Radio-frequency identification (RFID)

Third Position Paper

By Kamakshi Samala

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is an automatic identification method of coupling of electromagnetic or electrostatic in the RF (radio frequency) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum which is used to transmit signals. RFID system consists of an antenna and a transceiver that reads the radio frequency and transfers the information to a processing device, and a transponder, or tag, (an integrated circuit containing the RF circuitry and information to be transmitted).

Even though the RFID technology is similar in theory of bar code identification, the key difference is RFID eliminates the need for line-of-sight reading that bar coding depends on. Also, RFID scanning can be done from a greater distances than bar code scanning. High frequency RFID systems (850 MHz to 950 MHz and 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz) offer transmission ranges of more than 90 feet, although wavelengths in the 2.4 GHz range are absorbed by water (the human body) and therefore has limitations.

RFID cards are also known as "proximity", "proxy" or "contactless cards" and come in three varieties: passive, semi-passive (also known as semi-active), or active.

Passive RFID tags – These tags have no internal power supply. A minute electrical current is induced in the antenna by the incoming radio frequency signal. This provides enough power for the CMOS integrated circuit in the tag to power up. This helps to transmit a response. Most passive tags have antenna designed to both collect power from the incoming signal and also to transmit the outbound backscatter signal. The response of a passive RFID tag is not just an ID number; the tag chip can contain non-volatile EEPROM for storing data. Since this lacks an onboard power supply, which means that the device can be quite small.

Active RFID tags - Unlike passive RFID tags, these tags have their own internal power source which is used to power any integrated circuits that generate the outgoing signal. As these tags have ability to conduct session with a reader, they are much more reliable than the passive tags. They also transmit higher power levels than passive tags as they have onboard power supply. This feature makes them more effective in "RF challenged" environments like water (including humans/cattle, which are mostly water), metal (shipping containers, vehicles), or at longer distances. Many active tags have practical ranges of hundreds of meters, and a battery life of up to 10 years. The smallest active tags are about the size of a cold capsule and cost a few dollars.

Uses of RFID

There are many uses of RFID. Some are as follows;

1. Used in passports as e-passports which not only records the travel information but a thin metal lining incorporated in the passport makes it difficult for unauthorized readers to "skim" information when the passport is closed.

2. Used in Transport payments. E.g. T-money cards (Seoul), SUICa (Japan), Octopus Card (Hong Kong), etc. are used for paying in public transportation; Public toll roads are equipped with an RFID payment system, for example, AutoPass (Norway), E-ZPass , SunPass, EZ Tag, K-Tag etc are used in U.S.

3. Used in product tracking. For e.g., Farmers use it to identify a bovine's herd of origin; used in library book or bookstore tracking, pallet tracking, building access control, airline baggage tracking, apparel and pharmaceutical item tracking; used to track supply chain from warehouse to consumer; also used to track shipping container, and truck and trailer tracking in shipping yards.

4. RFID is also used for animal identification; human implants, for example Night Clubs in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, use an implantable chip to identify their VIP customers, who in turn use it to pay for drinks.

5. Used in Automotives. Microwave RFID tags are used in long range access control for vehicles. It’s used as a Smart Key/Smart Start option in vehicles. The key uses an active RFID circuit allowing the car to detect the key approximately 3 feet from the sensor. The driver can open the doors and start the car with the key in his pocket. Ford, Honda, and several other manufacturers use RFID-equipped ignition keys as anti-theft measures.

Pros of RFID

RFID provides valuable service by which companies can track products in a more efficient manner. Military, retailers, suppliers, consulting firms, producers of the technology, and consumers, are benefited by it in many ways. It provides companies a better alternative to bar-code using as it contains information on the product that is easily readable and accessible for the reader. This in turn would also help to revolutionize the entire supply chain of the companies by improving its efficiencies and overall business intelligence and thereby reducing costs and human errors.

The U.S. military is also benefited by the use of active and passive RFID systems. The Department of Defense has created the RFID Military Compliance Solution to help suppliers and manufacturers meet the military’s new standards for RFID. This has helped to improve their communication and transportation system during wars and has also helped to save large amount of money. This way the military was successful in creating better visibility on their supply chain which thereby increased their productivity and stability.

