Description
The Encyclopedia of Mobile Computing and Commerce is the leading reference source for innovative research on mobile applications and commerce. This two-volume encyclopedia set presents current trends in mobile computing and their potential use in business and commerce. Hundreds of internationally renowned scholars and practitioners have written comprehensive articles exploring the latest concepts, technologies, and innovations in this rapidly expanding field. Thousands of definitions and references to additional literature have been included to stimulate further research. The Encyclopedia of Mobile Computing and Commerce is an indispensable reference work for every academic, public, and private library.
Preface
Nowadays, mobile communication, mobile devices, and mobile computing are widely available. Everywhere people are carrying mobile devices, such as mobile phones. The availability of mobile communication networks has made a huge impact to various applications, including commerce. Consequently, there is a strong relationship between mobile computing and commerce. The Encyclopedia of Mobile Computing and Commerce brings to readers articles covering a wide range of mobile technologies and their applications.
Mobile commerce (m-commerce) is expanding, and consequently the impact to the overall economy is considerable. However, there are still many issues and challenges to be addressed, such as mobile marketing, mobile advertising, mobile payment, mobile authorization using voice, and so on. Providing users with more intelligent product catalogues for browsing on mobile devices and product brokering also plays an important role in m-commerce. Furthermore, the impact mobile devices give to the supply chain must be carefully considered. This includes the use of emerging mobile technology, such as RFID, sensor network, and so forth.
A wide range of mobile technology is available for m-commerce. Mobile phones are an obvious choice. Additionally, there are many different kinds of mobile phones sold in the market, some of which are labelled as smartphones. There is much research conducted in conjunction with the use of mobile phones. Mobile phone text messaging and SMS are common among mobile users. Subsequently, the use of text messaging and SMS enriches m-commerce, including the ability to support multilingual text messaging. Mobile phone supporting disability has also been a focus lately, which focuses on text messaging to disabled people. More advanced applications now require additional services, such as chatting using Bluetooth, mobile querying, and voice recognition. Mobile privacy issues are also still an important topic.
Apart from mobile phones, there is a wide variety of mobile technology, some of which are mobile robots, RFID, pen-based mobile computing, and so forth. Many advanced applications have been developed utilizing these technologies. Current research has been focusing on man-machine interfaces and sensory systems, particularly for mobile robots, biometric and voice based authentication, traffic infractions, and so forth. The context of smart spaces also gives a new dimension to mobile technology.
The use of mobile technology in entertainment is growing rapidly. Some examples include mobile phone gambling, mobile collaborative games, mobile television, mobile sport videos, and mobile hunting incorporating location-based information. The list is expanding as the technology is advancing. Understanding the success factors for mobile gaming and other entertainment is equally important as the technical aspects of the technology itself.
Videos and multimedia undoubted play an important role in mobile entertainment. Video technologies, such as mobile video sequencing, mobile video transcoding, and mobile video communications, have been studied extensively. One of the main limitations of mobile devices is the limited memory capacity, which has to be carefully addressed, especially in the context of mobile multimedia, because these kinds of applications generally require large amount of spaces. Beside videos, radio technology should not be neglected either.
There are many other applications of mobile technology. For example, the use of mobile technology in health, called m-health, is expanding. Mobile medical imaging is made possible thru the use of 3G wireless network. Another example is the use of mobile technology in learning, called m-learning, such as the use of SMS and text messaging, although some still argue whether m-learning is the way to go in learning, while others are still looking at how to combine the infrastructures and tools with pedagogy.
Developing mobile applications requires a novel software engineering approach. The design for mobile information systems is still maturing. Some researchers are still formulating design patterns for mobile applications, while others are focusing on the user interface aspects. Programming for handheld devices is quite common to use various programming languages and tools, including Java micro edition, J2ME, Corba, and Extreme programming. Since the device generally has a small screen, content transformation and content personalization need to be examined. Other forms of interfaces, including brain computing interfacing, are also interesting. Mobile databases and XML-based mobile technology have received some degree of attention as well.
Other issues that have been incorporated into mobile technologies include mobile agents, service-oriented computing, and various forms of caching, such as peer-to-peer, cooperative, and semantic caching. Service delivery and resource discovery are gaining their popularities too. Security—especially in a mobile environment—should not be neglected. Some work on mobile PKI and limited key generations has been carried out by a number of researchers in order to contribute to advancing m-commerce.
