Introduction.
What is the future of computing? The computing industry has gone
through five generations. First was the large and bulky mainframe
computer, where users connected through terminals to large and centralize
data processing units. Next came the minicomputers, which were smaller
and less expensive and even could be contained with a room. These
computers supported time sharing and allowed departments to have
their own computing resources. Next, with the growth of the microprocessor,
came the microcomputer. These included the Apple Mac and the IBM
PC. The power of these computers increased over the years, and supported
the next major wave which was in networked systems. These systems
allowed users to share resources over a network, and even computing
power. The next wave of the computing industry is likely to be the
move towards mobility, where the physical link between the device,
and the network is finally broken. For these systems to be adopted
the key elements will be: Operating Systems, Networking and Applications.
If these three areas are successfully conquered, mobile devices
will truly be the future of computing.
Operating System.
An operating system allows the user an easy access to the resources
of the computer. In most cases, this is graphically-oriented, with
Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointers (WIMP). A mobile device has a
different type of operating system than a normal desktop. This is
mainly because the mobile device typically has a limited range of
resources, such as a limited amount of system memory, storage memory,
processing power, and screen resolution. Thus an operating system
of a mobile device will typically be a highly efficient, and highly
optimised version of a desktop operation system.
The two main competing standards are: Windows CE (which is a stripped-down
version of Microsoft Windows) and Palm OS. The term stripped-down
is actually not a very good term for an operating system which runs
on a mobile device, as it is a highly engineered, and robust piece
of software, which must run as efficiently as possible. Where most
modern software applications are verbose in their usage of resources,
especially in terms of system memory and processing power, programs
which run on limited resource devices must be carefully designed
and must be robust, as users do not have access to the normally
tools for analysing and debugging applications. Imagine if your
mobile phone crashed in the middle on an important call, and erased
itself, and all its data. You'd take it back, and ask for another
type of phone. With desktop PCs we accept it.
Windows CE is likely to become the standard as Microsoft promote
it, giving vendors the rights to customize the environment for their
own applications. It must be remembered that the market for this
type of system will not only be in mobile computers, but in mobile
phone, MP3 players, DVD players, games consoles, and so on. Thus
for PC-based companies such as Microsoft it could open many new
markets, especially in consumer electronics. It is expected that
by the year 2006 that there will be many more versions of Windows
CE sold than desktop equivalents. The actual hardware is less important
than the operating, as the operating system generally defines the
hardware that can be supported. A good example of this is in the
Pocket PC, which uses Windows CE, and several different types of
processing elements.
Networking.
A key factor for the adoption of mobile devices is the capability
to network to other devices, especially in a connection to the Internet.
A problem in the past with mobile devices has been in the ability
to share and transfer content. At present the two main methods to
network onto the Internet are through ISP-type connections or through
the GSM network (though a mobile phone). The two main network connections
that a mobile device can use are IEEE 802.11b (Wi-fi) and Bluetooth.
The Wi-fi is a wireless connection which connect to normal network-type
connections, whereas Bluetooth is typically used to connect to consumer
devices, such as mobile phones and hi-fi’s. The new HP iPAQ
offers one of the best examples of this type of technology with
integrated Wi-fi and Bluetooth. The Wi-fi part can be used to connect
to an office or home network though a wireless hub, while the Bluetooth
part can be used to connect to a mobile phone, which can then make
an Internet connection for the mobile device. Both Wi-fi and Bluetooth
are now well supported and make excellent use of network resources.
Wi-fi, for example, can be used to transmit over 11,000,000 bits
per second over a range of 400 meters.
Applications.
The main applications that a mobile device must support are: Office
applications (word processing spreadsheet, and email client), A
WWW browser and a Media Player. Unfortunately, up to now, few of
the mobile devices had the processing power or memory capacity to
run these applications. The devices were also limited in their graphics
capability. The processing power has now increased, and the size
of the electronics has reduced, to such an extent that desktop applications
can now be run at an acceptable rate on a mobile device. Microsoft,
of course, have several trump cards which they can play in order
for Windows CE to become the standard mobile computer standard,
as they use their considerable PC application experience to port
applications to the new embedded systems. The key applications in
this are Word, Excel, Outlook, MS Explorer and Media Player. These
applications have become the foundation of most businesses, and
without them many organisations could not operate effectively. All
of these applications are now tightly bound with Windows CE, and
thus make it attractive to purchasers, over Palm-based version with
will require some form of conversion between the PC-based version
and the Palm version. The Pocket PC, such as the HP iPAQ, has Windows
CE with integrated versions of Word, Excel, Outlook, MS Explorer,
and Media Player. The link with a fixed network is still important,
thus the network connect offers a way to synchronise information
from a desktop computer to the mobile device, and back. For example,
with the Pocket PC, the contents of a desktop email Inbox can be
transfer from a desktop to a handheld device, and then read. The
user can then respond by sending a response which is then synchronised
with the Outbox of a desktop computer.
Conclusion.
It will be a while before mobile devices can truly break their link
with fixed computer, as they do not current have enough storage
space, or processing capabilities, but the present range of hand-held
devices offer a glimpse into the future where the storage and processing
capabilities of our desktop computers will be available in the palm
of our hands.