Companies and retailers that have high demand for supply chain can gain advantage by using this system in their supply chain management. This would help to improve their productivity, save on human labor costs, and would give companies real-time visibility with their products. Wal-Mart was the first retailer to use RFID in their distribution centers and warehouses. Once Wal-Mart was successful, many companies started using this system.

Retailers and other companies that have a demanding supply chain can gain advantage by using RFID in the supply chain. By demanding that all levels of their supply chain be RFID, it’s capable to be a sizable investment. The productivity increase that follows the initial investment and implementation for companies will pay for their investment.

RFID makes the business world seem like a smaller place when the companies that combined their supply chain technologies with the RFID, started seeing great results. This will help to achieve the goal of companies supply chain by reducing the time needed to be productive, and by automating as much of the supply chain as possible. It also reduces human error, and machines are capable of running twenty-four hours a day and cost less than human labor. The application of RFID on a large company like Wal-Mart or Target, as well as smaller retail stores can ensure a better shopping experience with more in-stock items and a more knowledgeable store.

The market of RFID is booming. Many technological companies have gotten in this game of producing RFID parts and systems thereby allowing many companies to become consulting firms for the RFID technology. The RFID market was roughly one billion dollars in 2006 and is estimated to grow anywhere from $1.3 billion by IDC, to $4.2 Billion by the Yankee Group in 2008. Roughly 20-25% of the market is made up of consulting work for the technology and the last 5% is made up of software for RFID. The biggest challenge for producers and consultants of RFID is the reliability and durability of RFID systems and products. It is hard to predict the wear and tear a product will experience over a period time. But researchers say that it not only help the companies to control human errors but will also help the companies to prove their ROI (Return on Investment), can help save one time operating costs and will help to provide better customer service by having real time information on the products. It would also help to reduce theft in the store and warehouses.

Ultimately the consumers should be the winner with RFID being implemented throughout a company’s supply chain. Stores will save money in the long run by bringing down the costs of the products. This way the consumers can expect more informative customer service with the companies using RFID, by the way of the company sharing their real time data with the customers. Having RFID tags on certain products can also make people’s lives much easier. For example, a microwave reads and recognizes the tag of the food we put in and will automatically cook it according to the directions on the tag. It also helps environmentally because companies will use resources more efficiently, benefiting everyone. Once RFID tags are able to be used on food products it will make a recall on a certain item much easier and it could potentially save lives. Also consumers use RFID everyday and many do not realize the benefits they are receiving from the technology. For example, the “Speedpass” allows contactless form of payment thereby allowing customers to wave the card in front of a reader to pay for gas or anything in the convenient store. Visa and MasterCard allows people to have money on a card (either debit or credit) which decreases waiting time at check-out places and increases loyalty for the companies that offer this feature. Another use of smart cards is keyless entries, and many more. Therefore, RFID is a beneficial technology for consumers which help to save time and offer those conveniences that traditional bar coding, credit cards and keys cannot offer.

Cons of RFID

RFID has been around for more than fifty years but there has been a rapid development in technology since last five to six years. Even though it has many potential advantages but there are many disadvantages as well.

U.S. military was the early adopter of this technology. The biggest problem they faced was the security issues. The tags consisted complete product information which made easy for the enemy to collect information from the tags thereby creating more risks of attacks from the enemies.

Large companies using RFID tags also face some potential problems. RFID has no proven infrastructure which makes difficult for suppliers to keep up with the company’s demands to become RFID-ready. Therefore, suppliers cannot implement RFID into the business and retailers cannot get information about their supply chain. This way the retailers trying to solve their supply chain management problems by using RFID, cannot benefit from it.

Privacy issue is the main disadvantage of RFID. The retailers cannot have any specific information of the consumer if the tags are affixed to pallets and cartons of the product. But by having RFID tags on individual products, retailers can trace consumer’s buying habits; keep articles from theft and keep their inventory at an acceptable level. But this process leads to disclosure of other consumer information which the consumer would prefer to keep private.

