And finally. "mobility can be dangerous" - The BlackBerry Helmet Video rolls.

10:04

[Be Right Back Countdown]

5 minutes

10:18

CPW:  James Stankard, from AT&T and Sheryl Kingstone from Yankee Group have taken the stage.

10:19

CPW:  Sheryl covers the area of customer experience at Yankee.

10:20

CPW:  The session is designed to look at how you can get from 35% user adoption of a system or systems, to 70% or above with a mobile solution that includes that system's data.

10:23

CPW:  James Stankard: When you look at new devices, what changes does that have on the space?

10:24

CPW:  Sheryl Kingston: Users tend to have better technology at home than at work. Personal technology bleeds into the enterprise.

10:25

CPW:  The "Prosumer" majority will influence IT decision making.

10:27

CPW:  Best practices: Mobility Creates CRM Success - Increasing user adoption from 30-70% - Mobile composite apps are critical for adoption - third-gen mobile apps improve the process and the use of data

10:28

CPW:  JS: Help us understand the use of browser vs client?

10:29

CPW:  SK: Browser is a great way to make an application, but SK would not recommend it. A process oriented middleware piece is critical for session persistance, security, and interface.

Financial Mobility Summit 2008 Day One (Live Blog)

Financial Mobility Summit 2008 Day One

8:39	Chris Willis:  The day has begun. Chris Willis just finished running through the agenda with the attendees. He is very funny and we found him really entertaining. (aside: "Can people tell who's typing this?")

8:40	Chris Willis:  Pyxis Mobile CEO, Bob Mazzarella is addressing the attendees. His message is that while the Financial Services industry is going through a tough time, its important to drive forward with initiatives that raise revenues and create top-line growth.

8:45

Chris Willis:  If you look at the industry over the last 10 years, numbers have been down (margins, revenues, commissions). How do those firms get those returns back? Technology. Mobility brings a tremendous amount of opportunity to firms looking to raise their revenue. And with fewer employees, serving the customer becomes a logistics challenge that can be solved with mobile applications.

8:46	Chris Willis:  The rules have changed. Look at how you can tweak your process to be more effective. Pyxis Mobile is changing the way people do business with mobility and it is up to you to find new ways in your firms to maximize that benefit and drive business.

8:51	Chris Willis:  NEW YORK LIFE JUST WON THE 2008 ARGUS AWARD FOR MOBILITY INNOVATION!!!

8:52	CPW:  Todd Christy, Pyxis Mobile's CTO and co-Founder has started his 2008 Mobility Vision Session.

8:57	CPW:  In 2007 the marketplace for devices was fairly straight-forward, in 2008, new devices including the Storm, the G1, the Experia, and others have created a buzz in the space. RIM continues its dominance in the enterprise, but there are others nipping at their heels.

9:02	CPW:  Wireless from the fringe: - Touch screens are everywhere. As interfaces change, how can they be desiged to be more effective? - smartphones are in a growth mode, with 19% of all mobile phone users carrying them. - App Stores have taken off witt Apple, Google and RIM.

9:04	CPW:  Mobile MultiMedia has improved due to screen size, battery and software, with consumer apps stretching the boundaries. Network advances with 3G networks today and 4G and WiMAX on the horizon.

9:04	CPW:  Fringe Items: 1lb projector, wireless charging, MS Surface

9:07	CPW:  Todd goes on to talk about how Pyxis Mobile has used 2007's "fringe technology" to drive 2008 software. Many customers are using Pyxis Mobile 6.0 (released in early 08) and 6.1 (released Oct 08) that deliver on the promises of FMS 2007.

9:08	CPW:  Stressing the message of "single code base." Every customer uses the same application, configured to support their distinct needs.

9:08	CPW:  Overview of Thomson ONE Mobile. See notes from yesterday.

9:09	CPW:  Pyxis Mobile has taken your advice to include time and expense features to our apps, leveraging the systems that you use in your firms. We also practice this with our team, integrating our time and expense system into our mobile sales application.

9:11	CPW:  RLS2000 is a MA-based real estate service provider. They have used Pyxis Mobile to deliver a mobile version of their web-based offerings. And finally, from the far fringe, Todd talks about SmartFlicks, our application that provides mobile management of your Netflix queue.

9:14	CPW:  Pyxis Mobile 6.1 Overview: Advanced GUI Features Click-to-Sort Camera Support BlackBerry 900 Support and More...

9:14	CPW:  Yes, Mike, they are...

9:16	CPW:  Arun Nagarajan is giving a demo of 6.1 and will be touching on 6.2 features (due 2009).

9:33	CPW:  They are now demo-ing Pyxis Mobile applications on the Storm.

