Your Guide to 2020 Business Mobile Apps, Phones, and Tech Trends
2020 feels like the future already. Just the sound of it – twenty twenty. The look of the digits, those double zeros, like a racecar about to break the sound barrier all over again. A nice round number everyone can get behind. Both the symmetrical cap on an era and a perfect starting block for progress and technological advances. Businesses will scramble to keep up as the world passes them by. Mobile transactions and the internet of things transform the way we run our companies. Two years ago, we talked about what to expect from mobile devices in 2019. Now, with 2020 fresh on everyone’s minds, the time is ripe for taking stock of business trends. And for gushing about the apps you can use to stay ahead of 2020’s rapidly accelerating wheels.
2020 Business Tech Trends
This year, many of the trajectories already established will continue to see traffic. While Instant Apps and Beach tech are just starting to get their footing and acceptance in the market, other established mobile business trends have come into the new year, guns blazing. The Internet of Things, once a silly-sounding buzz phrase, is now almost an outdated term though not for disuse. This concept of an ecosystem of web-enabled peripheral products and devices is as old as 1982 and as relevant as the internet itself today. Everything from smart watches to Bluetooth headsets, thermostats to prosthetics, are connected now. Smart gadgets sharing data with one another. The more devices with an OS, the more mobile access points in use.
Which reminds us – the cloud is going strong. While many industry’s regulatory requirements forbid “always-on” internet connections or restrict access, many others are thriving because of remote hosting. Whether that is because of their own company’s storage from afar or use of a third party web app, SaaS and hosting models have become the norm. 2020 is no exception, with at least 40,000 cloud computing providers worldwide. And not only are organizations utilizing hosting for everything from websites to photo repositories – they’re also utilizing AI pretty heavily into 2020. This may sounds even more absurd than AR adoption (another dramatically growing technology this year), but the key difference is the breadth of AI types and therefore applications. AI’s most common use is in doing what humans can fast and at enormous scales. After all, every artificial intelligence was written by an organic one (well, almost every). Something as simple as blockchain or a workflow can fit under AI. Or something as complex as a robot that does surgery. Forget about self-driving cars. 2020 is seeing these applications grow in number and rate of adoption. We can use algorithms and programmed tasks in almost any industry to increase efficiency and in some cases save lives.
2020’s Phones for Business Users
We’re not talking about hardlines and VOIP systems. Handsets. Mobile devices. Which of these gadgets are driving commerce and answering the latest tech trends? Let’s start with the fruit. iPhone’s are classic, fun, flirty, but they often give off the impression of being for the kids. Wrong! The Apple iPhone XS is a real looker for any professional with an image to consider, but it isn’t just nice to look at. It’s also powerful, packing an A12 Bionic Processor with an 8-core Neural Engine. Accompanying Apple’s history of service and complete-package devices, you can’t go wrong carrying this on your belt into a meeting. Of course, we would be remiss to not mention Apple’s main flagship competitor, Google and their Pixel 3 XL. Despite these phones including the purest Android interface, the UI is still intuitive and easy-to-use. The Pixel 3 XL boasts the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 8GB of RAM, and a whopping standard 128GB of storage. This phone is a powerhouse.
We don’t want to play favorites, though – everyone goes for the apples and pixels first. We also present the OnePlus 6T. We have been following the OnePlus line of Android phones since its inception in 2014. It’s hard to avoid talking about these devices without using one keyword: performance. What it lacks in toys, the OnePlus 6T more than makes up for in processing power and speed, its 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. With a slimmer version of the Android OS than most other phone makers, the OnePlus 6T is looking to make the user experience as straightforward and powerful as possible. On the other hand, maybe you need a phone that not only does it all but can be your computer-away-from-computer when you’re at that conference. In walks the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. While the versatile stylus gives users tablet-focused utility, the Note 9 also offers Samsung DeX, allowing the handset to be used as a desktop. Using a dock and external monitor, you can have the power of a netbook or even a desktop that at the end of the day fits in the palm of your hand (maybe use both hands when sending emails on this phablet, though). Taking up two or more slots in your personal IoT ecosystem, it’s easy to see how some phones continue to surprise business users in 2020.
Apps and 2020 Trends
Communication is key. Yes, the face-to-face meeting is returning, but phone calls are getting replaced by texts and website chats. Skype’s acquisition by Microsoft means it has the power and versatility of the Office Suite to back it up. But can it beat newcomer Slack for ease-of-use and simple organizing options. Separate your departments and team’s conversations into private and public channels. Share image files easily. Store messages for later lookup. Slack is available on smart watches, phones, tablets, and computers, allowing your team to utilize the IoT to stay in touch.
Maybe your company would like to get on the web. It’s about time your startup get a website going or revamp the old design. Squarespace is all over the podcasting scene, blasting their ads into ears worldwide, but we tend to trust WordPress over here. Even though new design trends emerge every day, web publishing surprisingly benefits from experience and pedigree. WordPress is the best of both worlds, releasing meticulously designed, free site templates annually, still offering free cloud hosting to its dot-com users, and providing tens of thousands of support articles covering every possible need. Plus, they allow for easy publishing and editing of your company’s blog on mobile.
CV Mobile from Computhink, a companion app to Contentverse, puts the power of an Enterprise Content Management system in your hands. Whether you’re on the go, working from home, or in the field, business is on the move, and Contentverse’s mobile version is ready. With the upcoming CV 2020 version of the software, users can experience an enhanced mobile application, web access option, and desktop or laptop client. With AI in mind, Contentverse’s intelligent workflow allows users to create digital business processes once and then enter any new documents into those processes without hassle. Available on iOS and Android, with browser support opening it up to virtually every operating system, Contentverse also boasts secure access and encryption for all of your documents. The latest version comes with options for sending documents securely via email as well.
In light of 2020’s major business trends, tech developments, and mobile options, professionals often feel like they don’t have the time to shop around or keep up. These days, there are too many buzz words, too many apps, too many new gadgets. We’re here to tell you to stop, breathe, and take stock. 2020 may look like the future, but it’s just another year. The same rules still apply – know the goals you want to achieve with mobile tech, narrow down your choices by weeding out obvious duds, and do your due diligence. The times may be changing, but you can still get a great deal, whether it’s a new phone or an ECM app.