Updated June 7, 2023
What is Mobile Computing?
In the 1990s, mobile phones were meant for voice calls and short messaging services. Those of us who were early adopters of this have only used the fixed line or fax to communicate and found it hard on the cost side having to pay for both incoming and outgoing calls.
However, the advent of smartphones created a revolution in the use of mobile phones for various applications involving data, software, gaming, and business applications. Mobile phones have been meant to facilitate communication and to provide multimedia messaging (MMS) for over a decade or more. After that, many cell phones have added features of consumer devices such as cameras, torch lights, clocks, and alarms, calendars making it a multi-purpose device for everyday use.
For every computer app, a mobile app
The rapid penetration of mobile phones among all classes of people has set a new trend for businesses. In parallel, a mobile app is also developed for every computing application. A website for desktops invariably creates the need for a mobile site. Now that many people access the net through mobile, websites have gone into vertical scrolling mode instead of horizontal mode.
Mobile applications are mostly watered-down versions of web applications and computer applications. However, a reversal is in the offing with smartphones likely to deliver a more versatile and full-featured suite of internet applications, according to Benedict Evans, renowned market analyst speaking at a web summit held in November.
Marc Andreessen claimed two years ago that software was eating the world, and now, according to Evans, mobile is likely to do the same.
Mobile OPS
Similar to how computers run on operating systems (OS) like Windows and Unix Linux, smartphones likewise use an OS to function. The operating system enables menu-driven applications and programs that are user-friendly. Popular ones are Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows, and RIM. Android and iOS are the two companies with the largest market shares, respectively.
The rapid growth of e-commerce, online bookings globalization of business and financial services necessitated the need for users to login into a network anytime and access data, update information, or manage systems remotely. Which, in turn, has turned favorable for the growth of mobile computing. On the hardware side, the revolution unleashed by the abundance of Tablets, smartphones, and digital pocket assistants (PDA) in the market has helped create a huge demand for mobile apps and computing solutions.
The demographic shift in population with a rising proportion of older age groups has raised a new requirement to be happy and connected. According to an IBM expert who wrote for Forbes, the development of user-friendly smartphones and mobile apps has helped to close the generational gap between the young and the old.
Data, applications, and information transmission are now possible for many different industries and applications thanks to the rapid evolution of mobile communications from 2G, 3G, and 4G. For example, the heart of the computing system that enables transactions in a company is the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Mobility development has ensured that sales associates and marketing teams on the move can update data and relevant information in real time to their headquarters and branch offices. This updation of data would enable the managerial hierarchy to better coordinate or changestrategies for the market based on the goals and targets fixed by the company.
Mobility helps to make it possible to collect more data from the market, whether it be through social media, the internet, online trade, or mobile app bookings. It has aided the industry in analyzing transactional data to support marketing efforts.
Mobile Technology tops Gartner trends
As outlined by Gartner, Mobile Technology is at the top of the strategic technology trends that will impact the IT industry in 2016.
According to David Cearley, Vice President and Gartner fellow, designing mobile apps continues to be in businesses’ core strategy. Along with mobile devices, several other devices of common use that can store and transmit data are also becoming part of the ‘device mesh’, Gartner report said. Wearable consumer and electronic devices, automotive and environmental devices, and sensors in the Internet of Things (IoT) add to the connectivity network.
The mobile Computing Structure
Just as in any connected network, mobile computing also involves three distinct and inter-connected components-
- Mobile hardware
- Communication devices, including transmission towers
- Mobile software and apps
Each passing year witnesses the launch of several new models with more and more advanced features. The storage, processing capacity, and screen resolutions have swiftly increased, making mobile devices at the heart of data capture, storage, processing, and communication . The mobile hardware includes smartphones, PDAs, tablets, and tablet PCs, among others.
Mobile communication includes many protocols, transmission towers, bandwidth, satellite systems, and networks. Data systems are defined so that there is no collision with existing systems sending or receiving similar data.
The media is impulsive or infinite. Therefore, the overlay infrastructure focuses on radio waves. F To equipment that exists to receive and transmit signals of a similar nature, it signifies that the calls go over the air.
In mobile computing, transmission occurs not through physical connectivity but mostly satellite or wireless communication-enabled networks.
Advantages of Mobile Computing
Mobile technology has undoubtedly been a blessing for humanity, much to how the personal computer revolution gave us the ability to organize, store, and analyze data in an approachable way with the menu-driven Windows systems in the 1980s.
Here are some of the advantages of mobile computing:
- No location restriction: Due to better bandwidth and transmission speeds, mobile computing allows users to work independently without being restricted by their physical location.
- It saves time and enhances productivity with a better return on investment (RoI)
- It provides entertainment, news, and information on the move with streaming data, video, and audio.
- Streamlining of business processes: Mobility has enabled streamlining of business processes, cumbersome emails, paper processing, and delays in communication and transmission.