RFID could also be bad for our health. Supporters of RFID predict a world where RFID reader devices are everywhere - in stores, in floors, in doorways, on airplanes, even in the refrigerators and medicine cabinets of our own homes. In such a world, our lives would be continually exposed to electromagnetic energy. Research is taking place in this area but researchers still do not know the long-term health effects of chronic exposure to the energy emitted by these reader devices.

The main disadvantages of RFID are the privacy concerns, technological imperfections, cost of the technology and no proven methods to set up an RFID system for a company. The government and corporations are the two main groups that are most concerned for privacy issues. Hidden tags and readers threaten to take away human mystery thereby offering a world where people see, feel and hear only what the government and large corporation want people to do.

Hence, in my opinion, RFID is at the very outset of its evolution and diffusion. The technology will surely witness many exciting and interesting developments over the next few years. But the future of RFID is still uncertain. The privacy issues will still persist even though the cost of RFID system decreases. If privacy issues are not watched closely, people will become tagged and there will always be someone watching and analyzing every person’s decisions. Therefore, in order to be successful in their business, the companies must work with privacy advocate groups in order to develop a fair way of using RFID system without making their customers hostile.

RFID: A New Identification Device

Chinnapong Somsueb
ID# 1671071
4th Position paper
MCS 760

RFID: A New Identification Device

RFID (Radio-frequency identification) is an automatic identification method relying on storing and remotely retrieving data. It is often used with devices called RFID tags or transponders. Currently, its usages are expanding and will become a part of our daily lives. Even though we do not recognize any RFID devices, the usage of them would be increase considerably. The common use of RFID would be a personal and unique identification, transport payment, and product identification.

RFID could be used for the personal identification like a biometric passport system which has already been implemented in several countries. It could prevent some kinds of skimming or cloning which could be done from the old system. Moreover, the RFID chip inside a biometric passport could store some information like smartcard does. Therefore, important information in a digital format such as signatures and images could be stored inside this chip besides the actual passport picture. Furthermore, we could also put a tiny RFID chip in our pets in order to track their position which could prevent losing them.

One of the common usages of RFID is in transportation. It could be used as the identification for toll payment. According to the fact that it would be detected in a very short period and within a few feet, several cities around the world have implemented their RFID system for years in order to avoid using actual money and papers. This system can also decrease a travel time in rush hour by avoiding paying a toll.

From a business perspective, RFID can be used instead of barcode. Merchants could track their inventory and link that data to an inventory system. Moreover, RFID can also be used as detection tool as well as theft prevention. Retailers can implement this for both item identification for matching with their inventory and prevent shop lifting.

On the other hand, RFID technology is more expensive than barcode. Its cost would affect both consumers and retailers. In addition, being a new technology, RFID will take time for people to be familiar with it. Several mistakes can happen by using RFID system, such as misuse of the RFID toll lane without the device, forgetting to deactivate before leaving the store, or vulnerability through stored information.

In conclusion, this technology could lead to a new emerging firm, such as an automobile identification, auto payment, and retail theft prevention business. In my point of view, I think that this technology has a strong potential for growth due to a variety of applications which are expanding dramatically. Not only retail, transportation, and packaging business, but also health care, pharmaceutical, and chemical businesses could implement this technology in order to improve their productivity. According to cio.com’s information, the 1.3 billion RFID tags produced in 2005, and predicted that more than 33 billion RFID tags will be produced globally by 2010. As a result, if there are a number of usages, the price of RFID would be reduced. We can use this technology with any additional features with any unpredictable applications, which can lead to convenience and accuracy.

Mesh Networking

Rokeshia Robinson
3rd Position paper
Mesh Networking



Wikipedia states that Mesh networking is a way to route data, voice and instructions between nodes. It allows for continuous connections and reconfiguration around broken or blocked paths by “hopping” from node to node until the destination is reached. A mesh network whose nodes are all connected to each other is a fully connected networks. Mesh networks differ from other networks in that the component parts can all connect to each other via multiple hops, and they generally are not mobile.

