The Zen of Mobile

By Evan Schuman

Opinion

Apple is learning why shortcut security is a bad idea

With its enterprise developer certificate program, Apple chose convenience over security. You can guess what happened.

02/20/19

Opinion

With latest mobile security hole, could we at least focus on the right things?

A bunch of apps from some major players were recently tripped up by a security/privacy hole from a third-party analytics app. But everyone is focusing on the wrong lesson.

02/13/19

Opinion

Next Android OS might allow app downgrade. This is a BIG deal.

Making apps downgradable would give IT just a little of its environment controls back. Just a little bit, but it's a start.

01/31/19

Opinion

The enterprise ROI/TCO argument for mobile is getting a lot more interesting

In 2019, executives need to look anew at mobile and figure out what technology displacements make sense. For example, do companies need to buy expensive dedicated barcode scanners?

01/22/19

Opinion

Apple's App Store privacy efforts are backfiring big time

Although Apple is trying to position itself as the consumer-privacy-friendly company, some have complained that it is doing it in far too heavy-handed a way.

12/12/18

Opinion

eBay's ApplePay stats show why mobile payments are struggling

When eBay recently started giving customers the option to move away from paying with PayPal, something interesting happened.

12/10/18

Opinion

When it comes to mobile, you pretty much have no privacy rights

Police are very persistent in trying to gain access to suspects' devices.

10/22/18

Opinion

Stats make iOS a hard OS to ignore

Users are jumping to the latest iOS version faster than ever before. That means many things from an Apple marketing perspective, but for IT, it means far greater security.

10/16/18

Opinion

Apple finally shares its automatic NFC launch capabilities, albeit in a very limited way

With iOS 12, Apple wants to share the ease-of-use magic of Apple Pay with the industry, via an SDK. Well, not quite, but it's starting along that path.

09/27/18

News Analysis

Apple's mobile privacy letter to Congress omits an awful lot of context

Apple's letter was designed to alleviate congressional fears about the company invading its customers' privacy. But a close reading of the letter does the opposite.

08/28/18

Opinion

Google and banks are being less than truthful about customer tracking

There are good and bad reasons to track someone's movements, but the best way to scream to users that you're spying on them is to lie about or not reveal what you're doing.

08/20/18

Opinion

The limitless potential of mobile gesture communications — and how it will trip up users

Gesturing in the air near a mobile device is going to become the preferred mode of interaction. Long term, ease of use will soar, but before we get there, expect a lot of user errors.

07/24/18

Opinion

Is mobile sensor-based authentication ready for the enterprise? Some big players think it might be.

An Arizona security company is working on an interesting approach to mobile authentication, one that leverages the exact angle a user holds the phone as a means of making replay attacks a lot more difficult.

07/19/18

Opinion

With cashier-less checkout, retailers should be careful what they wish for

As the battle for cashier-less stores rages on, it's worth questioning whether an employee-less checkout system is something that retailers should truly want.

06/20/18

Opinion

The game-changing potential of smartphones that can smell

Sniffing smartphones won't merely replicate what a human nose can do. They will be able to detect aromas far more precisely. What is the enterprise IT potential here? Quite a bit.

06/06/18

News Analysis

Amazon's Echo privacy flub has big implications for IT

Amazon has confirmed that one of its Echo devices recorded a family's conversation and then messaged it to a random person on the family's contact list. The implications are terrifying.

05/26/18

Opinion

BJ's baffling mobile right-swipe machine-learning move

When BJ's Wholesale Club on Thursday (May 3) said that it would leverage machine learning in its mobile app, it joined the crowded club of companies boasting A.I. capabilities while remaining vague on the details.

05/04/18

Opinion

Has a U.K. company figured out how to fix the loyalty problem with its mobile banking app?

One of the longest-running retail problems involves loyalty points and gift cards and the fact that shoppers tend to either forget about them or find them too much of a hassle to redeem.

05/03/18