The Developments of the Smart Phones - Research Paper Example

Ahmad Aldarwish Smart phones Chapter Why I chose this topic: Present day communication is driven by mobile phones which have become the most ubiquitous source that is present around us. These mobile phones are not just merely sources of communication, rather complete devices which contain an entire computer and operating system with it. Keeping in view their importance and omnipresence I felt the need for choosing the topic of smart phones. Introduction: The middle of 20th century was marked by rapid developments in the field of science and technology. This development was not just limited to any particular field, rather it contributed to the field of medicine, business, computing and other integral units of our daily life. Computer was one of the beneficiaries of the progress from developments in science and technology which served the path for other technologies that are interrelated. Abstract: Modern times are subject to communication and in this case effective means of communication are most sought after. Smart phones are the solution to it providing the best, rapid and reliable means to these communications. Communication was another important function that saw advancements in the course. People started adopting new means of communication which were only thought of, heard of in movies and fiction and imagined only in fantasies. Mobile phone was one of them. Mobile phones overtook the conventional form of communication source which were in place for almost a century- wired telephone systems. Aims and Objectives: The paper looks into the earlier developments of the smart phones, the present status and the future that can be predicted based on the advancements that have taken place with passage of time. Mobile phones caught large attention due to the fact that it was a totally new concept, gave far more flexibility in terms of its usage, made communication easier and possible, facilitated the users, and the operators at the same time, reduced the hassle that may had been attached to the previous form of communication source. A mobile phone includes two aspects and each of these must be addressed and discussed in detail if a mobile phone concept is to be understood properly, this comes in form of the technology used in terms of the communication establishment, along with the hardware and other advancements that took place in the devices. Mobile phones came to the commercial use of the common man around end of 20th century, and ever since then, it has not looked back and today they are in a totally new and different place and as a result of the developments mobile phones are no more termed mere mobile phones, rather smart phones, meaning they are smart enough to perform the basic tasks that would be performed through some other devices. Chapter 2: Literature Review: Brief history of mobile phones: While the mobile phones were a revolutionary move from wired concept of communication, it too underwent number of changes and advancements with time, the first of these form were bulky mobile phones and handsets with antennas at the top, and other functionalities that were limited in their offer, yet they were still seen as a pleasant change because they allowed the ease of wireless communication. The technological journey: While the earlier part discussed the outlook of the mobile phones, as to how bulky and how limited they were in their application and appearance, this section looks into the technological aspect as to what form of technology and what sources were in place. The infancy can be traced to the analogue medium of communications, meaning analogue signals were employed to convey the conversation. These were highly susceptible to noise and had limited capacity in terms of the channels and users accommodations. This all were coined under the 1st generation technologies of mobile phones and communications which were set by the International Telecommunication Union (I. T.U) Size compression: while at one time, the mobile phones were bulky ones, they have been transformed rapidly, and this was followed by the small sized mobile phones, this was further followed by the touch screen mobile phones which are a common trend in modern day and almost all the latest mobile phones come without the physical keypad, rather they have in built keypads which is a new gift of technology. The smart phones also provide support for technology beyond the second generation devices and technologies, for example the third generations’ technologies come in form of the C.D.M.A concepts and technology, these devices are equally equipped to ensure that they can cover the requirements of these devices. The smart phones are even adaptable to the Wimax technology and there are number of mobile phones available in the market which are fully supported with the 4th generation technologies. They have their own dedicated browsers such as internet explorer, opera, and various others. Core definition of smart phones: The smart phones concept has been introduced ever since advancements started beginning in the domain of mobile phones, the smart phones differ from the conventional form of mobile phones that may had been in use over a decade ago, the present day smart phones are smart in true sense, have multiple functionalities, nearly computer like features, advanced technologies such as the microprocessors, displays being sensitive and ultra bright ones, keypads vs. non keypad mobile phones, all these define the smart phone area of mobile phones. The core idea of smart phone is that of providing multiple features in a single device, these features include communication establishment path and source, computer like functions providing and covering up for the needs of the digital media. The presence of digital media support is one of the salient feature of the smart phone since all kinds of videos, audios, streams, links