The annual Consumer Electronics Show (which was held this week), is probably more important to businesses than ever before. The line between consumer and business tech is slowly fading, as “consumer” gadgets (like smartphones and tablets) are increasingly used for business. On that note, this week’s tech recap takes a look at some of the best tablets from CES, as well as 3 other non-CES tech stories that you might find interesting:
5 Best Tablets of CES 2012 (pcworld.com)
My thoughts: Take a good look at the tablets presented at CES 2012, because they’ll be making their way into your company in the near future. While Android stole the show, it’s also interesting to note that some Windows 8 tablets were demoed at CES, as well as the next Blackberry Playbook, both of which look like serious competitors in the tablet market. Why is all of this important to businesses? If your company plans on building apps to take advantage of the inevitable tablet trend, platform fragmentation is a giant hurdle. If you take the native approach, you’ll have to build separate apps for each major platform, which currently includes iOS, Android, and Blackberry, with Windows 8 coming in the near future. That’s a big reason why the mobile web app approach is generally a better option for businesses, as it gives you apps that work on all platforms, both now and in the future.
What developers are doing in 2012 (venturebeat.com)
My thoughts: What is your IT staff focusing on this year? According to a recent survey, mobile and web development rank up at the top of developer priorities in 2012. Surveys like this are great because they set a benchmark for what areas other companies are focusing on. How do your company’s priorities compare? Are you behind the times, or leading the way?
5 common myths about web applications (techrepublic.com)
My thoughts: There’s a lot of confusion surrounding web apps, but there shouldn’t be. A web application is any application that runs on the web. That includes BI apps, reporting apps, dashboard apps, and much more. Sounds simple enough, right? The problem is, many people have a misguided view of web apps, or believe blatantly false information. In this article, a well-respected web developer addresses some of the most common web application myths, and explains why they’re wrong. Did you believe any of them?
The uncharted legal waters of BYOD (infoworld.com)
My thoughts: This article brings up an excellent point that all businesses should consider. As consumer gadgets infiltrate the workplace and are increasingly used for business tasks, a legal question arises: Who owns the data? If you store business data on your smartphone, is it yours or the company’s? There’s no clear answer right now, but I have a solution: Use mobile web apps. All the data is stored on the company’s servers, not on the phone. A smartphone merely becomes a device used to access data via the web. This lets employees use their devices for business without compromising the data.
Joe Stangarone is a 30+ year veteran of the IT industry and president of mrc—the software company behind the award winning development platform, 
2 comments
Fast, Easy Web Design! » Blog Archive » Robert Half Technology Web Applications Developer says:
January 15, 2012 at 3:35 am (UTC -5)
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Best 5 Tablets – Overview | Best5Tablets. says:
March 27, 2012 at 7:54 pm (UTC -5)
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