Now we have taken SureLock Import/Export settings to another level by enabling Administrator to remotely change SureLock configuration on devices in field without requiring any user intervention.

SureLock can now be configured to periodically look for new configurations from a path. This path can be

• a local path on device. In this case, administrator can push new configuration files to the device remotely using some MDM solution (like SureMDM) and SureLock will pick up the new configuration from this file automatically.
• a remote http url. In this case, administrator can just upload the new settings to his web server and SureLock will download the new configuration directly from the website.

In both methods, there is no user intervention required from the end-user. All surelock devices, will detect the presence of a new configuration and apply it.

Following steps are required to configure SureLock to periodically look for new configurations:

1. Goto SureLock Settings -> Import/Export Settings
   
2. Under Automatic Import section, make sure "Enable Automatic Import" is checked.
3. Tap on "Automatic Import File". Enter the full URL of the settings file on your server e.g. http://www.42gears.com/surelock/mysettings.settings. Alternatively, you can also specify a local file path e.g. /sdcard/surelock/mysettings.settings.
4. Tap on "Periodic Check". Enter the periodicity in minutes, with which you want SureLock to poll for new settings.
5. Thats it. SureLock is all set to automatically update itself from your server whenever you put new settings there.

In order to obtain the settings file from a Gold device follow the steps below:

1. Goto SureLock settings -> Import/Export Settings
2. Under "Export Settings" section, tap on Export to File. Enter the local file path where you want to save the settings (Note: this path should be a LOCAL file path.)
3. SureLock should successfully export its current settings to this path.

We completely understand the Enterprise Mobility requirement where IT administrator can feel the need to modify the security lockdown configuration of the device whereby some rogue application needs to be blocked or some important application needs to allowed. Bringing back devices from field to do these modifications has huge costs involved, reduces mobile workforce productivity and most importantly, halts your business. This is why we feel, this new feature in SureLock will bring huge benefits to Enterprises and reinforces our commitment to make our customer's business more successful.

42Gears Mobility Systems is the leading vendor of mobility managament tools helping companies manage and secure their fleet of mobile devices such as Smartphones and Tablets. Learn more about our products.

Mobile Technology in Restaurant business

Use of tablets is on the rise everywhere. Even the restaurant industry is finding great potential in using tablets with an aim to increase revenues, increase customer loyalty and provide faster service and response times.

Restaurants have started to deploy tablets to take orders and entertain guests while they wait for the order to be delivered. They can play games or update their social status on Facebook or Twitter and let their friends know the food they are enjoying. And at the end of their meal, payments can be processed quickly with a credit-card reader attached to the tablet.

Advantages are enormous. It has been observed that people order more food if they can instantly order it without waiting for the server. Customers can view the full menu and tap on the food items that they want to order. No need to wait for the server to take your order. Order information is instantly transferred to the kitchen thereby reducing ordering time. Server’s job is to only deliver the food to the table.

Tablets also make it possible to deliver visuals (photographs and videos) of the food and beverages being served by the restaurant. The customers get a first-hand idea of what they are going to get. They probably can also see reviews of the items by the past customers.

Besides the imminent benefit to the guests, the restaurant can enjoy more benefits. Since the orders are digitally accepted, the order information from all customers is collected in a structured way and is stored into a database. This data can be used later for statistical purposes (say to accurately determine which food is in maximum demand on Friday evening). Technology enables Real time information collection and processing in real-time.

Use of mobile technology is surely going to benefit the $604 billion restaurant industry, helping both the customers and the restaurant businesses.

42Gears Mobility Systems is the leading vendor of mobility managament tools helping companies manage and secure their fleet of mobile devices such as Smartphones and Tablets. Learn more about our products.

HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning. Regular HVAC maintenance is essential to ensure that HVAC units do not break down and that they operate at maximum efficiency. Field technicians are assigned the service jobs by the main office which they execute at the customer’s premise (house, office etc).

A typical situation is like this. A service call is received from a customer. Staff at the main office dispatches the job to an appropriate field technician. The technician visits the site, performs his job and updates the jobs status as soon as it is completed. Staff sends the invoice to the customer and the transaction is completed.

Use of technology increases the efficiency of the field technicians and reduces manual errors that are introduced by paper-based process. Say a technician is using an Android tablet with a field service application. Office staff can easily dispatch the job to the technician over the air. Technician sees a job notification on his tablet. The job is picked. As soon as the job is finished, the technician updates the job status as "completed" on his tablet. The new job status is transferred to the back office in real-time where accounting system automatically generates an invoice for the customer.

