Mobile Revolution Research Articles

A Discursive Approach to Mediatisation: Corporate Technology Discourse and the Trope of Media Indispensability

Hitherto, and mainly by way of ethnographic studies, mediatisation research has informed us regarding the relevance, influence, and role of media in various spheres of social life. Less is known, however, about how mediatisation is <em>discursively</em> constructed<em>. </em>The relevance of constructivist approaches to mediatisation has been explicated, e.g., by Krotz (2017), who calls for critical mediatisation studies that consider the economic interests of mediatisation stakeholders, including the <em>ICT industry</em>. Against this backdrop<em>,</em> this article scrutinizes what the alleged ‘mobility revolution’ entails according to some who would benefit most from such a revolution. More concretely, the article studies the discursive practices of three leading corporations in the mobile communications sector: IBM, Huawei, and Ericsson. Stimulated by critical mediatisation theory as well as related accounts of the (technology) discourse-reality relationship, the article asks: if mobile media changes ‘everything’ in life—whose lives are being changed? If mobile media are ‘indispensable’ to modern ways of living—what are they supposed to do? Ultimately, the article speaks to the theme of this thematic issue by interrogating <em>how contemporary mobile technology discourse contributes to the (re-)production of social space</em>. Findings suggest that mediatisation is constructed as the response to an internal human drive for connectivity and as an inexorable natural force. Three sub-discourses on mobile technology are identified: ‘technologies of cosmos’, ‘technologies of self’, and, ultimately, ‘technologies of life’. Altogether, these sub-discourses disclose and reinforce the hegemonic nature of mediatisation by communicating the <em>indispensability</em> of mobile media in modern—notably, urban and privileged—lives. In addition to providing answers to the study’s empirical questions, the article includes a discussion about the potential implications of existing discourse overlaps between ICT companies and mediatisation theorists, as well as a sketch for an agenda for the ‘discursive turn’ in mediatisation studies.

The 4G Mobile Revolution Olaf Swantee & Stuart JacksonInvent your own computer games with Python (4th edition) Al SweigartDelivering Benefit Brian Sutton & Robina Chatham

The 4G Mobile Revolution Olaf Swantee & Stuart JacksonInvent your own computer games with Python (4th edition) Al SweigartDelivering Benefit Brian Sutton & Robina Chatham

Digital Revolutions Affecting Distribution Within the Games Sector

The paper addresses the two main revolutions the games industry underwent within the last decade in its distribution structures: The internet shift and the mobile revolution. The author observes and describes economic phenomena which he has witnessed in many workshops and interviews within several EU research projects. By modeling different scenarios of actors in the ecosystem he now shows that the structures have seen dramatic changes and shifting opportunities for all market participants. As a result, he shows that both revolutions have opened opportunities for fast movers, but over time those opportunities have been shrinking with more and more actors coming on board.

Expecting great expectations when expecting

Pregnancy is a time when a woman experiences a number of unexpected biological, psychological and social changes. Traditionally, woman sought guidance and help from their mothers and/or social circles to learn how to tackle these changes. With the advent of the mobile revolution, women are now turning to mobile applications to do the same. In this article, we review a pregnancy tracking mobile application called Ovia, in the light of the comments made by mothers using it from around the world. We learn that women like Ovia because it allows them to track, monitor and explore their pregnancy journey by receiving personalized guidance.

