New Samsung Chip Makes Phone Faster Than Laptop

Samsung is set to make mobile devices bigger, faster, and more brilliant in the very near future. The company announced that it has begun mass production on the very first 8-gigabit LPDDR4 Mobile DRAM mobile memory module.

The new chip marks a new benchmark for mobile devices aimed at being the best. In fact, Samsung’s innovation means the best mobile devices likely will have more memory than a lot of laptops and desktop computers.

New Samsung Chip Makes Phone Faster Than Laptop

Better Technology Will Bring More Secure Mobile Payments | The Network

Apple and retailers battle over how to make phones become secure credit cards. The tug of war will go on for a while, but the ultimate result will be far safer transactions.

Better Technology Will Bring More Secure Mobile Payments | The Network

Fortinet Blog | News and Threat Research Security Threat Landscape with Derek Manky and Network World

Fortinet Blog | News and Threat Research Security Threat Landscape with Derek Manky and Network World

Press release:

Appcelerator Enables Scalable Mobile Back-ends with Red Hat OpenShift PaaS

August 2, 2012

Cloud Computing Team

With the combination of Appcelerator's Titanium Studio and the OpenShift Platform-as-Service (PaaS) developers can create and deploy scalable iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Mobile Web applications using open standards. By developing in standard JavaScript, Titanium Studio creates native applications that can be deployed to the Apple App Store and Google Play. On the back-end, developers can use open source languages and frameworks such as Java EE, Node.js, Ruby and MongoDB and deploy them to the OpenShift PaaS to be scaled and managed in the cloud.

Announcing an integrated front-end and back-end development environment

Today the Red Hat OpenShift Module for Titanium Studio is available for download [1] in the Appcelerator Marketplace. Developed by Appcelerator in collaboration with Red Hat, the free module allows developers using Appcelerator Titanium Studio to deploy back-end mobile application code to the cloud in Red Hat’s OpenShift PaaS.

This means mobile application developers can now create front-end and back-end code in the same development environment and deploy the front-end code to mobile app stores and the back-end code to the OpenShift platform. Developers who want to get started can read our Deploying Mobile back-end Services from Titanium Studio to OpenShift [2] write-up. We see a terrific validation of OpenShift PaaS in Appcelerator’s choice to integrate the OpenShift platform into the Appcelerator Titanium Studio experience.

Mobile developers want scalable cloud services

The May 2012 Appcelerator / IDC Q2 Mobile Developer Report found that 83% of mobile developers plan to use cloud services. [5] Many of these services are being sought out because of the difficulty in developing back-end server-side capabilities, particularly for developers focused on client-side activities. These mobile services need scalable application infrastructure that can keep up with changing workloads as mobile users come and go. If an application is “hot” or a corporate event causes a lot of activity, the back-end needs to scale while remaining secure.

While mobile developers want to create the best experience in their applications, they don’t want to spend their time bogged down in setting up back-end stacks, handling scaling and security, patching stack versions or any of the other administration tasks that are required in running a scalable service. OpenShift addresses these issues for them by leaving developers free to focus on what really matters: code and customers.

Developers can use Appcelerator Titanium Studio and OpenShift for free. Appcelerator’s App Explore tier is free and includes access to Titanium Studio, analytics and more. The OpenShift PaaS free tier enables developers to run mobile back-ends for languages including Ruby, Node.js, Java EE, Python and PHP along with databases such as MySQL and MongoDB utilizing up to 1.5 GB memory and 3 GB storage. Developers will be able to purchase increased capacity as their applications scale.

Announcing the Appcelerator Mobile Developer Challenge

Appcelerator has announced that registration is now open for the Appcelerator Mobile Developer Challenge – a mobile application contest which offers up to $15,000 in cash prizes.  Participants can host their apps on the OpenShift platform - to let us know that you are enjoying the benefits of the OpenShift PaaS free tier for your contest entries, use CODESTRONG when signing up at openshift.com.

Don’t forget that Red Hat’s OpenShift PaaS is also a platinum sponsor of this year’s CODESTRONG conference in San Francisco, which brings together hundreds of mobile developers to learn and interact with the latest technologies. Winners of the Mobile DevChallenge will be announced at CODESTRING. Early bird registrations are still available, sign up here [7].

