By Anthony Papili
We are truly living in exciting times when it comes to technology. You will be hard pressed to find someone over the age of 12 that does not own a cell phone or some type of wireless device. The amount of data traveling over our countries cellular networks is and has been growing exponentially over the past few years.
So what started this tidal wave of wireless data usage? It was the introduction of the smartphone in conjunction with the wireless speeds provided by today's 3G networks, and now 4G networks. And by smartphones, I'm not talking about just any smartphones, I'm talking about the smartphones that have come about as a result of Apple introducing it's IOS operating system on the iPhone and Google introducing its own Android operating system.
It was over 10 years ago that I worked in an organization that was named, "Mobile Internet". I worked for a telecommunications company that developed, manufactured, and sold network infrastructure to mobile operators, the likes of AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and MetroPCS to name just a few. We had just introduced 3G technology to the marketplace, and we now needed to educate both the operators, end users, and enterprises on the capabilities and possibilities that existed with using wireless data. We introduced applications to demonstrate the capabilities, most existed around the use of location based services.
The biggest advantage we pushed with enterprises was the use of secure, wireless data access. I remember giving presentations to many large corporations on how much more productive they could make their traveling employees by simply giving them a 3G wireless data card that they could put into their laptops. By doing so, they could be connected anywhere their cell phones worked and always be in contact with experts back in the office.
The other two big themes we promoted were that "Devices Grow Muscles" and that "Micro-Billing" would be the "Killer App". By micro-billing, we meant using your cell phone to complete financial transactions under $2.00. The easiest example to demonstrate how micro-billing would work would be a vending machine. The idea is that you would walk up to a Coke machine, and instead of putting money into the machine to pay for your soda, you make a few clicks on your cell phone and the soda gets paid through the mobile internet and will appear on your monthly cell phone bill. The problem was that we were probably 10 years ahead of our time. Back then, the technologies that existed were CDMA 1X and GPRS. As both supported data access, the available speeds were pretty slow compared to today's networks. Enterprises and Consumer Electronics companies used to look at me like I was crazy, when i used to passionately present the possibilities.
So when I fast forward from that point in my career to current day, what I said would happen 10 years ago has finally happened in just the past two years. Our mobile networks are now much faster with CDMA EVDO RevA providing 3.1Mbps downlink speeds, CDMA RevB providing up to 14Mbps, and versions of HSDPA networks going all the way up to 20Mbps. And I'm not even talking about the 4G networks that both VZW and AT&T have recently launched.
Combine the improvements we introduced into the networks, with the introduction of the smartphones and all the applications available in multiple application stores, and its easy to see why mobile data usage is going through the roof. Working for a company that sells network equipment to mobile operators, all this equates to healthy sales. The more data usage on the mobile networks, the more equipment the operators need to buy to handle the capacity loads that have really started stressing their networks.
So let's go back and see just how close we were 10 years ago to defining exactly what the Mobile Internet would be. First, as a technology provider, we have delivered the stable and high speed wireless networks which are required to make all this a reality. Second, secure wireless data access existed back then and still exists now. Data cards in laptops is very common place for all mobile workers. It's almost table stakes at this point. Although data cards in the form of either PCMCIA cards or USB dongles create a lot of data usage, they are still relatively small in numbers. That brings me to the prediction that "Devices Grow Muscles". Today's smartphones have more computing power on them than the computers we were using back then. For example, the iPhone 4s has a 1 Ghz processors onboard and just this past week at the Consumer Electronics show, phones were introduced that are running 2 Ghz processors. So it is definitely true that the devices have grown muscles.
Finally, we said Micro-Billing would be the killer app. Well, the jury is still out on that. Mobile payments (using your cell phone to pay for things) is definitely possible today but it hasn't quite taken off yet. It will still take some time for the masses to get comfortable with paying for things with their cell phones, but it will definitely happen, and it won't be limited to micro payments.
So what's today's killer applications? I'm not sure there is just one. With over a half million applications in the Apple App Store and similar numbers in the Android Marketplace, you can really take your pick.
I for one have really enjoyed watching the wireless technologies evolve from where we were 10 years ago to where we are now. And that evolution is not over yet. 4G networks allow for even faster download speeds and also provide very low latency which are ideal for real-time applications. The devices keep getting smaller and more powerful. I can actually go on a business trip and leave my laptop at home because between my iPhone 4s and iPad 2 tablet, I've got everything I need on my mobile devices.
In my current job, I have product management ownership of cellular products. I also own the alliance management with device manufacturers, so I get to learn ahead of time what the next generation of mobile devices will look like. It also means that I get a chance to play with all these new gadgets. Yes, you can call me a gadget geek!!!
So hopefully you can understand by reading this article why I think that the wireless industry has to be one of the most interesting and exciting industries to work in.