The Future of Law and Mobility

With the launch of the new Journal of Law and Mobility, the University of Michigan is recognizing the transformative impact of new transportation and mobility technologies, from cars, to trucks, to pedestrians, to drones. The coming transition towards intelligent, automated, and connected mobility systems will transform not only the way people and goods move about, but also the way human safety, privacy, and security are protected, cities are organized, machines and people are connected, and the public and private spheres are defined. Law will be at the center of these transformations, as it always is. There has already been a good deal of thinking about the ways that law must adapt to make connected and automated mobility feasible in areas like tort liability, insurance, federal preemption, and data privacy. But it is also not too early to begin pondering the many implications for law and regulation arising from the technology’s spillover effects as it begins to permeate society. For better or worse, connected and automated mobility will disrupt legal practices and concepts in a variety of ways additional to the obvious “regulation of the car.” Policing practices and Fourth Amendment law, now so heavily centered on routine automobile stops, will of necessity require reconsideration. Notions of ownership of physical property (i.e., an automobile) and data (i.e., accident records) will be challenged by the automated sharing economy. And the economic and regulatory structure of the transportation network will have to be reconsidered as mobility transitions from a largely individualistic model of drivers in their own cars pursuing their own ends within the confines of general rules of the road to a model in which shared and interconnected vehicles make collective decisions to optimize the system’s performance. In these and many other ways, the coming mobility revolution will challenge existing legal concepts and practices with implications far beyond the “cool new gadget of driverless cars.” Despite the great importance of the coming mobility revolution, the case for a field of study in “law and mobility” is not obvious. In this inaugural essay for the Journal of Law and Mobility, I shall endeavor briefly to make that case.

Status Quo and Prospective of WeChat in Improving Chinese English Learners’ Pronunciation

With the ubiquitous usage of wireless, portable, and handheld devices gaining popularity in 21st century, the revolutionary mobile technology introduces digital new media to educational settings, which has changed the way of traditional teaching and learning. WeChat is one of the most popular social networking applications in China featured by its interactivity and real-time communication that has attracted attention of educators to its pedagogical value. This study evaluates the utilization of WeChat in mobile learning and, in particular, its potential for improving English pronunciation among English learners in China. It probes into the perennial problems of Chinese students in English pronunciation acquisition and oral practice, discusses WeChat’s support functions in mobile learning, demonstrates the relevant empirical studies of WeChat in teaching and learning, and analyses the potential value of using WeChat in improving English pronunciation. Examinations in this paper enable one to reflect on the strengths of mobile learning by WeChat and to explore how this social media tool is likely to solve the pronunciation difficulties of Chinese English learners. It is found that applying WeChat to English pronunciation teaching and practicing helps create better self-directed learning environment, enhance learning flexibility and improve oral learning effectiveness. It is hopefully that insights gained from examining how WeChat helps improve English pronunciation learning will shed light on further innovations of teaching designs in this area.

LTE Direct as a Device-to-Device Network Technology: Use Cases and Security

While the Internet is evolving to the Internet of Things, all other technologies that are related to it are also advancing in a way to contain and support concepts like device-to-device networking, proximate discovery, energy efficiency and security. One of the fastest thrives can be seen in mobile communication technologies. This became more obvious after 4G spread out. In our study, we present a review of a new and revolutionary mobile technology under development: LTE Direct; which runs on licensed radio spectrum and is claimed to be energy efficient and secure, while enabling new approaches for the Internet of Things. We state why and how LTE Direct should replace existing systems, by making an analysis considering provided features, resource consumption, possible use cases and security concerns, as well as comparisons with the conventional technologies. Lastly, we provide ideas for the areas where further research should be made to have this system be a reality.

Mobile Technology Risk Management

Mobile technology is fast becoming an indispensable part of consumers’ lives and an essential business tool in improving productivity, streamlining business processes and remaining competitive. The mobile revolution is transforming business operations, but the pervasive nature of mobile technology also introduces new and significant risks into all areas of the businesses. In most businesses, however, the governance of mobile technology and its related risks is often disjointed and implemented in an ad hoc manner, resulting in all risks not being addressed. This lack of appropriate governance policies and procedures is a direct consequence of a lack of understanding of the technology and the speed at which new technologies are developed and adopted. If the risks are not addressed in a comprehensive manner, it could have severe consequences for a business. The objective of this research is to address this problem by using an appropriate control framework, Control Objectives for Information Technology (COBIT), to identify a comprehensive set of internal controls to address mobile technology risks at a governance, management and operational level. The research proposes a comprehensive set of internal controls which can be used by those charged with governance to manage each significant risk arising from the implementation of mobile technology.

