The Smart Phone: A First Platform for Pervasive Computing

by Gregory D. Abowd, Liviu Iftode, & Helena Mitchell Pervasive Computing, April-June 2005 One way in which the vision of ubiquitous computing has become a reality is in the ubiquity of mobile phones. Over a billion mobile phones exist today, a third of which are in China. In many Asian countries, more mobile phones are used than domestic landlines; in Singapore, mobile phones outnumber citizens. Mobile phones are thus a near-constant companion of a significant percentage of the world’s population, always on and always connected. More importantly, improvements in battery life, service coverage, processor performance, and overall platform capabilities are providing new opportunities for service deployment on these devices. Read the article