And “Morph” is the operative word here: It’s a flexible plastic e-ink display that essentially waves at you when a truly important alert, text, email, or call arrives. Think of it as a 21st-century pager: One of its edges will curl up at a certain angle when an important alert lands — freeing users from having to remain umbilically attached to their devices, or constantly fiddle with notification settings.

As Charlie White paints the picture on Mashable, “the result could be a dancing smartphone that jumps around in your pocket when it wants to notify you, or rapidly folds and unfolds itself like a butterfly’s wings to attract your attention.”

Finding ways for mobile devices to help you manage your day, with minimal distractions, on and off the clock is a noble and popular idea. But this one might just be totally ridiculous. What do you think?

Small wonder, then, why demand for mobile CRM currently tops the charts: According to a recent IDC survey, 31 percent of executives listed CRM apps as their most wanted. (Business Intelligence apps ranked second, with 13 percent listing those as the top priority.) Moreover, Gartner predicts that more than 1,200 CRM apps will be on the market by 2014.

Not thrilled with the prospect of sorting through all of them? Here are just five mainstay CRM apps worth consideration for first-time buyers.

Salesforce

It’s the current industry standard — Salesforce’s mobile CRM application is an extension of its cloud platform, optimized for use across smartphones and tablets. This includes basic capabilities, such as account information, contacts, activity tracking and marketing campaign management. Slick user experience is an important differentiator.

Oracle On Demand CRM

Another heavy hitter, Oracle’s CRM on Demand has a full-scale Business Intelligence (BI) suite with customizable dashboards, extensive investigative analysis capabilities, and scalable data warehousing – enabling large volumes of data to be reviewed and analyzed from ultimately anywhere.

AppMesh

More targeted at smaller organizations, AppMesh is a mobile CRM pure play —  available only on iOS smartphones and tablets and created for salespeople to customize and use on the go. The app integrates with iOS email, contacts and calendar apps with the ability to sync information across a number of devices.

Base

Aside from basic CRM capabilities, such as sales tracking and calendaring, Base stands out for its BYOD potential – having developed native apps for iOS, Android and Windows phones. Base is also nipping at Salesforce’s heels with many features designed to be end-user friendly, such as its drag and drop interface and its support of all Google apps.

SAP Business One

Designed with small and medium-sized enterprises in mind, the SAP Business One CRM for is free with a subscription to the SAP Business One CRM SaaS. Accessible only on iOS mobile devices, the SAP Business One mobile application tracks each end-user’s activities, aggregates important financial and business intelligence and sends out alerts when there are deviations from approved prices or when customer credit limits have been reached.

SugarCRM

Currently, SugarCRM’s Mobile application is only available on iOS devices, however an Android version is forthcoming.  Released in April 2013, the free Sugar Community Edition has already racked up 9 million downloads and offers basic sales, marketing and service tools. Powered by HTML5, SugarCRM offers employees and integrated experience with Sugar’s browser and key iOS capabilities such as uploading photos, accessing contacts and GPS as well as the ability to text contacts instantly.  

How Will Millennials COPE?

According to Cory Janssen, founder of tech blog Techopedia, COPE isn’t exactly new. In fact, Janssen said in an interview, it’s essentially what every company was doing before BYOD — when every new employee was issued BlackBerrys. The only difference is that companies using COPE today may offer device choice to employees and will also give them the freedom to download personal applications — making the phone a work/personal phone just as it is BYOD.

COPE comes with its own set of challenges. Janssen and others, for instance, are skeptical that the twenty-somethings working today will gladly turn over their personal devices for ones provided by their employers. With so many employees using their personal devices in the workplace, it will be hard to take that away from them without tempting them to carry two devices (one for work use and one for personal use) again.

“The consumerization of IT is such a big trend that anything COPE related is becoming more difficult,” Janssen said. ”My take may be a little more unorthodox, but I think IT managers may be trying to promote COPE because of all the problems they’ve encountered with BYOD. BYOD is a difficult thing for a lot of organizations because they are losing some control.”

Finding a Way to Co-Exist

Janssen, for one, argues that it’s misguided to view COPE and BYOD as an either/or proposition. Both programs have their pros and cons, he notes. Instead of trying to fix the problems of BYOD with an anti-BYOD method, it may be better for IT managers to acknowledge the changing mobile environment and adapt to the latest trends. BYOD isn’t going away. If COPE is to survive, it will need to work alongside BYOD, not against it.

“You can’t put the genie back into the bottle,” Janssen said of BYOD.

Now we turn our sights on Android, the Google-owned operating system that is giving Apple iOS a big run for its money. Android now controls over half of the tablet market and, according to Gartner research released this week, was on three out of every four smartphones shipped in the first three months of the year.

