Mobile applications have to be dynamic in order to keep up with the equally volatile mobile phone technology. So what is the trajectory taken by mobile phone applications?
Augmented Reality
The idea that a computer generated image can be used to alter a person’s perception of reality has jumped off of the screens of science fiction and materialized in real life. The use of AR solutions is expected to increase beyond applications such as iOnRoad, making inroads into new frontiers such as e-commerce, industry and of course entertainment.
Virtual Reality (VR)
Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus VR for a whoping $2 billion is testimony to the future of virtual reality. Emerging trends have seen VR applications extending beyond entertainment and gaming into communication, social media and even hospitality. For instance, it would be interesting to see the application of VR in businesses allowing consumers to sample rooms before making reservations. Vehicle test drives can also be done ‘virtually’ reducing any of the risks involved. Such is the hope that VR portends in the future.
The iBeacon
Apple’s ibeacon technology is bound to send more ripples in the tech world. It capitalizes on the personal area network technology called Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to send data packets over shorter distances allowing smart phones to communicate with nearby network beacons. This technology has found its applications in commerce. Retailers can for instance monitor the traffic going into the shop and the products attracting more customer attention than others. It can also facilitate payment through mobiles. Some more work may still be needed to boost signal strength and invest in additional hardware and accessories as the trend gains momentum.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The world continues to harbor an insatiable thirst for more complex applications and algorithms. It is at the heart of decision making solutions and data processing. It is expected that artificial intelligence will evolve from the personal assistants in Android and iOS to more vibrant solutions for consumers.
3D Printing Applications
The increase of 3D printing in solutions is important as aviation industry and other industrial solutions such as automobile and defense industry. In addition this technology has permeated in delivery of health services with applications in prosthetics and implants. The future of 3D printing in medicine goes as far eliminating the need for donors in the future. In commerce, it is companies who will fully embrace 3D printing offering services such as customization of say smart-phones among others. All these applications have opened the market for the requisite software to go with it. The mobile world has not been left behind either, with solutions such as MakerBot tailored for mobile phones in modeling and prototyping.
Internet of Things (IoT)
Virtually all our technological advancements are linked to the Internet in one way or another. The IoT is technology that aims to connect all gadgets to the Internet. It is responsible for driving the need for software beyond just phones and computers but into other electronics such as refrigerators and wearables such as watches. This is of course good news to developers of mobile software solutions. Moreover the proliferation of IoT has made Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) increasingly important serving as IoT’s data lifeline. Of equally grave importance is that IoT is improved to a point of cognitive and smart capabilities to handle the plethora of data it interacts with.
Wearables
It is expected that the business of enterprise applications for wearables will continue to boom for a while. This is as wearables consumption moves to other areas such as the work environment such as for diagnosis in hospitals.
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