Like every other topic that we have discussed in class, there are several advantages and disadvantages with mesh networking. Advantages of mesh networking can allow organizations to revolutionize the way they communicate, helping them to cut costs, boost employee productivity, improve community service, and increase public safety. Mesh networks allow organizations to extend the reach of their wired infrastructure to deliver affordable managed wireless broadband services. A managed service offering helps enable employees and customers to:

• Shift expense from capital outlay to operational expenses, making it easier to win budget approval
• Eliminate the need for new hires and incremental staff to deploy and operate equipment
• Minimize backhaul transport costs
• Pay as they grow, allowing organizations to scale services as needed
• Get service rapidly deployed
• Provide wireless roaming and access in facilities such as plazas, office buildings, libraries, community centers, etc.

On the most basic level, a mesh network is appealing to businesses and other organizations because it saves money on cabling. With a mesh network, a business only has to run a power cable, not a data cable, to most access points. The data is transmitted over the air from one access point to another until one finally ties into the hard-wired network. Using such a system, a network manager might only have to connect one of every five or 10 access points to the hard-wired network.

Instead of moving data from a device to a wireless access point to a wired network, a mesh network moves data from access point to access point, depending on availability and proximity, and then eventually onto a wired network. Mesh network traffic flows in much the same way that data travels across multiple points on the Internet before reaching a final destination. In its most complex form, a mesh network could work like a peer-to-peer network, where devices both send their own data and forward data on for other devices. In an environment like that, the more devices on a network, the better the network functions.

Mesh networking technology lets providers augment their wired backhaul infrastructure to provide wireless broadband services with very high security, reliability, and scalability. It relies on the mature 802.11 standard for wireless networking and thus is a highly stable technology, unlike other emerging transport methods that are unproven and do not utilize the ubiquitous installed base of 802.11 clients. Mesh networks also feature self-healing and dynamic route optimization capabilities, making them simple and cost-effective to deploy and manage.
In addition to advantages, there are several disadvantages to mesh networks. Mesh networks are a great concept. But the challenge lies in managing the dynamics of mesh networks so users receive an acceptable level of performance in terms of both latency and throughput. One disadvantage to mesh networking is that it requires a lot of access points, so deploying in a mesh architecture can be expensive, initial cost. The other issue is scalability. In a very large network there would be so much routing information moving from access point to access point, it would be unclear how much these networks can scale and maintain their bandwidth for users. Last, but no where near least, a mesh network is not pure 802.11, so it does not integrate well with WLAN.

In conclusion, there are several advantages and disadvantage that can be argued when supporting and implementing mesh networks in organizations. I believe that mesh networking works well in public organizations such as universities, parks, etc, but can be a real headache for some smaller public and private organizations. All in all, I can’t wait to hear what issues and concerns that are going to be addressed in class tonight.

Do the advantages outweight the disadvantages?

Rokeshia Robinson
1st Follow-up paper
Mobile Computing Devices


Accroding to wikipedia, as well as our presentation, mobile computing is a generic term describing the ability to use technology that is not physically connected, or in remote or mobile (non static) environments. The term is evolved in modern usage such that it requires that the mobile computing activitiy be connected wirelessly to and throught the internet or to and through a private network. This connection ties the mobile device to centrally locate information and application software throught the use of battery powered, portable, and wireless computing and communication devices. Mobility characterizes the degree to which each element is mobile within the context of the business process. Some elements, such as desktop computers and personnel, are always stationary, while others, such as laptop computers and traveling salespersons, could be mobile.

Professor Sergent pointed out that the fact that a person is naturally mobile does not imply that she/he is mobile within the context of the business process. Furthermore, mobility has to be beyond a certain distance to be relevant. In addition, not every mobile computing device is wireless. A mobile device needs to have a wireless networking car or modern in order to remotely access the internet. (which can be purchased by an ISP)
With that said, I want turn focus to the Disadvantages of mobile computing devices. Disadvantages to mobile computing devices include a higher cost per dollar, a more limited upgrade path, and sometimes a compromise on keyboard, pointing device, battery life, and screen resolution. One of the major disadvantages about mobile computing that I argued was an increased security risk (both data and equipment). Although the class pointed out that security is a major issue for most businesses no matter where their employees are located. As well as, agreeing that an employee could easily take information while at work and sell it to their company’s competitors. However, the reality is that mobile computing put companies at a greater risk of breaches and data theft.

