Information Presentation on Mobile Devices: Techniques and Practices

The value of a mobile communication device is its ability to organize and access important information quickly. Mobile devices are often associated with the cutting-edge technology of the last 4 years. Although having gained an increasing popularity over recent years, mobile devices have a history of 15 years. The first generation of mobile devices was the analog mobile phone. They were large and cumbersome, resembling a small briefcase. With the launch of the second generation, mobile phone units became smaller and easier to handle. Currently, third-generation phones are starting to be released, advancing in design and dynamic capabilities. By the year 2005, 76% of consumers will own an Internet compatible device, 66% will own a cell phone, 45% will own an Internet cell phone, and 10% will own a personal digitial assistant (Forrester, 2001). In today's information surge, business never stops. IDC Research has forecasted that an average of more than 36 billion person-to-person e-mails will be sent daily by 2005 (Juptner, 2001). Hence, mobile communication plays a major role in the success of most of today's business operations (Jones, 2001), and all businesses are continually faced with the challenge of engaging with the rapidly changing information technology age. One area of mobile communications that has been growing exponentially is mobile computing. Keywords: code division multiple access (CDMA); general packet radio service (GPRS); global positioning system (GPS); Internet cell phone; mobile communication device; personal digital assistant (PDA)

PurposeSoftware piracy is an ongoing problem for software producers. At the same time, mobile devices such as personal digital assistants and smart phones are increasing in popularity. This paper seeks to examine the supply of pirate software for mobile devices, against a backdrop of conventional desktop piracy theory.Design/methodology/approachUsing a novel data set of pirate software releases, the paper reviews 18,000 entries from a pirate software database to examine the type and origin of this software.FindingsThe paper finds that more popular platforms are not necessarily subject to greater levels of software piracy. For mobile devices, productivity software was more popular than game software. Many piracy groups were involved, but only four groups were responsible for over half of all releases. Some popular devices, such as the Blackberry and Apple iPhone, showed little to no piracy levels.Research limitations/implicationsAs with empirical research into any criminal or deviant behaviour, there may be intention to deceive. The findings regarding device popularity and availability of pirate software have implications for demand‐side research.Practical implicationsThe findings provide insights for business managers and information security professionals in the telecommunications and mobile applications industries.Originality/valuePrior research work has focused on software for desktop computers. This study contributes by being some of the first published work on piracy for mobile devices. The work is also original in that most prior research has focused on the demand for pirate software. This paper provides insight into the supply of this software.

Wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), handheld devices are communicating more frequently with conventional computers in offices, meeting rooms, classrooms, and homes. The smart homes of the future will have ubiquitous embedded computation, and an increasing number of appliances can already communicate wirelessly. The authors launched the Pebbles project to determine whether a handheld device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) or cell phone, could serve as a simpler, more effective remote control. Office-centered applications include using the PDA instead of a laser pointer, using a PDA to remotely control a PowerPoint presentation, and using a PDA with the nondominant hand to scroll windows on a PC. In the home, we are exploring how to use the PDA as a customizable, intelligent personal universal controller (PUC) for appliances, creating high-quality control panels on the handheld using a high-level specification of the appliance's capabilities. We are also interested in how PDAs can assist in providing both appliance and computer access for the disabled, including the development of new text entry methods for the motor-impaired user.

The mobile devices have grown rapidly with the progresses of information technology those years. The mobile devices, such as i-Phone, i-Pad, Tablet PC and smart-phone, have become personal and business tools. Those devices are specially developed for mobile users on the basis of the conceptual design of personal digital assistant (PDA) long time ago, but the scopes of the usages extend much more extensive through integrated multimedia needs. This paper proposes a model called integrated usability model (IUM), derived from the technology acceptance model (TAM), to transfer the design criteria into the design guidelines. By using IUM, the developers for multimedia mobile device can use the conceptual indicators like mobile, integration and convenience to reduce the large-scale design factors and evaluate the capability and acceptance for the users. It turns out that the developers can speed up the design processes and avoid the repeated and time-consuming reworks. A mobile multimedia device development for the integrated graphic hand-sketch tablet is presented in this paper. This development uses IUM to reduce the design criteria and then transfer the result criteria into design guidelines. This paper demonstrates the practices of the multi-demand product design as the case validation of IUM.

