The Future of Mobile Technology

The Future of Mobile Technology

In the beginning, there were paper cups and wires. Now we have the iPad. How is it that something so simple and mundane transformed into such a complex creation? Many of us take our phone’s features for granted, but not many a year ago most of those features were obsolete. We talk about the looks that will appear on people’s faces if we go back a couple of centuries in time and show them an iPhone; well you don’t need to go that far back, a few years will be more than enough.

Back in the 90s, a phone with good reception was enough for many people, if not all. Today, we need so much more. The Nexus One, the iPhone, the HTC HD2, all are great phones, and we’re just a few months since the iPhone 4G starts shipping but what we don’t realize is that all of this technology that we hold so closely and observe in awe is just momentary. Mobile phones ever since their commencement have changed more rapidly than the moods of a pregnant woman. Which begs the question: What new mobile technologies will emerge in the next few years that will completely change our lives? Have we really reached the pinnacle of human development, will Moore’s law(gasp!) be rendered useless in a couple of years? Read away to find out.

Cloud Computing :

‘Cloud Computing’ is a term being thrown about a lot these day, mainly in the context of the future of the World Wide Web. But the potential of computing in the cloud doesn’t begin or end with the personal computer, rather as put forward by ABI Research in their recent report: Mobile Cloud Computing declares that the cloud will soon become a huge force to be reckoned with in the mobile world, and eventually the dominant way in which mobile applications will operate.

Basically, ‘Mobile Cloud Computing’ refers to an infrastructure where both the data processing and its storage happen outside the device. Today, there are already a few mobile cloud computing services such a Gmail, Googlemaps and some more applications but still most of the data storage and processing takes place on the mobile device itself. With coming times, this could change.

Most of us tend to forget that still, a huge chunk of mobile subscribers do not have access to a smartphone. While it is a hard fact that these smartphones will get sophisticated, faster and cheaper with time, these lower-end-phones won’t be going anywhere and it is their very existence which will drive the Mobile Cloud Computing trend. Also, more than the number of developers for each specific kind of Mobile OS, there are developers for the web, Mobile Cloud Computing will provide to all its users access to countless of these web applications. Also currently, most phones are carrier bound, that is, if you want a particular phone for its specific features and applications, you have to subscribe to the carrier that that phone company wants you to. However, with Cloud Computing all you require is access to the web, which brings us to our next point.

Faster Access:

Perhaps one of the most important and required mobile technology, better access will unlock new areas of innovation and discovery to mobile developers. Advanced applications and devices require fast, easily affordable access, but today's 2G/3G cellular data service remains expensive and unavailable to a large portion of the 3.6 billion mobile subscribers, also with typical speeds between 400Kbit/second and 700Kbit/second, it leaves a lot to be improved. All of this is about to change soon enough, and with WiMax/4G just around the corner, the future couldn’t be more bright.

Often touted as 4G, Xohm WiMax is Sprint’s promise to provide mobile subscribers with a DSL level of wireless connectivity with speeds between 2Mbit/second to 4Mbit/second range. It should be available by the end of 2010.

Another leading mobile subscriber Verzion has stated that it shall be providing a similar wireless service, LTE by the end of the 2011. Many more companies have also announced their own plans for wireless technology but most of them seem bleak in comparison to Sprint’s WiMax. Also, considering the fact that most of these technologies won’t be available for commercial usage until 2011, critics say that by that time, WiMax will be way ahead with better technology and plans.

Conclusion:

We humans are a strange race. We’re never content. No matter how old our species gets or how advanced our technology. We’ll always find a way to make something better, useless though it may be, than its predecessor. Mobile technology is no exception to this regard. What started off as an endeavor to connect two different individuals separated by a block of land has soon become much more. Mobile Phones have become so much more than what they were meant to be, people can work, play, and do what not on something that fits in your pocket. The future is here, and all that matters now is where we go from here.

Source:-http://www.erodov.com/forums/future-mobile-technology/32069.html