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Calling from the Clouds
10 | May 2012
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t a time w is getting in the glo marketplace, the m left behind and w lot of cloud based front. While Chin major Huawei has on global as well of providing clou handset level, Chin version of Google cloud phone as we In simple term switchboard system based phone tech Web, it can be ac — a desk phone, PC or tablet. Clou lets customers do a phone inside a enabling greater than conventional Talking abou announced cloud Victor Shan, Pre Business, Huawei
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t a time when cloud computing is getting firmly entrenched in the global as well as Indian marketplace, the mobility segment is not left behind and we have already seen a lot of cloud based action on the device front. While Chinese telecoms and ICT major Huawei has clearly taken the lead, on global as well as Indian turf in terms of providing cloud technology on the handset level, China based Baidu (China’s version of Google) has just launched its cloud phone as well. In simple terms, this refers to any switchboard system, and because cloudbased phone technology exists on the Web, it can be accessed from anywhere — a desk phone, a cellphone or even a PC or tablet. Cloud-based phone service lets customers do almost anything on a phone inside and outside the office, enabling greater mobility and flexibility than conventional phone systems allow. Talking about Huawei’s recently announced cloud phone technology, Victor Shan, President India Device Business, Huawei said that today the
company is offering its Cloud+ feature on its smartphones. “We launched 2 smartphones last year Huawei Sonic and Huawei Ideos X3 with cloud features and we got really good response from the market. Huawei was the first player globally and in India to launch cloud Smart Phones. We are offering Cloud+ features on 4 Smart phones currently; they are Sonic, Ideos X3, Honor and the new Ideos X5. Huawei Cloud+ offers a range of next generation features like Cloud+ drive (16GB Free Net Space), Message+, Streams, Phone finder, SNS, Contacts Integration and any where any device access for content saved on drive. These features help the smartphone user to experience the future. We plan to integrate Cloud services with all our future Smart phones. Also we will give cloud feature in our upcoming datacards,” he explains. Additionally, he mentions, “Huawei Cloud+ is an exclusive Huawei Cloud service to Huawei device users. Cloud+ is seamlessly integrated into the Huawei phone platform. Cloud+ offers a range
of next generation features like Cloud+ drive, Message+, Streams, Phone finder, SNS, Contacts Integration and any where any device access for content saved on drive. These features help the phone user to experience the future. In cloud plus consumer get 16 GB of free storage. Since contacts, mails, messages, camera rolls, settings and account information doesn’t use as much space, user find that 16 GB goes a long way. You can store up to 3500 songs or 7000 photos. Cloud+ is not just a hard disk in the sky. You can backup all that you use every day and it’s always available on your Huawei Phone, Media pad and PC. Its Phone finder feature allows you to locate your phone on Google maps and safe guard your data from intruders. With Message+ you can chat with individuals or create group of other Huawei Message+ users, Swap pictures/videos/voice notes. Huawei smart phone automatically detects your Message+ friends. If you have Message+ users on your phone contact list, then your phone automatically detects those friends. Huawei Streams provides an
”Huawei Cloud+ is an exclusive Huawei Cloud service to Huawei device users. Cloud+ is seamlessly integrated into the Huawei phone platform. Cloud+ offers a range of next generation features like Cloud+ drive, Message+, Streams, Phone finder, SNS, Contacts Integration and any where any device access for content saved on drive. These features help the phone user to experience the future. In cloud plus consumer get 16 GB of free storage. Since contacts, mails, messages, camera rolls, settings and account information doesn’t use as much space, user find that 16 GB goes a long way. You can store up to 3500 songs or 7000 photos. Cloud+ is not just a hard disk in the sky. You can backup all that you use every day and it’s always available on your Huawei Phone, Media pad and PC. Its Phone finder feature allows you to locate your phone on Google maps and safe guard your data from intruders. With Message+ you can chat with individuals or create group of other Huawei Message+ users, Swap pictures/videos/voice notes. Huawei smart phone automatically detects your Message+ friends. If you have Message+ users on your phone contact list, then your phone automatically detects those friends. Huawei Streams provides an integrated social networking experience with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Most importantly, Cloud+ Contacts allows you to synchronize contacts from your phone to the Cloud+ server in real time” – Victor Shan, President India Device Business, Huawei MOBILITY
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integrated social networking experience with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Most importantly, Cloud+ Contacts allows you to synchronize contacts from your phone to the Cloud+ server in real time,” he adds on. Speaking about the importance of cloud technology at the smartphone level, Sunil Lalvani, Director, Enterprise Sales, India, RIM said that Cloud Computing solution comprises of hardware and software components. “Recently RIM announced general availability of BlackBerry Business Cloud Services for Microsoft Office 365 – a new service for business and government organizations that extends Microsoft Exchange Online to BlackBerry smartphones and allows customers to manage their BlackBerry deployments in the cloud. The service is available at no additional charge to current medium-sized or enterprise subscribers of the Office 365 suite or standalone Exchange Online and works with BlackBerry smartphones on business or consumer data plans. Additionally, RIM