Through pervasive computing, users can access information and applications anytime, anywhere, using any device. But as mobile devices such as Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), SmartPhone, and consumer appliance continue to flourish, it becomes a significant challenge to provide more tailored and adaptable services for this diverse group. To make it easier for people to use mobile devices effectively, there exist many hurdles to be crossed. Among them is small display size, which is always a challenge. Usually, applications and documents are mainly designed with desktop computers in mind. When browsing through mobile devices with small display areas, users’ experiences will be greatly degraded (e.g., users have to continually scroll through a document to browse). However, as users acquire or gain access to an increasingly diverse range of portable devices (Coles, Deliot, & Melamed, 2003), the changes of the display area should not be limited to a single device any more, but extended to the display areas on all available devices. As can be readily seen from practice, the simplest multi-device scenario is when a user begins an interaction on a first access device, then ceases to use the first device and completes the interaction using another access device. This simple scenario illustrates a general concern about a multi-device browsing framework: the second device should be able to work cooperatively to help users finish browsing tasks. In this article, we propose a cooperative framework to facilitate information browsing among devices in mobile environment. We set out to overcome the display constraint in a single device by utilizing the cooperation of multiple displays. Such a novel scheme is characterized as: (1) establishing a communication mechanism to maintain cooperative browsing across devices; and (2) designing a distributed user interface across devices to cooperatively present information and overcome the small display area limited by a single device.

This paper has described specialized zooming tools on mobile devices with designing and developing basic geometric and semantic zooming methods in order to increase the usability of the device. Based on three zooming methods, we created new zooming tools for the device by describing the detail prototype and implementation of these applications were introduced in this paper. However, we have problems because the tools were designed for the PDA simulation program in a desktop computer. So, we do not know how many different results exist between the application program and the real physical device. Especially, in terms of hardware, the current PDA does not have enough pixels, so users could potentially encounter broken characters when the magnifying glass is used. Although these zooming tools are not substantially implemented in commercial PDAs, it will be used for new interfaces in mobile devices by supporting various zooming functions. We look forward to continuing the research and development of this tool according to the future development of the PDA’s hardware performance and elements. Therefore, the biggest contribution of this paper is the creation of zooming tools on PDAs by encouraging the development of practical zooming methods over theoretical methods.

CAD data visualization on mobile devices using sequential constrained Delaunay triangulation

An empirical study of mobile commerce in insurance industry: Task–technology fit and individual differences

Often mobile devices like mobile phones or personal digital assistants (PDA) are equipped with IEEE 802.11 WLAN adapters. Furthermore, within many buildings a WLAN infrastructure is available. The aim of this work is to investigate the quality of different indoor positioning methods based on values of WLAN received signal strength index (RSSI) using commercially available devices (mobile phones, PDA). Three positioning algorithms were considered: minimal Euclidian distance, intersections of RSSI-Isolines and a stochastic model based on Bayes' theorem. Two measuring testbeds, a museum's exhibition room and an empty seminar room, four different types of PDA (Dell, Fujitsu, HP, T-Mobile) and two types of access points (Netgear, Lancom) were used. Results show that positioning can be achieved with an average accuracy of approx. 2-3 metres. WLAN capable mobile devices behave differently in receiving RSSI values of a base station. For reasons of standardization a linear correlation between different receiving levels of PDA was investigated.

Mobile banking, sometimes referred to as M-Banking, Mbanking or SMS Banking, is a term used for performing balance checks, account transactions, payments, credit applications and other banking transactions through a mobile device such as a mobile phone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Mobile banking has until recently most often been performed via SMS or the Mobile Web. Apple's initial success with iPhone and the rapid growth of phones based on Google's Android (operating system) have led to increasing use of special client programs, called apps, downloaded to the mobile device hence increasing the number of banking applications that can be made available on mobile phones . This in turn has increased the popularity of mobile device use in regards to personal banking activities. Due to the characteristics of wireless medium, limited protection of the nodes, nature of connectivity and lack of centralized managing point, wireless networks tend to be highly vulnerable and more often than not they become subjects of attack. This paper proposes to identify potential threats associated with communication between a mobile device and the back end server in mobile banking applications. The paper should be able to identify the techniques associated with Man in the middle attacks during communication between a mobile device and a back end server and propose controls that will ensure that data theft does not occur during such sessions.

There is no doubt that the use of wireless andmobile networks and devices is growing. From the1990s onwards, we have been witnessing a great shift in methods of doing business with the emergence of the electronic commerce (e-commerce). Academics, businesses, and even individuals have been focusing on this new way of conducting business online. Advanced and mature wireless and mobile technologies facilitate e-commerce conducted from a wired network to a wireless network. Mobile commerce (m-commerce) can be viewed as a subset of e-commerce and refers to bany transaction with monetary value that is conducted via a mobile network .When users conduct e-commerce such as e-banking or purchase products, they do not need to use a personal computer system. Indeed, they can simply use some mobile handheld devices such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) and mobile phones to conduct various e-commerce activities. In the past, these mobile devices or technologies were regarded as a kind of luxury for individuals. However, this situation has changed. The market for mobile technologies has seen significant growth in the past few years. This is creating a new opportunity for the growth of m-commerce. According to a study conducted by Datamonitor, global m-commerc revenues will amount to $131.7 billion by 2017.

