Archive for the ‘mobile web’ Category

Competing in Telecommunications Market with Network Quality Sunday, December 19th, 2010

Few things have caught the fancy of the general public as cell phones have. The ability to communicate on the go, and be available for communication wherever you are, has indeed affected a lot of things. It has improved the ability to earn income and people’s lifestyles.

The popularity has naturally attracted sellers of everything connected with cell phones, including technology developers. As competition increases, sellers try to differentiate themselves through improved quality of their networks. Advancing technology raises user’s expectations and these expectations are often not met.

Terms like 2G and 3G can be seen as referring to network technologies that attempt to meet user expectations increasingly better. GSM is considered a 2G technology, GPRS a 2.5G one, and 3G uses Broadband Wireless network technologies. Each technology improved the speed of data download, i.e. you could get more things to your mobile device within acceptable times.

Phones were devices that enabled you to talk with someone who is beyond a few minutes of walking distance. Now they are devices that enable you to browse the Internet and download music files without having to wait for ever.

Advancing technologies also improved the range of communications. Telephones can now reach even the remotest corners at acceptable costs.

We are presently in the 3G era which has speeds of up to 2 megabytes per second (2Mbps). 4G is visualized as technologies that can reach 100 Mbps.

And 5G is expected to lead to a truly wireless world, connecting the whole world into a borderless community. Using the potentials of nanotechnolgy, cloud computing and network protocols, a new Next Generation Network promises great things.

The 5G NanoCore is a technology and market report that delves into 5G technology of telecommunications.

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Posted in broadband network, cloud computing, information technology, mobile web, smartphone applications, wireless communication | No Comments »

Connected World: A Cisco Study Friday, December 10th, 2010

In today’s business, workers are more mobile and distributed than ever. This mobility and geographical distribution of workforce presents new challenges, particularly in the areas of data management and security. A Cisco study examines how IT professionals are managing this challenge.

Some major findings of the study include:

* Workers are finding that they need not be in an office to be productive. Workers also prefer the mobility and flexibility of working out of the office to an extent that they are willing to accept such a job even if it pays a little less compared to a job that does not offer such flexibility.
* IT policies have, however, not kept pace with the worker preferences as above, and also with new devices, social media and video and other new modes of communication.
* Better collaboration among teams in the data center, virtualization and cloud computing technologies have an important role to play in the emerging environment.

These trends also creates new problems for security and data governance because employees want to access and work with data from anywhere with different devices.

See the news report on Marketwire for details of the trends.

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Posted in IT security, cloud computing, communications, information technology, mobile web | No Comments »

Adapting to Student Lifestyles Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

Universities and colleges are adapting to the current lifestyles of students. For example, students are increasingly using smartphones that enable them to access email, organizer and the Web through the phones. Staff and students can tap the potential of this new device to exchange information and stay connected.

The Pierce College, for example, has developed a number of mobile applications and given them free to its students and others. With these, students can access:

  • Course lists, past, present and future
  • Faculty and staff directories, with contact numbers and details
  • Campus data, including campus overview and directions to the college
  • Pierce college blog

Students can quickly see:

  • Who their faculty members, advisors and financial aid specialists are
  • Their classes and schedules

The college found that students are increasingly using their smartphones to access the college website and portal. As such use becomes commonplace, it becomes possible to get many things done more easily and effectively. Conducting research, updating records and collaborating with peers all become easier. More work can be done when you can do things from where you are.

Colleges and universities that choose to deliver information and do other things with these modern devices tend to project an image of leadership and tend to attract better students.

Read about the Pierce College initiative at the Kansascity.com website.

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Posted in education delivery, information delivery, information technology, mobile web, smartphone applications | No Comments »

Information Technology Skills in Demand: The Trend Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

What IT skills will be most in demand in tomorrow’s world?

Universities are exploring the possibility of using the new generation’s fascination with smartphones to advantage. One university is handing out iPads to freshers to research whether and how these can be used for better education delivery. Another university is thinking of co-opting students to develop mobile applications for education.

In Estonia, citizens will be voting through their smartphones.

And of course, much of the Web surfing and e-mail has moved to smartphones.

One can hence conclude that a major skill in demand will be the skill to develop applications for mobile devices and deliver information through them. According to 2010 IBM Tech Trends survey, software professionals expect that application development for mobile devices will surpass all other platforms by 2015.

Another trend noticed by the IBM survey is that cloud computing will overtake traditional on-premise computing. This means a requirement for cloud computing specialists.

Another in-demand skill will be the ability to use social media effectively. Social media like Facebook and Twitter reach a vast audience and businesses will naturally be interested in using this reach to market their products and services effectively.

Business analytics skill to identify what is going on is another critical skill that will be in demand. Much more information is now available through media such as the Web and persons skilled in working with the new analytic tools will find themselves in high demand.

Read about the survey findings at PR Newswire.

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Posted in cloud computing, education delivery, information delivery, information technology, mobile web, smartphone applications, trends | No Comments »

Mobile Phones and the new Business Opportunity Friday, August 6th, 2010

According to an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) statistics on mobile phone subscribers 97 persons out of every resident in developed countries have a mobile phone. In the case of developing countries, the number is 45 per 100 residents. In the latter case, the mobile phone is practically the only means of practicable contact with the outside world for the vast numbers of inhabitants in remote areas.

Being able to reach these vast numbers of mobile phone subscribers in remote areas in a way that helps to bring them into the mainstream can definitely help businesses. This was the motivating factor for the IBM initiative for mobile Web. The initiative includes working with partners in research and investing in software, hardware and services.

One such partnership is with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai. IBM has joined an Open Collaboration Research (OCR) project with the Industrial Design Center (IDC) of the IIT. The “research collaboration will focus on the development of new designs for mobile device interfaces that can easily be used by people who are semiliterate or illiterate, as well as individuals who have limited or no access to information technology.”

Read the news release at PR Newswire.

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Posted in business, information technology, mobile web | No Comments »