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An Update on the Mobile, Global Lifestyle

Written by: Donna Ann Peck 397 views

There’s nothing like a good connection to put you on top of the world. Especially if you are on top of the world. Standing atop Mount Everest, a British mountain climber in 2007 made the first phone call from the summit. He said, “It’s freezing. It’s fantasic. The Himalayas are everywhere.” He set a world record.

Now all climbers pack cell phones. Sal Ruibal, a reporter at USA Today, received a late-night call that he thought was a prank. Sure, the best American mountaineer is calling me, thought Ruibal when the caller identified himself as Ed Viesturs. “You’re calling me from Mount Everest, right,” he said. He was astonished to discover it was Viesturs, calling a day after he had scaled the summit.

Not many of us need to call from 29,035 feet, but mobile technology continues to provide an unbelievable range of things we might want to do if given a good connection.

Head office as virtual office

More bandwidth and better connections mean your desktop could be anywhere in the world.  The ever-increasing speed of wireless networks is fueling the rise of small- to mid-size mobile enterprises. Many use cloud computing, that is web-based applications and files, for its operations. Even without a laptop, if you can find an internet-connected computer, you can access all your company’s software and files. Google Apps, the best-known suite of mobile business applications, has the most passionate followers.

Cloud-commuters are also enthusiastic about Skype, the low-cost internet communication giant. If your company is set up on web-based business applications, Skype provides a cheap way to communicate and meet online. Imagine your virtual office having a conference online. You can place calls from your smartphone, cell phone, computer or company phone line. Calls are free among members of the Skype network whether placed on a computer or cell phone. Calls to phones numbers that don’t have Skype accounts run about $.02 a minute. You can plug the Skype software into the corporate phone system so employees can call people all over the world.

You also need a fast computer built for working online. A netbook may serve your mobile needs better than a smartphone if you habitually work away from the office. The smartphone screen hinders productivity when viewing large documents. If I were planning to work on a slideshow, spreadsheet, or saying hello to my family in a video call, I would prefer a streamlined Apple Air, or a turbo-charged netbook.

Handheld computing

With the proliferation of Wi-Fi and 3G networks, it’s also becoming easier to replicate the experience of your desktop on a mobile device. For example, you can:

watch videos on commuter trains,
answer email at a sidewalk cafe,
listen to internet radio and podcasts at the airport,
download large files in a taxi,
check flight, hotel, car, restaurant and other information,
twitter your following.

Each smartphone has free applications for you to upload. Make sure the apps you love run on the device. I can’t live without like WorldMate when I’m traveling.

Smartphones are slowly becoming the computers that they often substitute for now. The top contenders are Blackberry Curve, Palm Pre, and Apple iPhone 3GS.

For pleasant internet browsing on your smartphone, get a good connection. AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon provide 3G wireless broadband services and options. AT&T has 215 countries on its international plan. As for free internet browsing, you can log into Wi-Fi zones around the world.

Providers on the 3G networks are driving innovations in devices.  Hence the service and the device are a package deal. The Apple iPhone requires an AT&T plan, while the Palm Pre requires a Sprint contract.

From the Himalayas to the Australian outback, nothing beats a good connection. What do you love, or hate, about the global, mobile lifestyle?

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