o The evolution and adoption of mobile computing
    o The convergence of wireless devices and the Internet creating 
          a new channel to market
    o Some benefits of M-commerce
    o Feasibility of M-commerce
    o "convergence" driving wireless and m-commerce - three converging trends
    o Drivers, Limitations, and Different Applications of M-Commerce
    o Physical Limitations of mobile devices, which need to be addressed
    o Bandwidth and handset design limitations
    o the technology, GSM, CDMA, SIM etc.
    o What does wireless mean to the human experience?
    o Who are some of the early players in the wireless web access developments?
    o M-commerce hype: The fact that m-commerce has not taken off too fast
    o Who's Making Money in Wireless?

WTGR

Many of the things we discuss in this unit on m-commerce are consequences of how human develop technology to replicate the human experience.
 
 

WTGR

"The rapid growth in mobile telephony in recent years provides a strong model for the adoption of undeterred mobile computing...Nokia estimated that there will be a billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide by 2005.(proven true by the end of 2006, there is now 1 billion cell phone accounts worldwide) The rapid transition from fixed to mobile telephony will almost certainly be followed by a similar transition from fixed to mobile computing in the near future.
Some of the key factors that are driving the evolution and adoption of mobile computing applications is a consequence of:

• greater reliance on mobile computing and communication technologies. audio
• since 2010, mobile devices sales exceeded that of personal computers 
• societal shifts toward a more mobile workforce audio
• increasing need for remote communication, computing and collaboration 
• greater geographical mobility among corporate individuals 
• greater need for communication and collaboration at all levels 
• greater criticality of time and effective decision making within

     narrow  windows of opportunities audio
• increasing availability of wireless connections at affordable rates audio 
• new and important requirements for mobile computing support such as
•      intelligent mobile agents

     and mobile knowledge networking."

Personification Inc. is a Toronto based company involved in ..."humanizing knowledge acquisition" .. as their site said in 1999

Three converging trends

• increasing use of the internet
• handheld devices
• from 2010 - 2014 the number of smartphones worldwide 

will grow at an annual rate of 24 percent
• cellphone services
• increased competitive and reduction of monopolies will lower prices on airtime and bandwidth usage
• increasing processor speed will allow smartphones to run more advanced software
• more apps, more uses

"The convergence of wireless devices and the Internet is creating  an important new channel to market — and the next wave of  change across industries. Mobile business, or m-business as it has come to be known, will enable organisations in every  industry to

• expand their markets, 
• improve their service and 
• reduce their costs. 

formerly at  www.pwcglobal.com/extweb/mcs.nsf/docid/CD62BE635F4F749C852569DD0054B892

You L., Fei Z., Rohit V. of MRK 410 in March 2004 found this article on the Toshiba site that lists benefits and the feasibility of M-commerce.

Some benefits of M-commerce such as: 

• Usability: Simplicity is key.
• Convenience and Cost Benefits.
• Personalisation and Privacy
• Security

"Given the recent tendency to over-hype the promise of wireless technologies and 3G mobile networks, many consumers are sceptical when it comes to predictions about how m-commerce will transform their lives.  According to some IT experts, in the future, consumers will be able to shop using a handheld computing device, PDA, wearable computer or mobile phone. In virtually any place – malls, restaurants, hotels, airports and other locations – this user will be able to receive coupons, download information, receive sales offers, and perform credit card transactions. In such future scenarios, m-commerce means that customers can shop anywhere, anytime."

Andrew Burger wrote in  E-Commerce Times in January 2007 a three part article titled "M-Commerce Market on the Move"

E-Commerce Times explains
"Part 1 [ ecommercetimes.com/story/55471.html  ] 
of this three-part series discusses how advances in the delivery of multimedia content to mobile devices are spurring a revolution in digital audio and video distribution and rights management."

"Part 2 [ ecommercetimes.com/story/55554.html]
outlines the revolution taking place among telecom, cable, computing and media companies as they battle for a share of the fast-growing mobile voice, data and multimedia markets."

Part 3 [  ecommercetimes.com/story/55656.html  ] 
Problems: "For all the promise and potential rewards of m-commerce, there are any number of challenges still to be met and kinks to be worked out. Digital rights management continues to be a divisive issue. Major telecom providers continue to resist and restrict opening up their networks to content from third-party distributors and aggregators, although this is changing."
 

Device Proliferation

All the opportunities cited in 2006, 2005 and 2004 have had to deal with one giant problem

You can refer to it is Device Profusion if you like fancy terms, (a term used by Andrew Burger in Jan 2007) but the bottom line is that there are too many players trying to get in on the action, and as a consequence it is tough for companies to try and develop software and hardware that allows a user to use several devices in an interconnected way.

