LALA90

The most familiar aspect of mobile computing technology is the hand phone. About two decades ago, a hand phone was bulky and was only used for voice communication. It was merely an extension of the fixed line telephony that allowed users to keep in touch with colleagues. Now the hand phone is not only used for voice communication, it is also used to send text and multimedia messages. Future mobile devices will not only enable Internet access, but will also support high-speed data services.

In addition to the hand phone, various types of mobile devices are now available, for example, personal digital assistants (PDA) and pocket personal computers (PCs). Road warriors use mobile devices to access up-to-date information from the corporate database. A police officer at a crime scene may send a fingerprint picked up there for matching with data in a central database through a wireless network, hence leading to faster identifipocation and arrest of potential suspects. The global positioning system (GPS) is used in search and rescue missions, for monitoring and preservation of wildlife, and for vehicle theft prevention. Though many of us are unaware of when mobile computing technology is being used, it has permeated all aspects of our lives.

What is mobile computing? Simply defined, it is the use of a wireless network infrastructure to provide anytime, anywhere communications and access to information. There are many aspects of mobile computing and, sometimes, different terms are used to refer to them. This chapter gives an overview of what mobile computing has to offer and how it improves the quality of our lives. Later chapters discuss the underlying wireless networks and technologies that make mobile computing applications possible.