By Jim Lundy
(Aragon Research) – Last week was a busy week in tech. This blog provides a summary of the Tech Titans prepping for fall launches and startups who are trying to make their mark.
Apple Preps for the iPhone 8
The drumbeat for the iPhone 8 is officially getting louder. Our lead Analyst for Mobile Ken Dulaney has predicted that the iPhone 8 will be the most expensive iPhone ever and the most successful one as well. The speculation from MacRumors is that the phone will be slightly larger then the iPhone 7 and will have significant enhancements in how the front and back cameras operate. With a glass back, it is expected that the iPhone 8 will support wireless charging.
The thing you are not hearing much about with the iPhone 8 is support for 4K video. Although macOS High Sierra will enable streaming and playback of 4k videos, support for 4k on the iPhone has been speculated about but not confirmed. That is a game changer and we will discuss that more as the launch gets closer.
FrontSpin to Challenge InsideSales.com
FrontSpin is another briefing we took this week with Founder and CEO Mansour Salame, who is a former Board Member at 8×8. FrontSpin is off to a great start with its Sales Communications Platform and is winning deals due to the strength of its inbound and outbound sales communications capabilities. Enterprises looking to replace their current communications platform will want to add FrontSpin to the short list.
Orion Labs’ Digital Walkie Talkie to Challenge Motorola
We visited Orion Labs this week and got an update from co-founders Jesse Robbins and Greg Albrecht. Orion Labs’ Onyx Smart Walkie Talkie, combined with its growing digital communications platform, takes an enterprise beyond push to talk phones and radios. The use cases for Orion are vast and it is an ideal solution for the mobile worker. Jesse and Greg are experts in Mobile Communications, in part because they spend time volunteering as First Responders. Developing.
The Orion Labs Onyx is a Digital Walkie Talkie that can clip to your shirt or jacket.
Zoom Scales as Zoom Rooms Challenges Cisco
Zoom is growing and if you travel, you’ll notice Zoom signage in most major airports. We got an update this week from Janelle Raney and her team about the product enhancements. First, Zoom Rooms is gaining traction due to their ease of use.
The Zoom Room Conferencing Display makes it easy to know if a conference room is available for use.
While Zoom is still a software play, the ease of using Zoom Rooms on a Touch Display was compelling. On top of that, Zoom offers its new Zoom Rooms Scheduling Display for conference rooms in use, which means that Zoom is now offering more of a complete approach to a conference room beyond just the basics. Zoom is taking share away from Cisco and Microsoft.
Bottom Line
As the summer winds down, expect announcements to heat up. There are many coming particularly when it comes to the top trend in Silicon Valley: partnerships.