"It seems that in its new life, wireless is facing fewer technological changes and a greater number of business and marketing issues. The industry has followed a tradition of "overpromising and under-delivering," Yankee Group analyst Roger Entner said.

• "TextSummary uses state-of-the-art algorithms to analyze a document's structure, grammar and keywords generating a coherent summary of the original - without compromising its meaning. 
• PhoneSummary takes the data generated by TextSummary and converts it to voice. Any web content can be summarized and delivered in  audio format through a telephone."

"The mobile Internet market is growing quickly, but bandwidth and handset design limitations mean the wireless experience won't match the desktop experience any time soon." Matt Friedman writing in the Plesman publication, Computing Canada, Nov 2000 (still true in 2006)

however, despite this trend, Friedman cautions "...You can't build much of a display into a mobile phone without seriously compromising its portability, and unlike computers, most mobile devices are designed to be operated with one hand.... The killer app for the wireless Internet may not be traditional Web browsing at all — at least not in the short term — but direct, person-to-business electronic  commerce. In effect, the wireless device becomes a combination of interface, credit card, smart card and ATM."

Computing Canada is published by The Transcontinental ITBusiness Group
© by The Transcontinental ITBusiness Group. permission to quote comes from Joe Tersigni, Publisher, IT Business Group, www.plesman.com.. Copy of email kept on file in the permissions binder.

What you should keep in mind in evaluating such articles is the outstanding question of what the customer will want to do with the features that become available. Just because you can add a lot of features to a cell phone doesn't mean people will want to use those features, they may be drawn into separate devices such as the PDAs instead of clogging up the cell phone with too many FABs.

Audio - failure to consider the marketing aspects of a watch

"... wireless is really about instant information, a priceless commodity that will let you make decisions and transactions anytime, anywhere"

• instant ability to see/read real-time stock quotes as the prices are moved by the market
• marketing and promotion information cast to you instantly based on your geographic location in an urban area (so you can buy something in close proximity)
• instant ability to reply to a human (voice, text, or image based content)

A - Phone companies

GSM
vs.
CDMA

2008

UTM student David S. in MGD415 / CCT322 in Jan 2008 emailed to suggest "a perfect example of how a business is adjusting to the Technological Environment in order to stay competitive."

"I was able to apply your teachings recently when I read an online article with references to the 6 Environments Influencing Business.  More specifically, the Technological Environment."

David notes
"Canadian cellular carrier, Telus Corp, is rumored to be humoring a switch to a different wireless platform. The proposed network switch  would effectively move the company from it's current CDMA   platform to  the GSM platform. GSM provides many advantages for Telus as it is a  globally used cellular technology. It would also  allow cheaper roaming costs and a wider selection of mobile devices for consumers."

with info from a National Post article 2008 Jan 15
"Telus move to GSM inevitable, analysts say"
David says
"Canada's only GSM provider is Rogers Wireless. Mobile device manufacturers currently develop handsets for the GSM platform first.  CDMA devices are usually an afterthought, almost arriving a year too  late after their GSM counterpart had debuted. The  switchover to GSM  would also allow Telus to get in on much-hyped   devices such as the  Apple iPhone which is only available as a GSM   device."

The article was at
http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/story.html?id=238246"

GSM
vs.
CDMA

2008

CDMA     EVDO     GSM    EDGE  SIM

In cellular service there are two main competing network technologies: 

GSM - Global System for Mobile Communications (see  www.gsmworld.com )
CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access (see  )

The GSM Association is an international organization founded in 1987 (in Europe) and widely used in Asia and Europe

CDMA was developed by Qualcomm in the United States, has been the dominant network standard for North America and parts of Asia

EVDO, also known as CDMA2000, is CDMA's speeded up CDMA with a downstream rate of about 2 megabits per second

EDGE (from GSM) meansEnhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution - is rates of up to 384 kilobits per second

SIM Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards: "In the United States only GSM phones use SIM cards. The removable SIM card allows phones to be instantly activated, interchanged, swapped out and upgraded, all without carrier intervention. The SIM itself is tied to the network, rather than the actual phone. Phones that are card-enabled can be used with any GSM carrier."
from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-gsm-and-cdma.htm

April 2000 "Wireless To Dominate Web by 2001" - it didn't happen

Sept 2001  "Study: M-Commerce Faces Slow-Growth Future"

Nov 2001  "Whatever Happened to M-Commerce?"

M-Commerce
Hype