Key Technological Trends
Jeffrey Lee Funk · 2003
This chapter describes the key technological trajectories that are driving the new applications for the mobile Internet. These technological trends include better displays, cameras, Java, infrared connectivity, faster microprocessors, larger memory, and faster network speeds. An unexpectedly key trajectory is processing speeds since firms are finding ways to use faster processors to improve the phone's user interface, which is the phone's key limitation. Some phones already have processing speeds of 133 MHz, which is equal to that of those in the PCs released in 1994, and these processing speeds are expected to double every 18 months. Increased processing power can improve the user interface by enabling the use of more client-side processing (e.g., Java), 3D imaging techniques, and voice recognition.