Apple iPhone app manages mainframe IPhone, iPad apps manage IBM mainframe systems

Network management vendor William Data Systems says it has created an iPhone app that lets users manage IBM's z/OS mainframe environment.

What's up with encryption?

Specifically the iPhone app lets users tie into WDS' ZEN z/OS network management suiterunning on the mainframe. ZEN is made up of a variety of packages that let users monitor network performance, usage and activity displays, system alerts and security. The company touts Zen as a replacement for the venerable IBM NetView mainframe monitoring system.

"Low cost smart mobile devices are now widely available. Companies are asking their z/OS support people to do more with less. Put the two together and another requirement is for z/OS network monitoring and management to be done, remotely when needed, using a single mobile device that support people would normally carry with them," the company's founder Liam Hammond said in a statement.

Android Now Ties iPhone In Consumer Interest

One year ago, if you told an average person you were thinking about buying an Android, they'd have thought you were some sort of robot-mongering madman.

My, how times have changed.

Since the debut of the first Android handset in 2008, we've seen Google's mobile operating system grow in leaps and bounds. Initially catapulted by the high-profile marketing push surrounding the Motorola Droid, Android sales have been on a nonstop rocket ride upward. Smartphone users are now snatching up more Android phones than iPhones -- despite what certain turtleneck-loving CEOs may imply -- and the ratio shifts further in Android's favor with practically every passing month.

Now, a new report finds Android has essentially matched the iPhone when it comes to overall consumer interest. If recent trends are any indication, it won't be long before Apple's prized product is eating Google's dust