Assignment File

Assignment 1: Information systems and software tools

Due date: Weighting: 30 May 2013 25% of the total marks for this course

Before starting this assignment, you must have completed the following topics: Units 1 and 2.

Problem description
If you are looking at a modern smartphone market, you will likely see some that come with larger touch screen (5-8 inches) and equipped with tablet PC functions, such as touch screen, stylus, virtual keyboard, mobile operating systems, web browser, digital camera, media players, customized apps and cloud computing connection, etc. This hybrid device is called phablet which is a portmanteau of the words phone and tablet. Examples of phablets include Samsung's Galaxy Note II, HTCs Titan II, Googles Nexus 7 and Apples iPad Mini. As an Assistant Manager of your organization, you are asked to recommend a mini-sized tablet PC for your department. The tablet PC will be shared among your colleagues for text, voice and video communications when they are on business trips. General business apps and cloud computing features would add advantages. Given a budget of HKD $6,000, you have short-listed two phablets of different brands and would like to choose one that most suits your organizations needs. The following are for your reference only, if you wish, you may suggest other brands suitable for this assignment. 1 2 3 4 Samsungs Galaxy Note II (www.samsung.com) HTCs Titan II (www.htc.com) Apples iPad Mini (www.apple.com) Googles Nexus 7 (www.google.com)

Task 1 (60 marks)

Find out the specifications of the phablets in English from the vendors websites or local smartphone retail shops. Use Microsoft Word to prepare a brief report (within 6 pages, including a cover page) of two phablets on your findings for your organizations consideration. Your report should include the following sections: a Cover page: Include report title, company logo, submission date, course code, your name and student-ID.

BIS B123 Business Computing Applications

Background: Briefly describe the company you work with. This is probably your own organization, or one well known to you. Your description should include a discussion of the computer-based information systems in your organization. How do these information systems work together to support routine business operations? Imagine you are writing for a person experienced in Hong Kong business, but with no knowledge of your company. If you wish to use a restricted domain of study you should clearly describe it and explain how it relates to the organization as a whole that you have just described. You may wish to use James OBriens IS model in Unit 1 to complete this section. Business needs: According to their importance, list out at any 5 criteria for choosing a phablet device that suits the companys business needs. Note: The problem description does not contain all the information you need and you have to make sensible assumptions on the nature of the organization and the daily operation of your business. State clearly any assumptions you made. Specifications: Compare the specifications of the two phablets sideby-side by using a table. The table should contain eight factors for comparison. The first five factors include processor, touch-screen, internal memory, connectivity, operating systems, etc. You should also include another three factors that might be essential to the purchase decision. Recommendations: Recommend a phablet to your company and briefly explain your reasons. Note: There is no model answer on which one should be chosen and it all depends on your assumptions and arguments.

Your report should conform to the following requirements: a b A cover page with a font size set to at least 24 to improve its readability. Set all margins to 1 inch. Adjust line spacing to 1.5 lines. First-line indent all paragraphs and use the Arial font (size 10) for your report. Apply page/section breaks wherever appropriate. Each page should include a footer that shows your name and the page number. The table should be nicely formatted. When comparing the specifications of the two phablets, highlight the best item(s) in yellow. Use footnotes to indicate the URLs of the information source. Check the spelling and grammar of the paper. Save the document with s********a1-1.doc as the file name, where ******** is your 8-digit student number. Print your report. Submit both the printed and softcopy of your report

d e f g

Assignment File

Task 2 (40 marks)

Prepare a PowerPoint presentation for showing the features and specifications of the phablets that you considered. Note that your slides should be an abridged version of your report and include the following: Slide 1 Slide 2 Slide 3 Slide 4 Slide 5 Slide 6 The title page of your presentation Your companys business needs The criteria for a suitable phablet Showing the photo(s) of the first phablet and highlight its key features Showing the photo(s) of the second phablet and highlight its key features Your recommendation and justifications

You are required to: a b c d e f g h i Include an appropriate footer content, date, and page number in the slides (except the first slide). Use suitable templates, fonts and font sizes in all slides. Add a slide transition effect to all slides (except the first slide). Insert a Clip Art Object into Slide 1 and Slide 6. Apply Word Art to the text on Slide 1 and Slide 6. Add suitable amount of animation effects to the slides. Save the presentation as s********a1-2.ppt, where ******** is your 8-digit student number. Print all slides using the Handouts view with six slides per page. Submit both the printed handouts (6 slides per page) and soft copies of your presentation.

You can use other effects as you wish in the presentation, but these effects should suit the purpose of the presentation.

You should submit

1 If you choose to submit your assignment through the ordinary mailing, you have to submit both the print outs and softcopies required from Tasks 1 and 2. That is, all the print-outs together with a CD-ROM containing data files. There should be 1 file from Task 1 and 1 file in Task 2 respectively.

BIS B123 Business Computing Applications

A stamped addressed Assignment Acknowledgement Card and a TMA form.

If you choose to submit your assignment through the OLE electronically (https://ole.ouhk.edu.hk), only the soft copies of the files are required. You are strongly advised to submit your assignment via this electronic method.

Note
1 2 Write your name and student number on every page of your printouts. All document and presentation files created in Tasks 1-2 should have an appropriate and meaningful layout, and should contain no spelling or grammatical errors. Late submission without prior approval will be penalized.