Cloud Computing Bible

Chapter 20. Working with Mobile Devices

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Learning about the cell phone market

• Discovering the key smartphone Web features

• Understanding how cloud services are changing phone services

• Discovering the different smartphone operating systems

In this chapter, you learn about mobile phones and their interaction with the cloud. The impact that cellular phone technology has had on civilization is dramatic. The most popular consumer device is the Nokia 1100, and the billionth cell phone that Nokia sold was an 1100 in Nigeria. Cell phones have had nearly universal worldwide adoption.

Cell phones fall into two categories. As this chapter explains, there are feature phones, which are phones with added capabilities, and smartphones that run recognized operating systems, install applications, and have persistent Internet connectivity. Feature phones are being replaced by smartphones, and for many people in the world, smartphones are the only computer that they will ever own.

Cloud services are having a major impact on cellular phone technology, and vice versa. Many smartphones come with native applications that consume Web services, many of which are currently deployed in the cloud. Some of these applications do little more than point a micro-browser at a Web site that has been specifically formatted for mobile phone consumption. Other applications consume RSS feeds, and many more are simply frontends for applications that run in the cloud. Mobile application developers are staging their ...