I have noticed an increasing number of conversations that use wireless and mobility interchangeably. These represent complimentary, but different concepts. Wireless is a radio frequency medium, just like Copper, Coaxial Cable, or Fiber, but uses air-space to transmit the RF signal. Wireless can connect both fixed and mobile users or objects directly or into networks. The power of wireless is the ability to untether communications and eliminate the cost and time associated with installing fixed lines. However, fixed lines tend to have a 10X advantage in terms of communications capacity just due to reduced interference levels. This is why the most significant wireless growth is happening in regions where fixed infrastructure does not exist already. Next Gen wireless mediums include 4G Celluar, WiMax, and 802.11n WiFi as well as Zigbee and UWB for sensor networks.
Mobility is about computing on the move for both people and objects. Mobility REQUIRES wireless as the medium since people would not want to walk around with a long cord attached to them. Mobility also implies immediacy, or communications and applications within "arms reach". It also increases the value of location, context, and proximity as critical to understanding the users needs, much more so than with fixed users. For instance, serving a mobile coupon up to a customer 1 hour after he has left the store probably has a lot less value than serving it up just as the customer walks out the door to shop. It would also be nice to know that a Mother is shopping with her daughter and son (based on proximity) versus alone to decide what type of offer to send.
So while Mobility and Wireless are inextricably linked, they are different concepts. As leaders in tech and business, you need to monitor the trends in both in order to develop useful applications and services that are optimized for mobile (and wireless)! Carriers have been wrestling with this (http://connectedplanetonline.com/3g4g/news/optimizing-mobile-apps-not-networks/) and now expect to see more companies getting it.
Mobility is about computing on the move for both people and objects. Mobility REQUIRES wireless as the medium since people would not want to walk around with a long cord attached to them. Mobility also implies immediacy, or communications and applications within "arms reach". It also increases the value of location, context, and proximity as critical to understanding the users needs, much more so than with fixed users. For instance, serving a mobile coupon up to a customer 1 hour after he has left the store probably has a lot less value than serving it up just as the customer walks out the door to shop. It would also be nice to know that a Mother is shopping with her daughter and son (based on proximity) versus alone to decide what type of offer to send.
So while Mobility and Wireless are inextricably linked, they are different concepts. As leaders in tech and business, you need to monitor the trends in both in order to develop useful applications and services that are optimized for mobile (and wireless)! Carriers have been wrestling with this (http://connectedplanetonline.com/3g4g/news/optimizing-mobile-apps-not-networks/) and now expect to see more companies getting it.
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