What has @rsaeks (and me) excited about iOS 6?

Over at techrecess.com, Randall Saeks listed what excited him about iOS 6. It is what I would have written, had I had the time. His #2 is an especially big game changer.

If he is missing one feature, it is Do Not Disturb. Don't worry; Ars Technica has that covered.

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iPhone Configuration Utility for Windows 3.6

This week Apple updated iPCU for Windows to V3.6, but iPCU for OS X is still at V3.5. I cannot locate release notes for 3.6 so I don't know exactly what has changed.

However, there is now a new field in the General payload called "Consent Message," and has a description "Brief message that will be displayed during profile installation."

I tried this with our MDM solution, on an iOS 6 device, but the message was not displayed.

Does anyone know of any other changes in iPCU 3.6?

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Poll: What do you think of iOS 6 Maps?

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My head hurts: Updated Apple TV works with Apple Configurator

Apple today updated the software for its iOS-powered Apple TV. The update brings the software to "5.1," and is available through the Apple TV Settings menu.

In addition to shared photo streams, AirPlay out, icon repositioning, and subtitles, the update allows for "advanced network configurations" using configuration profiles. There is a knowledge base article on installing the configurations using Apple Configurator. I suppose this could be used to deploy dozens of Apple TVs within a large school or company. Or maybe it could provide access to restrictions and hidden features?

This addition continues to raise the profile of Configurator, if ever so slightly. The tool is clearly becoming Apple's go-to solution for iOS deployment.

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About the Security Content of iOS 6

Great stuff in here, if this is the sort of thing you like: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5503

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Executive Lunches in NYC from Tekserve and Enterprise iOS

I'm hosting two executive lunches next week in New York City for organizations that are working on iPad integration challenges.

Tuesday, September 25th at Noon (SD26, 19 East 26th Street at Madison Square Park, NYC)
The Institute of Culinary Education will share their experience deploying iPads to teachers and students for training and teaching. You will learn:

• How to empower your teachers to dynamically display lessons using HDTVs connected to the iPad wirelessly with Apple TV.
• How to create iPad compatible training materials.
• How to stage the release of training materials so that students don't receive materials they aren't ready for (or haven't paid for).
• How to outsource Help Desk support and training on how to use the iPad.
• How to implement a mobile device management solution that adapts to your organization's evolving device policies and practice.
• How using the iPad enhances The Institute of Culinary Education's credibility as innovative and forward thinking with partners and potential students.

Thursday, September 27th at Noon (SD26, 19 East 26th Street at Madison Square Park, NYC)
Showtime Networks will share 2 years of experience integrating iPads bought for employees as well as current challenges with personal devices. You'll learn:

• How to empower your staff to work smarter, more creatively, and move flexibly with the iPad (beyond just replying to email).
• How to create iPad compatible resources that save time and money, plus allow employees to be more productive while traveling.
• How to work with your internal IT department to enable productivity instead of stifle it.
• How to implement a mobile device management solution that adapts to your organization's evolving device policies and practices.
• The challenges of employees bringing in their own iPads and upgrading faster than your organization.
• How using the iPad enhances Showtime's credibility as innovative and forward-thinking with affiliates and partners.

To Attend
Please email jazmin [at] tekserve dot com with your name, title, company name, and phone number. Space is limited to 30 participants.

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Disable 3G when roaming?

All,

Is there a way an mdm policy can be applied and disable the use of 3G while roaming?

Example

Users device is working on 3G and when the user is notified that they are roaming the policy will restrict 3G and only allow use of a 2g connection. When the user returns to their home country the policy is removed automatically.

This is purely for cost saving measures.

Thanks Paul

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iOS 6 configuration profile reference: Configurator and MDM begin dating

iOS 6, released today, brings several under-the-hood features geared specifically to businesses. And if you use Apple Configurator to lock down your iPads and iPhones with "Supervision," there are even more benefits. Supervision can lock down iOS and restrict much more than traditional MDM, and is a great solutions for schools, kiosks, Point-of-Sale, and other shared-use environments.

The information below comes from the just-updated Configuration Profile Key Reference in Apple's Developer Library. I've also been aided by my employer Tekserve and MDM provider AirWatch, who provided a most helpful iOS 6 press release.

New MDM Features for all iOS 6 Devices

• disableMailRecentsSyncing -- iOS 6 mail leverages iCloud to synchronize not only your address book, but also the email addresses you recently wrote. In iOS 6, this feature may be disabled for a particular account.
• allowDiagnosticSubmission -- When false, this prevents the device from automatically submitting diagnostic reports to Apple. Defaults to true.
• allowPassbookWhileLocked -- If set to false, Passbook notifications will not be shown on the lock screen. This will default to true.
• allowSharedStream -- If set to false, Shared Photo Stream will be disabled. This will default to true.

New MDM Features for all iOS 6 Devices Supervised by Apple Configurator

• allowGameCenter -- When false, Game Center is disabled and its icon is removed from the Home screen. Default is true.
• allowBookstore -- If set to false, iBookstore will be disabled. This will default to true.
• allowBookstoreErotica -- If set to false, the user will not be able to download media from the iBookstore that has been tagged as erotica. This will default to true.
• allowUIConfigurationProfileInstallation -- If set to false, the user is prohibited from installing configuration profiles and certificates interactively. This will default to true.
• App Lock Payload -- Leverage Guided Access to lock the device into a specific app. The home button is disabled, and the device returns to the specified application automatically upon wake or reboot. Only one app can be locked at any time. When the payload is removed the behavior reverts to normal.
• Global HTTP Proxy -- This payload allows you to specify global HTTP proxy settings, so all HTTP traffic passes through the proxy.
• Also an AirWatch video shows the ability to change the background a lock screen images on supervised devices, but we haven't yet been able to confirm that.

Regular readers know that I'm a big fan of Configurator. Far from being a cheap substitute for Mobile Device Management, I've thought about the two as complementary. And it seems with iOS 6 we are glimpsing Apple's big plans for the two.

[Update 3:17 PM] added Global HTTP Proxy.

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Ready, Set, ... iOS 6 Available at 1 PM Eastern Time, 10 AM Pacific

Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt says iOS 6 will be available at 1 PM Eastern Time (US), 10 AM Pacific. The free update should be available over the air, from Settings > General > Software Update. Even if you don't rush to update, expect your device to prompt you within the next day or so.

Using MDM queries, you ought to be able to chart upgrades of your users. Are any Enterprise iOS readers willing to collect and share this data? That could be one mighty interesting chart.

(via TUAW)

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Copies in iBooks - how to eliminate them?

Hi Im not a developer,but gradually becoming one in my seemingly impossible quest to discover whether its posible to delete an ibook from ibooks remotely.

The problem: clients want to make in-house ibooks documents and then using MDM, make them available to a group of "in-house" ipads (which will be geographically separated).

This is easy. They then want to be able to ensure that users have the latest and ONLY the latest ibooks on their ipads - which would necessitate having the ability to DELETE ibooks from the ibooks library on the ipad, as all forms of MDM seem to leave a copy in ibooks, which is not just undesireable in this case but actually potentially illegal (medical information).

So far none of the MDM providers I have consulted can offer this functionality which leads me to my question: is it actually possible at all?

I will patiently await your collective beneficence and wisdom...

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