[1] https://marketplace.appcelerator.com/apps/2939?556492733
[2] https://openshift.redhat.com/community/blogs/developing-mobile-apps-for-the-cloud-with-titanium-studio-and-the-openshift-paas
[3] http://openshift.redhat.com/app/account/newweb_user[promo_code]=CODESTRONG
[4] http://codestrong.com/
[5] http://bit.ly/N08wrH “Developers’ responses were remarkably consistent with last quarter’s survey results in the level of interest in integrating cloud services into their mobile applications, with fully 83% of those developers (84% in last quarter’s survey) saying that they were planning to connect their mobile applications to cloud-based services like Appcelerator Cloud Services (ACS) within the next year.”
[6] Developers’ responses were remarkably consistent with last quarter’s survey results in the level of interest in integrating cloud services into their mobile applications, with fully 83% of those developers (84% in last quarter’s survey) saying that they were planning to connect their mobile applications to cloud-based services like Appcelerator Cloud Services (ACS) within the next year.

New RSA Service Helps Customers Detect and Shut Down Rogue Mobile Apps

EMC Press Release

New RSA Service Helps Customers Detect and Shut Down Rogue Mobile Apps

RSA FraudAction Anti Rogue App Service Monitors for Rogue Mobile Apps which Target End User Devices and Data

BLACKHAT 2012 Conference – Las Vegas - July 25, 2012

News Summary:

• Rapid growth of app stores for mobile devices has received significant attention from consumers, businesses and fraudsters alike.
• Mobile apps have emerged as a new cybercrime attack vector for phishing and malware.
• RSA FraudAction Anti Rogue App Service is a new managed service designed to detect and take action against malicious/unauthorized mobile apps that silently infiltrate online app stores.
• The service monitors all major app stores for all mobile operating systems, detects and shuts down malicious apps that are targeting customers to help reduce end user credential loss, financial fraud as well as damage to organizations' brand equity.

Full Story:

To counter the emergence of malicious and unauthorized apps appearing on mobile app stores, RSA, The Security Division of EMC (NYSE: EMC), today introduced the RSA FraudAction™ Anti Rogue App Service designed to detect and take action against rogue mobile apps that attempt to serve up malware or phishing attacks.

RSA FraudAction Anti Rogue App Service is an anti-fraud solution designed to detect and shut down rogue mobile apps. By combining the industry's most experienced anti-fraud experts with a proven, propriety threat-detection infrastructure, RSA helps organizations obtain visibility into the mobile app landscape, giving their fraud teams the ability to understand this new threat vector. RSA's new service helps organizations discover fraudulent mobile apps that are leveraging customer brands to infect end users or steal credentials. RSA's proactive approach helps ensure online app stores are constantly monitored and action is taken against rogue mobile app threats.

According to multiple research reports, the risk to mobile device security is increasing:

• 71 percent of organizations allow their employees to use their own mobile devices for company business. (Source: GI mSecurity Survey Report, April 2012, Goode Intelligence)
• 86 percent of all Android malware is actually repackaged versions of legitimate apps, but with malicious payloads. (Source: Android Malware Genome Project, Department of Computer Science at the North Carolina State University)
• Number of malicious Android apps jumps to over 20,000 in July 2012. (Source: TrendMicro TrendLabs Jul 2, 2012)

Key benefits of the RSA FraudAction Anti Rogue App Service include:

• Proactively manages risk to business by providing visibility into mobile app-based threats.
• Reduces fraud loss by shutting down rogue apps to help minimize impact of mobile app-based attacks to customer base.
• Provides comprehensive app store monitoring for all major app stores.

Available immediately worldwide, RSA will launch the RSA FraudAction Anti Rogue App Service in its booth at the BlackHat 2012 Conference in Las Vegas. More information can be found at:www.emc.com/security/rsa-identity-protection-and-verification/rsa-fraudaction/rsa-fraudaction-antirogue-service.htm

RSA Executive Quote:

Dan Schiappa, RSA Senior Vice President, Identity & Data Protection

"We're finding that organizations offering legitimate mobile apps used for online banking, retail, gaming and other functions aren't prepared and are mostly unaware of the mobile app threats lurking in app stores. Driven by RSA's experienced team of anti-fraud analysts, the RSA FraudAction Anti Rogue App Service is designed to help these organizations reduce fraud losses by monitoring for, rooting out and shutting down rogue apps before they can successfully exploit unknowing mobile consumers in an attempt to distribute malware and steal sensitive personal information for financial gain."