People rely on mobile computing devices for work and personal uses. Laptop computers, Personal Digital Assistants USB memory, smart phones (mobile phones with advanced communication, storage and processing capabilities), iPods, and a variety of wireless accessories have become pervasive in organizations. We prize mobile computing devices for the flexibility and convenience they provide, but mobility presents significant challenges for IT administrators charged with keeping their companies' data and networks secure; particularly as mobile devices and networks have grown more sophisticated and ubiquitous. In addition, the regulatory climate in which companies must operate is placing a greater demand on the control of corporate data.

The data is more at risk because of the portability. Mobile devices are at a greater risk of being stolen because you carry them in more places and they are lightweight. You lose the mobile device, you lose the data. Mobile computing devices contain "lots" of memory (disks and/or RAM), are highly portable and are frequently unprotected: They are relatively easy to steal or lose, and unless precautionary measures are taken, an unauthorized person can gain access to all the information stored inside them. Even if not stolen or lost, intruders can sometimes gain all the access they need if the device is left alone and unprotected, or if data is "sniffed out of the air" during wireless communications. Under some circumstances, wireless mobile devices can be attacked from hundreds of yards to thousands of miles away. The result can be crippled device, one infected with a virus, and/or a device whose data has been invisibly downloaded by an intruder. In the worse case, an intruder can install a spyware program that surreptitiously captures the owner's keystrokes (e.g., credit card numbers, passwords) and other sensitive information.

While these challenges make managing security on mobile devices a trickier proposition, there are ways administrators can help plug the holes that mobile devices have a way of opening in your company's security infrastructure. However, there's no one-size-fits-all solution, and administrators will have to take a long, hard look at each and every user and device accessing corporate data to ensure that all the gaps are filled.

David Stevens

April 16, 2007

MCS 760

Mobile Computing Devices

The popularization of mobile computing devices has changed the way people live their lives and the manner that business is conducted. The earliest mobile computing devices that had a great impact upon the corporate culture and resemble a basic form of the devices offered today were laptops and portable digital assistants (PDA). These devices allowed a professional to untie themselves from the office in hopes of becoming more productive.

Mobile devices are reliant on the technology that they use to connect and transmit information. The use and ability of mobile computing devices improved by leaps and bounds with the introduction of cellular networks and wi-fi. The ability to access the Internet from almost anywhere has increased the consumer’s demand for powerful devices which contain these capabilities.

The use of mobile computing devices is only going to increase as the quality of the units improves. One of the major limitations that mobile computing devices need to overcome is the difficult manner of inputting information. The standard form of input (keyboard and mouse) is not always available with mobile devices. The most popular ultra mobile portable computers (UMPC) typically use a hidden QWERTY keypad. The method of input is limiting, and it is not convenient for the users. Voice input would be a much better form of input, but the technology is not quite available to make this a viable option.

Pros:

• Mobile, not limited to a certain area
• Utilization of wireless LAN and WAN technologies
• Creates a more productive workforce
• Great for small applications like word processing and email

Cons:

• The smaller the device the weaker the performance
• Battery life typically lasts for only a couple of hours
• Input devices are not user friendly
• Devices may be mobile but are also fragile
• Security (easy to lose small device with sensitive information)
• The wearable computer is not a realistic option currently
  

follow up paper

David Stevens

April 15, 2007

MCS 760

1^st Follow up Paper

Distance Education / Technology

As our society becomes an increasingly knowledge based workforce it is important for people to continue increasing and updating their knowledge base. The Internet is providing a viable alternative to the typical learning environment. Distance education via the Internet is providing the modern workforce with a means of staying up to date and even allows them to extend their knowledge by acquiring advanced degrees. The ability of distance education and technology to deliver an experience that is deemed suitable by the end-user is closer to occurring. The experience of the students present for the presentation demonstrated that the almost all of the students had experienced an online class setting. However, the majority of the students present held the opinion that an online class was inferior to that of a traditional class. This was inline with the general national consensus of opinions from faculty and students involved with distance education. The major hindrance to increasing the productivity of online classes is their inability to replicate the classroom setting. The classroom provides an easy means for students to interact with the professor and fellow students. The idea of utilizing virtual classrooms (attempting to almost make a classroom setting that would be found in a video game) was discussed during the presentation. This is one means of providing students a means of replacing the void left by abandoning the traditional classroom.