also offers Cloud based solutions such as HP ePrint Enterprise mobile printing solutions which enables employees to print from their BlackBerry smartphones to printers on their trusted network. This is a unique feature that provides mobile enterprise workers a secure remote printing experience. Another unique solution called the Handset Cloud,is exclusively tailored for application developers, offering access to a variety of BlackBerry smartphones operating on live networks around the world. Through this service, developers can easily install applications and test their functionality and compatibility with a variety of BlackBerry smartphones without having to actually obtain the handsets or settle for virtual simulators and emulators. The Handset Cloud supports a variety of BlackBerry smartphones and offers developers a variety of features and automated testing tools such as file transfer and over-the-air widgets to quickly download applications,” he explained. Benefits of Going with Cloud
Providing the much needed flexibility at the hands of end user, cloud-based phone systems leverage the power of cloud computing to give customers the functionality of multiple tiered storage systems. In plain English, cloud-based systems are hosted on off-site servers and are provided as a service. Because they don’t require customers to buy and maintain expensive telecommunications equipment, they’re much more affordable than conventional methods of communications. As Lalwani from RIM emphasizes, there are a number of benefits that can be accrued through mobile cloud computing. It enables companies to share applications without incurring a huge capital expenditure on hardware and software resources. Users of smartphones have the advantage of storing data and information with their cloud service providers and all services are available wherever the users are located, as long as there is network connectivity. “Since complex computing operations
“Recently RIM announced general availability of BlackBerry Business Cloud Services for Microsoft Office 365 – a new service for business and government organizations that extends Microsoft Exchange Online to BlackBerry smartphones and allows customers to manage their BlackBerry deployments in the cloud. The service is available at no additional charge to current medium-sized or enterprise subscribers of the Office 365 suite or standalone Exchange Online and works with BlackBerry smartphones on business or consumer data plans. Additionally, RIM also offers Cloud based solutions such as HP ePrint Enterprise mobile printing solutions which enables employees to print from their BlackBerry smartphones to printers on their trusted network. This is a unique feature that provides mobile enterprise workers a secure remote printing experience. Another unique solution called the Handset Cloud,is exclusively tailored for application developers, offering access to a variety of BlackBerry smartphones operating on live networks around the world. Through this service, developers can easily install applications and test their functionality and compatibility with a variety of BlackBerry smartphones without having to actually obtain the handsets or settle for virtual simulators and emulators. The Handset Cloud supports a variety of BlackBerry smartphones and offers developers a variety of features and automated testing tools such as file transfer and over-the-air widgets to quickly download applications” Sunil Lalvani, Director, Enterprise Sales, India, RIM MOBILITY
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Biggest adavantages of using cloud phone As Enterprises are looking for ways to cut down costs, eliminate multiple vendors and communication providers, reallocate resources and allow employees to easily connect regardless of location and device. Partnering with a service provider can offer these benefits through the adoption of cloud-based phones. Following are some of the benefits of using cloud phones: • Business continuity: continued access to all forms of communication through mobile devices as the system is clouddependent and does not rely on local internet to continue functioning • Reduced operating costs: lowered are run within the cloud environment, handset users do not need highly technical hardware and this reduces the cost of mobile computing to the client. Moreover, this also enables end users to create location based social networks. The introduction of cloud have also brought about a wave of customized solutions for the SME sector that reduces cost, offers greater scalability and flexibility while providing on-demand services. In fact, 40% of midsized organizations in India have already deployed mobility solutions with another 25% have planning to embrace at least one mobility device in the future. Enhanced communication across the organization, real-time collaboration among SME staff as well as enabling people to stay in touch with all the latest developments are some of the benefits of the adoption of mobile cloud for this segment. Cloud computing has also led to an increase in IT spends through the development of simpler product and solutions with mobile cloud,” he illustrates. Talking about the advantages of cloud phone, Huawei’s Victor Shan puts it, “When you sign up for Huawei Cloud+, you automatically get 16 GB of free storage. . Cloud+ offers a range of next 14 | May 2012
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expenses by reallocating staff from maintaining and managing a hardware-based system to using online management portals to make changes as needed, thereby allowing the business to focus on other initiatives • Flexibility & manageability: cloud phones allow companies to easily add or reduce users and set employee preferences through a management portal Other advantages include easier implementation, automatic updates, builtin disaster recovery and a scalable model that provides flexibility for businesses of all sizes.
