These days we live interesting times. After a prolonged recession and a few years without major technological break through (and here I am thinking of epic changes like the invention of Internet or the PC) we got to a point of resurrection.
Let's strictly take the last decade in the industry. Let aside cloud computing (which is really not that new) and social media (which is more of a concept/business model achievement rather than a pure technological break through) we are left with mobile computing and the mobile devices, smart phones and tablets.
I will take the opportunity to discuss mobile technologies as I believe they were a significant step forward the tech and users communities made lately.
The ability to have access to your data on a small easy to use mobile device you can carry in your pocket, the location aware features such as maps and GPS-es, the video and music on demand, web browsing and mobile queries, the versatility of some newer apps or services make smart phones and tablets big winners for the businesses and consumers.
From supporting on the road decision making processes to booking hotels and reserving restaurant tables, from financial apps that give you last minute quotes on stocks to little utilities and home apps the mobile universe opens up to the public and businesses.
But there is a particular class of applications that is pretty unique. And since I tested some of those recently I can testify that in particular mobile applications for the automotive industry made a lot of progress over the last couple of years.
For example everybody knows that some Japanese car manufacturers such as Honda or Toyota integrate very well with Apple. What used to be just a basic on board GPS with manual input is nowadays a 100% mobile driven platform with GPS, voice recognition, maps, concierge type applications, info on gas stations, restaurants and accommodations, real time traffic info, music and video on demand etc. At a price much better than the traditional embedded GPS.
Services like Aha replaced the need of a OnStar system for road assistance.
And your vehicle will soon hookup to all the major mobile platforms including iPhone, Android, Blackberry and even Windows phone.
That is what I consider a mini revolution of this past decade and I predict the mobile trend to continue and refine for at least another decade.
Make it a great day!
Adrian Corbuleanu
http://wittywebnow.com
http://wittywebnow.com
