Mobile and Wireless Computing World

First it was the personal computer which revolutionized the way people worked and now it is the laptop which is making a major difference in how people work. Both personal computers and laptops have changed the way people enjoy the various multimedia facilities which are part and parcel of any computer whether PC or laptop.

Laptops have made it easier to exchange a tangled mess of cords and wires with a wireless office effortlessly. And the humble mouse is not to be left behind. The wireless laptop mouse is becoming more common, advanced and user-friendly.

With a plethora of choices on the market, it may become difficult for the average person to choose the wireless mouse best suited to his or her needs and to help in the selection, here are five of the best laptop mice available on the market.

The world leaders, Microsoft, have come up with the Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse which is simply great for laptops as it is compact, lightweight and functions well. This particular mouse is extremely responsive and accurate.

Unlike most of the wireless mice available on the market, this mouse has great battery life which cuts down on the expense of buying new batteries every now and then. In fact, if used properly the battery can last for almost nine months before needing to be replaced.

Another computer giant in the world, Apple, offers the Wireless Mighty Mouse. The advantage of this mouse is that it can be used for both Apple laptops as well as Apple desktops making it a versatile buy. Boasting of up to four programmable buttons for customized use, this is a top end product from Apple. It is highly responsive but runs only on 1 AA battery.

The HP Wireless Laser Mini Mouse is just right for anyone on the move as it has a low battery indicator which gives you some time to replace the battery before it completely runs out. It is suitable for both right-handers and left-handers and fits the hand well. A four-way scroll makes navigation simpler and this wireless laptop mouse moves at just a touch.

With a corded mouse the wire inevitably gets tangled but the Logitech MX revolution Wireless Laser Mouse eliminates this problem as it gives better control than the wired mouse. The mouse is ergonomically designed so it fits the hand very well for ease of function and is also comfortable to use. It is highly laser sensitive making it extremely responsive.

Wireless Technology is evolving from communications to between people and computers to communications between machines. There is a third wave of wireless that is following the almost ubiquitous integration of cell phones and wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) into our lives.

This third wireless wave consists of wireless sense and control networks that can connect and control all kinds of equipment in our homes and businesses – from freezers to light switches, from consumer electronics (TV, DVD-player) and remote controls to sensors, for detection or protection, and to central door locking and window locking in our homes (as we are used to in our cars).

Unfortunately, using today’s wireless technologies, most of those wireless sensors and controls require the use of a significant quantity of batteries creating environmental concerns (think toxic chemicals and heavy metals) as well as a serious maintenance problem (continuously exchanging batteries). Therefore ultra low power wireless networks that require very little power are of great interest.

This includes systems that can run off of a single cell battery for the life of a device as well as wireless networks and sensors that can be powered by energy harvesting (sometimes called energy scavenging). Creating ultra low power wireless networks and systems that can run off the energy that is available in the environment instead of batteries is a very exciting emerging technology.

Last year, the ZigBee organization partnered with several of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world (Panasonic, Philips, Sony and Samsung) to form what is known as ZigBee RF4CE (Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics). This industry partnership signals the development of an entire new generation of remote control devices – for TVs, for home and office automation, for many other types of remote control products that communicate via low power RF instead of the decades old IR (infrared). By using these new communication technologies, we soon shall be seeing a wide range of remote devices that are not only interoperable among brands and models, but require so little power that their batteries will never have be changed or recharged. It is even possible to design and build remotes that will not require any batteries at all and will get their power from energy harvesting.

Challenges of wireless sensor networks

The biggest technical challenge for developing these ultra low power sensor networks is managing the energy consumption without reducing range or functionality, like speed and standards compliance. The resulting elimination of battery replacement will then simplify maintenance and provide a higher level of ease of use and safety.

Are you ready for a big change? Are you ready for the remote controlled home?

There is a new generation of remote controls about to invade your home.

Instead of using decades old “point and shoot” infrared beams to provide a connection between the remote and the device being controlled, the new generation of remote controls are using RF or radio frequency. Actually to be more precise, they will be using what is known as ZigBee RF4CE.. Similar to Wi-Fi, it provides many of the same wireless networking capabilities with much less power requirements.

The RF4CE organization (Radio Frequency For Consumer Electronics) was formed by four of the top consumer electronics manufacturers in the world – Panasonic, Philips, Samsung and Sony. In 2009, the RF4CE group was adopted by the ZigBee Alliance and the new ZigBee RF4CE was inaugurated.

The ZigBee Alliance has fine-tuned the ZigBee RF4CE standard to transform it into more of a total home media experience. In addition to controlling all the home’s media equipments such as TVs, stereos, DVRs, DVD players, etc., this now includes a SMART automated home theater experience.

