In such a tough economic times the mobile computing services are being perceived as the major source of increasing productivity and enjoy economies of scale. Many organisations (especially small businesses and medium sized businesses, SMBs) prefer mobile computing services, like business laptops, over desktop PCs because these add to the flexibility and adaptability of the business.

Access Markets International (AMI) has conducted a research and concluded that nearly half of small businesses and about nine-tenths of medium-sized businesses employ workers who need to travel for their work at least four to five times per month. Whilst travelling the workers need to a have a suitable mobile computing solution, like being supplied with the Sony Vaio VGN-Z21WN/B business laptop, for instance. This way the workers can work seamlessly irrespective of their location. SMBs believe that the mobile computing services can contribute a lot in enhancing the productivity in more places. AMI expects a rise in the demand for mobile computing services in the next five years. It expects the US SMB mobility market to grow from $1.8 billion to $2.6 billion by the end of 2013. SMBs are willing to spend on portable PCs, conferencing services and smartphones-solutions even in the times of recession as these services are deemed as critical for smooth business operations.

According to AMI analyst Chad Henry, “Mobile data access will enable agility and quicker response times – critical factors in today’s environment. Our research shows while layoffs are on the rise, SMBs will hold on to their rainmakers and will continue to provide them with tools that help them deliver business. Even though travel has increased in the past couple of years, firms will begin to reign in unnecessary travel in this economy and look to technology solutions, like conferencing, to pick up the slack.”

Tags for this article: mobile, Laptops, netbooks

According to The Nielsen Company’s research in the United States and five countries in Europe for Tellabs, there will not be a significant reduction in the use of the Internet with mobile computing platforms from the current global economic recession.

There are indications that growth in usage of mobile computing is set to grow significantly in the next year. Findings also reveal that professionals will be increasing usage of mobile internet data services in the next couple of years enabling the mobile computing industry to flourish.

Though there were concerns expressed over the service quality, speed and cost, almost 71% of consumers showed an inclination towards using mobile Internet on a daily basis.

According to Nielsen, at least fifty percent of the existing two hundred million users of mobile data today are set to increase usage in the next couple of years. Another significant finding shows that twenty five percent of people who are not presently using mobile data services are likely to start doing so shortly. This explains many analysts’ predictions that sales of netbooks, like the Toshiba Netbook NB100, are set to grow in the economically gloomy year of 2009. According to Tellabs Inc., network traffic resulting from multimedia services, E-Mail and mobile Internet will be higher resulting from extensive usage by at least 175 million consumers.

According to Tellabs Middle East, Europe and Africa’s Vice President, Pat Dolan, mobile data services are no more a luxury but a necessity and consumers will continue using this service despite the recession. He added that it is possible for operators to cater to the increasing demands of users and must work on strategic upgrades of networks on an urgent basis. He went on to say that this will enable them to offer cost effective solutions to users.

Tags for this article: mobile, Laptops, internet

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is actively getting involved in donating laptops to children in developing countries every day, but this project is not exempted from the economic crisis. Indeed, the worldwide recession has affected OLPC too and forced the OLPC founder to restructure and streamline its process. Recently OLPC has cut off 32 employees from its staff as a part of its streamlining process and the rest of the officials are bearing with salary cuts.

OLPC is focusing on the development of a $100 XO laptop for children in developing countries. But now the commercial vendors too have introduced their portable computing machines at a nearly equally competitive price. For prices as low as £160, the Asus Eee PC 701 4G was already nipping at the XO laptop’s heels, but with a new wave of netbooks approaching the $100 range, things look much more difficult for OLPC. This naturally makes OLPC face tough economic times, especially at this time of recession. However, the OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte says, “OLPC will be dedicated to bringing the cost of the laptop down to Zero for the Least Developed Countries — the $0 Laptop.” This is a very bold goal set by the OLPC team.

The last year was full of struggles for OLPC. OLPC’s top three executives resigned as they felt that the OLPC is getting more interested in laptop distribution instead of economic development. Still, Negroponte believes that the OLPC has ability to keep donating laptops in the developing nations. He says, “The future brings with it some uncertainty, some difficulty, but also the excitement that comes with the rededication to a cause, and a new path that will allow us to realize the moral purpose of OLPC.”

The war for the next generation DVD format ended when Toshiba announced the withdrawal of support for the HD DVD format. After that, supporters of the HD format shifted slowly to Blu-ray, essentially leading to its victory.

People, however, couldn’t freely migrate to BluRay because of the high prices of players and discs alike. Digital media downloads started becoming popular, as upconverting DVD players already satisfied the needs of those who wanted to fully utilize their HDTVs.

The DVD format war was over, but other wars were brewing, like the ones for the smartphone market. Apple created a revolution with the iPhone, and extended it with the release of iPhone 3G. Significant competitors emerged to take the place of the iPhone killer. T-Mobile G1 with Google Android, the Nokia N97 and RIM BlackBerry Storm are some of the main contenders for that title. Netbooks are also seeing an increase in popularity, with more people jumping in to grab them as small, cheap PCs.

Economic recession hit some gadget makers and sellers hard, resulting in price drops in many markets including the Sony products and TiVo’s. There were many retailers who had to close down, notable among which was Circuit City, the retail giant. This meant, much to the customer’s delight, liquidation sales.

People looking for MP3 players got some good deals on Microsoft’s Zune. HDTVs also saw some good price cuts. Other gadgets such as cameras also saw some major price drop. Depending on your perspective, this could be good or bad news for you, so it’s how you look at the economic recession that matters.

Tags for this article: mobile, netbooks, iPhone

The economic slowdown harms Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) immediately. With the growth of mobile computing, SMEs are facing more pressure because they find it difficult to locate technology suppliers who understand their needs. According to a survey conducted by T-Mobile, SMEs use the investments made in the mobile computing sector to maintain growth and reduce costs in such an environment of economic slowdown.

More than 500 SMEs owners, who employ less than 250 employees across the UK, were surveyed and it was concluded that such entrepreneurs find it difficult to get a suitable technology supplier, for products like notebooks, desktop PC, and other needs. Most of them believe that it’s high time to replace the old working model with a flexible one so that the overheads can be reduced to a minimum. SMEs feel that the nature of their mobile computing contract gives them the ability to adapt to sudden economic recession.

According to the Director of Service and Sales at T-Mobile UK, Gordon Ballantyne, “Things are going to become increasingly difficult for many smaller businesses and it’s imperative that suppliers work with them to ensure that they can continue to grow. Mobile communications providers need to work with SMEs to tailor a tariff which not only matches their business needs, but also takes into account the potential impact of the credit crunch. Businesses should be looking for a simple, understandable price plan from mobile communications providers and ensuring they get the specific advice that they require.”

Tags for this article: mobile, technology