Smartphone As A Digital Revolution Information Technology Essay

Features of present smart phones are evident to see, touchscreen, gps navigator, gravity sensor, massive delicate applications and so forth. These things have come up in such a short time and changed the market entirely. 

To livingston (2004), there is different category of mobiles according to their level of sophistication such as standard voice, web-enabled, extensible and smartphone. Standard voice mobile phone is simple mean of voice communication with sms text facilities. Web-enabled phones, on the other hand, are composed of wireless access protocol (wap) to gain access to internet content. It can access the internet and download software applications, while extending the functionality of mobile phone. The increasing use of mobile enabled with internet access has been estimated to reach 97% by 2008 (forrester, 2003).

Smartphone as a digital revolution

Such internet enabled devices with hybrid of pda are smartphone. Smartphone is a mobile phone with ability related to advance computing and connectivity (kenneth, 2005). A smartphone can also be denoted as personal pocket computer (ppc) with the functions of mobile phone as these devices are mainly computers, and smaller than a desktop computer while most feature phone is able to run applications such as java me. Thus smartphone provides its user to install and run more advanced applications and user can run operating system software providing a platform for application software [1] . Moreover, smartphone is mobile device in the shape of a modern cellular phone containing all of the functions like wireless internet radio connection and a digital storage of one terabyte. It is kind of small pc laptop with few exceptions of two major shortcomings: the display and the keyboard are tiny whereas keyboard is used as short- hand for input devices including pointing devices (parsons & oja, 2008). Such phones are much easier to carry than a laptop, it is easier to store data and convenient for audio/video services like music, telephony and simple video. In today’s world a mobile with such facility like multi-network phone and vast digital storage had opened up different technological environment for different set of users. Smartphone is found relatively useful for users who are poorly served by laptop that needs a surface to support; smartphone is rather more supportive than laptop owing to portability and can be operated with two hands. People using pc not smartphone find the combination of pc and mobile phone together in smartphone. Such characteristic of smartphone fits the criteria for disruptive technology (christensen, 1997). However, phones with little memory cannot compete with the pcs and at many things pcs perform better such as 3d computer games, spreadsheet, and graphic art, yet smartphone is effective for existing pc users.

Pda technology

The important feature of smartphone is the pda technology. Pda technology has a central processing unit which determines the speed and range of its processing power (yang, 2010). Similar to desktop processing power, the processing power of pda is measured in mega-hertz (mhz) or giga-hertz (ghz). Such processors are widely used in mobile phones such as nokia smartphone (evans, 2003).

Memory

The memory of pdas has not any hardware drive and therefore there is always risk of losing data present in mobile phone if battery runs down (dhir, 2004). The memory pdas mainly include address book, calendar, memo pad and operating system which exists in rom chip. Thus pda ram memory stores the data temporary and process applications (ilyas et al, 2006).

Expandable memory

Extra or expandable memory can be plugged into pda device such as mp3 files usually need use of such expansion. This type of devices is similar to mini credit cards with range up to 1gb of storage (yang, 2010).

Battery power

The battery power of pda is rechargeable and can last for two hours to two months. Pdas device is recharged through adaptor.

Wireless

Smartphone is able to access internet using wireless local area network through a wireless connection at the speed of 54 mbs. For using wireless connection in such phone there is need of high-bandwidth radio transceiver (black, 1996). Wireless lan device is currently developed on the wireless fidelity (wi-fi).

Music and audio

Pdas device is also able to run mp3 music files using standard 3.5mm stereo headphone plugs. Besides, there is other device that aims to aid business audience with built-in voice recorder (ilyas et al, 2006).

Cameras and video

Pdas device also includes digital camera like zire 72 provides 1.2 mega-pixel pictures and also video. There are devices that supports the short video clips (in a variety of formats e.g. Mpeg, quicktime, avi).

Technology allowing the mobile phones to replace the pc

What really makes smartphone single important digital device is its computer like functions while it is used with battery operated digital devices. Laptop personal computers, personal digital assistance (pda) and worldwide build-out of cellular telephone infrastructure have formed mobile phones as smartphone which includes many features of pda and pda developers. With considerable features shipments of smartphone has reached 100 million units by 2007 and continue to increase at a rate faster than laptop pcs (linsalata et al, 2004). Therefore it is forecasted that miniature computer-like devices or cell phones will become widely used device over the next decade. However, smartphone is currently different from pc in the choosing networks as cellular phones has close networks optimized for voice and the network operator recovers hardware cost through network access charges, pcs, on the other hand, has open networks optimized for data and hardware is purchased directly by end users. The difference of network is getting reduced with the new development, while new generation of data-centric cell phone protocols and use of wireless internet protocol phone is making smartphone much more like pcs. In addition, merger of computer and mobile phone can be helpful in receiving inexpensive international phone calls over the internet.

