Last, but not least, is the technology that combines the best of all the worlds of mobility, Telematics. In one sense, Telematics combines location-based services, wireless portals, CRM, and GPS. Telematics is the use of wireless applications in vehicles, such as cars, buses, trains, and so on. Telematics applications typically provide a wireless connection to some service provider that allows the exchange of data between the vehicle and the service provider, like an automotive dealership. A real example of Telematics is General Motors’ On-Star system. With On-Star, data about your automobile, such as when it’s time for an oil change, is Read the rest of this entry

Web portals such as Yahoo.com, MSN.com, and so forth require a live Internet connection to provide the door to enter their various services. The wireless Internet ultimately acts as that door. The Web portal can also be a corporate intranet portal that allows the employees of the company access address books or administrative applications such as ERP reports. The wireless device is another vehicle with which to access the portal. In the book CGE&Y Guide to Wireless Enterprise Application Architecture, we cover the various concepts behind wireless portals, including exchanges for B2B (business to business), B2C (business to consumer), B2E (business to employee), and so forth. For now, it’s important to understand that wireless technology is a springboard for bringing the portal to life. Read the rest of this entry

There are really two categories of wireless solutions that need to be defined. As Figure 1.1 illustrates, one type of wireless application is a wireless “public” solution. In other words, it’s the use of a terminal and public networks to conduct transactions and access information that ultimately results in the transaction of some sort of service or exchange. A Web browser such as Internet Explorer for Pocket PC is an example of a wireless “public” application. Unless you’re browsing cached pages, a Web browser typically is of little use for obtaining up-to-the-minute stock quotes unless you’re connected to the Internet. The same holds true Read the rest of this entry

The application of mobile devices and wireless technology to enable communication, information access, and business transactions from any device, from anyone, from anywhere, at anytime.

You may have noticed that this definition includes the word wireless. The key pieces of this definition here are that mobility and wireless can go together and are not necessarily separate entities. For an additional perspective,  see Figure 1.1.

As Figure 1.1 illustrates, mobility solutions may include the delivery of applications for information sharing and networking such as accessibility to corporate e-mail or groupware applications through a mobile device instead of a desktop computer. These types of mobile applications are typically categorized as mobile office solutions. The most important point to remember about mobile solutions is that the device need not be constantly connected to a network or the Internet to provide value. The mobile office is a perfect example of a mobile application. Many of us in the consulting world typically carry laptops or some sort of mobile device. Probably one of the most heavily used applications on the desktop or the laptop is e-mail. The beauty of most e-mail applications today is that a wired connection is not required. You can type the e-mail, attach files, and create documents while sitting in a car, on a plane, almost anywhere! When a mail message is sent in disconnected mode, it typically is stored in a cached outbox or other temporary storage mechanism. Once the user logs on to his or her normal network connection, voilá, the e-mail is delivered to the intended recipient automatically! As you can see, e-mail is a great example of a mobile application. You can manage your e-mail and calendar anywhere and anytime, even without a network connection. E-mail generally falls into the mobile office category, along with word processing, spreadsheets, groupware, Web browsing, and many other applications. We’ll go into greater detail on the different types of mobile applications in Chapter 2. For now, let’s continue our discussion and define what we mean by wireless solutions and applications.

Taken From : Enterprise Guide to Gaining Business Value from Mobile Technologies

Introduction
The terms wireless and mobility are quite often confused in the world of mobility. In fact, many mobile technology users consider these two terms as having the same or very similar definitions. However, the two words have very unique meanings, yet are used interchangeably, especially in the mobile business world. What then is the difference? The American Heritage Dictionary definitions are: Read the rest of this entry