In addition to providing the modern workforce with a means of furthering their studies, distance education technology also provides companies with a means of conducting online business meetings. With the increase in the cost of transportation and globalization, the ability to conduct meetings without the hassle of long-distance travel is more important than ever. The ability to conduct productive meetings without face to face contact is a technologically viable option; however, the practice has yet to become widely used and accepted as an alternative. The increase in distance education in the higher education realm will create a body of future workers whom base their opinions on distance training and meetings upon their past experiences with distance education technology. The more positive the students’ experience with distance training technology the more accepting they will be of its use in the corporate environment.

As discussed during the presentation the viability of distance learning and the likelihood of its adoption into the corporate world rely on the ability of the technology to mimic face to face interaction. The likelihood that the technology will ever produce an identical experience to that of face to face interaction is unlikely; however, the technology has and will continue to make the experience more productive and pleasant for the end-users. Distance education allows a greater audience of students to experience the learning process that was restricted to a small population when the process is contained upon a physical campus.

The concept of Open Source Classes was put forth during the discussion following the presentation of distance education as institutions attempting to expand the people that benefit from the knowledge of the institutions programs. This is a manner that allows individuals to learn and experience what students are learning about in the school setting. The pseudo students are learning for enjoyment because their experience is without the assignments and tests necessary for earning a degree.

The need for distance education and training is evident by the success of online school programs like those offered by the University of Phoenix, DeVry University, and ITT Tech; however, these schools are not as accepted as traditional universities and the quality of education is still questioned. The production of online meeting software is currently ahead of the demand, but the quality and quantity of meeting software produced will increase when the demand intensifies.

Mobile Computing devices

Second Position Paper
By Kamakshi Samala

According to Wikipedia, Mobile Computing is a generic term that describes ones ability to use the 'untethered' technology, that is not physically connected, or the one that is in a remote or mobile (non static) environment. A mobile computing device allows storing, organizing, and accessing information through internet wireless connection or through a private network. It can run on a number of operating environments, like a compact version of Microsoft Windows and Linux, as well as also on the operating environments that are not available on desktop computers, such as the Palm OS and Research in Motion's RIM OS. A mobile device can feature a scaled-down keyboard, a pen-like stylus, or both. They are powered by batteries which have to be charged for usage. Their size usually ranges from business cards to a paperback book. They are portable and smaller and have more capacity. Example of mobile devices are Laptop computer with wireless WAN or LAN technology, Subnotebook, Personal digital assistant (PDA), Portable data terminal (PDT) with Bluetooth or IRDA interfaces, Mobile data terminal (MDT), Tablet personal computer, Smartphone, etc.

The emergence of powerful portable computers, along with the advances in wireless communication technologies, has made mobile computing a reality and a new era in data communication and processing. The days of being restricted to ones desk by cables and cords are gone. No use of a cable can mean loosing of control, and according to any IT manager’s perspective, every new device and protocol that enters a company, may create new management challenges.

