The applications question goes to the heart of the business value of all kinds of smartphones. For years, IT pros have said that, while e-mail access is great, the real killer app for smartphones will be access to business applications, and iPhone competitors are moving in that direction. In March, Research In Motion said it would open up the BlackBerry to third-party developers by adding APIs to the BlackBerry Java Development Environment. Microsoft offers a Windows Mobile developer platform that includes a software development kit for third-party apps.
If and when high-speed wireless connectivity becomes ubiquitous, the debate over Web apps versus native apps may become moot. "I don't think writing native code for a specific platform will be in vogue all that much longer," Farpoint Group analyst Craig Mathias says. "Think of the iPhone as a very intelligent platform for Web-based applications. Ajax and its brethren are the future."
But not the present. When the iPhone ships within the next two weeks, business apps won't be part of the hoopla.
Verizon is demoing crowd analytics technology that uses 5G along with AI and mobile edge computing to give stadium operators insights into the flow of fans throughout a venue.
As we move closer to fully realizing the potential of Wi-Fi 7, it becomes evident that the RF, signaling, and throughput tests are not merely procedural checkpoints but the pillars of excellence in wireless communication.
With low earth orbit (LEO) satellites fast becoming the norm and 3GPP unifying telecom standards around the globe, the satellite IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) sector ought to be looking at a bright horizon. But is this the case?
