Mobile Technology & Ubiquitous Computing

ICT is becoming more portable and more prominent in the information landscape. Soon, we will see ICT everywhere (both inside and outside of us).

1. Types of Mobile Technology a. Phones i. Smart phones (data transmission) 1. Blackberry (media convergence) a. Tethering (to get Internet access by hooking up your Blackberry to a laptop) 2. iPhone (media convergence) ii. Cell phone (portable, calling) iii. Texting 1. Can combine with photos or videos 2. Sexting b. Laptops: smaller portable computers i. Netbooks: very small and light weight, combines computing and cell phone technology ii. Can combine with phone features such as SKYPE c. Gaming devices i. Handhelds (PSP [PlayStation Portable] and Nintendo DS) ii. The new DSi comes with a bidirectional camera, sound recorder, picto-chat, wireless Internet, and note taking ability iii. Many other gaming devices have wireless features and collaborative communication features d. GPS [Global Positioning Systems]: this can be a stand alone device or can come as a service on a cell phone. Basically it is used for navigation. e. PDA’s (Portable Digital Assistant): handheld computers including smart phones and tablet PC’s. f. PIM’s (Personal Information Managers): includes calendars, schedulers, address books, note taking devices… g. Biometrics: these are different types of software/hardware that combine with biology i. Palm/finger print recognition for security ii. Retina print scanners iii. Smart cards: cards with microchips (like credit cards or ID cards) iv. Microchips put inside the body that can be scanned h. E-book Readers: portable electronic text readers i. Sony Digital Reader ii. Amazon Kindle iii. Can also read text out loud iv. Also can bookmarks and write comments on the text which then can be shared with others i. Intelligent buildings: buildings that have ubiquitous computing features (seamless integration of technology into the design) i. Can monitor a person’s health condition ii. Alleviate the need to carry technology with us iii. Example: Songdo, Korea (http://www.songdo.com/) 2. Key questions a. Do we own the information about us? b. Does the use of mobile technology affect our relationships with other people? c. Can we make mobile communication technology more social? d. What are the positive and negative consequences of having ubiquitous technology?