Introduction to Mobile Applications

IT6306 - Mobile Application

Development
Level III - Semester 5

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 Overview

• This lecture will elaborate on the following key points,

– Evolution of different generations of mobile devices

– Mobile ecosystem components

– How the entire system works

– How to define a mobile strategy when adopting a mobile

solution to a particular context

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 Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to;

– Describe history of mobile devices

– Describe what is mobile eco system

– Describe the components of mobile ecosystem

– Develop a mobile strategy by considering a particular

context

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 List of sub topics

1.1. History of Mobile devices

1.2. Layers of mobile eco system

1.3. Developing a mobile strategy

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1.1 History of Mobile Devices

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 1.1.1 Brick Era (1973–1988)

– First introduced in 1983

– A corded receiver connected to a

portable radio the size (and weight)
of a car battery

– Brick Era phones required enormous

batteries to get the power needed

Motorola DynaTAC 800X

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 1.1.2 The Candy Bar Era (1988–1998)

– Candy bar is the actual term used to

describe the long, thin, rectangular
form factor

– The network shifted to second

generation (2G) technology

– Associated with 2G GSM (Global

System for Mobile communications)
networks included SMS (Short
Message Service) capabilities.
Nokia Candy Bar Phone

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 1.1.3 The Feature Phone Era (1998–2008)

– These phones had following features,

– make voice calls and send text messages
– taking a picture
– accessing the mobile web
– Play the Snake game
– Opened the floodgates to a variety of
applications and services on the phone, like
listening to music and taking photos, and
introduced the use of the Internet on a phone
– During this era, GSM network providers added
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), allowing
packet-switched data services.
– This network evolution is most often referred to
as 2.5G, or halfway between 2G and 3G
networks The Motorola RAZR
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 1.1.4 Smart Phone Era (2002 to the present)

– Compared to the feature phones, smart

phones are distinctive in following aspects
– a common operating system
– a larger screen size
– a QWERTY keyboard or stylus for input
– Wi-Fi or another form of high-speed
wireless connectivity

– SymbianOS was one of the most popular

operating systems jointly developed by
Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson, and Psion
– The Symbian OS is used for a variety of
mobile devices.
Early smartphones came
– Eg: Nokia S60, 6260 and N95 from companies like
Nokia, Handspring and
RIM 9
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 1.1.5 Touch Era (Present)

– Mobile devices of the Touch Era are a completely new medium

capable of offering real people new and exciting ways to
interact and understand information.
– These phones integrate a number of new technological
advancements at a very rapid rate.
– Connects with more capable networks like 4G and 5G
– Usage of apps for a multitude of tasks,
– For example,
– features like tracking location information
– advanced video capturing
– improved image quality
– integration of various sensors
– improved data communication capabilities

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1.2 Layers of Mobile Ecosystem

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 1.2 The Mobile Ecosystem

– Mobile is an entirely unique ecosystem and, like the Internet, it

is made up of many different parts that must all work
seamlessly together.

– In this section, we are going to look at how and using which

components Mobile Ecosystem relies on in the big picture.

– When you are working with a mobile phone, you will not see
the underlying complexity.

– It is worth knowing what happens in the underlying layers for

us to experience a whole bunch of luxury on our finger tips.

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Layers of the Mobile Ecosystem

Services
Applications
Application Frameworks
Operating Systems
Platforms
Devices
Networks
Operators
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 1.2.1 Operators
– The base layer in the mobile ecosystem is the operator.
– Operators can be referred to as,
– Mobile Network Operators (MNOs); mobile service
providers, wireless carriers, or simply carriers
– Mobile phone operators; cellular companies
– The operator’s role in the ecosystem is to create and maintain a
specific set of wireless services over a reliable cellular network.
– Operators involved in following activities,
– install cellular towers,
– operate the cellular network,
– make services (such as the Internet) available for mobile
subscribers,
– maintain relationships with the subscribers,
– handling billing and support,
– offering subsidized device sales and a network of retail
stores. 14
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 1.2.2 Networks

– Operators operate wireless networks

– The type of radio and antenna determines the capability of the
network and the services you can enable on it
– Although the core technology that empowers voice
communication has stayed relatively the same, network
generations are most often used to describe the data speeds
the network is capable of delivering.
– Generations help to study different developments in this
domain.
– Mobile network evolution can be studied based on the
generations defined like 2G, 3G, 4G, etc.
– Each generation has different capabilities and improvements

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 1.2.2 Networks (1G)

First Generation (1G)

The first generation mobile technology was entirely analog.

