Abstract
The mobile cloud is in a very early stage of development, but it is poised to
develop over the next five years into an innovative repository of services,
functionality and capabilities for mobile devices. The mobile cloud removes
the need for elements of a mobile app (e.g., storage, processing and input) to
be physically packaged together, opening up new possibilities for mobile app
developers.
Mobile cloud apps have, in general, started with addressing rather simple
functions. This is in the process of changing, and we expect to see a rapid
progression to increasingly complex apps. These changes and progressions are
aided by the increasing capabilities of the device and tablet OSs, which are
on a path of convergence with the desktop, tower and server OSs.
As mobile devices add more and more capabilities, the range of possible apps
and services is expanding rapidly. These capabilities include geo-location,
cameras, microphones and an increasing number of sensors of physical
activities - i.e., gravitometers, accelerometers and environmental factors. Of
great interest in pushing the envelope of mobile cloud capabilities is the
area of context awareness and how these new sensors and other features blend
in to the opportunity to define context and enhance user experiences.
As we discuss, context awareness is not a simple feature or app. Rather, it
incorporates inputs from the widest imaginable range of sources: search,
various device capabilities (sensors), cameras, GPS, social networking and
more. It uses these inputs to tailor information and responses to the user in
the most personalized manner possible.
This study considers the mobile cloud app ecosystem from the following angles:
Enterprise: We believe the enterprise faces some distinctive issues in
approaching the area of the mobile cloud. In the enterprise sphere, mobile
clouds and mobile apps are not viewed as a distinct priority currently. This
is because the enterprise is trying to deal with what it generally views as
two separate phenomena: cloud and mobile (largely bring your own device -
BYOD). We examine two growing aspects of enterprise mobile cloud apps: backend
as a service (BaaS) and mobile application management (MAM). Both of these are
extremely important and helpful, and will lead to consolidation with other
aspects of the growing mobile cloud as it progresses.
Personal: Developments are surging ahead in the personal mobile cloud
apps area, driven partly by entrenched superpowers of the mobile cloud world
such as Google, whose presence appears in almost all areas, as well as
emerging and startup developers, and even from academic sources. We discuss
some of the aspects of mobile cloud app development, mostly focused on how the
mobile-centric aspects of apps and the device-driven capabilities are being
explored and where this can lead.
Verticals: We have chosen to focus on two specific verticals, which
illustrate different aspects of how mobile cloud apps are developing: 1)
medical/healthcare, where mobile cloud will continue to gain importance in
patient monitoring, healthcare records, doctor's routines and insurance; and
2) automotive, which presents a growing number of systems employing various
approaches to telematics. These verticals are not only interesting because
they have been particularly vibrant areas for the spread of mobile apps and
the mobile cloud, but also because they contribute to our understanding of the
issues surrounding mobile clouds in the enterprise area.
Transcending capabilities: We examine two capabilities that we believe
will have major impact on the future of mobile cloud apps: voice
recognition/response and augmented reality. Signaled by the appearance of Siri
in 2011, mobile is clearly the breeding ground for the widespread use of voice
recognition and response; and the mobile cloud is the key enabler for this
technology to become really useful. Augmented reality, broadly speaking,
involves combining the information that exists in the world of machines,
computers and the Internet with the "real world." This will also find its
flowering in mobile, with the absolutely essential requirement of a mobile
cloud.
Mobile Cloud Apps: The Driving Factors - the third report in Heavy
Reading's Mobile Cloud Survival Series - explores the impact of the
mobile cloud on the mobile app ecosystem and examines the major capabilities
that we believe will shape the future of mobile cloud apps. The report offers
detailed case studies of mobile cloud apps in the medical/healthcare and
automotive verticals, as well as analysis of "transcending" capabilities such
as voice recognition/response and augmented reality, which are revolutionizing
the mobile user experience.
The excerpt below shows a schematic view of what we refer to as the Mobile
Cloud App World, showing how this ecosystem is fed by fixed cloud apps,
mobile-centric apps, device-driven apps and transcending capabilities; managed
by cloud platforms; and accessed by various types of mobile devices and OSs.
