Mobile Business - The Emerging Trends

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connectivity, new product, m-businesses, communication, mobile wireless communications, Internet, Compatibility, Security, User-friendly

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Mobile Business - Issues and Challenges Contd...

Quality issues continue to plague most mobile devices. Some problems arise due to the physical characteristics of mobile devices, while others are service-related. Small displays on mobile phones, tedious data entry, slow data transmission speeds and lack of compelling services are major obstacles to the user acceptance. Other issues related to mobile devices include:
* The technology used by phones may be complex to understand by the consumers.

* Some devices allowing the Internet access are expensive.

* Many mobile carriers restrict Internet access to a select group of sites.

* Lack of sophisticated filtering and display techniques since automatic transformation of existing Internet content is not appropriate for mobile devices.

Consumers are also worried about the breach of privacy and transaction related security issues while using the mobile Internet. One of the privacy concerns is the ability of mobile operators to know users' location. All mobile operators have tracking systems, which can provide location data within a few meters. This functionality could be misused adding to consumers' inconvenience. Moreover, in a similar way like PCs with Internet access, mobile devices are also prone to viruses. Hence, mobile service providers must provide a secure environment for device users.

Public Key Infrastructures is one of the best security methods to achieve complete transaction confidentiality, user and provider authentication, data integrity (data has not been changed during transmission), and payment/transaction authorization via digital signatures to ensure non-repudiation. It requires various encryption techniques during data transmission in order to achieve complete security.

Security of transmission and the data transmitted can also be achieved using Wireless Transport Layer Security for secure remote sessions between consumers and merchants or local payment protocols. Similar to PKI, strong end-to-end encryption will also help in achieving complete security.

To create successful m-businesses, organizations need to fully understand mobile user experiences. They have to develop an effective mobile strategy that can lead to:

* Maximization of value to the business.
* Decreasing time to launch a new product in the market.
* Growth in scale to meet current and future needs.
* Minimizing product developments costs.

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