Analyst Quote:

Chris Hazelton, Research Director, Mobile & Wireless, 451 Research

"Since app stores are a primary source for mobile software, the large volume of new and updated applications regularly added to these stores makes it easy for cybercriminals to hide illicit activities within legitimate apps. Despite the best efforts of app store operators to police their own catalogs for rogue apps, the potential damage posed by a Trojan app using a company's brand image cannot be understated. Active monitoring of app stores will help organizations stay ahead of potential mobile app threats that leverage legitimate brands to target consumers for malware distribution and phishing."

Featured Resources:

Learn more about RSA Anti Rogue App Service

RSA Speaking of Security Podcast:

RSA Introduces RSA FraudAction™ Anti Rogue App Service to Combat Mobile-based Fraud - Podcast #236

Related RSA Blogs:

Malware…there's an app for that!
By Sam Curry, CTO, RSA Identity & Data Protection Group

Rogue Mobile Apps, Phishing, Malware and Fraud
By Limor Kessem, Technical Lead, RSA FraudAction Research Lab

Additional Resources:

• Learn more about how Trusted IT from EMC = Trusted Business at: www.emc.com/trust
• Connect with RSA via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and the RSA Speaking of Security Blog and Podcast.

About RSA

RSA, The Security Division of EMC, is the premier provider of security, risk and compliance management solutions for business acceleration. RSA helps the world's leading organizations succeed by solving their most complex and sensitive security challenges. These challenges include managing organizational risk, safeguarding mobile access and collaboration, proving compliance, and securing virtual and cloud environments.

Combining business-critical controls in identity assurance, encryption & key management, SIEM, Data Loss Prevention and Fraud Protection with industry leading eGRC capabilities and robust consulting services, RSA brings visibility and trust to millions of user identities, the transactions that they perform and the data that is generated. For more information, please visit www.EMC.com/RSA.

AVG DEBUTS POWERFUL SOCIAL MEDIA INTEGRATOR

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Work, Rest and Play: European Holidaymakers Demand Seamless Internet Connectivity

Press release:

Work, Rest and Play: European Holidaymakers Demand Seamless Internet Connectivity

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New Research Reveals That Good Mobile Data Coverage Is Becoming a Must for Holidaymakers, With Many Selecting Leisure Resorts Based on the Quality of the Internet Connection

GENEVA -- (Marketwire) -- 07/16/2012 --  Forget sun, sea and sights -- more than a third of European holidaymakers say that good mobile data coverage is a determining factor when choosing a destination, with 86 percent expecting wireless connectivity at their hotels to feed their "online addiction." The finding comes from new research conducted by leader in fabric networking, Brocade(1) (NASDAQ: BRCD), which points to a sea change in the holidaying patterns of increasingly well-connected European travellers.

On vacation, as at home, the temptation to work from mobile devices persists, with more than half of holidaymakers admitting to doing so. Whether it's checking one final e-mail in the departure lounge, or making a conference call from the beach bar, it seems that the majority of us have a hard time letting go, on vacation or otherwise.

Some 95 percent of the respondents admitted taking their mobile devices on vacation, and they are as likely to use them for work as for personal use. More than half (56 percent) of respondents said that they used their mobile device for accessing work e-mail or downloading work documents, an increase over last year's figure of 48 percent.

"There is significant blurring between personal time and work time in modern society, with the consumerization of IT and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) working policies leading many people to rely on smartphones and tablet devices around the clock, wherever they may be and whatever they may be doing," said John McHugh, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Brocade. "Our research clearly illustrates that this is causing fundamental changes in working patterns and demands on networking architectures. It used to be that when people went on vacation, that's what they did. Now it seems that we can never switch off from work, even when we're at the beach. With this, the demand on service providers and mobile operators to provide ubiquitous, reliable coverage has never been higher."

More than a third (37 percent) of respondents noted that good mobile data coverage (for example, 3G/4G) was a determining factor in their choice of destination. Furthermore, 86 percent expected hotels to provide free Wi-Fi access. A lack of available Wi-Fi was also the second most popular concern about accessing the Internet from abroad, behind only high roaming costs.

