Mobile

IBM Connections IBM Connections Cloud Mobile Webcasts

JUMP (OpenMic) Session: Deploying, Securing, Customizing and Extending the IBM Connections Mobile App

Last week I posted about an upcoming JUMP (Join, Understand, Master and Participate) session on IBM Connections Next which takes place on June 21.

The good news is that there is an earlier JUMP webcast scheduled for this Wednesday, 24th May 2017:

The IBM Connections applications for iOS and Android provide your users access to Connections from their mobile devices. The apps are highly extensible, provide a customizable user experience and can be securely administered. In this session we will explain, in detail, what you can do and how to do it. You will learn how to deploy mobile for both on-premises environments and IBM Cloud for Social Business. We will show you how to customize your mobile user experience, including modifying the branding elements. You will even understand how to integrate you existing in-house websites and apps. An overview of the MDM support provided will also be covered.
Topic: Deploying, Securing, Customizing and Extending the IBM Connections Mobile App
Date: Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Time: 11:00 AM EDT for 60 minutes
Webcast URL: https://ibm2.webex.com/ibm2/onstage/g.php?MTID=e2964bcb7d60d6a6f97a23bdc42a53ba0
Webcast Password: webcast
After a presentation, attendees will be given an opportunity to ask our panel of experts questions. Throughout the event, attendees will also be encouraged to comment or ask questions in the WebEx Meeting.

There is no need to register for the webinar, just join the WebEx meeting at the appropriate time (add it to your calendar now!).

May 22, 2017 0 comment

Mobile

IBM Connections Mobile app for android

written by Sjaak Ursinus

One of the best parts of IBM Connections is the fabulous mobile application for android and iOS. But as all software in the world out there has bugs also this one consists of bugs. Last week with close working with IBM Support we have eliminated one more. So I wanted to share with you guys what the specific requirements are to have this problem.

Android offers to encrypts its internal/external memory.

As soon you have the medium in your android device encrypted where the IBM Connections mobile app is also on installed you encounter this problem.

When you have attachments in activities (for instance an Microsoft document) and you want to open that document in the activity on your mobile device it would normally opened in the application which is coupled to that type of document. (Most users use Polaris Office as that is a free app in the google play store.)

But you will see as soon you have and encrypted device it won’t work anymore. This has been identified by IBM and will be fixed in version 4.7.8 of the IBM Connections mobile app for android. The Estimated Time of Arrival of this version is end of this month.

September 17, 2014 0 comment

IBM Connections Mobile

New release of IBM Connections app for iOS and Android now available

written by Stuart McIntyre

Version 4.1.0 of the IBM Connections app is now available from the Apple App Store and Google Play store, including the following enhancements:

Support for Community Files, Forums, and Bookmarks on SmartCloud
@mentions for status updates (requires Connections server 4.5 and above)
Target status updates to individual profiles or a community
Support liking for status update comments (requires Connection server 4.0 CR2 and above)
Single tap to view a file
File usability enhancements for quick access to common actions
Access file downloads from the launcher
View Forum attachments
Show most recently viewed Communities
Enhanced viewing for Community description
Enhancements to the URL for launching the app
Performance and stability improvements

For me personally, the most important of these is the @mentions in status updates, which really does open up IBM Connections to be used as an internal Twitter-style tool. @Mentions are key in encouraging interaction via the stream, and having them available via the app makes them vastly more accessible and powerful.

The other enhancement I’d pick out is ‘Enhanced viewing for Community description’ – we are using the community overview for all kinds of enhancements to communities (probably way beyond IBM’s expectations when they developed the feature), such as dynamic image maps, embedded video carousels and much more. I haven’t tested the new app release yet, but I’m hoping that this will improve the integrity of these overviews via mobile devices.

