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Former Member

(Updated June 18, 2012) Without question, more enterprises are rolling out iPads and iPhones than their Android counterparts today. But there's finally some large-scale Android deployments to talk about.

Here's my small but growing list. <---Click here to see the Google spreadsheet or view below:

As of June 2012early September, there are 39 fewer than 20 deployments. If you know of one, please e-mail me (ericyolai@gmail.com) or send me a tweet @ericylai.

In the meantime, here's some highlights, up-to-date as of Sept. 6, 2011:

- Largest deployment - American Airlines, which plans to roll out 6,000 Samsung Galaxy Tabs (10.1-inch) as in-flight entertainment devices to first and business-class passengers. American Airlines is jumping head-first into tablets - it is also rolling out thousands iPads to its pilots. American's rollout ismore impressive than other airlines like Alaska. Not only will American pilots use iPads serve as flight manuals, but the FAA has approved their use as interactive maps and navigation charts.

- Most impressive rollout to-date - University of Southern Mississippi, for its just-started pilot to roll out 1,000 tablets - also Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1s - to honor students. The Tabs come loaded with theBlackboard Mobile Learn, the mobile version of the well-known learning management system of the same name. Blackboard supports Android, iOS and BlackBerry devices today. It enables students and teachers to communicate, access assignments and grades, write blogs and comments, etc.

So you have to applaud the University for deploying proven educational software that help the students take full advantage of the Tabs. On the other hand, Blackboard emerged before social media and smartphones did. Its interface and platform reflects it. Some startup competitors, such as ePals (full disclosure: my brother works here), say they offer a more flexible, Facebook-like platform.

- Most widely-deployed device - by number of confirmed devices, that would be the Galaxy Tab. But in terms of number of customers, the Cisco Cius narrowly edges the Tab today. When Cisco released its enterprise tablet in July, it touted five organizations across various industries that were piloting or already using the Cius. By ROI, the most impressive is Nottingham University Hospitals, which claims the use of the Cius along with portable IP phones lets doctors access information outside of work and then make diagnoses and treatment changes. This has sped up treatments and shortened hospital stays, generating an estimated 292,000 pounds in annual savings. ROI was achieved in just 4 months.

- Most ambitious deployment - the owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News newspapers is ripping a page out of the mobile operator model. It plans to sell 2,000 Android tablets to consumers at an upfront discount, but bundled with a digital newspaper subscription. “No one in the U.S. has bundled the device with content,” Greg Osberg, the newspapers' CEO, told AdWeek. “We want to gain significant market share in this area, and we want to learn about consumer behavior. Our goal is to be the most innovative media company in the United States.” Pricing hasn't been revealed, except that subscriptions will likely cost less than $75/year. Rivals aren't standing still. The Tribune Company, publisher of the LA Times and the Chicago Tribune, is thinking of offering the same bundle, using the Samsung Galaxy Tab as its device.

- Most diversity - that would be my parent company, SAP AG. Led by CIO Oliver Bussmann, SAP is rolling out iPads (8,946 as of September), iPhones, Samsung Galaxy Tabs, and BlackBerry Playbooks. Not bad for a company that a 18 months ago was still an all-BlackBerry shop. The company is also drinking its own champagne, deploying the mobile apps it is building with its Sybase subsidiary.

- Biggest long-term impact - Considering the glacial speed at which U.S. government agencies normally operate, the embrace of mobile devices by various agencies is downright speedy. Besides iPad deployments that you can see at my other list, the Coast Guard has approved the use of iPhones and Android-based smartphones, while the Navy and Marine Corps are close to the same approval (click on the aforementioned links for excellent coverage in InformationWeek by my former IDG-colleague-turned-foreign-expat, Elizabeth Montalbano). The Army is already testing a wide variety of mobile devices for classroom and battlefield use, including a mobile battlefield network app running on Android.

Outside of the military, there is also interest in Android. The Department of Veterans Affairs has added procurement of tablets such as iPads and Android models to its existing enterprise contract. And theBlackBerry Playbook has been certified as compliant with Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS), a key prerequisite before agency procurement. The Playbook is reportedly the first tablet to gain FIPS certification.

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Heard of any other large-scale Android deployments? Drop me a line or comment below!