posted on 8/26/2011 1:07:24 PM
Using HTML5, just as Steve Jobs would want them to, the developers at InetSoft roll out a new version of their business intelligence application that works with iPhones, iPads, and other Apple devices.
Before Steve Jobs stepped down as Apple’s CEO, he and the team in Cupertino decided that the company’s mobile devices, including its chart-topping iPhone and iPad, would not support Adobe’s Flash technology, used worldwide to create videos, interactive graphics, and animations on the Web and in software applications.
Jobs and Apple have insisted that the emerging HTML5 standard, which Apple’s devices support, offers developers a better option for designing their Websites and mobile applications. This week, business intelligence software provider InetSoft took Apple’s decision to heart, announcing an update to its flagship application Style Intelligence, which uses HTML5 to deliver business intelligence to iPhones and iPads.
Style Intelligence 11.1 represents InetSoft’s first foray into the world of Apple devices, as the company had previously designed its dashboard-based business intelligence software only for devices that use Flash.
“For BI developers,” the company said in a statement announcing the release, “Style Intelligence allows a develop-once and deploy-on-all methodology to support all end-user devices, whether they are desktops, laptops, tablets, or phones.”
The Style Intelligence software allows users to create highly visual data mashups, dashboards, and reporting, according to the company. The latest iteration extends to all users of the software— regardless of whether they use an iPhone, an Android phone, or another mobile device—tools such as selection lists and slider bars with which they can analyze large amounts of data.
InetSoft also embedded in its 11.1 release new usability tools for the IT specialists who create data mashups and BI reports for end-users.
"This product release demonstrates a natural progression for our BI application," commented Mark Flaherty, CMO at InetSoft. "We focus on making our software user-friendly, and with business users demanding the flexibility of accessing their corporate information on the platform of their choice, we're meeting that demand.”
Over the past decade, Apple has managed to mature from an enterprise technology also-ran to a serious player in business circles, with many software providers, like InetSoft, now developing applications for the iPhone and iPad. That trend has even led some to question whether mobilizing business intelligence and operational data is always appropriate.