Go get it now! (iOS | Android)

[Also, the Blackberry app was updated recently, though to an older release – 3.4.2)

May 15, 2013 0 comment

IBM Connections Mobile

Blackberry clients for Connections and Quickr withdrawn by IBM, no replacements available

written by Stuart McIntyre

Announced today:

Effective on the dates listed below, IBM will withdraw from marketing, part numbers from the following product release(s) licensed under the IBM International Program License Agreement:
Program marketing
number date Program release name
5724-Y93 07/13/11 Blackberry Client for IBM Lotus Software
On or after that date, you can no longer obtain the withdrawn product(s) directly from IBM.
Replacement products
There are no replacements available.

Given these clients have not been updated by RIM since long before Connections 3.0.x and Quickr 8.5 were released, this isn’t altogether a surprise, particularly as the infrastructure needed to run the clients (a separate Windows-only BES-style server called the SNAP) was pretty onerous to configure.

Not sure if RIM themselves will continue to sell the clients, or if this is the end of the line. IBM seem much more willing to develop native clients themselves these days, particularly for iOS and Android so perhaps this will be the future for Blackberry too?

July 22, 2011 0 comment

2.5 Announcements IBM Connections Mobile

Blackberry clients for Lotus Connections and Lotus Quickr announced

written by Stuart McIntyre

This is big news, RIM delivering on promises they made at Lotusphere 2009, and providing functionality that has been requested by many organisations and end users. IBM’s announcement letter states:

The BlackBerry Client for IBM Lotus Connections and IBM Lotus Quickr extends the core capabilities of IBM’s enterprise collaboration and social software to end users on their BlackBerry devices
The BlackBerry Client for IBM Lotus Connections and BlackBerry Client for IBM Lotus Quickr allows people to collaborate in real time with their colleagues, maintain their productivity while away from their desk, and speed up decision making while “on the go”. Users are able to share work items, work on initiatives together, find expertise, contribute to their communities and leverage their collective knowledge base to drive better outcomes wherever they are.
BlackBerry Client for IBM Lotus Connections 2.3:
* Allows mobile knowledge workers in enterprises to access the productivity and collaboration features (Profiles, Communities, Blogs, Bookmarks, and Activities) of Lotus Connections from their BlackBerry smartphones
* Extends Web 2.0-style features with “traditional” BlackBerry strengths such as integration, security, and manageability
* Integrates tightly with native BlackBerry core applications – e-mail, contacts, tasks, browser, media player, and camera
* Has a rich client application that enables delivery of information and updates with increased immediacy compared to browser-based applications
* Is supported in the back end by mechanisms that ensure data pushed to the user is optimized for mobile viewing
BlackBerry Client for IBM Lotus Quickr 1.0:
* Helps users share content, collaborate, and work faster online with their teams – inside or outside of the corporate firewall, wirelessly while away from their desks
* Allows BlackBerry smartphone users to download, edit and post documents, add folders and organize their documents
* Supports several Quickr capabilities: navigating and viewing library content, designating libraries as “Favorites” for fast access, sorting and filtering folder content, reviewing file and folder details for modification history, previewing or downloading and checking out documents and checking in documents to replace older versions
* Allows users to e-mail document authors with questions or send a link to a document or folder using their smartphone
* Integrates tightly with native BlackBerry core applications: e-mail, browser, contacts, tasks, media player, menu, camera, and Docs To Go
* Is supported in the back end by mechanisms that ensure data pushed to the user is optimized for mobile viewing
Planned availability date
January 12, 2010: Electronic software delivery
January 12, 2010: Media and documentation

I’m trying to track down more details of these solutions. They’ve been in beta for a while – one of my customers has been running the Connections client and infrastructure for 6 months or so, but very little of the technical information has been made available publicly.

One of the key points to note is a new infrastructure requirement – the ‘BlackBerry SNAP server’. This is a BES-style server that runs on Windows only (‘fraid so) that sits within your environment and acts as an interface between your Blackberry devices and the Connections/Quickr services.

I’m sure there will be a lot of information made available at Lotusphere 2010 regarding these solutions, so I’ll bring as much of this to you via the blogs as I can.

January 12, 2010 0 comment