School of Information Systems

Mobile Computing

Mobile computing sometimes referred to as ‘Human Computer Interaction’. Mobile computing is the set of IT technologies, products, services, and operational strategies and procedures that allow people to access data and information from wherever they are. The key advantage of mobile computing is convenience, allowing users anytime, anywhere access to information and computational resources.

How Mobile Computing works?

Mobile computing involves a mobile computing workstation of some form, commonly referred to as a mobile device, and a wireless connection like Wi-Fi (wireless LAN or wireless WAN) technology. Local data storage on the mobile devices, and can be synchronized with the content when we do computation on personal computer (PC). Wireless communications are well-established, and today’s Wi-Fi and 4G networks can offer unlimited data service plans. Most users find their monthly data expense bounded and manageable, with good availability, reliability and throughput.

Mobile Technologies

Most vendors of microprocessor integrated circuits offer mobile versions of their products, featuring lower power consumption, smaller physical size and, consequentially, often lower performance than their desktop counterparts. So, by using mobile applications we can use desktop application with lower bandwidth, such as Microsoft Office with some of functions are not available on mobile. But at least we can use mobile application to do basic function, like view and edit data in the application. Mobile technologies use cloud-based storage for backup, bulk storage and file sharing. By using cloud – based storage, it can be reliable, fast and cost-effective. It just because company doesn’t have to provide special place to save the data, like sever farm or something like that.

History of Mobile Computing

Modern smartphones evolved from personal digital assistants (PDAs), which first appeared in the early 1990s, an outgrowth of personal organizer devices designed to store and retrieve information needed for personal productivity, such as calendars and phone directories. The development of smart phone operating systems like Android and IOS makes mobile computing become booming nowadays. The mobile computing architecture of today is increasingly cloud-centric, with web- and cloud-based access essential in many applications. Key cloud-based services include software distribution, device management, data storage and sharing, and access to shared applications.

There are several benefits of mobile computing, as follows:

  1. Connectivity:You can stay connected to all sources at all times.
  2. Social Engagement:You can interact with a variety of users via the Internet.
  3. Personalization: You can tailor your mobile computing to your individual needs.
Marisa Karsen