10:04

TBC:  We're about to kick off the Analyst Morning Show with Mike King (Gartner) and Margie Hughes (AT&T)

10:05

TBC:  Margie is a Fin Serv veteran now developing ATT's FS vertical

10:06

TBC:  Mike King covers mobility for Gartner

10:08

TBC:  MK - mobile devices are with us all the time, 80% of people want to interact with service providers via mobile but only 2% can

10:09

TBC:  MK - email is still the killer app for mobile

10:10

TBC:  MK - today the networks are plenty fast, the screens are great, the coverage is good enough...for any application

10:11

TBC:  MH - Why are firms moving ahead with mobility?

10:11

TBC:  MK - Mobile makes ALL of your assets more effective and efficient

10:13

TBC:  MK - Touchscreens and advanced browsers are enabling new, more powerful apps

10:14

TBC:  MK - More efficient sales people = better retention, higher value

10:15

TBC:  MK - Any child born after 1980 doesn't know a world w/o cell phones

10:15

TBC:  MH - What are the mobility benefits?

10:16

TBC:  MK - Soft benefits: better communication, etc

10:17

TBC:  MK - Find 1-2 projects with hard ROI, implement infrastructure via them, then deploy "softer benefit apps" on that infrastructure

10:18

TBC:  MK - Having that infrastructure allows you to experiment, allows Type A organizations to explore freely

10:20

TBC:  MH - What are benefits of mobilizing multiple systems?

10:22

TBC:  MK - Switching between mobile apps is not fun; with small screen and a multitude of back-end systems you need composite apps to access them effectively

10:24

TBC:  MK - Type C companies lag tech trends like mobility, not everyone needs mobile; stalwart firms will be less competitive and will suffer w/ retention w/o effective mobile strategies

10:27

TBC:  MK - CSCO is a bellweather, switching gear up 6% last qtr, emerging tech incl wireless up 27%

10:32

TBC:  MK - 100k devices lost in UK pubs each year; compliance and security are critical partners with business mobility initiatives

10:35

TBC:  MK - Mobile BI, dashboards, and real-time status are big mobile app opportunities

10:36

TBC:  MK - Next phase includes not just what can/should i do based on where I am and who's around me, but melds those things including a business transaction, coupon, and more

10:41

TBC:  MK - Carriers are either "smart pipes" or "dumb pipes"; mobile apps leverage the strengths of smart pipe carriers and bring more biz value

10:44

TBC:  Session over...great insight!

10:53

CPW:  Nikki Pall and panel prepare to deliver Best Practices for Sales and Distribution

10:54

CPW:  Claudia Fogelin from Interactive Communications kicks off the panel, with her Mobility Field of Dreams: Make it easy to get the data (make it fun, easy, simple), they will use it.

10:57

CPW:  As a sales trainer, Claudia sees sales people all over the conuntry. One rule holds true, if they don't use the data, it doesn't matter how well designed or cool the app is.

11:00

CPW:  however, you can't forget technology adoption. Employees are becoming increasingly mobile.

11:12

CPW:  Alan Lee from Legg Mason states that the technology is the basis for mobility, but there is more. What is the users' workflow and are you aligning technology to that workflow?

11:14

CPW:  The best apps are delivered "WITH" the sales team, not just "FOR" the sales team. Pyxis Mobile's ability to change the application configuration on the fly is critical for an iterative application rollout.

11:15

CPW:  Legg Mason has 95% user adoption of their mobile applications.

11:17

CPW:  Scott Kasper from Ivy Funds is up next...

11:19

CPW:  This is Scott's third FMS! Nice.

11:20

CPW:  If the training and documentation is not complete for a new mobile application, the implementation is not going to be as successful.

11:22

CPW:  The over-riding theme of this session seems to be that sales people want to look prepared and do not like to look like they don't know how to use their BlackBerry. So, if your rollout does not include training, you will not have high user adoption. Mainly, because the sales people won't use the device because they don't want to look bad in front of clients. TRAINING, TRAINING, DOCUMENTATION.

11:48

CPW:  Rick Bylina from Good is up. Rick is talking about Standards and the Mobile Application "rEvolution".

11:50

CPW:  Rick knew he was the last session before lunch, so he added monkies and mutations to his overview of how standards and trends apply to mobilizing applications now and in the future.

12:05

CPW:  the FMS Gold Tournament begins in 25 minutes.

12:58

CPW:  I meant golf. I've hit the ball three times and have lost all three.

Exciting new features previewed at Keynote!

Todd and I were up and demo'ed some pretty exciting 6.1 features and a new preview of 6.2 features. The demos went smooth and there was a palpable excitement for some these features. In a matter of 10 mins we showed

• Local login with access to persisted data - quick access to data when you are on a plane!
• Local Sorting with multiple criteria
• Local Searching - address book type type -to-search local filtering on your contact list!
• Next/Previous with hot keys
• Scripting - conditionally show or make a field required and run complex validation rules on a field
• Geotagging - track latitude and longitude info with upload or find requests for location information
• Storm support - Pyxis Mobile apps running on a touch capable device.