Mobile Technology

Basic principle

  • 3 division methods
  • fundamental mobility: cellphones
    • cell handover

Future and issues

  • 5G - the future
  • issues with mobile access to e-commerce web sites
    • efficiency of mobile device web clients
    • broad new range of contextual/accessibility issues, e.g. fingerprint, wearable devices
    • screen size – all over the place, unpredictable
    • interactivity
    • client-side processing requirements
    • bandwidth issues

M-Commerce

Overview

  • definition
    • the buying and selling of goods and services via mobile devices
      • mobile devices include (but are not limited to)
        • mobile phone/smart phone
        • tablet computer
        • wearable technology
    • the process of paying for goods and services via mobile devices
    • use of any technologies to support the above
    • use of mobile devices to
      • transact
      • communicate
      • entertain
  • m-commerce vs e-commerce
    • ubiquity
    • convenience
    • interactivity
    • personalization
    • localization
  • different roles in m-commerce
    • user –> individual authorized to use their mobile device
      • end user or system user –> the benefit or end result is received by a subscriber
      • suppliers –> the benefit or end result is received by an organization that uses m-commerce for increasing productivity and efficiency of its goals
    • network operator –> offer the transport facility and network infrastructure
    • service providers –> develop new services for and utilize the network infrastructure provided by the network operators
    • content providers –> aggregate mobile device content from various sources
    • commerce mediators –> provide solutions and services such as payments, security, etc
    • finance organizations –> provide framework and infrastructure for payment
    • mobile device –> capable of interacting with all other players/roles
  • services and applications
    • mobile ticketing
    • mobile money transfer
    • content purchase and delivery
    • information services
    • mobile banking
    • mobile browsing
    • mobile purchase
    • mobile marketing and advertising

Realization

  • m-commerce is a special case of IoT-based commerce
    • e-commerce via mobile web clients and apps is pretty well understood
    • PTDs (Personal Trusted Devices) are full of various sensors that are mediated by the device hardware and can work together
    • location and orientation
    • multiple types of networking (e.g., NFC, Bluetooth)
    • accelerometers
    • camera
  • common options for mobile website development
    • responsive design –> same content as “standard” site + different mobile styling
      • automates the inclusion of contextually relevant content based on profiles
      • “fluid design” –> layout changes, image resolution changes, interaction changes according to specific device
      • advantages
        • optimized performance for supported devices
        • unpredictable performance for undefined devices –> where use of emulators might come in handy
      • disadvantages
        • technically complex to implement, maintain, and test new skills required
        • higher cost, larger codebase
      • example
        • all content is stored (in one place) in display-independent XML
        • easy to maintain content
        • stylesheets are defined for possible display-dependent formats (e.g. extensible stylesheet language transformations – a standard)
        • display-dependent content is used to satisfy web request on server-side
    • adaptive design –> potentially different content + different styling on different mobile devices
    • note: the above are not mutually exclusive
  • QR codes
    • quick response code
    • originally designed as a two-dimensional barcode
    • not originally intended for mobile use, initailly for camera
    • patented, but free license

Other technologies and issues

  • GPS/BDS
    • widely available on most devices (+)
    • great for “geo-location” and “geo-fencing” (+)
    • location tracking (-)
    • does not work inside buildings (-)
    • high battery consumption (-)
  • NFC/RFID
    • great accuracy for use with payments and product information (+)
    • very low cost of RFID sensors/stickers (+)
    • not supported on all devices (-)
    • 20 cm (7.9 inches) range (-)
    • high battery consumption (-)
  • obstacles to ambient awareness
    • mobile device power
      • GPS/BDS and network calls are power hungry
      • users feel need to ration battery power
    • privacy
      • users worry about continuous tracking
      • does tracking really provide cost benefit
    • network
      • bandwidth
      • congestion
      • processing speed
      • but these issues would be addressed by 5G easily
  • mobile web vs mobile apps
  • better solution - Progressive Web Apps (PWA) by Google
    • make web app have higher capability and higher reach
    • features
      • reliable
        • fast loading, work offline and on flaky networks
      • fast
        • smooth animation, jank-free scrolling and seamless navigation
      • engaging
        • launched from the home screen and send push notifications
    • procedure