Although much of the draw to the 2012 Demo Conference in Santa Clara, Calif., this week surrounds consumer technology, such as the fantasy politics game or the electric skateboard, the conference still has plenty to offer those with a mind toward work productivity (see the slideshow for a closer look at the show's hottest products).
Security
Demo isn't what many would consider a security-focused event, but two companies will showcase their offerings for the burgeoning mobile security market.
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First, there's zImperium's zDefender, which sets up automatic traffic filters and a remote management console to help reduce smartphone threats. The company also offers a suite of security services, such as its "ethical hacking exploit-as-a-service," which enables enterprise security administrators to find vulnerabilities in the network from their smartphones.
Separately, TrustGo Antivirus & Mobile Security focuses on mobile app stores, offering a scanning service to identify which apps may be dangerous.
Cloud communications and collaboration
A handful of exhibitors are looking to turn more people onto the cloud, be it for sharing information and collaborating on work documents or reducing costs of communications systems.
CollateBox allows users to store, share, and modify data lists, while DocSync and RollApp's OpenOffice integrated with DropBox do the same for iPad users looking to access their own data on the fly. ProjectFootage, meanwhile, focuses on sharing video projects over the cloud and can be customized as an add-on to current websites.
Hoiio Live offers a handful of cloud-based communications options, namely Internet phone for conference and long-distance calls and a mobile chat service, and provides the management tools to store and update contacts or keep track of use across the enterprise. Similarly, RingCentral Office provides support for both in-office and mobile cloud PBX systems.
For email, there's ZigMail, which doesn't necessarily enable cloud-based collaboration or communications itself, but simply makes them easier to deal with. ZigMail is a separate email inbox that connects to the user's individual account solely for the purpose of collecting junk and other nonurgent mail. So, for those whose important messages get drowned out by alerts from social media accounts or deals sites, ZigMail may be the perfect solution to help weed out the unnecessary. The separate ZigMail account also sends one daily update showing the subject lines of the forwarded emails, so the user can get an idea of what else may need to be addressed.
Mobile apps and HTML5
As more businesses look to interact with customers via mobile formats, a couple of exhibitors aim to make the process easier.
