As the number of networked consumer devices continues to grow, it's increasingly common for people to own and use multiple devices like game consoles, smart phones, media players, networked TVs, netbooks and tablets - all connected (read/write) to the Internet. So it's no surprise that many companies and organizations are developing specific strategies to address this new digital reality. Here's a round-up of some recent developments.
Funambol Cloud Sync Report
An evaluation of all of the consumer data syncing services scored on criteria such as how many kinds of data each one supports, cost, usability, and number of supported devices. Includes: Nokia Ovi, Apple MobileMe, Palm Synergy, Microsoft My Phone, Google Sync, and more.
Flash Contextual Applications Platform
These applications are characterized by their ability to adapt presentation and performance to different application contexts, including multiple operating systems, platforms, and devices; diverse and changing types of networks; and unique user expectations and personalization. The most effective contextual applications provide a unified experience across multiple devices while fully exposing the unique experience available within the system, user, and network context.
Microsoft’s “three screens and the cloud” strategy
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer: “it's a fundamental shift in the computing paradigm. We used to talk about mainframe computer, mini computer, PC computing, client server computing, the internet; I think this notion of three screens and a cloud, multiple devices that are all important, the cloud not just as a point of delivery of individual applications, but really as a new platform, I think it’s a big deal.”
User experience in multi-platform world manifesto
The Manifesto sets out our beliefs as to how user-centred design principles can enhance the experience of multi-platform digital services. We believe the mobile phone will be, for most users, the natural starting point for the multi-platform experience and remain the dominant device in their growing portfolio of digital tools. We believe intelligent access to a consistent, wireless cloud of user data is a key enabler of the multi-platform experience, but will succeed only when it can be accessed through a variety of interfaces...
Logging on with Hardware: using devices for authentication
Valuable information is increasingly stored remotely, but it's difficult to keep it safe without compromising convenience and accessibility for users. A product called EdgeID promises to strengthen remote authentication by using consumers' devices as keys.