In today's fast-paced society, when learning can take place anytime and anywhere, mobile learning is extremely relevant. Nonetheless, despite these significant benefits, there are numerous problems that could slow down the learning process. Due to the small screen size and user interface that are inappropriately designed for mobile devices, learners are experiencing an increase in their cognitive load. This study examines the relationships between mobile learning user interface design and their effects on learners' cognitive load, specifically the extraneous load. First, the mobile learning user interface design criteria that affect the learner's cognitive load are identified. Next, a study on cognitive load measurement is implemented to further understand the type, method and criteria of cognitive load. Both of these findings are important in understanding the relationship between the mobile learning user interface design and learner's cognitive load. This study presented a conceptual framework for the effects of user interface design for mobile learning application on learner's extraneous cognitive load. This conceptual framework will be the foundation of a user interface design framework that aims at improving learner's cognitive load when implementing mobile learning apps. This framework will offer guidance for those interested in designing mobile learning applications, that give learners an effective knowledge and mobile learning experience, hence improving the success of the mobile learning process.

This chapter presents the various technologies used for the development of Location-based Services (LBSs). The chapter presents various elements that enable the development of these applications, these are mobile devices, communication networks, positioning techniques and service and information providers. Peripheral devices such as laptop computers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), smartphones and mobile phones are used to request and interact with these services. The mobile network is another necessary component for the transfer of user requests to service providers and for the sending back of the requested information to the final users. The chapter discusses several applications developed to improve road safety, particularly the tracking and monitoring of vehicle movements and the state of roads. The applications developed have been validated by tests and experimentation, and the results obtained have shown the importance that geolocation-based applications could bring to the context of road safety. Controlled Vocabulary Terms communication networks; mobile ad hoc networks; road safety

The use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) with ad-hoc built-in information retrieval and auto-localization functionalities can help people navigating an environment in a more natural manner compared to traditional audio/visual pre-recorded guides. In this work we propose and discuss a user-friendly, multi-modal guide system for pervasive context-aware service provision within augmented environments. The proposed system is adaptable to the user needs of mobility within a given environment; it is usable on different mobile devices and in particular on PDAs, which are used as advanced adaptive HEI (human-environment interaction) interfaces. An information retrieval service is provided that is easily accessible through spoken language interaction in cooperation with an auto-localization service. The interaction is enabled by speech recognition and synthesis technologies, and by a ChatBot system, endowed with common sense reasoning capabilities to properly interpret user speech and provide him with the requested information. This interaction mode turns to be more natural, and users are required to have only basic skills on the use of PDAs. The auto-localization service relies on a RFID-based framework, which resides partly in the mobile side of the entire system (PDAs), and partly in the environment side. In particular, RFID technology allows the system to provide users with context-related information. An implemented case study is showed that illustrates service provision in an augmented environment within university campus settings (termed Campus). Lastly, a discussion about user experiences while using trial services within the Augmented Campus is given.

BackgroundThe commercial development and expansion of mobile phone networks has led to the creation of devices combining mobile phones and personal digital assistants, which could prove invaluable in a clinical setting. This pilot study aimed to look at how one such device compared with the current pager system in facilitating inter-professional communication in a hospital clinical team.MethodsThe study looked at a heterogeneous team of doctors (n = 9) working in a busy surgical setting at St. Mary's Hospital in London and compared the use of a personal digital assistant with mobile phone and web-browsing facilities to the existing pager system. The primary feature of this device being compared to the conventional pager was its use as a mobile phone, but other features evaluated included the ability to access the internet, and reference data on the device. A crossover study was carried out for 6 weeks in 2004, with the team having access to the personal digital assistant every alternate week. The primary outcome measure for assessing efficiency of communication was the length of time it took for clinicians to respond to a call. We also sought to assess the ease of adoption of new technology by evaluating the perceptions of the team (n = 9) to personal digital assistants, by administering a questionnaire.ResultsDoctors equipped with a personal digital assistant rather than a pager, responded more quickly to a call and had a lower of failure to respond rate (RR: 0.44; 95%CI 0.20–0.93). Clinicians also found this technology easy to adopt as seen by a significant reduction in perceptions of nervousness to the technology over the six-week study period (mean (SD) week 1: 4.10 (SD 1.69) vs. mean (SD) week 6: 2.20 (1.99); p = 0.04).ConclusionThe results of this pilot study show the possible effects of replacing the current hospital pager with a newer, more technologically advanced device, and suggest that a combined personal digital assistant and mobile phone device may improve communication between doctors. In the light of these encouraging preliminary findings, we propose a large-scale clinical trial of the use of these devices in facilitating inter-professional communication in a hospital setting.