So what started this tidal wave of wireless data usage? It was the introduction of the smartphone in conjunction with the wireless speeds provided by today's 3G networks, and now 4G networks. And by smartphones, I'm not talking about just any smartphones, I'm talking about the smartphones that have come about as a result of Apple introducing it's IOS operating system on the iPhone and Google introducing its own Android operating system.
It was over 10 years ago that I worked in an organization that was named, "Mobile Internet". I worked for a telecommunications company that developed, manufactured, and sold network infrastructure to mobile operators, the likes of AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and MetroPCS to name just a few. We had just introduced 3G technology to the marketplace, and we now needed to educate both the operators, end users, and enterprises on the capabilities and possibilities that existed with using wireless data. We introduced applications to demonstrate the capabilities, most existed around the use of location based services.
The biggest advantage we pushed with enterprises was the use of secure, wireless data access. I remember giving presentations to many large corporations on how much more productive they could make their traveling employees by simply giving them a 3G wireless data card that they could put into their laptops. By doing so, they could be connected anywhere their cell phones worked and always be in contact with experts back in the office.
The other two big themes we promoted were that "Devices Grow Muscles" and that "Micro-Billing" would be the "Killer App". By micro-billing, we meant using your cell phone to complete financial transactions under $2.00. The easiest example to demonstrate how micro-billing would work would be a vending machine. The idea is that you would walk up to a Coke machine, and instead of putting money into the machine to pay for your soda, you make a few clicks on your cell phone and the soda gets paid through the mobile internet and will appear on your monthly cell phone bill. The problem was that we were probably 10 years ahead of our time. Back then, the technologies that existed were CDMA 1X and GPRS. As both supported data access, the available speeds were pretty slow compared to today's networks. Enterprises and Consumer Electronics companies used to look at me like I was crazy, when i used to passionately present the possibilities.
So when I fast forward from that point in my career to current day, what I said would happen 10 years ago has finally happened in just the past two years. Our mobile networks are now much faster with CDMA EVDO RevA providing 3.1Mbps downlink speeds, CDMA RevB providing up to 14Mbps, and versions of HSDPA networks going all the way up to 20Mbps. And I'm not even talking about the 4G networks that both VZW and AT&T have recently launched.
Combine the improvements we introduced into the networks, with the introduction of the smartphones and all the applications available in multiple application stores, and its easy to see why mobile data usage is going through the roof. Working for a company that sells network equipment to mobile operators, all this equates to healthy sales. The more data usage on the mobile networks, the more equipment the operators need to buy to handle the capacity loads that have really started stressing their networks.
So let's go back and see just how close we were 10 years ago to defining exactly what the Mobile Internet would be. First, as a technology provider, we have delivered the stable and high speed wireless networks which are required to make all this a reality. Second, secure wireless data access existed back then and still exists now. Data cards in laptops is very common place for all mobile workers. It's almost table stakes at this point. Although data cards in the form of either PCMCIA cards or USB dongles create a lot of data usage, they are still relatively small in numbers. That brings me to the prediction that "Devices Grow Muscles". Today's smartphones have more computing power on them than the computers we were using back then. For example, the iPhone 4s has a 1 Ghz processors onboard and just this past week at the Consumer Electronics show, phones were introduced that are running 2 Ghz processors. So it is definitely true that the devices have grown muscles.
Finally, we said Micro-Billing would be the killer app. Well, the jury is still out on that. Mobile payments (using your cell phone to pay for things) is definitely possible today but it hasn't quite taken off yet. It will still take some time for the masses to get comfortable with paying for things with their cell phones, but it will definitely happen, and it won't be limited to micro payments.
So what's today's killer applications? I'm not sure there is just one. With over a half million applications in the Apple App Store and similar numbers in the Android Marketplace, you can really take your pick.
I for one have really enjoyed watching the wireless technologies evolve from where we were 10 years ago to where we are now. And that evolution is not over yet. 4G networks allow for even faster download speeds and also provide very low latency which are ideal for real-time applications. The devices keep getting smaller and more powerful. I can actually go on a business trip and leave my laptop at home because between my iPhone 4s and iPad 2 tablet, I've got everything I need on my mobile devices.
In my current job, I have product management ownership of cellular products. I also own the alliance management with device manufacturers, so I get to learn ahead of time what the next generation of mobile devices will look like. It also means that I get a chance to play with all these new gadgets. Yes, you can call me a gadget geek!!!
So hopefully you can understand by reading this article why I think that the wireless industry has to be one of the most interesting and exciting industries to work in.
Under the user name of "doubleklm", I write a lot of articles on the hubpages web site. I write about a lot of different things, but a majority of my articles (or hubs as they are called) are about wireless technology. That should be of no surprise to anyone. If you get a chance, check out some of my hubs and feel free to leave comments. I love to hear other peoples thoughts and ideas, as well as critiques on my content.
You can read a little about me and get an index into all my hubs at http://doubleklm.hubpages.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anthony_Papili You can read a little about me and get an index into all my hubs at http://doubleklm.hubpages.com/
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