The Device

Security

Security is a big concern among Android users due the sheer number of devices that run it and the open-sourcing component of the OS. There’s good news for the S4 crowd, however: Samsung offers the most secure add-ons for the enterprise, says Brian Katz, head of mobility engineering at pharmaceutical giant Sanofi. Samsung’s latest push for security in the enterprise is its SAFE (Samsung Approved For the Enterprise) software, which focuses on corporate email, device encryption, virtual private network (VPN) and mobile device management (MDM). 

The Apps

As with their different levels of security, different manufacturers offer different built-in apps. The S4 features group sharing options — which could bode well for the enterprise — as well as gesture control (you can answer the phone with a wave of your hand, for example). Most Android devices are completely Google-fied (chock full of gMail, Google Calendar, Google Drive). Android has another advantage when it comes to apps: developers can create and share apps much faster than those who have to slog through Apple’s approval process. The number of Android add-on apps has grown fast, to about 700,000, according to The Wall Street Journal. Still, that’s about 100,000 less than the number available via Apple.

Pricing & Carriers

The S4 costs anywhere from $200 with a two-year contract to $600 to purchase outright and is available through most major carriers (another advantage over the iPhone).

Who Loves It 

Field Service 

They are the soldiers of the blue-collar economy – field service technicians piloting thousands of white vans around the country, from one fix-it job to another, maintaining everything from CT scanners and other types of medical equipment to industrial machinery and traffic lights. It’s a profession getting revolutionized by mobile technology — and Glass might take it a few steps further.

Glass’s 3D GPS could help get techs on time to various locations. Sharing parts and repair data with dispatchers and other technicians could all happen in real time using video and Google Chat. Glass also offers field techs cool new training capabilities: a supervisor at a remote location could be viewing a live feed from a field tech and talk the technician through the procedure, start to finish.

Mechanical Engineering

Working on complex machinery could be made much easier for engineers with the ability to have a parts or repair manual right in front of their eyes. Glass could also record each step with engineers perhaps tapping into predictive search to troubleshoot when an error occurs.

Health Care

Hospitals might also benefit from equipping doctors and nurses with Google Glass for all kinds of day-to-day processes. Surgical procedures could be recorded in the ER for medical student training and some have even begun developing a facial recognition application that would help doctors and nurses identify patients. And when it comes to the importance of sanitation in hospitals, Glass helps both doctors and nurses avoid having to touch paper, phones and keyboards. 

Law Enforcement

While many police officers carry video recording devices collect evidence, Google Glass would also enable officers to use facial recognition, scan license plates, monitor vital signs and even report to headquarters in real time with the ability to share what they are seeing with their superiors. 

Signs of a Rebound

The timing is good.

Some IT managers are paying serious attention to BlackBerry’s comeback bid. According to a new survey by 451 Research, corporate chieftains are looking hard at the BlackBerry Z10 and other BlackBerry devices when choosing mobile phones for their workforces. 

BlackBerry is again a major consideration for IT managers when they plan to equip their company with mobile devices. As BYOD becomes even more prevalent in the workplace, employees are looking for devices that are sleek, personal and secure; if BlackBerry can keep rolling out eye-catching phones like the Z10, it stands a good chance of making some inroads into the market. While there are plenty of cross-platform messaging applications currently available, most lack the security and encryption piece that BlackBerry knows so well (through its use of encrypted PINs).

Could BlackBerry — with less than 5 percent of the market – be up for another round in this boxing match? ”They could be turning the corner,” said Chris Hazelton, research director for mobility at 451 Research, said recently at Cisco’s Interop Conference in Las Vegas, “but there is still a way to go.”

ABI Research says the number of workers using Dropbox and other MCM apps on their smartphones is growing 12 percent a year and will reach more than 110 million by 2018. Subscriptions among tablet users are poised to grow 21 percent in the next five years.

New Options in Mobile Doc Sharing

Driving the growth is the irreversible shift to mobile devices, whether company-owned or personal. Companies are looking for newer and more efficient ways to enable workers to communicate and collaborate remotely using, say, video or spreadsheets.

AIB identifies three primary levels of mobile content management, with varying levels of sophistication and security:

1. The most basic and least expensive examples of MCM are Box, Dropbox and Cubby, which allow user files to be stored and shared via a password login.
2. Next up are providers like Content Raven and WatchDox, which are more expensive subscription-based services that offer more security. Companies can limit access to specific documents, track who viewed company files and when, and control on which devices — laptop, phone or tablet — the data can be retrieved.
3. At the other end of the spectrum are enterprise mobility management providers – more sophisticated solutions that integrate companywide enterprise mobility management with broader mobility support services.