When you insert a DVD disk into the player, the player then talks to the entire home via wireless connections. The TV automatically switches to the DVD input mode, the remote switches to DVD control mode, the room lights would dim and the curtains would close. You are ready to watch your favorite DVD.

In addition to being smart, the new ZigBee RF4CE remote control can function as the “home mobile dashboard” – connecting home entertainment, automation, security, HVAC, power use control and management, health monitoring, etc.

By using the ultra low power 802.15.4 wireless technology, a wide range of low data rate devices and sensors can either directly or indirectly talk to and be managed by the remote control. The cable companies and service providers would like to see their set top boxes – managed by the remote control – become the centerpiece of the new smart home with all the homes systems flowing through it. The Home Mobile Dashboard then monitors and controls all the systems via the set top box. Another advantage of using the set top box as the central base station is its internet connection to the cloud which enables the home owner to remotely access and control the home’s systems via any mobile device including cell phones.

Mobile computing refers to the use of small and portable computing devices in wireless enabled networks that provide wireless connections to a central main server. These devices include laptops, notebook PCs, tablet PCs, palmtops, personal digital assistant (PDAs) and other hand held devices. A radio-signaling device is installed inside these devices for receiving and transmitting electronic data.

Wireless networks use Wi-Fi(wireless fidelity) technology for providing network coverage to offices, public places, and other small workplaces. A wireless access point device is used to provide wire free network coverage in the designated area. An access point device that is built on 802.11b and 802.11g IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) standards transmits data at 2.4 GHz whereas devices that comply with 802.11a standards transmit at 5 GHz.

WiMax (Wireless Interoperability for Microwave Access) technology represents the next generation of wireless networking and can transmit data up to a distance of forty-eight km. It can provide a maximum networking speed of seventy Mbps. It provides much better facilities than Wi-Fi such as higher bandwidth and high data security by using enhanced encryption schemes. It can provide service in both Line Of Sight (LOS) and Non-Line Of Sight (NLOS) locations, but range may vary accordingly. WiMax supports several communication protocols, and can act as the backbone network for an ISP(Internet service provider) as well as telecom service provider.

Mobile computing devices can use any of these networks to access the Internet or connect to a LAN( local area network) or WAN(wide area network) server. They use networking software for adjusting device settings to suit specific network requirements.

Programming languages seem to follow a cycle in which they become widely used, then fall into disfavor and eventually become “legacy” technology. COBOL, anyone? Java is a programming language that was widely considered revolutionary when it was first released. Its promise of write once, run anywhere offered to change the way computer applications were developed. Java has enjoyed a great deal of adoption but as the world increasingly moves towards web based applications, has Java’s fifteen minutes of fame elapsed? Is Java obsolete?

One feature of the Java programming language is that it enforces object-oriented design. Object-oriented design was created largely to address the complexity of maintaining large software systems. By creating abstract models of the various parts of the system, complexity could be reduced and it was believed that more code could be reused. While the reuse goals of object-oriented design have not always been realized, the simplification of maintenance has been. Java requires the use of object oriented design. In fact, some detractors see this as a problem. Java has no way to write strictly procedural code like you might write in a small script. This is less of a problem than many realize. By enforcing object-oriented principles, Java actually encourages developers to spend more time thinking out the design of their systems and this leads to code that is more easily maintained.

The object-oriented nature of Java also makes it ideal for programming using design patterns. Design patterns are simply object-oriented designs that have been tested and that encapsulate frequently encountered design problems. One example of a design pattern is the familiar web development pattern of Model-View-Controller (MVC). Java’s object-oriented nature makes it an excellent language to learn and use design patterns. Using these patterns also leads to better code.

Java’s initial promise of write once, run anywhere continues to be true today. Java is compiled into byte code which is then executed by a virtual machine. As a result, Java software is very portable. It is almost trivial to port a Java system to a new platform. This makes it an ideal platform for writing software for diverse hardware and operating system platforms. Incidentally, diverse hardware and operating systems perfectly describes the lay of the land in the rapidly growing mobile device space. If any revolution in the computing world helped to ensure that Java stays relevant, it would be the burgeoning mobile space.

Finally, Sun’s move to make Java open source means that its future is no longer tied to the rise and fall of any one company. By making Java open source, Sun ensured that virtual machines for running Java byte code could and would exist for any new platform. This further adds to Java’s relevance as it will likely be available on whatever new platforms emerge in the near future. By developing in Java, application developers can future proof their applications. They know that it will be trivial to port them to whatever the next great operating system or hardware platform is.