Tableau Software, a provider of business intelligence software, has announced the general availability of Tableau 6.1. "This is the first version of Tableau that is optimized for mobile devices and in particular, the iPad," Francois Ajenstat, director, Product Management, Tableau Software, tells 5 Minute Briefing. "Organizations of all sizes are increasingly getting their analytics on the go so they can make better decisions wherever they are. We are trying to make that kind of delivery extremely easy."
With the new release, all Tableau views, from both Tableau Server and Tableau Public, are now optimized for touch and gesture experiences when accessed on the iPad. There is no need for up-front design changes or maintaining multiple versions of workbooks to serve multiple platforms. When a view is accessed from the iPad, Tableau automatically detects and optimizes the user experience. Controls such as filters, parameters, sliders, scrolling, and zoom and pan respond based on touch. The new iPad app is available in the Apple App Store.
In addition, with the 6.1 release, the Tableau data engine, Tableau's in-memory analytics
solution, has been enhanced, says Ajenstat. Not only does it load and query faster and, but there is also the capability to incrementally update Tableau extracts quickly with one click or via an automated scheduler.
According to Tableau, the data engine lets people speed up the performance of massive corporate databases or integrate large files on the fly. For example, daily visitors to an ecommerce site can result in millions of new records in website log files. With Tableau, those companies can keep their data sets current as they rapidly create and share analytical views and reports. "Fresh and fast data is imperative," says Ajenstat. With users handling ever-larger quantities of data, "We want to help them do that and analyze that data faster than before."
With the 6.1 release, there are more tools for additional functionality to make authors more productive, adds Ajenstat. There include more legend options, links on dashboard images and the ability to view data anywhere allow for more control. "We already have a great ease-of-use story in helping people analyze data and author data very quickly, but we are trying to make that even easier." In addition, Tableau has also been "localized and globalized," says Ajenstat. There are now French and German versions of Tableau Desktop, as well as enhanced geocoding.
Detailed information about the new release is available at www.tableausoftware.com/new-features/6.1. Tableau makes its business intelligence applications available for download at www.tableausoftware.com/trial.