“The key challenge and opportunity,” said Jason McNicol, senior analyst for enterprise at ABI, in a statement, “is integration of MCM into enterprise infrastructure to address IT security needs while also ensuring a good user experience from the mobile device.”

OMG! What’s up with all the brain-twisting acronyms in mobility today? We were asking ourselves that recently while discussing COPE, a hot new trend in enterprise mobility. To ease our — and your — pain we decided a primer was in order, stat. So here are the most common acronyms in enterprise mobility, translated into an words we all can understand.

Mobile Mumbo-Jumbo, Deconstructed

API = Application Programming Interface: APIs allow different types of software or systems to interface with one another in order to exchange data. Java is a popular example of a code that can be run between multiple platforms.

ASP = Application Service Provider: An ASP is a business that provides software as a service (SaaS) to customers. These networks are usually web-based. Some well-known ASPs are SalesForce and WebEx. 

BYOA = Bring Your Own App: BYOA allows employees to use third-party or cloud-based applications for work. Most are consumer-based applications that contain work-related information (i.e. a third-party email provider or a cloud-based note taking service). With more apps storing corporate data, BYOA has some IT departments scrambling to ensure the security of proprietary company information.

BYOD = Bring Your Own Device: This buzzword speaks for itself — and its impact on businesses everywhere has been nothing short of staggering. From operations to security to payment options, the practice of allowing employees to use their personal devices for work can open up a Pandora’s box of trouble without formal, detailed policies establishing basic protocols.

CMO = Chief Mobility Officer: Not to be confused with Chief Marketing Officer, this increasingly common C-title is given to the senior executive in charge of managing a company’s entire mobile ecosphere.

COIT = Consumerization of IT: This is an umbrella term for personal consumer devices used as work devices.

COPE = Corporate Owned Personally Enabled: An alternative to BYOD, this practice promises employers more control over their mobile programs. The company decides on wireless plans, operating systems and a selection of acceptable devices. Employees then choose which they’d prefer and use it for both work and personal matters.

EMM = Enterprise Mobility Management: The internal group that includes IT, the CMO and all members of the mobile enterprise team responsible for overseeing wireless networks, mobile devices, cloud-based applications, and in-house applications.

ERP = Enterprise Resource Management: Software that allows IT managers to control a number of different platforms in one place. 

IMEI = International Mobile Statement Equipment Identity: The unique number that identifies every mobile device — and is critical when gadgets go missing.

ISV = Independent Software Vendor: A company that develops or sells software — such as barcode scanning programs — for company use.

MAM = Mobile Application Management: This allows IT to manage specific apps on BYOD devices, such as email, calendars and expenses. Users must enter a password to access these apps, while personal apps like a camera or video game can remain password-free.
 
MDM = Mobile Device Management or Mobile Data Management: This one can be especially confusing because, like CMO above, it has two meanings. The first refers to a company’s ability to remotely lock or wipe out the hard drive of a lost or stolen device. It also can give IT Big Brother-like control over an employee’s personal device, which is why most workers prefer the less-intrusive MAM. The second definition refers to IT’s macro-strategy surrounding data management in the workplace .

MEAP = Mobile Enterprise Application Platform: A suite of services that allows a company to develop applications, generally across multiple platforms, that can help with a company’s overall mobility deployment.

MEM = Mobile Expense Management: Managing the finances of your enterprise mobility program is critical. A good MEM considers multiple variables and data points, including company-wide user behaviors, in order to properly and cost effectively equip its mobile workforce.

MIM = Mobile Information Management: This refers to device-specific encryption of secure data — allowing only approved applications to access and transmit company information. 

MRM = Mobile Risk Management: The overarching strategy for assessing and mitigating potential problems — financial, reputational, competitive — arising from the widespread use of mobile devices.

ODBC = Open Database Connectivity: This enables the exchange of data between management applications.

TEM = Telecom Expense Management: This is a more all-encompassing term than MEM that covers management of non-mobile expenses at the company.

WAP = Wireless Application Protocol: This is the standard used for displaying data on mobile devices.

WLAN = Wireless Local Area Network: This links data between devices on the same wireless network.

Exhausted yet? We’ve tried to untangle the most important acronyms, but have probably overlooked a few buzzwords. If so, let us know below what’s missing, and we’ll do our best to define it for you!

The idea of a ‘personal virtual assistant’ (PVA) has been around for a long time and can mean different things. In the context of mobile devices, however, where and how are we seeing PVAs used today?

