IT and Society: Most promising mobile technologies and apps identified

An information technology research and advisory firm Gartner has released a report of the most important and promising mobile technologies and applications for 2011-2012.

Gartner’s list of key mobile technologies is topped by services which depend on current location of a mobile device — Location-based services - LBS. Such services take into account the user’s location, as well as personal preference, his age, gender, profession, intention and other personal data.

Gartner expects the total user base of consumer LBSs to reach 1.4 billion users by 2014. Gartner analysts believe that context-aware services are a key trend for mobile apps, and location is a key enabler of that.

The second place is occupied by social network platforms. Gartner evaluates that mobile social networking is the fastest-growing consumer mobile app category. Social networks are constantly expanding their function as an aggregator – data collector, and increasingly mobile phones will perform greater role in this information exchange.

Mobile search is No.3 on the Gartner’s list. Apart from those offering text search on Internet, technologies also cover visual and voice search.

They are followed by mobile commerce technologies, which are involved in the process of choosing and purchasing products and services. These are, for instance, applications which give an ability to compare the prices of an item in different shops or add items to a shopping cart simply by taking a photo of an item or bar code in the physical store.

The fifth place features mobile payment. This field will be constantly developing. In order to get consumers on board, payment solution providers need to increase user awareness, extend the service coverage and address ease-of-use to appeal to end users.

Other promising mobile technologies include: context-aware service, object recognition, mobile instant messaging, mobile e-mail and mobile video.

“Mobile applications will be a highly competitive marketplace that attracts the interest of many stakeholders,” said Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner. “Increasingly, mobile applications will define the user experience on high-end devices and device vendors that proactively integrate innovative apps and technologies at the platform layer will have the competitive edge.”