The introduction of cloud have also brought about a wave of customized solutions for the SME sector that reduces cost, offers greater scalability and flexibility while providing ondemand services. In fact, 40% of mid-sized organizations in India have already deployed mobility solutions with another 25% have planning to embrace at least one mobility device in the future. Enhanced communication across the organization, realtime collaboration among SME staff as well as enabling people to stay in touch with all the latest developments are some of the benefits of the adoption of mobile cloud for this segment. Cloud computing has also led to an increase in IT spends through the development of simpler product and solutions with mobile cloud. www.mobilityindia.com
generation features like Cloud+ drive, Message+, Streams, Phone finder, SNS, Contacts Integration and any where any device access for content saved on drive. These features help the phone user to experience the future. Our Phone finder feature allows you to locate your phone on Google maps and safe guard your data from intruders. In addition to the above, with Message+ you can chat with individuals or create group of other Huawei Message+ users, Swap pictures/ videos/voice notes. Huawei smart phone automatically detects your Message+ friends. If you have Message+ users on your phone contact list, then your phone automatically detects those friends. Huawei Streams provides an integrated social networking experience with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Cloud+ Contacts allows you to synchronize contacts from your phone to the Cloud+ server in real time,” he adds on. Affordable Cloud Cloud-based phone technology is surprisingly affordable, due in large part to the fact that it’s hosted on the Web. Providers use the same technological backbone for all of their customers, MOBILITY
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Securing the Clou According to V Huawei, securing of the biggest p company is provid make sure that sec is taken care of. “We have tak measures to prot interests: a. Account ve Cloud+ acc most care is the end-use The Cloud associated w user but as device. All Cloud+ is the accoun with the Generally, can be tra entire user helps in z who could p illegal activ account. b. All commu the endCloud+ ser through SSL Sockets La cryptograph provide security ov SSL encryp of network the Transp asymmetric for key exc encryption message codes for m c. User Data i than 2 se geographica up system security t MOBILITY
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so they can take advantage of scale economies in designing and implementing their networks. Cloud-based systems are vastly less expensive than physical storage and networking systems, while delivering the similar applications and capabilities on the go. Securing the Cloud According to Victor Shan from Huawei, securing the cloud is one of the biggest priorities and the company is providing all the tools to make sure that security on the cloud is taken care of. “We have taken the following measures to protect user security interests: a. Account verification: During Cloud+ account creation, at most care is taken in validating the end-user mobile number. The Cloud+ account is associated with not just enduser but as well with his/her device. All user actions with Cloud+ is associated both the account ID and as well with the mobile number. Generally, mobile numbers can be tracked to get the entire user information. This helps in zeroing the user, who could perform malicious, illegal activities with Cloud+ account. b. All communication between the end-user and the Cloud+ server are controlled through SSL protocol. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), is a cryptographic protocol that provide communication security over the Internet. SSL encrypt the segments of network connections at the Transport Layer, using asymmetric cryptography for key exchange, symmetric encryption for privacy, and message authentication codes for message integrity. c. User Data is backed in more than 2 servers distributed geographically. The backup system ensures atmost security to user data, MOBILITY
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including the occurrence of natural calamities, such as earth quakes, in certain regions,” he explains. Talking about the security features of BlackBerry, Lalwani says that achieving true cloud security through the maintenance of an adequate level of application experience and maturity requires time and effort. For this reason, cloud providers must excel especially in application security and be able to demonstrate that they have the application security team knowledge and processes to protect client data in the cloud. “Security is the cornerstone of the BlackBerry solution and we are quite robust in this space - A recent report by industry analysts and Trend Micro revealed BlackBerry 7.0as the platform of choice for the most rigid mobile roles. According to the report, BlackBerry had the highest score, qualifying several parameters such as built-in security, application security, authentication, device wipe, device firewall and virtualization. In fact, RIM’s BlackBerry Business Cloud Services directly links Microsoft Exchange Online with BlackBerry smartphones to offer reliable, mobile access to synchronized email, calendar, contacts, tasks and memo pads. This facility offers complete data protection as is secured by the service provider and also enables users to remotely wipe out data and reset their password in the event of the device getting misplaced or lost. This service is also beneficial to SMBs as they can leverage BlackBerry’s BES offerings through BlackBerry Cloud Services while leaving the administration and maintenance of the backend infrastructure with the company. This will also provide administrators with the tools and flexibility to alleviate security risks. This also helps balance the personal and professional use of mobile devices. Additionally, wireless application of IT policies and settings can be carried out over one or more BlackBerry smartphones in real time,’’ he explains. www.mobilityindia.com
Some of the basic must-have features of cloud phones would ideally include the following: - Storage facilities to store pictures, music, videos, documents and so on - Synchronization and back-up to synchronize contacts from the smartphone to the server in real time as well as back-up information in the event of device getting lost or misplaced. This feature should also ideally be able torecover back the data on to the new smartphone and get back the same experience - Security for complete data protection in the event of losing or misplacing the smartphone - Remote Trackingto be able to remotely track the handset’s location as well as safeguard it from intruders by setting a password and locking the phone to keep information private May 2012 | 15
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