A new revolution in urban mobility: public bicycles systems

The urban mobility in the city is a basic need for people to be satisfied, and be protected in the effort requiring the necessary movements to access to goods and services does not negatively impact the quality of life or in the development possibilities economic, cultural, educational, etc. citizens trips or journeys that the population, which have become more complex due to urban expansion and rapid growth of the population seeking ways and means of transportation that allow access to different parts of a space Once each larger city where the destinations are increasingly far apart. Mobility is a key for urban, territorial and sustainable development of cities factor, analysis of urban travel, is predominant today where the search for alternatives aimed to make sustainable, responsible city with the care of the environment is appropriate for them to make a focused on the design and implementation of public bicycle systems (SBP) analysis, which is a practical and easy complement public transport network which seeks to mitigate the effects of traffic congestion with benefits health of the user. In this article the importance of SBP noted, a review of the generations of such systems is carried out, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of this type of system is finally emerging and promoting a new paradigm of urban motorized mobility are booming worldwide, which are becoming a real alternative urban transportation over short distances in the central cities

Challenge in traditional service delivery for diabetes management: mobile health, a technology driven system, is the alternative?

This case study is written on the Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation for Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (BIRDEM). This is the largest diabetes management hospital in Asia. The newly appointed Executive Director, Mr. Habib, is attempting to launch a new revolutionary mobile health service system driven by modern wireless technology for better service quality, higher efficiency, and patient convenience, which is ultimately targeted toward achieving a higher return on investment. This is a challenging issue as it is a complex concern based on users' technological, behavioural, and cognitive beliefs. Nevertheless, Mr. Habib has decided to take this challenge.

IEEE Access Special Section Editorial: Advances in Vehicular Clouds

Connected vehicles are seen as the next frontier for the mobile revolution. By bringing Internet connectivity to vehicles, not only infotainment of the vehicles can be enriched, but also safety and driving experience of the drivers can be enhanced. Connected vehicles can access real-time information about traffic conditions to make the journey more time efficient. They can also share local traffic information in real-time to assist other vehicles making better route planning. Consolidating various transportation data from individual vehicles and other transportation infrastructure can further enhance Intelligent Transportation System (ITS).

El Smartphone en los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje-evaluación en Educación Superior. Percepciones de docentes y estudiantes.

El dispositivo móvil que mayor acogida está teniendo en la actualidad es el Smartphone, simbolizando la revolución del Internet móvil. Aunque la incidencia de las tecnologías y formas de comunicación emergentes en la sociedad es innegable, en el ámbito educativo, supone un reto. Por ello, los objetivos de este trabajo se centran en detectar la importancia otorgada al Smartphone como herramienta al servicio de los procesos de enseñanza, aprendizaje y evaluación, por docentes y discentes de Educación Superior y, conocer los beneficios y dificultades apreciadas por el profesorado y alumnado universitario, sobre la introducción del Smartphone en los procesos de enseñanza, aprendizaje y evaluación. Para ello se ha diseñado, validado e implementado herramientas de recogida de información cuantitativas y cualitativas, aplicando dos cuestionarios, uno destinado a docentes (n=311) y otro a estudiantes (n=483) y, dos Grupos Focales con estudiantes (n=6) y profesores (n=6). Los resultados muestran que, a pesar de la baja implementación pedagógica del Smartphone, docentes y estudiantes perciben más ventajas que dificultades respecto a su introducción en las aulas universitarias.

A single chromosome assembly of Bacteroides fragilis strain BE1 from Illumina and MinION nanopore sequencing data.

BackgroundSecond and third generation sequencing technologies have revolutionised bacterial genomics. Short-read Illumina reads result in cheap but fragmented assemblies, whereas longer reads are more expensive but result in more complete genomes. The Oxford Nanopore MinION device is a revolutionary mobile sequencer that can produce thousands of long, single molecule reads.ResultsWe sequenced Bacteroides fragilis strain BE1 using both the Illumina MiSeq and Oxford Nanopore MinION platforms. We were able to assemble a single chromosome of 5.18 Mb, with no gaps, using publicly available software and commodity computing hardware. We identified gene rearrangements and the state of invertible promoters in the strain.ConclusionsThe single chromosome assembly of Bacteroides fragilis strain BE1 was achieved using only modest amounts of data, publicly available software and commodity computing hardware. This combination of technologies offers the possibility of ultra-cheap, high quality, finished bacterial genomes.