Pros

• Mobile computing has both positive and negative impacts on both individual and business.
• The most common and the most significant benefit of mobile computing is that it keeps people in touch.
• Personal choice: If people are willing to pay the price for freedom, mobile computing devices can really help people do things in a different ways and in a much flexible manner. Of course, for example, laptops require a lot of peripherals to duplicate the abilities of a complete desktop system, but if an individual doesn’t mind spending the extra money for the ability to work, surf and play on the fly then a laptop may be their best solution.
• Benefit to Business:
  1. Mobile computing has had a positive impact on businesses by inspiring innovation or the improved exchange of ideas.
  2.Businesses benefits from using cell phones to reach employees in the field or by having workers use wireless laptops to run applications on-site. Surveys have indicated that this helped to increase communications and data sharing among employees. This way with better communication, the employees become more productive.
  3.IT managers who support home users, branch offices or employees who frequently travel may like to equip them with new portable mobile computing devices that are easy to set up and use, and may also increase the chances that users will actually back up their systems.
  4.Mobile Management Strategies: Today's workforce needs to be more mobile in order to compete. Mobile workers need access to company data and communications while on road and this needs to done in a secure and reliable way. This makes things handy for them to visit several company locations and have access to spreadsheets, email and the company WAN (wide area network) at each location. Also, IT departments must keep up with the challenges of securing and managing mobile access.
  5.Wireless and handhelds are witnessing better integration. PDAs for example, play a crucial role in tackling enterprise issues such as database access, supply chain management and sales force automation. Therefore, when devising a mobile computing strategy, enterprises should look internally first. This way IT enterprises can focus on developing good relationships with solution providers and integrate end-to-end, single point solutions with a targeted ROI (return on investment) in mind.
  
• Easy Backup: Most mobile computing devices come with software that provides one-button backup or automatic file synchronization between two or more computers. Sometimes the software can even store operating system and application configuration settings, allowing users to restore not only their data but also their preferred settings, applications and email on any available computer.
• Benefit to Individuals:
  
  1. Mobile computing devices have almost all the functionalities as regular desktop.
  2. Ensures speedy implementation.
  3. Ensures easy integration help.
  4. Ensures cross-platform capability: Numerous laptop models are made for both PCs and Macs, ensuring a smooth transition from existing technology.
  5. Student can benefit by having regular, reliable access to technology which makes the learning process easy
  
  
  Cons
• Size: Portable and handheld’s screen makes it difficult to read large bodies of text.
• Limited features: If one wants to create complex PowerPoint presentations or other extensive documents, the mobile computing device isn't the best option.
• Limited communication bandwidth.
• Frequent disconnection caused.
• Prototyping.
• Transactional properties.
• Optimization of location dependent query processing.
• Data visualization.
• Security:
  1. As the number and diversity of mobile computing devices and its users, and access locations are increasing, the ability to manage and control data security is the biggest concern. There has been increase in the security threat to mobile devices, and this has become a serious problem for organizations. An organization may have a layered network security approach for its headquarters or large offices, but the branch offices are often overlooked. Lapses in security in smaller locations can make the overall organization vulnerable to attacks. Therefore, to address the need for remote office security management, both security and networking vendors are offering a new form of security products that protect branch offices and provide central management as well.
  
  2. Mobile computing devices contain a lot of memory (disks and/or RAM), and are highly portable and frequently unprotected. They are relatively easy to be stolen or lost, and unless precautionary measures are taken, an unauthorized person can gain access to all the information stored inside them. The result can be a useless device infected with a virus, or a device whose data has been invisibly downloaded by an intruder. The worst situation can be when an intruder installs a spyware program that easily captures the owner's personal and valuable information’s (e.g., credit card numbers, passwords, etc.).
  
  The best practices to follow to minimize the security concerns can be:
  1.Keep the patches up to date if the device is a laptop computer.
  2.Use a password to lock the system.
  3.Use locking devices on portable computers.
  4.Use a personal firewall on computers.
  5.When using wireless connectivity features (e.g., 802.11, Bluetooth) make sure the device's security settings are set as strong as possible.
  6.Encryption is the most reliable way to prevent people from viewing confidential data.
  
  
  Therefore, in my opinion Mobile computing devices is an emerging technology and has made computing a reality. Among the applications that are finding their way to the mobile computing devices, it’s seen that market for these devices is growing rapidly and is predicted that it may grow to over $550 billion by 2008. But the growth of the mobile-device market is limited by problems related to cost, speed, security, privacy, usability, and trust. Lack of consumer trust is considered to be the most significant long-term barrier for mobile commerce. Therefore, ultimately it depends on the end user (for example, organization or an individual) to carefully compare their computing needs with the advantages and disadvantages and the chances are that whichever device they choose, it will prove to be an effective tool in day to day life and business.