the mobile Road ahead

ACM is planning to launch a mobile version of the Communications Web site and a series of mobile applications in the coming months. To determine how best to proceed, we have been directly and indirectly collecting data from members for months to help guide our decision making. We have conducted surveys, met with focus groups, and examined usage statistics.

The following table and pie chart show how users with mobile devices have been getting to the Communications Web site. The percentage of users accessing the site with mobile devices is small, but the number is trending upward. This report is based on sampled data.

operating System iPhone Android iPad iPod blackberry SymbianOS Windows PalmOS Samsung Other

Source: Google Analytics

Percent of Visits 58.46% 15.51% 14.56% 7.76% 1.68% 1.19% 0.51% 0.13% 0.08% 0.05%

Here are some of the key takeaways from our research that will influence our decisions going forward:

˲ ˲ The Time Is Right. There is a growing need to access Communications content from mobile platforms. “[This] is the way things are moving,” said one software engineer.

˲ ˲ Keep It Simple. Users want to be able to find the content quickly and easily on their devices, from anywhere anytime.

˲ ˲ Search, Save, Share. Most “small screen” mobile devices are being used primarily to find, collect, and share articles.

˲ ˲ Consumption Devices Are Coming. Media-ready platforms like the iPad will create new ways to present and consume content.

˲ ˲ This Is The Beginning. We’ve collected valuable data on which mobile devices are being used to access Communications content, and that is guiding our path in the short term. But for the long term we will remain platform agnostic, and will support the systems that are most heavily used and called for by members.

SuPeRcomPutinG
in ne W oRLeanS The 23rd meeting of the world’s largest conference on supercomputing, SC10, takes place this November 13–19 in New Orleans. “SC10 will have more conference space than any previous SC conference,” says
Barry V. Hess, SC10 general
chair and deputy chief
information officer at Sandia
National Laboratories, “and we
have expanded our technical
program sessions, education
program, and exhibit space to
showcase the technical
advances in high-performance
computing [HPC], networking,
storage, and analysis, all in one
location.”
SC10’s three main thrust
areas are climate simulation,
which will explore the latest
R&D efforts that are taking
advantage of HPC systems to
enable climate simulation
applications and techniques;
heterogeneous computing,
which will focus on software
infrastructure for making
effective use of accelerator or
heterogeneous supercomputers;
and data-intensive computing,
whose focus will be on how data
is shared and communicated
among scientists.

Like the last four SC conferences, SC10 will feature a disruptive technologies program. This year’s focus will be new computing architectures and interfaces that will significantly impact the HPC field.

“New Orleans is about the
music, the food, the culture,
the people, and the wonderful
fusion of all these things,” says
Hess. “The SC10 committee has
been meeting in New Orleans
for three years of planning
and has enjoyed all aspects
of the city, from the unique
food to the historical tours.
Our recommendation is to get
out and visit the shops, the
restaurants, Jackson Square,
Café Du Monde, take a cemetery
or swamp tour, and enjoy your
time in a unique city.”
For more information, visit
http://sc10.supercomputing.org/.