Japan’s NTT (NTT Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) first
launched the first generation automatic cellular network in
1989.

Key features:
− The first generation used analog technology.
− Circuit-switched networks were used for voice calls.
− This system could only talk.

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 1.2.2 Networks (1G) contd..

Key Issues identified in first generation mobile networks:

− Low voice call quality

− Phone size was much larger due to power requirement

− Security risk associated with the network

− Frequent call dropping disturbs communication

− Capacity of the network was very limited

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 1.2.2 Networks (2G)

Second Generation (2G)

− The structure of first-generation and second-generation
cellular networks was similar.
− Digital technology is used for the first time in second-
generation compared to its predecessor (1G)
− Caller Identity (showing the name and phone number of the
caller) and Text SMS (SMS Short Message System) was first
introduced on second-generation mobiles

Standards used in 2G,

– GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)
– GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)
– EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution)
– HSCSD (High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data)
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 1.2.2 Networks (2G) contd..

Key features of 2G includes,

− Text SMS (SMS Short Message Service) using the phone as
well as talking on the phone, MMS (MMS Multimedia
Message Service), fax, e-mail, etc. can be exchanged.
− It is possible to use the internet with a mobile phone.
− Camera phones appeared in the second generation.
− Data rates are much higher than the first generation.

Issues faced:
– The signal is very weak as low base stations are used in sparsely
populated areas. Due to this, GSM phones cannot be used in
rural areas.
– The speed of the internet in second-generation mobile phones
is quite slow.
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 1.2.2 Networks (3G)

Third Generation (3G)

– The third generation is the mobile telephone system used in
modern times.
– Much more applications can be used on third-generation
mobile phones than previous generations.

Standards used in 3G:

– W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access)
– UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System)
– UMTSTDD (UMTS +Time Division Duplexing)
– TD-CDMA (Time Divided Code Division Multiple Access)
– HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access)
– HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access)
– HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access)
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 1.2.2 Networks (3G) contd…

Key features of 3G include,

− Supports Global Roaming.
− Larger emails can be exchanged.
− Any website can be easily browsed.
− GPS can be found anywhere.
− Video calls and video conferencing are possible.
− It is possible to watch high-resolution TV.
− Possible to play online multiplayer games.

Issues:
− Building third-generation networks is quite expensive.
− It is quite expensive for the user to use the third
generation service.

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 1.2.2 Networks (4G)

The introduction of 4G went one step further than the

revolutionary 3G mainly in terms of speed.
Based on GSM/EDGE(2G) and UMTS/HSPA(3G) network
technologies that are existing with certain improvements
Most of the mobile models released from 2013 onwards support
this network
Under 4G, users can experience.
– less buffering
– higher voice quality
– easy access to instant messaging services
– social media
– quality streaming
– faster download speeds

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 1.2.3 Devices

– Devices include any instrument that can communicate or

connect to a network.

– Devices depend on the connection network.

– The capabilities of the device will be determined by the inbuilt

support for connecting to various networks

– Devices and connectivity plays a major role in successful

communication

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 1.2.4 Platforms
– A mobile platform’s primary duty is to provide access to the
devices.
– To run software and services on each of these devices, you need
a platform
– In simple terms, you need a core programming language to
develop software for your devices
– Like all software platforms, split into three categories:
– Licensed
– A common platform of development Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs) that work similarly across
multiple devices
– Proprietary
– Vendor specific platforms for their own devices
– Open source
– Open source platforms are mobile platforms that are freely
available for users to download, alter, and edit
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 1.2.4 Platforms (Examples)

Licensed (General platforms for any vendor to work on)

− Java Micro Edition (Java ME)
− Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW)
− Windows Mobile
− LiMo
Proprietary (Vendor specific platforms)
– Palm
– BlackBerry (Java-based platform for BlackBerry Devices)
– iPhone (Apple uses a proprietary version of Mac OS X)
Open source
– Android

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 1.2.5 Operating Systems

Operating systems often have core services or toolkits that enable

applications to talk to each other and share data or services.

