Page History

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(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone)

• First production cell phone with Internet access introduced in late 1990's by Nokia (see http://xml.coverpages.org/nokiaWAP9902.html^{Image Added})
• Major players: Blackberry (RIM ran into state security issues in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, UAE), Nokia, Ericsson, Palm, Android (Google), iPhone (Apple), Microsoft
  • Android was in fourth place during the first three months of 2010, trailing the Research In Motion (RIM) and Apple smartphone OSes by a margin of about 5 million and 3 million, according to market research company Gartner, which tracks the number of smartphones sold to end users. However, since then sales have picked up significantly. In February, Google said 60,000 Android phones were sold per day and in June that number had gone up to 160,000, according to Google. Today, 200,000 Android-based smartphones are sold every day, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said on 8/4/2010 (see http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9180197/Android_growing_much_faster_than_expected_say_analysts?source=CTWNLE_nlt_pm_2010-08-05).
  • According to Nielsen's most recent tally (as reported in SJ Mercury 8/8/2010) US subscribers: Blackberry 35%, iPhone 28%, Android 13%.
• Smartphones not only lucrative in themselves they are also gateways to apps and services markets
• Handsets evolving, adding email, larger screens, touch screens, qwerty keyboards, integrating cameras, voice recognitions (see http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/080410-windows-phone-7-to-excel.html?source=NWWNLE_nlt_daily_pm_2010-08-05), line between smartphone and mobile phone is merging
  • 247B emails/day, 1.4 unique email users worldwide, enormous market for mobile email

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• Most mobile computing comes down to Web surfing, e-mail access, reviewing spreadsheets or business documents, and maybe watching a movie on a long flight. Tablet devices like the iPad offer a hybrid approach combining the advantages of the smartphone with the advantages of a netbook to provide mobile business professionals with a device that is more than adequate for those needs.
  • “When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks because that’s what you needed on the farm.” Steve Jobs sees PCs as trucks that will be replaced by more consumer-friendly tablets that he likens to cars.
  • The iPhone has already broken down the walls and been embraced by many IT departments. As evidenced with Wells Fargo, the iPad -(which runs on the same iOS (although the iPad is still on iOS 3.2 and won't receive iOS 4.0 until later this year) - is making the transition from consumer gadget to business tool much faster. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/070710-ipad-invades-corporate.html?source=NWWNLE_nlt_daily_am_2010-07-08

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• Futures:
  • Mobile Payments: Mobile network operators, often in partnership with banks, card issuers and mobile payment service providers, are fast developing platforms and applications to offer mobile payment services, and with such initiatives in place, the mobile payments segment has established itself in several advanced mobile markets worldwide and is now also expanding its reach in emerging markets. The worldwide mobile payments volume – denoting the face value of purchases and transactions through mobile handsets – stood at USD 68.7 billion in 2009, up from USD 45.6 billion in 2008, and is set to surge nine-fold to reach USD 633.4 billion by end-2014.
    In 2009, there were 81.3 million mobile payment users worldwide and this number is forecast to grow over six-fold to reach nearly 490 million by the end of 2014, seeing the worldwide penetration of mobile payment users increasing over four-fold to reach almost 8 percent by end-2014. From simple SMS-based services to advanced bar-coded tickets and beyond, mobile payment services have come a long way and yet still remain in a relatively nascent stage compared to other mobile services.
    According to GSMA there will be 1.7M phone users by end 2012 who do not possess a formal bank account
  • Location Based Services (LBS) is on the rise, and with iSuppli's recent forecast that 79.9% of Smartphones shipped by Q4 2011 will be GPS enabled it seems mass adoption is not far away.
  • In US AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile teaming up with Discover Card and Barclays Bank to test system at stores in Atlanta & 3 other cities to let consumer pay with the contactless wave of a smartphone, thus replacing credit cards (1B in US consumer wallets). SJ Mercury Aug 3, 2010.  Security (see later)
  • Medical
    • Mobile health, or what the industry is calling mHealth or m-health, is a term used for the practice of medical and public health, supported by mobile devices. The term is most commonly used in reference to using mobile communication devices, such as mobile phones and PDAs, for health services and information.* The Mobilizing for Healthsm grant program will fund U.S. based pilot research projects and ongoing studies in need of additional funding focused on mobile phone-based interventions for low-income patients with chronic diseases, with an immediate interest in diabetes management over the next two years. * *Source: mHealth definition from Wikipedia.org, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MHealth
    • New apps to determine drug doses based on weight, the size of endotracheal tube inserted down throat to help breathing (PediStat); learn about rare conditions (Eponyms) also use Wikipedia; to determine drug interactions (Epocrates); learn about drug trials (Drug Trials); breaking medical news; teaching tools You have a whole medical library in the palm of your hand, 70% doctors use mobile phone 80% say it is essentials (the new stethoscope?)
• Concerns
  • cell phones & cancer link inconclusive (see http://www.iarc.fr/, San Francisco requires emission disclosure on mobile handsets, main source of RF is produced by antenna, closer to head higher the exposure, no scientific concensus on link to cancer, lots of studies (e.g. WHO) measured metric is Specific absorption rate (SAR), < 1.6 watts/kg of body weight considered safe by FCC. Manufactured phones vary from 0.1 to 1.59 w/kg (see http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phone-radiation-levels/)
  • Tower emission
  • Emergency services (911, 999, 112 etc.) mobility adds another level of complexity
  • Use while driving etc.,
  • Security:
    •  today’s high end smartphones are 1GHz or higher, have up to 32GB store, and with 4G will have 3Gbps connection speeds. Expect to see a growth in malware and spyware. IT departments not ready to support the new OS’, yet smart phones may have access to sensitive corporate data and can get lost (need remote wipe (Blackberry and iPhone but not Android), need encryption for private data being sent on web (e.g. SSL, VPN), SMS being used for money transfer in Indonesia in small amounts $0.45-$0.90, infect phones with Trojan-SMS.Python.Flocker (exercise caution when browsing Internet to avoid contamination by mistakenly downloading Trojan), , need ant-virus, anit-malware apps, firewalls etc.
    • Mimic a cell phone tower/radio transmitter, it is illegal but can be done (see http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/073110-hacker-snoops-on-gsm-cell.html?source=NWWNLE_nlt_daily_am_2010-08-02 )
    • Use as credit, security only as long as do not lose smartphone, need remote wipe (followed by a need for remote backup/restore), login password with complex password policies etc.
    • Use multilateration based on RTT to towers to discover location of cell phone whether turned on or not
    • Remotely turn on microphone of some cell phones and listen to conversations (see http://news.cnet.com/FBI-taps-cell-phone-mic-as-eavesdropping-tool/2100-1029_3-6140191.html)

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