Mobility

All prediction-for-the-future lists (e.g., see here) list "mobility" as a trend. This ten-slide slideshow published in Ziff Davis's eWeek captures many of the specifics. 

10 Mobile Technology Trends Sure to Impact Your Work, Life in 2013
 
By Don Reisinger  |  Posted 2013-01-23
 
The mobile market has dramatically changed the IT industry. While deskbound PCs were once the most important products in the industry, smartphones, tablets and even lightweight notebooks are now on top. Desktops and heavier laptops have lost favor to highly mobile devices that generate excitement among consumers and even enterprise users. Given the importance of the mobile device market today, many buyers are likely wondering what they can expect from products built by Apple, Samsung, Nokia, HTC and others. The average consumer and enterprise user today are more mobile and want the latest and greatest features in products they bring on the road. And companies that capitalize on those needs will be far more likely to succeed than those who will not. But before customers can set out to buy certain products, they'll need to find out what sort of features they can expect in them this year. From big screens to 4G LTE wireless connectivity, mobile devices will offer several features to look forward to this year.

Use of Smartphones

Business Insider's SAI (Silicon Alley Insider) summarizes a report from BI's business intelligence unit about what people are doing with their smartphones (iOS and Android). (The full report is a few hundred dollars.) 

"BII REPORT: Here's What Smartphone Users Are Doing With Their Phones" 

• ". . . mobile now accounts for 12 percent of Americans' media consumption time, triple its share in 2009."
• "Time spent on apps dwarfs time spent on the mobile Web, and smartphone owners now spend 127 minutes per day in mobile apps." 
• Gaming is driving monetization and use of time. 
• Nearly half of smartphone users manage social networks; mobility is critical to the continued success of Twitter and Facebook. 
• Mobile video is the third most popular smartphone activity (which is starting to stress mobile network infrastructure). 

Gen Y Mobility Addiction

Here are some decent and relatively unsuspect hard data from Cisco via Baseline about something we all know: Gen Yers -- a.k.a., Millenials; people born between the early 1980s and early 2000s (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gen_y) -- are addicted to their smartphones. (Thirteen slides.)

"Smartphone Addiction Is Rampant in Gen Y" 

By Dennis McCafferty | Posted 2013-01-03 

For Generation Y, the smartphone might as well be considered a physical appendage. That's because—other than when these individuals are asleep—there seems to be little or no time when they're not connecting to these devices, according to a recent survey from Cisco. The resulting report, the "2012 Cisco Connected World Technology Report," reveals that Gen Yers throughout the world are tapping on their smartphones from the first thing in the morning to the end of the evening. No physical space is considered off-limits either, not even the bathroom. On the positive side, this level of connectivity makes them more accountable at work. On the negative, a majority of survey respondents admit that they wish they didn't feel so tethered to technology. "There are 206 bones in the human body," according to the report, "and the smartphone should be considered the 207th bone for Generation Y." A total of 1,800 Gen Y students and professionals in 18 countries took part in the research. 

(See http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns1120/index.html for other Cisco technology reports on technology, internet security, online friendships.) 

Batteries

The full extent of mobility -- powerful, capable devices; location-aware social media; ubiquitous networks (WiFi and cellular); etc. -- is held back by battery limitations. Very few smartphones, for instance, will last even the canonical eight-hour workday under heavy use on just one charge. 

This great piece by Jessica Dolcourt in CNET summarizes the challenges and potential solutions. 

"Smartphone battery life: 2 problems, 4 fixes (Smartphones Unlocked)"

Battery life on smartphones is generally terrible, and everyone knows it. Here's why, and who is trying to fix it.

• Imagine a smartphone that charges completely in 5 minutes and lasts a full 10 hours before running on empty. Crazy, right? Toting along the charging cord is just another part of life with 4G streaming and a power-hungry screen.
• Back in January, Motorola's Droid Razr Maxx offered the first real glimmer of hope for long-life batteries with the 3,300mAh ticker that dwarfed the battery in any other available handset -- it ran for 19 hours in CNET's tests, a longevity that hasn't been reproduced since.
• That leaves the question I get asked over and over again: why is it taking so long for batteries to catch up to all the other advances in smartphone technology?
• There's good news and bad news. The good news is, help is on the way. The bad news is, much of the cutting-edge development is still a year or two out. Here's a look at some of the exciting evolutions, and even revolutions, coming to the stuff that fuels our smartphones.

Update on Sunday, January 27, 2013 at 07:51PM by williamgarrity

Here's a wire story (AP) about the problem: http://careers.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_BATTERY_BREAKDOWN

2013: Future Technology

It is the time of year for "prediction" lists. Here are two from a source I respect -- IDG's TechHive (IDG is the publisher of PCWorld and Macworld) -- about mobiles (smartphones) and tablets. 

Future Tech 2013: Phones -- wireless charging (already have with my Droid 4), quad-core (http://www.william-garrity.com/blog/2012/12/27/quad-core-mobiles.html), bigger screens, and near field communication. 

Future Tech 2013: Tablets -- 

Tablets have evolved at a lightning-fast pace. And for 2013, we expect another year of rapid and significant change in areas ranging from performance and displays to battery life and price.

Just two years ago, the tablet market that is so large today was in its infancy, dominated by Apple’s first-generation iPad. Android tablets were barely getting off the ground, and were saddled with an inappropriate cell-phone operating system slapped into a tablet’s larger case.

Today, we have competition and diversity. Apple’s iOS-based fourth-gen iPad and iPad mini still dominate, but Android-based tablets are finally making inroads. Leading the way is Google’s own Nexus lineup, consisting of the affordable 7-inch Nexus 7 (which starts at $199 and goes up to $299 with HSPA+ mobile broadband connectivity), and the 10.1-inch Nexus 10 (with its crazy-high resolution). Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD, a competing $199 tablet built around Amazon’s media and services and running Android apps sold through Amazon’s own store, has done well, too. And now Windows 8–based tablets are here, led by Microsoft’s own Surface With Windows RT tablet.

So what lies ahead? Big growth, for one thing: Research firm IDC expects worldwide tablet shipments to hit 165.9 million units in 2013, up from 117.1 million in 2012. And by 2016, IDC says, worldwide shipments should reach 261.4 million units. This growth will come at the ex­­pense of traditional laptops and desktops, and it will foster a growing acceptance of tablets as tools in everyday life, whether as a “second screen” to accompany your TV viewing, as an e-reader, or as a productivity tool.

Continued at link

Update on Monday, December 31, 2012 at 06:03AM by williamgarrity

More from TechHive: 

• http://www.techhive.com/article/2021500/future-tech-2013-cameras.html
• http://www.techhive.com/article/2021498/future-tech-2013-tvs-and-digital-entertainment.html