These findings, McHugh suggests, could show the leisure industry the way to securing a competitive edge in challenging economic times: "With incoming 4G networks promising to multiply speeds and available bandwidth, mobile data coverage will exert an even greater influence on people's holiday choices. People want to reduce the overall impact of work on their holidays -- both for themselves and for those they travel with -- and they are looking for ways to get the same amount of work done in just a fraction of the time. To do this, the underlying network infrastructure needs to be able to cope."

However, the findings may indicate that there is still a gulf between the expectations of modern travellers and the reality. "Many destinations remain unable to satisfy holidaymakers' demands when it comes to connectivity," explained McHugh. "Hotel owners should look at the incredible demand for free Wi-Fi networking and provide residents with reliable connectivity -- whether in their rooms, at the bar or by the pool. Widely available, high-quality Internet access could very soon make the difference between a hugely successful season and a disastrous one. Without it, hotels risk damaging both their revenues and their reputations."

Other key findings of the research included:

• Smartphones emerged as the most popular device for holidaymakers, with 91 percent of respondents taking one with them on holiday. This was followed closely by laptops and netbooks (49 percent), and tablet computers (42 percent).
• Coming in second only to accessing personal e-mail [when asked the primary reason for using a connected device on holiday] was accessing work e-mail. The use of social media also featured prominently in the responses, placing third.
• Approximately a third (32 percent) stated that they intended to stream coverage of the Olympics through their devices whilst on vacation, again placing immense pressure on local networks to provide sufficient bandwidth and service reliability to users.

"These findings serve as a reminder that the smartphone/tablet revolution is ongoing, and that the challenges of supporting the volumes of mobile data will continue to tax the communications industry," continued McHugh. "This explosion in mobile data is one of the key challenges to the industry. Mobile devices will place an increasing strain not just on Wi-Fi and mobile networks, but also on corporate and data centre networks that form the foundation of any service. These underlying networks need to be extremely robust, and designed specifically for the challenges of mobile data. With solutions that underpin more than a third of global Internet traffic, Brocade is ideally positioned to help the industry meet the needs of the modern holidaymaker."

In this type of always-on business environment, the Brocade^® family of high-performance, scalable, cloud-optimized networking solutions offers service providers and businesses the confidence to meet the demands of the roving vacationer. These solutions help organizations deliver information and applications anywhere at any time, while bringing new levels of simplicity and manageability to the campus.

To learn more, visit www.brocade.com.

About BrocadeBrocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) networking solutions help the world's leading organizations transition smoothly to a world where applications and information reside anywhere. (www.brocade.com)

© 2012 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Brocade, Brocade Assurance, the B-wing symbol, DCX, Fabric OS, MLX, SAN Health, VCS, and VDX are registered trademarks, and AnyIO, Brocade One, CloudPlex, Effortless Networking, ICX, NET Health, OpenScript, and The Effortless Network are trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., in the United States and/or in other countries. Other brands, products, or service names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners.

(1) Fieldwork was conducted during June 2012, across 500 European holidaymakers.

Press release:

Mobile Retail Commerce Rises While Social Shopping Drops in Second Quarter, Reports IBM

Consumers Buy More Per Online Transaction

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Armonk, N.Y. - 16 Jul 2012: Mobile shopping rose while social media sales fell, providing an indication of where US retailers may invest in order to capture the attention and loyalty of the digital consumer, according to a new report from IBM (NYSE: IBM). The IBM Retail Online Index, a cloud-based analysis of the online retail sector reported that retailers experienced 15 percent growth in sales from mobile devices but saw a 20 percent decline in sales traced to social media based on a much smaller base over this three-month period.

This report follows today’s news from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau which announced its estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales. According to the findings, retail sales fell 0.5 percent in June from May, the third straight month sales have been down from the month before. On a positive note, June 2012 sales were 3.8 percent above the pace of June 2011. 

The IBM Retail Online Index integrates factual marketplace data from its analytics offerings including the Benchmark with insights from the IBM Social Sentiment Index, an advanced analytics and natural language processing tool that analyzes large volumes of social media data to assess public opinions. The combination of these two offerings provides the most accurate and immediate snap shot on the state of the online retail market. 