- Newer job opportunities for IT professionals have emerged, and IT businesses now have an added service in their portfolio which only will keep growing as per indicative mobile computing trends.
Career Opportunities in Mobile Computing
The growth of mobile computing has spawned several new career options, from hardware servicing to software, operating system, and mobile computing applications (apps) development. The main beneficiaries in this regard are engineering graduates, post graduates, diploma holders, and computer applications professionals who have done a Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) or Master of Computer Applications (MCA).
Some of the hot job openings are:
Game developers, mobile hardware technicians, IPAD developers, mobile apps testing specialists, developers for Android, Blackberry, iPhone, and Windows, tower installation and maintenance for network, mobile computing security experts, equipment mechanics, mobile architects, customer care, marketing support, technical support, Key Performance Indicator (KPI) engineer.
Although technical requirements and competence required for each job function vary, broadly speaking, they need to have capabilities in HTML5, Javascript, Jquery, Bluetooth devices, WLAN, GSM, CDMA, WiMAX, Microsoft Share Point 2007/2010, Info Path, among others.
Industry opportunities
Apart from job opportunities for engineers and IT professionals, huge opportunities are awaiting service providers in mobile computing. The huge market for mobile computing is indeed the USA. Statista estimates that over 180 million Americans will own smartphones, growing by 10% to almost 200 mn in 2016. Every American between the ages of 16 and 80 is a prospect or customer for the industry, according to Jim Blasingame, a contributor to Forbes magazine. He is the author of the award-winning book, ‘The Age of the Customer: Prepare for the Moment of Relevance’.
According to him, if businesses are not mobile-ready, they will become extinct like the dinosaurs in no time.
The Future of Mobile Computing
According to researchandmarkets.com, the global enterprise mobility solutions market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.43% in the next three years. The mobile computing applications of enterprise mobility solutions manage mobile computing devices, wireless networks, and related services. It’s a cloud-based technology enabling sustained connectivity. The report said that revenue generated through software licenses ad subscription fees had been used as a yardstick for future growth estimates.
A report by Zion Research projects that the worldwide enterprise mobility industry will increase from US $85 billion in 2014 to US $ 500 billion in 2020, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 24% between those two years. Tablets, laptops, and cell phones are all covered in the paper.
As already outlined, mobility is increasingly being utilized by corporates and retail users for making payments and other transactions.
According to a recent joint survey by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International, 30% of companies use mobile computing devices to access corporate bank accounts and to make financial transactions. Even small and medium enterprises are increasingly using mobile apps for financial transactions.
Increased security
IT majors such as Microsoft have promised to scale up technologies and invest in security on the net; However, despite these security worries, according to the UK industry view, security dangers to mobile computing are minimal.
According to VMware research, 53% of respondents in the UK and EMEA claimed that increased security was the critical driver for businesses to adapt to the mobile model. In comparison, 38% believed mobile force effectiveness was a trigger, and 35% cited improved end-user experience.
In mobility announcements that made news last month, Microsoft’s new security capabilities in its Enterprise Mobile Suite made the news. The new system has introduced telemetry data as part of its Mobility Suite. It allows companies to view specifics about the device from which a document was accessed. It can reveal who, when, where, and how a document was accessed.
The telemetry data in the Mobility Suite enabling this facility and Azure Active Directory delivers data to customers and reports users’ access to and activities with corporate data.
Experts say mobile security concerns can be overcome with caution and preventative measures. Anti-virus software is now widely available, and Symantec, McAfee, and Lookout provide useful tools. It pays to invest in anti-malware and anti-virus. It is also vital that the malware library is up to date.
Enterprises can use a mobile device and application management to prevent intrusions and data theft which can be used to manage and enforce security containers. x
Many organizations are now incorporating a dual-persona approach to mobile device management software. Here the enterprise data and personal data would be categorized separately with enterprise apps and data not accessible to end users for making changes. The virtual box having corporate apps will be secured, and end users cannot put unmanaged applications in this box.
Personal content in the device will be stored separately in the file system and not in the box. Precautions are taken so that corporate data in the box can’t be shared with applications outside the box. However, sharing personal and corporate data between works and individual apps is possible as MAM and MDM tools specify which can be shared and which cannot be.
Wearable mobile devices & 5 G
After 2G, 3G, and 4G, there is already talk of 5G networks that would multiply transmission speed by 100 times. Also, the current issues concerning battery charge retention may be a thing of the past with bigger power banks and long-lasting batteries.
Wearable mobile technology has arrived and could develop several new health, fitness, disease, and marketing applications.
Motorola Mobility has a patent for a mobile system that can identify whether the user is lying. It is capable of capturing human voices and is implanted under the neck. Google has reportedly developed several biometric mobile applications capable of controlling sugar levels, a boon for diabetes-affected patients.
The future is promising for mobility, and the faster businesses catch on the bandwagon, the more returns they could reap.
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