Some examples for most common Operating Systems are,

– Symbian
– Windows Mobile
– Mobile platform.
– Palm OS
– Linux
– Mac OS X
– Android

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 1.2.6 Application Frameworks

Application frameworks often run on top of operating systems,

sharing core services such as communications, messaging,
graphics, location, security, authentication, and many others.

Few examples for application frameworks,

– Java - Applications written in the Java ME framework can often
be deployed across the majority of Java-based devices
– Windows mobile - Applications written using the Win32 API
can be deployed across the majority of Windows Mobile-based
devices
– Android SDK - Android SDK allows developers to create native
applications for any device that runs the Android platform
– The Web - The Web is the only application framework that
works across virtually all devices and platforms

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 1.2.7 Applications
– Application frameworks given in the early slide are used to
create applications, such as a game, a web browser, a camera,
or media player, etc.

– When developing applications for mobile devices, developers

find it very difficult to maintain the stability across multiple
devices.

– For example,
– if you are creating an application using the Java ME
application framework, you need to know what version of
Java ME the device supports, the screen dimensions, the
processor power, the graphics capabilities, the number of
buttons it has, and how the buttons are oriented.

– At present we see there are cross platform app development

frameworks emerge to address this issue.
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 1.2.8 Services

– Services include tasks such as accessing the Internet, sending a

text message, being able to get a location, etc.

– Simply service is anything the user is trying to do.

– Services are very important as mobile devices suffer from

resource constraints.

– User can get certain things done through services rather trying
to do extensive processing locally

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1.3 Mobile Strategy

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 1.3 Mobile Strategy

– How much time, effort, and money it will cost when

implementing mobile software products (apps) for a specific
context?

– Early and wrong judgements based on looking at the breadth

could entirely ruin the value in the long run.

– Formulating a proper strategy reduces the chances of massive

failures.

– This section provides certain rules one can adhere to when

developing a mobile strategy.

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 1.3 Mobile Strategy (Rules to follow)

Rule #1: Forget What You Think You Know

– Forget everything you think you know about mobile

technology.
– Start at the beginning with your project. Ask yourself or your
team the hard questions about your business, about your users,
and about your development capacity, unfettered by the latest
hype, tool, or technology

Rule #2: Believe What You See, Not What You Read

– Do not depend on outdated documentation

– Talk to people and understand what really happens in the real
work environment.
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 1.3 Mobile Strategy (Rules to follow)

Rule #3: Constraints Never Come First

– Mobile projects can be hard to kick off.
– Start with the big ideas and do not let the many constraints of
the medium kill your project before you have begun.
– Do not let the constraints to ruin good project ideas at early
stages.
Rule #4: Focus on Context, Goals, and Needs
– Defining the users’ context is the first thing to do
– Uncover the users’ goals, and then try and understand how the
users’ context alters their goals.
– With goals understood, figure out the tasks the users want to
perform.
– Look for ways to filter content by context, such as location,
media, and model.
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 1.3 Mobile Strategy (Rules to follow)

Rule #5: You Can not Support Everything

– Don not kill yourself by trying to support everything. Start with

the devices that best represent your core customer.

– Remember, the most popular device or the one that’s easiest to

develop for might not always be the best device for your
project.

– Check your server logs for the devices currently accessing your
site. These are the first devices to target.

– Go to your operator store and do a little market research to find

out the recommended devices for your target customer
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 1.3 Mobile Strategy (Rules to follow)

Rule #6: Do not Convert, Create

– Understand your user and his context. Having an idea of how
and when users will access your content will aid in
understanding how to best create a tailored mobile experience.
– Do not forget that mobile is a unique medium with its own
benefits. Do not try to simply apply the same rationale to
mobile strategy as in the web or print strategy.
Rule #7: Keep It Simple
– It can be a big challenge, especially for larger organizations.
– Try to limit the features to only those that are most crucial to
your users.
– Never put your corporate goals or objectives before the users’
interests.
– Try to determine the need that will motivate users to act or
interact, and build the experience around that.
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 Summary

(Only a suggested design for the summary slide)

Discussed the history and the evolution of

History mobile technology based on different
generations and their key features

Describing the components of mobile

Ecosystem ecosystem to understand how the
entire system works
Seven rules/ tips to follow when
Mobile Strategy developing a mobile strategy for a
particular context.

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