Brainshark, Inc., a provider of online and mobile video presentation solutions,  announced a series of mobile capabilities and enhancements designed to provide a more interactive experience for on-the-go viewers. Through the “Brainshark Enhanced Mobile” module, a new Flash-based mobile player, iOS App updates and more, Brainshark is making it even easier for mobile audiences to engage with online video presentations–anytime, anywhere, and from any device. 
 

As mobile Internet users surge–set to exceed desktop users by 2014, according to Morgan Stanley–Brainshark’s current mobile offerings and iPhone and iPad App are already helping companies deliver high-impact, convenient messages to their untethered audiences.

Dan Rhyasen, segment marketing manager at Franklin Templeton Investments, says Brainshark’s new mobile capabilities and enhancements will help deliver even more convenient and timely communications to FTI's audiences.

“We’re distributing investment information to financial advisors and investors, both audiences that place a high premium on their time,” Rhyasen says. “Not only are we seeing more of our clients using smartphones and tablets, we’re using them as well to better serve our clients. Brainshark’s mobile capabilities are a great match for us.

"Our clients can use their mobile devices to view our video presentations anytime, anywhere. At the same time, our sales force is using Brainshark’s free iOS app to share presentations in the field. And, the new mobile tracking data Brainshark provides will give us valuable insight into how users are interacting with our content from their mobile devices," he says.

Through Brainshark, users can add their voice–along with video clips, interactivity, attachments, and more–to slide decks and other documents to create online video presentations. Brainshark video presentations can be viewed from BlackBerry, Palm, iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch), Windows Mobile and Android-based devices.

 

“With the explosion of smartphones, tablets and continued improvements in wireless broadband networks, we are seeing massive acceleration in the deployment of enterprise applications,” says Mark Lowenstein, managing director, Mobile Ecosystem and veteran mobile industry analyst. “Brainshark is an excellent example of a company that is delivering a complete mobile solution to its customers – across multiple screens and operating systems, and with full feature support and an intuitive UI.” 

 

Brainshark’s newest capabilities help companies improve the effectiveness and reach of their content for mobile sales enablement, just-in-time mobile training, mobile marketing initiatives, and more. These new capabilities and offerings include:

Brainshark Enhanced Mobile
The Brainshark Enhanced Mobile module is available to Brainshark enterprise solution customers and includes a suite of premium mobile capabilities:

 

Enhanced mobile reporting – This capability provides information on “total viewing time” and “clickpath tracking.” This means that now, users can see how long viewers on smartphones and tablets engaged with their presentation, as well as how those viewers navigated through the content – including which slides were watched, for how long and in what order.
Support for interactive poll, survey and exam questions – This capability, available in the second quarter of this year, will improve Brainshark’s support for organizations’ mobile learning initiatives by allowing their viewers to better engage and interact with mobile video content.

Formal mLearning support – This capability, also available in the second quarter of 2011, will enable course-by-course reporting on completion criteria and integration with learning management systems (LMSes).

Flash-based Mobile Player

Users of Flash-enabled devices – including Android smartphones and tablets, and Palm smartphones running the latest version of webOS – can now take advantage of the Flash-based mobile player for an even better viewing experience. Benefits include greater interactivity – enabling viewers to browse a presentation’s table of contents, access and download attachments, and instantly share presentations via email – plus intuitive on-screen navigation and playback controls.

Brainshark’s iPhone and iPad App, launched earlier this year, enables iOS users to better view, share and access online presentations from their mobile devices. Enhancements to version 1.1, now available on the Apple App Store, include:

 

Updated design, including customer branding – App users now see a sleek, updated design and can also see company logos on content created by Brainshark Presentations enterprise solution customers.

Application prompt – When viewers click on a Brainshark link in an email, the presentation will automatically play within the iOS App for the best viewing experience or prompt them to optionally download it if it’s not installed.

Updated content – With a higher content refresh rate, viewers always have access to the latest content posted to their Brainshark account, along with the newest free titles available from third-party eLearning providers.

Companies whose employees, customers and/or partners access Brainshark presentations through the Brainshark Content Portal interface will now be able to provide a viewing experience optimized for smartphone users. Regardless of the mobile operating system, the new Mobile Content Portal interface – built using HTML 5 – will provide a more intuitive content search, browsing, and sharing experience, with simpler controls and actions optimized for small screens.

“With smartphones and tablets, companies today have the opportunity to reach their audiences in more immediate and convenient ways,” says Brainshark CEO Joe Gustafson. “Brainshark provides the flexibility for delivering communications that can be consumed in the office or on the road. Through our latest mobile enhancements, as well as our ongoing commitment to mobile innovation, we remain dedicated to helping users share and consume timely information – from anywhere and no matter what device they’re using.”