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Wireless Data Services

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Wireless Data Services

Technologies, Business Models and Global Markets

Cambridge UP,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

The ubiquitous wireless telephone is expanding globally, despite competing technologies and extremely varied markets.

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Editorial Rating

6

Recommendation

This short analysis of the global wireless technology market is probably the most thorough book of its type. Authors Chetan Sharma and Yasuhisa Nakamura diligently track the development of the most important wireless technologies and standards, sketch the anatomy of the value chain and make some informed judgments about the future direction of various wireless industry segments. They also examine the social and cultural influence of wireless. The book is refreshingly free of the hype and hucksterism that characterizes so many books about the business of technology. However, some readers will find its relentless focus and its scrupulously neutral prose hard to take in any but small doses. getAbstract highly recommends this book to anyone in the wireless industry whose job demands an understanding of the field’s broader business and technological context. The lengthy list of industry abbreviations and acronyms is a particularly valuable feature.

Summary

Globalization

The world is shrinking. Globalization means that when financial markets collapse in Asia even South American coffee growers feel the impact. Migrants from China open companies in Costa Rica and Minnesotans vacation in Mongolia. Of course, communication is essential to globalization, and wireless is an essential part of communication. But globalization and wireless communication have dark and light sides. For a look at the dark side, consider the use that terrorists have made of cell phones. For an example of the light, consider the use that rescuers put them to during various calamities.

For better or worse, we live in one world, knit ever closer by advances in communication and computing technology. In some regions – most notably Scandinavia and Japan – wireless devices are as ubiquitous as wristwatches and wallets. The average wireless device user is in contact with it every waking hour. Although regional differences in usage patterns may persist, global standards are developing for the most important wireless technologies. Global standardization offers the following advantages to these distinct audiences:

  • Advantages for operators...

About the Authors

Chetan Sharma is an expert on the strategy and implementation of wireless Internet and pervasive computing ideas and solutions. He is the author of Wireless Internet Enterprise Applications and the co-author of VoiceXML: Strategies and Techniques for Effective Voice Application Development. Yasuhisa Nakamura is a specialist in wireless telecommunications. He has more than 50 patents awarded or pending.

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