Another important issue related to smartphone is the storage as smartphone is not as highly competitive in memory as pcs. However, disk storage is not the high requirement of pc users yet exponential storage density improvements created by technological advances storage technology has improved such demand. Density improvements is not anticipated to be competent like processor therefore new focus has shifted from pc storage to storage for mobile devices. Digital music players with the speed and memory have developed to 80gb. The latest technological development indicates that portable devices with terabyte capacity will be provided at consumer costs within a decade. The merger of mp3 into mobile phone has provided a single device with the ability to combine the use of two different devices. Therefore, with the drop in storage cost, there is increased cost in the combination of different devices available in single device. However, the combination has provided the consumer with the use of combination of devices but at the same time there is complexity in using two devices together because working against a combination is complexity. Mp3 phone is not smartphone with terabyte storage and single merger will not offer use models that is needed to have in future mobile devices. Thus storage can be used from outside of the mobile phone for which there would be need of user interface control over that access. This type of access can be gained using future television, or a simple computer. According to blau (2004), analysts have forecasted a market increasingly subject by smartphone devices as there is a very large base of mobile phone users willing to upgrade the mobile configuration.

Question 2 introduction web 2.0

The term ‘web 2.0’ was coined to define an emerging pattern of new uses of the web and approaches to the web development, rather than a formal upgrade of web technologies as the 2.0 version number may appear to signify. The key web 2.0 concepts include:

It’s an attitude, not a technology: an acknowledgement that web 2.0 is not primarily about a set of standards or applications, but a new mindset to how the web can be used.

A network effect: this describes applications which are more effective as the numbers of users increase. This effect is well-known in computer networks, with the internet providing an example of how network traffic can be more resilient as the numbers of devices on the internet grows.

The long tail: as the numbers of users of the web grows, this can provide business opportunities for niche markets which previously it may not have been cost-effective to reach.

Small pieces, loosely coupled: as the technical infrastructure of the web stabilises, it becomes possible to integrate small applications. This enables services to be developed more rapidly and can avoid the difficulties ort developing and maintaining more complex and cumbersome systems.

Openness: the development of more liberal licences (such copyright licences such creative commons; open sources licences for software) can allow integration of data and reuse of software without encountering legal barriers.

Trust your users: rather than having to develop complex access regimes, a more liberal approach can be taken who can make it easier for users to make use of services.

Network as a platform: the web can now be used to provide access to web applications, and not just informational resources. This allows users to make use of applications without having to go through the cumbersome exercise of installing software on their local pc.

Web 2.0

E-commerce together with web 2.0 is ecommerce 2.0 which refers to principles of online retailing or online commerce. Through ecommerce 2.0, etailer or online retailers can increase their revenue from business while increasing the popularity of their businesses. In this regard, ecommerce 2.0 provides high level of interaction on websites. Largest etailers like amazon and ebay are few of those etailers who have achieved high market credibility by using ecommerce 2.0 (yee, 2008). Ecommerce 2.0 which mainly includes weblogs, social bookmarking, wikis, podcasts, and rss feeds is the modern form of world wide web and these web services imply a significant change in web usage (shuen, 2008). To evaluate how ecommerce 2.0 affects the online business by giving new experience to its consumers, paper will discuss how these etailers are getting benefits from it.

Community building with user generated content

According to web 2.0, web is a place which provides platform to users and data is used as a driving force. Under this principle, community or network building is created by users’ participation (musser, 2006). Companies like amazon.com and ebay have developed a model which is enabled by content and they use these models to derive the power from the human connection and network effects that web 2.0 makes possible through innovation in sites composed by pulling together features from distributed (borges, 2009). Thus business and effectiveness of models is generated by most interaction of people while ebay and amazon.com are those companies who have developed unique web 2.0 (lytras et al, 2008). The sites of these companies are incorporated with web 2.0 applications and for its effectiveness they have developed community building concepts with network effects (sankar & bouchard, 2009). The meaning of network effect can better be understood with an example of ebay, because it has not been a useful site if auction is not competitive (solomon & schrum, 2007). Thus, with the growing number of ebay users, price falls and supply increases and it brings more and more visitors because they find the site to be useful (governor et al, 2009). In case of amazon most of the content is prepared by administrator rather than consumers or users but numerous user products reviews sold are submitted by regular visitors to the site (vossen & hagemann, 2007). However, amazon is the leading e-retailer with $10 billion revenue in 2006 but they do not employ traditional web 2.0 model and rather they use some effective web 2.0 tool that is directly related to increasing revenue (governor et al, 2009).

corporate branding in web 2.0

In such environment, however, many brands feels pressure on evolve, as through web 2.0 brands get opportunity to emerge and compete on a global scale in less time with monetary investment virtually overnight (borges, 2009). Today, it is observed that many of websites are getting more popularity that was before unknown (shuen, 2008). It is because websites now provide opportunity to consumers to get connected and ebay and amazon as household names providing the consumer to interact and connect as they see fit (sankar & bouchard, 2009). For etailers like amazon and ebay, it is more important to persuade the visitors for purchase with increased customer interaction and therefore tools are designed to increase customer interaction that could influence the customer’s purchasing decision. Amazon was the first etailer to launch those tools which if not employed by etailer means missing great opportunity of making potential revenue (yee, 208). This may include customer reviews on particular products or customers comments about the products. Thus useful reviews sections are rated and voted by other customers (lytras et al, 2008). Moreover, the product rating is considerably used as most significant tools that allow user to rate each product by giving product review or comments. Options like “people who bought/viewed this also bought” allow the users to view the product that are related to their interest (vossen & hagemann, 2007). Amazon.com has also employed listmania as mean to drive visitors to use the service provided by amazon while also offering users to recommend and share their list of product. On account of listmania offered, amazon has over 48 million unique visitors monthly with 3.52% conversion rate that amazon.com largely attributes to their embrace of web 2.0 consumer driven content services (solomon & schrum, 2007).