IBM’s Retail Online Index identified several trends of importance to chief marketing officers (CMO), e-commerce leaders and customer service professionals. Over the second quarter consumers continued to embrace mobile devices as a shopping tool, with mobile commerce accounting for 15.1 percent of all online purchases, an increase of more than 14 percent. Despite this momentum retailers are still struggling to sustain substantial success with their social media efforts, evidenced by a more than 20 percent drop in social shopping.  

According to IBM’s State of Marketing 2012 survey, one explanation for social commerce’s failure may be the absence of a CMO and CIO alliance which is critical as marketing and online commerce become increasingly technology-driven. The lack of this alliance hinders the deployment of integrated technologies capable of fueling effective social media efforts. A second factor is marketing’s inability to form a clear consensus on how to utilize social channels. As a result, the retail online index saw a decline in positive sentiment around social media, which according to the online index dropped from 25.1 percent in Q1 to 18.6 percent in Q2. Leading factors for this shift were the lack of deals being offered by retailers through these channels, which were more prevalent in Q1. 

“Shoppers today are shifting from a singular online approach to a multi-channel experience that includes both mobile and social media. As a result, retailers must be prepared to connect with their customers on all fronts, or lose them to the competition,” said Craig Hayman, General Manager, IBM Industry Solutions. “As we enter the home stretch for the 2012 holiday season, we will continue to watch how CMOs and CIOs tackle these challenges and create social media efforts that deliver value to the customer while driving revenue for the business.” 

Over the second quarter, while online traffic and sales for Q2 were down 6.7 percent and 2.3 percent from Q1 respectively, there were signs of optimism. Specifically, for completed orders, shoppers bought more items (average items per order grew 2.6 percent) and spent more for each transaction (average order values for each purchase grew by 2.3 percent) over the second quarter. 

Part of IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative, the Retail Online Index draws data and insights from IBM's big data offerings to provide the industry’s most comprehensive look into the pulse of online retail through traditional and social media channels. The index analysis for second-quarter 2012 reveals the following trends:  

Online Retail Sales for Q2 2012 versus Q1 2012:

·     Consumer Spending: Total online sales for the quarter were down 2.3 percent over Q1 2012.

·     Average Order Value: The average value for each order in Q2 grew by 2.3 percent.

·     Items Per Order: The average number of items per order increased by 2.6 percent.

·     Page view Per Session: Page views per session dropped by 2 percent to 6.4 pages.

·     Mobile Sales: Sales from mobile devices reached 15.1 percent, up from the 13.3 percent in Q1 2012.

·     Mobile Devices: While Apple’s iPhone continued to rank one for mobile device retail traffic at 8.2 percent, Android surpassed the iPad which finished at 6.8 percent and 6.7 percent respectively.

·     Social Traffic: Shoppers referred from social networks generated 1.3 percent of all online traffic over Q2 2012, a slight increase from the 1.1 percent seen the previous quarter.

·     Social Sales: Shoppers referred to retailer sites from social networks generated 1.9 percent of all online sales over Q2 2012, a decrease from the 2.4 percent seen in Q1. 

Online Retail Categories for Q2 2012 versus Q1 2012:

·     Consumers further intensified their focus on the home with home goods sales growing by 35.3 percent in Q2.

·     Department stores continued to catch the attention of consumers with sales growing 3.7 percent

·     Jewelry stores maintained its upward track with sales growing by 1.4 percent.  

Consumer Sentiment for Department Stores for Q2 2012 versus Q1 2012 based on the IBM Social Sentiment Index:

·     Social Media:  A potential result of retailers failing to deliver compelling campaigns through these channels, positive sentiment around social media dropped by 6.5 percentage points, from 25.1 percent in Q1 to 18.6 percent in Q2.

·     Loyalty and Pricing: Where sales and clearing inventory were priorities in Q1, retailer prices returned to more normal rates in Q2, a shift that fueled negative sentiment around pricing which grew by 2.1 percentage points. These factors also impacted consumer loyalty where negative sentiment grew by 2.1 percentage points.  