Mobile Money and Financial Development: The Case of M-PESA in Kenya

Many economists argue that financial market development plays a role in fostering economic development. However, the question of how to extend financial access to the unbanked in underdeveloped countries has long remained a puzzle in the development finance literature. Much of the debate thus far has centered on how strong a role the government should play in directing this process. Using Kenya as an illustrative case study, I show that entrepreneurial innovations like the ‘mobile money revolution’ and the associated phenomena of ‘agent banking’ can play a pivotal role fostering financial inclusion and promoting financial development. The key to bringing about these innovations, I argue, is not relying on ‘hands on’ government involvement but rather pursuing a ‘hands off’ approach whereby the government merely focuses on establishing a fertile institutional environment that protects private property and promotes entrepreneurship.

Acquiring Knowledge through Mobile Applications

The use of mobile devices is increasing to exceeds millions of users and has become an important part of daily life. This wide spread has provided new advantages for a wide range of applications. In learning settings, the term M-Learning is considered the latest type of electronic learning introduced as a result of the mobile revolution in which new learning options are provided through mobile applications. This paper presents a review of M-Learning and summarises the main advantages as well as the potential challenges of mobile learning through mobile applications

The mobile revolution – Machine intelligence for autonomous vehicles

Abstract What started as a distant vision just a few decades ago is quickly becoming reality. Autonomous vehicles are about to be deployed on a large scale and will fundamentally change our transportation behavior. In this particular application, extreme demands on reliability and quality give rise to numerous problems and open issues that need to be jointly identified and addressed by both academia and industry. In this article, we present an overview of the current state-of-the-art in the field of intelligent autonomous vehicles. We further discuss open problems and current research directions.

An Exploratory Study on E-Business Risks Due to the Sector Classification of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Owing to Information and the mobile revolution, e-business has become the most important element of modern management. E-business has the advantage that an organization can conduct its own business efficiently and effectively at relatively lower cost; however, it also carries the risk of affecting the survival of the entire organization. As the number of clients who use Internet and enterprises entering e-business is increasing, various risk factors have shown constant recurrence, and their importance is inevitably increasing. Although studies on e-business risks have been actively conducted since the mid- 1990s, there have been limits in applying them in practical work as only few of them have focused on the e-business risk factors of small and medium-sized enterprises and their management methods. Therefore, this study intends to analyze the challenges by classifying the existing studies based on the risk factors and suggesting directions for future studies.

The mobile revolution--using smartphone apps to prevent cardiovascular disease.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Mobile technology might enable increased access to effective prevention of CVDs. Given the high penetration of smartphones into groups with low socioeconomic status, health-related mobile applications might provide an opportunity to overcome traditional barriers to cardiac rehabilitation access. The huge increase in low-cost health-related apps that are not regulated by health-care policy makers raises three important areas of interest. Are apps developed according to evidenced-based guidelines or on any evidence at all? Is there any evidence that apps are of benefit to people with CVD? What are the components of apps that are likely to facilitate changes in behaviour and enable individuals to adhere to medical advice? In this Review, we assess the current literature and content of existing apps that target patients with CVD risk factors and that can facilitate behaviour change. We present an overview of the current literature on mobile technology as it relates to prevention and management of CVD. We also evaluate how apps can be used throughout all age groups with different CVD prevention needs.

Material innovation opportunities for 3D integrated circuits from a wireless application point of view

Abstract

The Potential of Computer-Assisted Direct Observation Apps

Direct behavior observation, i.e., without first creating a video recording, is a challenging, one-shot task. The behavior has to be coded accurately during the situation itself. Mobile devices can assist direct observation, and there already are applications available for these purposes. However, the mobile revolution has led to new developments in devices, infrastructure, and market penetration that have opened up new, yet untapped, possibilities. In this article, expanded activity theory is used to highlight the unused potential of computer assisted direct observation (CADO) apps. If this potential is realized, it can provide observation with the same advantages online questionnaires and sites like Mechanical Turk have provided for surveys and Internet experiments.