Report Scope & Structure
Mobile Cloud Apps: The Driving Factors is structured as follows:
Section 1 introduces the concept of the mobile cloud app world and lays
out our segmenting of the market into enterprise, personal, verticals, and
transcending capabilities of mobile cloud apps.
Section 2 examines the relationship of enterprises and mobile cloud
apps, including particular issues that are significant for the spread of the
mobile cloud.
Section 3 explores the evolution of personal mobile cloud apps,
focusing especially on the key areas of context awareness, social networking
and facial recognition.
Section 4 presents our case studies of the medical/healthcare and
automotive verticals, two areas we believe will have extremely strong
influence on the growth of mobile cloud apps.
Section 5 considers what we have termed "transcending capabilities" -
cutting-edge functions that may offer tremendous enhancement of the mobile
user experience, including voice recognition/response and augmented reality.
Mobile Cloud Apps: The Driving Factors - the third report of the
Mobile Cloud Survival Series - is published in PDF format.
Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Mobile Cloud App World
- Enterprise - The Unique Issues
- Personal (including Consumer & General) Mobile Cloud Apps
- Verticals
- Transcending Capabilities & the Future of Mobile Cloud Apps
- Mobile Networks & Mobile Cloud Apps: Google vs. the Carriers
- Search, Social Networking & Mobile Cloud Apps
1. DEFINING MOBILE CLOUD APPS
- Mobile Cloud App World
- Segmenting the Mobile Cloud App World
- From "Apps" to "Mobile Cloud Apps"
- Complexity: Mobile Cloud Apps - From the Simple to the Sublime
- Mobile Cloud Apps - Are they "Apps," "Services," "Functions"?
2. ENTERPRISES & MOBILE CLOUD APPS
- Enterprises & the Mobile Cloud
- New Disciplines
- BaaS - Backend as a Service
- FeedHenry
- CloudMine
- MAM - Mobile Applications Management
- AppCentral
- Other MAM Companies: Symatec/Nukona
- Mocana
- Apperian
- Outlook for MAM
3. EVOLUTION OF PERSONAL MOBILE CLOUD APPS
- Evolution of Mobile Cloud Apps - Key Elements
- Context Awareness - Background
- Defining Context"
- Personal Situation
- Environmental Context
- Personal Background Information
- Intentions
- Evolution of Context Awareness & Devices
- New Directions in context Awareness
- Sensors & Context
- Sensors & Data Mining
- Context & Social Networking: Context Aware Web (CAwbWeb)
- Facial Recognition
- Animetrics
4. VERTICAL CASE STUDIES: MEDICAL & AUTOBOTIVE
- Medical/Healthcare Mobile Cloud Drivers
- Doctor - Oriented Mobile Cloud Apps
- EZ Derm
- MedMaster Mobility
- Iconic Data - SwiftPayMD
- Patient Monitoring
- Chronic Care Management
- Entra Health Systems
- Medical Body Area Networks (MBANs)
- Hospitals & Mobile Clouds
- Mobility & Cloud: McKesson, Allscripts, Epic, Cerner
- Insurance-Based Apps
- Castlight
- Aetna
- Medical Mobile Cloud Platforms
- Qualcomm Life
- Microsoft - Health Vault
- Automotive - Mobile Cloud Apps
- Automotive - Vehicle monitoring
- Airbiquity - Connected Vehicles
- FleetMatics
- Insurance & Automotive Monitoring
- Automotive - Infotainment
- Verizon & AT&T - Automotive Initiatives
- Autonomous Vehicles
5. TRANSCENDING CAPABILITIES
- From Speech Recognition & Response to Conversation
- Google, Apple, AT&T - Speech TEchnology Positioning
- Voice Command & Ohter Voice Players
- Augmented Reality - Basics
- Google Glass - Wearable Media
- IBM - In - Store Augmented Reality
- Qualcomm
APPENDIX A: TRANSFORMING "APPS" INTO "MOBILE APPS"
APPENDIX B: THE CLOUD CONTINUUM
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Mobile Cloud Apps: The Driving Factors published by Heavy Reading in January 15, 2013. This report consists of 55 Pages and the price starts from US $ 4995.
