Being part of the cloud

There is an endless flood of data covering the volumes of smartphones that will be on the market by the end of this year and what the market potential is actually like. One thing is for certain, the smarter phones are eating up market share at the cost of the feature phones.

Some platforms are performing better than others (nielsenwire). Some platforms attract more developers than others (Appcelerator), which is a key indicator for where innovation will happen.

Troed Sångberg wrote, about a year ago, about the fact that the new form factor of some devices and the software architecture of these devices actually made them into Mobile Internet Devices. As in, the Internet is the primary use-case, making a phone call is just another application.

As such, they became your window to the Internet. You expect an all-in experience when you interact with the web using these devices, if something does not work you think that there is something wrong with your device. Here we can, at length, go into the options manufacturers have in terms of including technology but we can also talk about the options that service (web) developers have. But I will not. 

In short, there is still much to be wanted in terms of a truly great mobile web experience.

What is more interesting is that we are now at the point where we can expect these devices to transform into not only being a window to the Internet but being a fully embraced node in the cloud. 

You carry around a device today that is a truly converged technological phenomena with audio, video, cameras and connectivity at your fingertips.

There are developments in standards (W3C) where specifications like Powerbox are being discussed and evolved. This is one way of, in a generic kind of way, connecting resources to the Web. When such technologies have established themselves in our devices we will see services building on the fact that they can get access to your local resources be it your microphone, camera or your brand new stress sensor. 

Another initiative, within the EU FP7 research program, called Webinos, aims at evolving the current state-of-the art in web technologies and introduce any missing pieces to truly make the web the platform of choice for services and applications. A web, where you as an individual is at the center.

As your device is gradually transforming into a local network of sensors, some of which will reside in your clothing and others built into accessories such as your glasses, the mobile device will be the focal point of connectivity ensuring that your resources can be included in the cloud.

When this connectivity is in place we can truly start to talk about the next generation of context awareness, with services that truly augment your life and perhaps also makes you rather than the device smarter.

We are now moving from carrying a window to the Internet to a reflection of you in the cloud.