One of the astounding proliferations of the electronic systems infiltrating our environment centers, our phones, our cares, businesses, communications and our kitchens, lay a technology called Application-Specific Integrated Circuits or ASICs.

Shiladitya 'Sunny' Ghosh*, Consultant, NetGalactic Europe

sunny@netgalactic.com

These are tiny microprocessors that are produced in huge volumes and then designed by the customer and the businesses to add the final veneer of personality needed for their specific product.

The mobile reminds me of a similar ASIC, a fundamental base, which has paved the road for m-Commerce, on the brink of another high-tech revolution. The uses of Mobile data handheld and the concept of cash-less society can be witnessed in small cities in Europe such as Dublin (Ireland), where, while locating the oldest Temple Bar Pub, the taxi driver use the WAP service to generate a direction map to reach the location.

In what has become a hot industry, four broad categories of mobile commerce applications are driving the m-commerce, industry technical glossary and the VCs.

Location-based services

Which lie in the capabilities of tracking the exact geographical location of the phone and helping users to navigate directions, closest taxi service, hotels, and restaurants at the touch of a button.

Voice recognition

Is the industry's answer to entering text with the eight lettered buttons of a cell phone's keypad, a task most users find time-consuming and annoying? In an attempt to address this problem, a number of companies are beginning to use automated voice recognition and text translation technologies.

Wireless Portals are widely regarded as a key factor for m-commerce. Due to tiny phone screens and the difficulty of typing, most users find this service attractive. Checking your email over a phone and replying to the same can really save a lot of time while on the move. AOL has already started delivering such services, taking an extra lead-time over the rest.

Instant Messaging in UK counts for about one mn people using this service and this paves the potential for an audience for wireless chat services. Research firms such as In-Stat-Group predict that the number of wireless text messages will grow to 3000 bn a year in December 2004, counting for 200 messages per person per day.

Technology

With the advance of technology, bandwidth and the new expected launch of 3G mobile phones, m-commerce will become more accepted. One of the main constraints to mobile transaction is relatively low bandwidth of the current generation of mobile phones, which generally run at 9600 bps and even with the HSCSD high-speed data system, never run above 28,800 bps. Soon devices that only handle voice will be hard to find as black and white televisions. Instead, we will have a lot of "Mobile data Terminals" with voice as one of its capabilities.

In the past, we have witnessed a combination of mobile phones and electronic organisers. The concept is not new. Nokia launched its first communicator nearly five years ago. Using the clamshell design, the device looked like a large mobile phone and a keyboard on the other side. It allowed basic email, fax and web access.

The latest Nokia 9210 was launched in the beginning of this month and is more of a computer than of a mobile, with all sorts of J2ME code support, a dream machine for all Mobile developers across the world. With the right digital camera, this phone can also be used to display and send pictures across the Internet. This machine uses the Symbian operating system, developed by the British Handheld computer company, Psion. At one time, this looked like quite a dominant O/S but the other players in the market are also quite active.

Microsoft is developing software called Stinger for the smart phones. The first phone to use this technology was displayed in prototype this month by a Birmingham firm called Sendo. Few of the features consist of Internet, personal information management, etc. viewable on a color screen with an MP3 player and headphones. This gadget is specifically designed to reap the benefit of the latest data networks like 3G and GPRS. So far, the parentage of looks of such mobile devices is quite open and some look like phones or resemble handheld computers. But nothing seen before as the features they bring along.

Another creative revolution in the wireless arena has been Bluetooth, which was in development for a long time and is about short radio technology, which can be used to replace wires. For instance, this can allow you to check the contents of your fridge on the way home, to turn up the central heating before you get in, to see who is ringing your doorbell no matter where you are and so on. This month, Ericsson of Sweden, launched the first local Bluetooth infotainment point.

Ericsson's Blip is just one of the many Bluetooth applications being launched this month. Blip will be placed in advertising panels. The combination of the fast growing telecommunication industry and the radio technology-based, wire-free communication can soon mean that any device can talk to another, which could trigger the end of mobile devices. Certainly, another major technology on the brink of a high-tech revolution.