Siri is probably the most popular use of a virtual personal assistant today. Designed to provide speech-oriented shortcuts to complete transactions, move quickly through menus or use navigation, Siri is a natural interface for end-users to ask questions and get information.

More options for PVAs are becoming available. For Android, Google Now is growing in popularity, with a few features to rival Siri – such as the ability to apprehend user needs.

And when it comes to the enterprise, we are seeing companies, such as Nuance, developing voice recognition software that are commonly being applied for customer care call centers. For instance, US Bank and USAA have installed Nuance to enable a conversational way for customers to use their own words to describe what they need. Using this same technology, Nuance also offers many features for businesses to use voice to complete tasks, such as offering “smart” dictation for reporting.

How will personal virtual assistants be used in the mobile enterprise in the next few years? 

For customer care, customers will able to call in to complete transactions more quickly using only their voices. Big Data will enable computers to remember these verbal communications to predict the most common interactions between customers and allow the PVA to recognize instantly a customer’s voice and recall information (like account numbers).

For day-to-day business, employees with Google Now could soon use their voice to access all Google application capabilities – like predictive search, search history, question answering, calendar, and contacts. Imagine intelligent reminders that let users know when they need to leave the house, and that uses Google Maps to gauge the traffic on the route that they take the most frequently and suggest alternative routes based on traffic. Users can be able to set meetings, receive reminders for birthdays and gift suggestions, or get restaurant recommendations for taking out clients.

How do you see mobile personal assistants improving and advancing productivity in the enterprise?

Commuting will see huge advancements with heightened efficiency. There will be technology that enables populating CRM records for sales when driving between appointments, filling in expense forms, making payments and filling orders.

Having a conversational front-end for email management is not too far off. Getting the ability to have email read to users, flagging spam, responding using voice recognition and filing.

We have so many ideas and expectations for how we’d like to interact with virtual assistants. With films like Star Trek you can see many of the foundations for these expectations. Like when Scotty asks the computer to make his favorite scotch-based cocktail. What the user interface is ultimately going to be is defined by each individual.

To help, we set out to identify nine enterprise mobility influencers whose Tweets you don’t want to miss. Most are mobile enterprise analysts, consultants, and journalists whose job it is to stay on top of the latest trends. One manages a 110,000-employee mobile workforce. They all have a passion for enterprise mobile that they’re eager to share — you just have to listen.

• Benjamin Robbins, with 30,000 followers, tops our list as one of the few chosen for Top 50 Mobile Influencers on Twitter. The co-founder of Palador, a Seattle-based enterprise mobility consulting firm, combines an informative and conversational approach to discussing enterprise mobility, often showing rather than telling his audience what the best strategies are.

• Rob Tiffany is a technology strategist at Microsoft and mobile evangelist. A frequent speaker at technology conferences around the world, Tiffany focuses his Twitter feed on the planning and design of enterprise mobility strategies.

• Matt Rosoff is the editorial director of CITEworld, an IDG enterprise publication focused on consumer technology. Taking his strong background and wit to Twitter, Rosoff shares his insights, strong opinions and sharp questions on everything from mobile to tech to raviolis.

• Maribel Lopez is the founder of Lopez Research known for her ‘adapt and evolve‘ approach to enterprise mobility. Lopez is highly involved on Twitter, offering deep industry knowledge and insights gained from her years of research on the massive shifts in communications technologies.

• Bob Egan is the CEO of Sepharim Group and thought-leader on the use of enterprise mobility. He has 30 years of experience in product innovation, technology management and strategic planning.

• Philippe Winthrop is vice president of marketing at VeliQ.com by day and self-described “enterprise mobility pundit and enthusiast by night.” He has a keen eye for new trends and a knack for commentary that’s both insightful and humorous.

• Hyoun Park is a principal analyst at Nuclear Research, takes his specialization in investigative research on big data, business analytics and enterprise mobility to Twitter, sharing with his followers valuable information and discussion around these topics.

• Kevin Benedict is an analyst at Cognizant and owner of the Strategic Enterprise Mobility Group on LinkedIn. With more than 22 years of experience in enterprise software, Benedict has firsthand knowledge of the industry: he built his own mobile enterprise software company.

• Chris Silva is an industry analyst at Altimeter Group with more than a decade of experience the research industry. Silva helps end-user organizations understand how to effectively manage their mobile strategies.

• Brian Katz doesn’t mince words. His straightforward, passionate approach to enterprise mobility is the product of a decade’s worth of experience as head of mobility engineering at pharmaceutical company Sanofi.

Tell us what you think. Who else should be included on this list? Who do you follow on Twitter?