Page 191 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

174 6 Mobile Commerce and the Internet of Things

Tablets to logistics and inventory control. For details, see Chapter 11.
Also related to EC is the use of RFID to enable mobile pay-
A fast growing category of mobile devices is the tablet com- ments. For images of RFID applications, conduct a Google
puter. Tablet computers received a major boost in 2010 with Images search for “RFID applications.” For a comprehensive
the introduction of the Apple iPad and its competitors, all with guide to RFID (e.g., white papers, case studies, definition), see
a virtual keyboard (but a portable physical keyboard can be the RFID technology Primer at impinj.com/guide-to-rfid/
attached). Since then, many companies are manufacturing tab- what-is-rfid.aspx. Finally, for 100 uses of RFID, see rfid.
lets. Notable are Amazon.com, Samsung, HP, Dell, Microsoft, thingmagic.com/rfid-blog/bid/52243/100-Uses-of-RFID.
HTC, and Google. Like laptops, tablets can access the Web via
Wi-Fi hotspots. The iPad weighs about 1 pound (in between a
smartphone and a small laptop), and its screen measures 7.87″ Mobile Computing Software and Services
(the iPad mini, which weighs .73 pounds) or 11″ or larger.
Tablets are replacing PCs and laptops in enterprises and Mobile devices offer some capabilities that desktops do not.
schools. Tablets are also replacing hardcover textbooks in These capabilities provide a foundation for new applications.
many schools. Tablets can be used as e-readers and can be used
to access the Internet. Note that the price of tablets is declining Mobile Portals and Content Providers
while their capabilities are increasing. In India, for instance,
Aakash students can buy tablets for as little as $35. A mobile portal is a gateway to the Internet from mobile
Tablets are becoming popular in enterprises as well. For devices. It combines content from several sources and can be
example, Waste Management Inc. (wm.com) provides 7″ personalized for mobile users. These portals offer services sim-
tablets to their truckers for finding optimal routes. For a com- ilar to those of desktop portals (see gartner.com/it- glossary/
prehensive description, see informationweek.com/mobile. mobile-portal and ehow.com/facts_7631652_definition-
asp and apple.com/ipad. A major use of a tablet is to facili- mobile- portal.html for an additional discussion of mobile por-
tate communication and collaboration. tals). An example of a pure mobile portal is Zed (zed.com; a
wholly owned subsidiary of Finnish telecommunication com-
Wearable Devices pany Sonera) headquartered in Spain. Japan’s largest mobile
provider, with over 60 million customers, is i-mode from NTT
The smallest mobile devices are wearable. Notable are many DOCOMO (see nttdocomo.co.jp/english/service/imode for
devices used in the enterprise (e.g., mounted on the arm, head, the capabilities of i-mode).
or body and carried by employees). Samsung’s Galaxy Gear The services provided by mobile portals are similar to
SmartWatch, which was released in 2013, is one example. In those provided by desktop portals (e.g., news, health, sports,
April 2014, Samsung released its Gear Fit device, a “fitness and downloading music). Mobile portals sometimes charge
tracker-smartwatch hybrid” (see mashable.com/2014/04/08/ for their services.
samsung-gear-fit-review). Fitbit Apple Watch is in production
as of 2015. For more about wearable devices, see Section 6.8. Short Message Service

Other Mobile Devices Short message service (SMS), frequently referred to as text
messaging, or simply texting; the technology supports the
There are other kinds of mobile devices as well. For exam- transmittal of short text messages (up to 140 or 160 charac-
ple, Microsoft offers a tablet with an attachable keyboard, ters) between wireless devices. The cost of texting is very low
and Dell offers a foldable tablet with a keyboard, combining compared to the charge per minute to talk on cell phones. The
the capabilities of a laptop and a tablet. A representative list limited message length makes users use acronyms to convey
of mobile devices is available in Online File W6.2. standard messages. Examples of such acronyms include “how
are you” becoming “HOW RU,” or “HRU,” and “in my opin-
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) ion” becoming “IMO.” Texting is popular worldwide due to
the use of smartphones and microblogging (e.g., Twitter).
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) enables the transfer
of data wirelessly, usually for the purpose of automatically Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS)
identifying and tracking tags attached to objects. RFID does
this by employing radio frequency electromagnetic fields (see Multimedia messaging service (MMS) is the new type of
Online Tutorial T2). Most of the enterprise applications relate wireless messaging, delivering rich media content, such as