IBM Retail Online Index

The IBM Retail Online Index features data from IBM's analytics offerings including the Benchmark and IBM Cognos Consumer Insight. The IBM Benchmark is the only analytics-based, peer-level benchmarking solution that measures online marketing results, including real-time sales data. All of the data is aggregated and anonymous. Analysis of public social media content came via IBM Cognos Consumer Insight which provides insight into underlying holiday shopping trends, hot topics of discussion and consumer sentiment. This index is combined with the IBM Social Sentiment Index to measure positive, negative and neutral sentiments shared in public forums such as Twitter, blogs, message boards and other social media, and provides quick insights into consumer conversations about issues, products and services. Follow the conversation at #bigdata #IBMIndex 

About IBM Smarter Commerce

IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative delivers software and services to help companies transform their business processes to more quickly respond to shifting customer demands in today's digitally transformed marketplace. The initiative is driven by the demands from organizations who are increasingly looking for ways to bring new levels of automation to marketing, sales and fulfillment to secure greater customer loyalty. The growth of mobile, social and online commerce are key trends within Smarter Commerce. 

News release:

New IBM Software Transforms the Digital Experience

Delivers New Interactive Online Experience for 16 Million Tennis Fans on wimbledon.com

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ARMONK, NY - 13 Jul 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new software that helps CMOs and CIOs transform the digital experience for employees, customers and fans across a broad range of mobile devices. 

The IBM Intranet Experience Suite pulls together company information and data, personalized content and news, and social media and analytics, enabling employees to connect, collaborate and access information at anytime, from anywhere. (Photo Courtesy of IBM)

The new software brings together the power of social networking, analytics and mobile computing to front office operations and externally to clients, allowing companies to create exceptional Web experiences. As a result, organizations can gain faster insight on customer buying patterns and consumer sentiment allowing them to more quickly reach and engage their audiences.  

As part of today's news, IBM is also announcing the completion of a digital transformationproject with the All England Lawn Tennis Club. By visiting the new www.wimbledon.com from a variety of devices including the iPhone, iPad, Android and other tablets, fans can share information, interact with and connect to The Championships as if they were actually there seeing the plays in real-time.    

The website also integrates with a new online TV channel, Live @ Wimbledon, alongside IBM’s real time match analysis tool, SlamTracker, bringing the most comprehensive digital experience to consumers.  

“Working with IBM, we’ve created a new digital experience that aims to showcase the beauty of Wimbledon to our millions of fans around the world. It allows them to truly engage with the Wimbledon experience as never before," said Mick Desmond, Commercial Director at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. “Visitors can follow the progress of their favorite players, view clips of live matches, view highlights of the day’s action and get scores and results delivered in real-time. It is an increasingly interactive and engaging online experience that draws fans, players and the media in ever-greater numbers.” 

With the growing number of mobile devices, social networks and social media tools on the rise, CMOs struggle to reach their audiences. At the same time, CIOs are struggling to provide access to company data on every type of device for a geographically distributed workforce. Given the business realignment between marketing and technology, the CMO and CIO can no longer afford to operate on separate stages. To succeed, they'll have to forge a shared agenda to deliver business results through innovation and efficiency, working together to streamline their technology needs. The convergence of social and mobile is prompting organizations to revisit decades-old website to create exceptional web experiences to reach and engage with their audiences. 

Building on these increased demands, IBM is delivering a new Customer Experience Suite giving millions of marketing professionals the power to manage and integrate all types of data on their web sites and then analyze it for deeper insight into customer buying patterns and sentiment. Also delivered today, the new IBM Intranet Experience Suite pulls together company information and data, personalized content and news, and social media and analytics, enabling employees to connect, collaborate and access information at anytime, from anywhere. 

At European industrial automation technology manufacturer Omron, employees are connecting knowledge and technical know-how through the organization's Intranet, helping to meet the specific needs of their customers. Omron delivers an exceptional Web experience to its 1,700 European employees through a single communication platform that embeds relevant social data into the daily workflow. Omron has sped knowledge sharing across boundaries and between departments, enabling employees to support customers better and faster.  

"The world is changing and is becoming increasingly connected and social," said Michel Min, Head of Strategic Communication & eMarketing, Omron Europe B.V. "Because of this, we know our clients are changing as well, which is why it's increasingly important to ensure our sales teams have the right information at the right time." 

