Mobile cloud computing

Mobile cloud computing is the usage of cloud computing in combination with mobile devices. Cloud computing exists if tasks and data are kept on the internet rather than on individual devices, providing on-demand access. Applications are run on a remote server and then sent to the user. Because of the advanced improvement in mobile browsers thanks to Apple and Google over the past couple of years, nearly every mobile should have a suitable browser. This means developers will have a much wider market, means they can bypass the restrictions created by by mobile operating systems.

Mobile cloud computing gives new company chances for mobile network providers. Several operators such as Vodafone,^[1] Orange and Verizon have started to offer cloud computing services for companies.

Alibaba Group launched cloud computing-based operating system Aliyun on 29th july 2011. The Aliyun operating system will feature cloud services such as email, Internet search and support for web-based applications. Users are not required to download or install applications onto their mobile devices.

Overview

Definition

Mobile cloud computing is a combination between mobile network and cloud computing, thereby providing optimal services for mobile users. In mobile cloud computing, mobile devices do not need a powerful configuration (e.g., CPU speed and memory capacity) since all the data and complicated computing modules can be processed in the clouds ^[2].

Applications

Mobile applications are a rapidly developing segment of the global mobile market^[3] . They consist of software that runs on a mobile device and perform certain tasks for the user of the mobile phone. As reported by World Mobile Applications Market, about 7 billion (free and paid) application downloads were made globally in 2009 alone from both native and third-party application stores, generating revenues of $3.9 billion in the same year. The global mobile application market is expected to be worth $24.4 billion in 2015, growing at a CAGR of 64% from 2009 to 2015. Apple is a typical example for the explosion of mobile applications. Apple with a whopping more than 4 billion downloads to date commanded more than 90% of the application market share in 2009. The success of Apple’s App Store has not only established the scalability of mobile applications, but has also shown that the best of these offer the potential to generate enormous revenues.

Mobile Commerce

The explosion in the use of electronic commerce (e-commerce) by the business sector has been tremendous since its inception only a few years ago. E-commerce is known as: buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. From governments to multinational companies to one-person start-ups, e-commerce is increasingly viewed as a key business modality of the future. Ease of transaction, widening markets, and decreased overheads are factors that make e-commerce solutions more and more attractive, as evident with the growth of on-line sales.

Mobile Learning

Mobile learning today is becoming more popular as there are many people using mobile devices to enhance their learning. Mobile learning (m-learning) is not only electronic learning (e-learning) but e-learning plus mobility. It is clear that learning via mobile brings many benefits for mobile users. It brings the convenience for them since they can learn anywhere they want in any convenient time from a portable device. However, there are some researches pointed restrictions of traditional mobile learning such as: expensive mobile devices, high cost of network, poor network transmission rate, and limited educational resources. As a result, it is difficult for mobile learning to take its own advantage and to be popular as well.

Mobile Healthcare

The development of telecommunication technology in the medical field helped diagnosis and treatment become easier for many people. This can helps patients regularly monitor their health and have timely treatment. Also, it leads to an increase accessibility to healthcare providers, more efficient tasks and processes, and the improvement about quality of the healthcare services. Nevertheless it also has to face many challenges (e.g., physical storage issues, security and privacy, medical errors. Therefore cloud computing is introduced as a solution to address aforementioned issues. Cloud computing provides the convenience for users to help them access resources easily and quickly. Besides, it offers services on demand over the network to perform operation that meet changing needs in electronic healthcare application.

Mobile Entertainment

The analysis of the impact of mobile computing on the various services shows how the mobile computing has changed each service and has given a new tune to them to get a good future prospective to develop a good method for each service. As mobile computing has become more popular over the past decade, it has been under continuous developments with advances in hardware, software and network. The mobile computing has various applications in our everyday life. This technology has become a fundamental skill. With mobile computing we can check our email messages, our bills, our bank accounts and our other private information just by using a mobile phone or laptop anywhere. All the functionalities obligate each exchange data to make it safe and immune from any attack. Mobile computing services have simplified our lives. Every day we get attached to a new device that includes a lot of functionalities and is based on mobile computing, as examples, I-Phone from Apple, Net-Book, etc.

References

1. ^ http://www.vodafone.com/content/dam/vodafone/about/what/white_papers/connecting_tothecloud.pdf
2. ^ Dinh Thai Hoang; Chonho Lee, Dusit Niyato, Ping Wang. "A survey of Mobile Cloud Computing: Architecture, Applications and Approaches". Wireless Communication and Mobile Computing. 
3. ^ http://www.readwriteweb.com/mobile/2011/01/mobile-app-market-25-billion-by-2015.php