The impact of mobile technology in commerce needs to be evaluated, including its socio-psychological influence and technological adoption and diffusion, as well as readiness and transformation. We need to understand the adoption, barrier, and influencing factors of m-commerce. Some gender issues have been pointed out by some researchers.
All of the abovementioned applications will not be made possible without addressing the advancement of mobile networks. Most of the articles in this encyclopedia may be categorized into the mobile network and communication category. 3G architectures have made their entries lately. Mobile ad-hoc network, IPv6 and P2P are also maturing. Some new work in wireless sensor network is presented.
Last but not least, mobile technology and its applications will not be complete without mentioning location-aware and context-aware. New technologies in positioning; either indoor or outdoor, as well as tracking of moving objects, are presented. Some applications of location-aware include ad-hoc mobile querying, use of iPod as a tourist guide, location-based multimedia for monitoring purposes, and location-based multimedia for tourists. Some notable context-aware applications are notification services, context-aware mobile GIS, and semantic mobile agents for context-aware applications.
As a final note, the Encyclopedia of Mobile Computing and Commerce covers a broad range of aspects pertaining to mobile computing, mobile communication, mobile devices, and various mobile applications. These technologies and applications will shape mobile computing and commerce into a new era of the 21st century whereby mobile devices are not only pervasive and ubiquitous, but also widely accepted as the main tool in commerce.
David Taniar
Melbourne, Australia
January 2007
Reviews and Testimonials
"Taniar's two-volume encyclopedia, providing thorough essays on the current trends, technologies, applications, and concepts of mobile computing and commerce, is one of a kind. It is a worthwhile resource to consult when learning the basics of mobile technologies and how businesses use them. Essays also include a highly useful and more extensive list of references than other encyclopedias, as well as a section devoted to key terms (with definitions) used throughout the essays. Recommended."
– CHOICE, Vol. 45, No. 06 (2008)
The Encyclopedia of Mobile Computing and Commerce (EMCC) is an excellent reference to those who are active in the field of mobile computing along with its multiple application domains such as commerce, learning, and health (a.k.a. m-commerce, m-learning, and m-health respectively).
– Zakaria Maamar, PhD, College of Information Technology, Zayed University, Dubai, U.A.E
The Encyclopedia of Mobile Computing and Commerce is a book that I highly recommend for everyone, be they researchers looking for future directions to pursue when examining issues in the field, or practitioners interested in applying pioneering concepts in practical situations and looking for the perfect tool.
– Ismail Khalil Ibrahim, PhD, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
In a convenient format and presentation the encyclopedia is an essential reference giving a crisp and substantial view of the domain for both the researcher and the student as well as for the engineer and the manager. It is an indispensable tool for academics and professionals.
– Stephane Bressan, PhD, National University of Singapore
With the increasing trend in mobile communication technologies, this book will serve as a good source for researchers and developers involved in mobile communication and mobile computing.
– Muhammad Younas Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom
Mobility is perhaps the most important market and technological trend in information and communication technology. This encyclopedia answers many of the previously unresolved challenges regarding these new technologies.
– David Taniar, Monash University, Australia
This is a timely reference and source to readers, researchers or practitioners interested in pursuing the future direction or in applying pioneering concepts in practical situations or lookin for the perfect tools.
– Laurence T. Yang, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada
This encyclopedia presents a broad array of information on current issues impacting mobile computing, wireless technology, an its use in business and commerce. Hundreds of authors from around the world contributed over 170 articles, providing this reference work with an international scope.
– American Reference Books Annual, Vol. 39
Author's/Editor's Biography
David Taniar (Ed.)
David Taniar received his PhD in Databases from Victoria University (Australia, 1997) and is now a Senior Lecturer at Monash University (Australia). He has published more than 100 research articles and edited a number of books in the Web technology series. He is on the editorial board of a number of international journals, including
Data Warehousing and Mining,
Business Intelligence and Data Mining,
Mobile Information Systems,
Mobile Multimedia,
Web Information Systems, and
Web and Grid Services. He has been elected as a Fellow of the Institute for Management of Information Systems (UK).