Analytics to Help Marketers Engage Audiences 

From digital marketing and mobile commerce, to websites and social media, marketers are inundated -- often paralyzed -- by data amassed from consumers via searches, purchase histories, Facebook "likes" and comments on Twitter. Combine that with data about in-store traffic, conversations with call centers and updates from suppliers, today's marketers confront a daily deluge of data waiting to be sifted for nuggets of intelligence they can act upon to boost their business.  

By 2017, the CMO will have greater control of the IT budget than the CIO, according to Gartner (1). Marketing budgets will grow 7-8 percent over the next 12 months, which is 2-3 times that of IT budgets. However, despite their growing reliance on technology and their soaring budgets, CMOs readily admit they lack the skills that IT requires. According to the IBM CMO Study, while 79 percent of CMOs expect high levels of complexity in their job over the next five years, only 48 percent feel prepared to deal with it.  

Because of this, it's critical for CMOs to not only be aware of and monitor the social conversation, but to truly understand the sentiment and interact one-on-one with that customer. Taking it one step further would be to integrate these conversations directly into the organization's web site, providing one place to both network and shop.  

The new IBM Customer Experience Suite provides CMOs with the power to manage and integrate all types of data on their web sites and then analyze it for deeper insight into customer buying patterns and sentiment. Web data has evolved today to include social media, videos, and web-based forms, as well as traditional enterprise data such as financial, customer and order data, and transactions. The software suite pulls together IBM's market-leading enterprise portal, web content management, forms, and enterprise social networking software into a single view. 

CIOs Creating Exceptional Intranets To Help Employees Gain Insight from Data Deluge 

The new IBM software also helps business leaders extend their corporate intranet to a broad range of mobile devices in an effort to deepen employee collaboration and information sharing. 

According to IDC, employees typically see up to a 30 percent increase in productivity using social tools internally to complete their work (2). With unlimited access to any type of information, consumers expect this same level of information availability in their professional lives, in order to work efficiently and reach business goals quickly. 

The new IBM Intranet Experience software brings the power of social and analytics capabilities to CIOs and lines of business employees helping organizations innovate and evolve their internal operations and communications. The solution pulls together company information and data, personalized content and news, and social media and analytics, enabling employees to connect, collaborate and access information at anytime, from anywhere. 

For example, IBM's new intranet platform provides HR executives and business leaders with software to help employees better engage across networks and business units, and access information from a variety of sources including external and internal news feeds.  

Working with IBM and its partner Portico, Omron created an award-winning business intranet, called Ozone internally, helping to create a single-source communication and collaboration platform for all 1,700 European employees. The IBM Intranet Experience Suite integrates with external social media, including Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, allowing employees to pick and choose which applications they want in their Intranet view. For example, a sales manager can leverage the Cognos software integration to ensure a clear view into monthly sales reports by region, as well as competitive background on new product updates and forecasts. 

"It's essential to offer relevant social information in the right business context embedded in employee's daily workflow," continued Min. "By measuring, analyzing and filtering social information, and then injecting those insights to the right people at the right time, real business value can be generated by bringing technical know-how directly to the customer." 

Omron has the ambition to connect employees worldwide, with its Ozone intranet being expanded into Asia today. Omron Europe is also testing mobile access for all popular devices including the iPad.

Sources:

(1) Gartner Webinar, By 2017 the CMO Will Spend More on IT Than the CIO, January 2012 

(2) IDC, Measuring for Success: Social Business ROI, Doc # DR2011_T7_ET, Mar 2011  

HEIGHTENED SECURITY IN NEW ANDROID APP STORE

PRESS RELEASES

HEIGHTENED SECURITY IN NEW ANDROID APP STORE

MOBILE SECURITY LEADER AVG TECHNOLOGIES PARTNERS WITH APP PLATFORM LIVEWIRE MOBILE, INC.

LITTLETON, MASS., and AMSTERDAM - 9 May 2012 - Livewire Mobile, Inc., (otcmarkets: LVWR), the one-stop digital content solutions provider for carriers, consumer device manufacturers, media companies, and consumers, and AVG Technologies (NYSE: AVG), the provider of Internet and mobile security to approximately 108 million active users, today launched an initiative in which AVG will provide advanced security checks to apps delivered from Livewire hosted Android app stores for mobile network operators and handset manufacturers.