and websites can be accessed through these smart phones. Apart from this, their services and function include providing multiple functions in one device such as to eliminate the need for carrying multiple devices with each having only singular characteristic to it. A category of smart phones include the portable digital assistants ( P.D.As) which are more than an ordinary mobile phone and they provide the functionalities of email, fax, internet usage and other similar functions which are not part of the ordinary mobile phones that were dominant in the last decade of the previous century. Some of the characteristic features of a smart phone include presence of L.C.D screen, bright display enabled screens, U.S.B connectivity device port, all kinds of connectivity option from software view point, such as the blue tooth connectivity, Wi-Fi connection, internet connection and Infra red being the very primary source of connectivity being supported by all kinds of smart phone devices. Other features include the presence of high resolution and strongly equipped mega pixel camera within the mobile phone, this is complemented by the options like call waiting, call transfer, offline mode operations, blocking of unwanted caller lists and many other options and functionalities making it the best device and combination of various components in one device to be sought after, this is one of the reason that this device is so rapidly spreading all over the world at such a fast pace and almost every individual has a smart phone with him, especially in the developed parts of the world, even the developing parts of the world are thickly in race and the local markets are being strongly concentrated by the smart phones, their applications and their stores. The function of being able to provide services like internet and email have made them being called the smart phones. These smart phones can handle and allow navigating the entire internet through them and facilitating on the go browsing without the need for any other device or any other connectivity source as in case of computers where digital modems, and phone lines are needed, in case of the mobile phone , over the single phone line, internet, email, and phone calls can be made all in one on the single device which is rightly called the smart phone. The giant step ahead: The giant step was taken in form of the change and progress from 1st generation technologies of mobile phones to the second generation which totally revamped the working of mobile phones, made them better, secure, and effective for the purpose of establishing and conducting the communication via wireless means. They provided better service, increased customer support over dedicated channels, more secure operations through deployment of advanced concepts and algorithms and various other concepts that made them better than their predecessors. The second generation mobile phone standards make use of better coding techniques, compression, modulation and demodulation schemes making them more suitable for reliable transmission, since the customers all over the world would want their privacy not to be violated or hindered there by the second generation mobile phones concept suit their requirements and interest to the best capacity. The smart phones operate of this technology in the form of G.S.M technologies and communication means. The G.S.M technologies are also approved by the international Telecommunication Union. Chapter 3: Operating Systems within the smart phone: The concept of entire operating systems: While in earlier days mobiles were of analogue pattern, limited to black and white screens with limited capacity, with time they have transformed and have been converted in to complete mobile phone systems in terms of their capacity relevant to the computers. These days the mobile phones have complete operating systems to them, fulfilling all the basic requirements that would be fulfilled by large sized computers in past. Entire operating system enabled providing an alternative against the conventional digital devices such as laptop, desktop, palm top and various other similar devices that are bulkier in size compared to the smart phones and do not offer features as many as are offered by smart phones, the top most being that of the voice and communication means. Operating systems: While in earlier days mobile phones would constitute mere set of instructions, with time, it has changed and operating systems have been incorporated in the mobile phones, almost all the smart phones that we see around us have proper operating systems in them. These operating systems come in various forms, for example the giants in this race are Microsoft with offer of Windows Mobile, Android operating system, Apple’s I.O.S, Blackberry, Samsung and others using and providing linux based services and operating system facilities. They are further divided into the open source and non open source operating system. The mobile phone operating systems and the brands behind them have strong war between them and every few months new technology is being introduced with hope, aim and target of out beating the rival in one way or the other. For example Apple Inc has been the pioneer with regard to the innovation in this field and it has introduced the concepts that were not greatly known to the customers nor the other market service and products providers. As a result of this innovation Apple Inc, enjoys repute and large customers’ bench based on the kind of services and facilities provided by them. Apple 3.0, 4, 4.s, 5 all are the new and latest models that speak for the technological advancements achieved in the field of smart phones and other relevant technologies and inventions. Other features of Smart phones: Apart from the stylish designs, and operating system, they provide number of useful services as well, the most notable of them is that of