There are enormous advantages for using mobile technologies in the area of field service management. Technicians quickly receive all the information they need including job history before they start their work. Field force can be easily tracked on the map using GPS which allows the office staff to efficiently allocate new tasks to the technicians out there.

Our products SureLock and SureFox provide an environment for secure and effective deployment of field management software on mobile devices including tablets and smartphones. To learn more about SureLock and SureFox, please visit http://www.42gears.com. Free trial versions are also available.

Steps to quit SureLock Single Application Mode:

1. Power Off the device and turn it ON again.
2. After power up, SureLock will start automatically
3. If 'Single Application Mode' is set, SureLock will wait for 10 seconds before launching the allowed application.
4. Quickly tap on the back button 5 times
5. SureLock Password dialog is displayed. Enter the password to go to SureLock Settings screen. SureLock Settings screen has an option to quit.

To learn more about SureLock, please visit http://www.42gears.com/surelock/

Just follow the steps below to get your favorite non-market app directly on your Android:

1. Go to the 'Settings' page
2. Click on 'Applications' tab
3. Search the option 'Unknown Sources' allowing you to install non-Market applications and enable the checkbox
4. Accept the warning which states the vulnerability of apps from unknown sources (Just make sure you install trusted applications only)
5. Finally, all you need to do is just copy the package file (.apk) of the application you want to install to any location of your memory card and launch the setup using a file browser. (File browsers are freely available and are needed to access the files on your device's memory)
   

   Allowing App installation on Android Device from unknown sources

NOTE: Some Network Carriers might disable the option to allow non-market applications for security reasons. Please consult with your operator in order to get more details regarding the same.

Author: Panshul Srivastava
42Gears Mobility Systems

To learn more on how to secure and manage Android and Windows Mobile/CE devices efficiently, visit us at www.42gears.com

There are many ways to embed flash into your web pages, however here is the simplest way to do it:

Embedding Flash in html page

The highlighted code needs to be inserted as:

<object classid="clasid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=7,0,19,0" width="100" height="330" id="yourfile" >

<param name="movie" value="yourfile.swf" />

<param name="quality" value="high" />

<param name="bgcolor" value="#000000">

<embed src="yourfile.swf" quality="high" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" width="400" height="400" name="yourfile" align="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">

</embed>

</object>

where yourfile.swf represents the flash file to be embedded and the display dimensions can be set via width and height attributes.

Finally, upload all the files(html, flash, etc) to web server or your device's memory from where you want to access the webpage.

Note: You can refer the post on how to use local web pages in SureFox by clicking here

To learn more on how to run your web-applications on Android Tablets & Smartphones in Kiosk mode, visit us at www.42gears.com/surefox

Author: Panshul Srivastava
42Gears Mobility Systems

1. Copy all the html content(html files, images, flash files, css, etc) into the SDCARD on the device
2. Launch SureFox, enter the Admin mode and go to the 'Allowed URL' setting
3. Enter the URL strictly as : "file:///sdcard/path/file.htm" where path specifies the local folder's location on your SDCARD where the actual file is located.
4. Enter the display name for the file you would like  and click OK to save the settings

An example is displayed below:

Adding Local Files

This method is highly useful for displaying custom web pages in Kiosk Mode without worrying about internet connectivity on the device.

To learn more on how to run your web-applications on Android Tablets & Smartphones in Kiosk mode, visit us at www.42gears.com/surefox

Author: Panshul Srivastava
42Gears Mobility Systems

SureMDM allows you to remotely execute Linux commands on Android devices. You can create a script job and deploy the job on all devices remotely with a single click.

Once the job is created, you can select all the device and apply this job to them. SureMDM will make sure that the job is pushed to the devices as and when they come online.

Delete files and folders on remote Android devices

Script job for deleting files will look something like:

rm /sdcard/myfolder/myapp.apk
where /sdcard/myfolder/myapp.apk is the full path of the file to be deleted.

Just like rm command, other Linux commands can similarly be executed on remote devices.

To know more please visit SureMDM product page.

SureLock for Android Tablets and Smartphones

Prominent features of SureLock for Android are:

1. Runs only what is allowed, no trespassers allowed
2. Control access to WiFi, Bluetooth, Audio, Orientation settings and more
3. Single Application Mode- Ensures one application is running all the time, even after system reboot
4. Automatically launch applications at startup
5. Password protected access for administrators

Whatever be your device, wherever be your device, you can have complete peace of mind using SureLock. No more worries about device being used for unproductive purposes.

SureLock can be downloaded from Android Market or directly from the website. For trial and purchase related queries, visit us at www.42gears.com/surelock

You can download the whitepaper from Resources section. The whitepaper contains a checklist about how to choose a mobile device management vendor that addresses your current requirements and any potential future concerns as well.