With concerns increasing around the potential security dangers for smartphone users, the two companies intend to use AVG’s innovative technology to help users protect themselves from potential malware and viruses.

Livewire Mobile has extensive relationships with Android app developers around the world and will host and manage the new app stores on its industry leading Daius digital content platform.

Livewire Mobile, in collaboration with AVG, is now working with its developer community to curate and deliver security-screened app stores for customers around the world. Every app being offered to consumers in Livewire’s app stores will be pre-screened by AVG’s technology. Additionally, once a user downloads an app from one of Livewire’s secure app stores, every app update following the initial download will be similarly screened on the device using AVG’s Mobilation® for Android security solution. Mobilation, will be made available free of charge to every user to complete the process.

"Our platform hosts and manages mobile entertainment services for mobile network operators, handset manufacturers and media companies worldwide," said Livewire Mobile COO Dave Moreau. “We believe that while Google has made great advances in providing security for Google Play, malware and viruses are still an important challenge for smartphone users worldwide. The solution we have put together with AVG provides an innovative ’clean‘ service for consumers and helps MNOs and handset manufacturers deliver on their duty of care to their subscribers. AVG is a leading provider of internet and mobile security – what better way to protect consumers than providing them with AVG’s powerful technology?"

"The growing use of mobile devices to connect to social networks and entertainment services has made it a preferred method for cyber criminals to spread malware," said JR Smith, CEO of AVG Technologies. "Our AVG Q1 2012 Community Powered Threat Report indicated a major increase in the use of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to target Android users – by tricking them into installing malicious apps. In 2011 alone, Google removed more than 100 malicious apps from the official Android market, Google Play. Our joint initiative with Livewire Mobile will help give Android users peace of mind to use their phone apps to safely interact with their favourite social networks and entertainment services."

AVG and Livewire Mobile are taking part in the Privacy in Mobile Applications Initiative, unveiled last month by the MEF, the global community for mobile content and commerce. The initiative was officially launched at MEF’s inaugural Privacy Summit in Washington DC with the goal to help the global mobile industry build consumer trust when interacting with mobile apps.

Rimma Perelmuter, MEF Executive Director, said: "We welcome such thought leadership from two of our members. It’s essential the mobile ecosystem works together to address issues around consumer trust. Both the recently announced privacy initiative and our on-going initiative work around security in M-commerce support the wider industry to overcome key barriers to growth and create a trusted environment for consumers."

AVG Q1-2012 Threat Report Press Release

About AVG Technologies (NYSE: AVG)

AVG’s mission is to simplify, optimize and secure the Internet experience, providing peace of mind to a connected world. AVG’s powerful yet easy-to-use software and online services put users in control of their Internet experience. By choosing AVG’s software and services, users become part of a trusted global community that benefits from inherent network effects, mutual protection and support. AVG has grown its user base to approximately 108 million active users as of December 31, 2011 and offers a product portfolio that targets the consumer and small business markets and includes Internet security, PC performance optimization, online backup, mobile security, identity protection and family safety software.

www.avg.com

AVG® and AVG Mobilation® are registered service marks of AVG Technologies, registered in the United States and in other countries. All other trade names are the property of their respective owners.

About Livewire Mobile

Livewire Mobile, Inc. (otcmarkets: LVWR) is a Mobile Internet powerhouse with one of the most comprehensive one-stop digital entertainment solutions for network operators, consumer device manufacturers, brands and media companies entering the mobile market. The company's integrated suite of content services includes applications, video, games, ringback tones, ringtones, DRM-free full-track music, e-books and more as well as application and portal development, mobile advertising solutions, integrated content publishing and merchandising, and turnkey managed VAS operations. For more information, please visit www.livewiremobile.com.

Livewire Mobile is a registered service mark of Livewire Mobile, Inc. All other trade names are the property of their respective owners.

www.livewiremobile.com

Statements other than historical facts included or referred to in the Press Release are "forward-looking statements". These statements are based on management’s expectation as of the date of this document and are subject to uncertainties and changes in circumstances. In addition, while management may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, management specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, even if it’s estimated change. Any reference to the company’s website in this press release is not intended to incorporate the contents thereof into this press release or any other public announcement.