position tracking and detecting function which comes in form of the Global Positioning System (G.P.S), the presence of Google map and other online route finder softwares and applications are the characteristic features of smart phones. The quest of smart phones has been further paced up by the introduction of social media which fully supports the functions and services over the smart phones, these smart phones are designed and built with softwares providing built in applications for the notable social media websites. Other elements of the Web 2.0 are also a part of smart phones and they cover the java script requirements, flash player and other essential utilities presence is a characteristic of these mobile phones. Similarly Android Operating system is amongst the top three players of market and enjoys considerable good name due to its multiple functions and features that it provides. For example it is open source, it is under O.H.A, which has over 80 international companies under its built in joint ventures, and it has the big players like H.T.C, Samsung and few others making use of their technology and services for betterment in the field of smart phones. The open source makes it more effective since people and its users can come up with any change, recommendation, improvement and suggestion in the upcoming models of the mobile phones by the particular company which provides these services and products in form of mobile phone devices. The modern day mobile phones which exist in form of the smart phones have reduced the need for laptops and other similar devices because these mini 4 to 5 inch screen sized devices have an entire computer in them thereby making no point for a user to carry or use a computer when they can have access to the mobile phone. Chapter 4: Design domain consideration: The design is based on architectural considerations with regard to the best technology and electronic combination usage, for example the entire concept is based on the usage of microcontrollers, system on Chip (S.O.C), Embedded Systems concepts and application, Flash memory, RAM, the advanced form of gates, registers and integrated circuits, all are combined to make a device in form of smart phone that fulfills the needs in true spirit. Making use of the 16 bit and 32 bit architecture is the core function and characteristic of the smart phone devices. Other considerations include the coverage of all major frequency bands, for example the 2nd and third generation technologies operate in the mega hertz band while the 4th generation Wimax technologies are enabled to work on Giga hertz concept, thereby they are designed in such a way as to provide support to all the levels and frequency bands available. Tri band concept is another gift of the smart phones, meaning they are able to be operated on universal level across multiple continents with slight adjustments in the settings subject to the local settings and local configurations and frequency usage. The social aspect of smart phones: The smart phones have become an integral part of our daily, all our activities be of formal or informal are handled through mobile phones, whether be they of family contacts, official, unofficial, friends or gatherings and parties, all the contacts, updates and information are collected via mobile phones, they are part of every office, every house, and every pocket and handbag, they have made the tasks relatively easy through the constant contact between the people. They have though, reduced the practical form of meeting since being a compute in itself, they allow the phone conversation options, video conferencing, texting, as a replacement for the conventional hard form text and letter and many more things of similar kind, all these are gifts of mobile phone and they have made a vast impact on the social life of individuals. The downside of smart phones: Every technology has its uses and abuses, advantages and disadvantages, in the same manner and same context, smart phones are no exception and they do offer a mixed package, they can be used for constructive activities, at the same time, they may be used in a negative and non recommended manner, which lies in conflict with the culture and social values of a particular society and its people. It may be of a negative impact on the individuals, especially the teenagers and young ones, thereby there should be some considerations given to smart phones usage, and proper rules of engagement must be defined which will help making the smart phones a constructive part of our life and society with no or limited negative impacts and ultimately no or little sources of abuses. Other social aspects, their usage in classrooms, religious places, places of other official social gathering, must be taken into account and should be ensured that the mobile phones are being used in proper manner and they do not violate the social norms of a particular society. Chapter 5 Conclusion: what started off as a source of communication establishment in form of voice, has transformed into an entire system in form of smart phone. Smart phones are an essential part of our live now, and they cannot be replaced, however changes are rapid and popping up every day and what is seen as a revolution and state of the art technology will be replaced and would become obsolete in few years time just because of the pace with which the smart phones and the overall technology mobile phones and communication are fast changing. Smart phones are a broader concept that have an impact on our social life, our professional life, our personal life, and in short all the activities that we perform. Smart phones are a predominant concept of the 21st century and prior to it, they were little known nor was their functionality this effective (Ilyas and Ahson). References: Ilyas, Mohammad and Syed A. Ahson. Smartphones: Research Report. Intl. Engineering Consortiu, 2006. Read More