By: Will Fleenor, CPA, PhD, K2 Enterprises
Blog Series: Which Tablet is Best for You?
Post 2 of 5
Part 2: Android™ Tablets
Android tablets not only make up the majority of the market but they have the most apps (software that is operated by touch and often only runs on tablets and smartphones). As of June 2014, Google Play™ (the primary source of Android apps) and the Apple StoreSM (the only source of iOS apps) claim to have about 1.2 million apps; however, there are many more Android apps available on the Adroid Market™. One source claims that there are more than a billion Android apps.
At first, the availability of more apps appeared to be an advantage for the Android operating system. Unfortunately it is a huge disadvantage for business users. With Windows® tablets and Apple® tablets, all the apps have to come from the company store. Microsoft™ and Apple carefully vet apps before they are placed in the store to insure they do not contain malware and work as advertised.
Android apps, on the other hand, can come from almost anywhere and apps that come from sources other than Google Play are not vetted by Google Inc. As a result, we have seen numerous instances of malware on Android devices. According to Forbes, in 2013, Android malware accounted for 97 percent of the known mobile device malware. About three percent came from the discontinued Nokia™ Symbian platform. The iPhone®, BlackBerry®, Palm®, and Windows phones, all together, accounted for less than one percent.
This does not mean that business users should not buy Android tablets. It does mean that business users should be running third party antivirus software. There are numerous good products available including apps from Bitdefender®, Avast!®, McAfee®, Kaspersky™, and Norton®.
The latest version of the Android operating system has all the bells and whistles that were once only available in Apple devices—like a voice powered voice assistant, find my phone, and the ability to wipe your phone remotely if it is lost or stolen. If you use Google Apps for Business™ instead of Microsoft Office™, you will be pleased by the tight integration with the Android operating system.
Next in this blog series, we will discuss the pros and cons of iOS® and the iPad®.
For more information on making tech work for you, join experts from K2 Enterprises at NCACPA’s TechFest Summer Conference, August 18–19, 2014, for the nuts and bolts of today’s technical solutions and how to confidently put them to work for your business!
William C. Fleenor, CPA, Ph.D.
• Past Chair of the AICPA’s National Microcomputer Conference
• Published articles in the Journal of Accountancy & CPA Journal
• Winner of the AICPA “Accounting Educator of the Year Award”
• Has conducted continuing education for CPAs in 48 states