Create your own awesome maps
Even on the go
with our free apps for iPhone, iPad and Android
Get StartedAlready have an account? Log In
Mobile technology has continued to grow over the past twenty years to the degree that it is unusual to come across someone who does not use a mobile device of some description. In Mobile devices are both portable and personal. Accessing static or interactive publications shared over the internet can be seductive as this information is delivered to your personal mobile device in real time.
PDAs can be carried with relative ease to ease and utilised as a tool to document the moment. Be it static or interactive information, it can be accessed over the Internet from the PDA, albeit for a higher connection cost than from a desktop computer.
In 2004, there were 1.5 billion mobile phones in the world (Prensky, 2004). This was more than three times the number of personal computers (PCs), and the number today is believed to be consierably larger. Today’s most sophisticated phones have the processing power of an early 21st century PC.
Hybrid mobile phone/personal digital assistant
Far from being just a simple games machine, the PSP allows for web browsing, RSS feeds, movies, audio files, Flash content and other media to be delivered to a portable unit. It has wireless connectivity as well as ad hoc peer to peer connectivity.
Whilst the GameBoy DS does not have the powerful media capabilities of the PSP, it does allow for internet connectivity over a wireless network.
A graphics tablet is a computer input device that allows one to hand-draw images and graphics, similar to the way one draws images with a pencil and paper. A Graphics tablet consists of a flat surface upon which the user may "draw" an image using an attached stylus, a pen-like drawing apparatus. The image generally does not appear on the tablet itself but, rather, is displayed on the computer monitor. Graphics tablets should not be confused with the tablet PC.
Third generation (3G) handsets allow users of 3G services to view video content including music videos and football game highlights. It seems that the next big thing in mobile phones may be television. These are capable of receiving satellite TV channels and some phones have a plug-in device that allows playing of pre-recorded terrestrial broadcasts.
Health and safety issues The Stewart Report (Stewart 2000) recommended further research be carried out into possible effects of mobile phone use on health. The Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation (AGNIR: Chairman, Professor Anthony Swerdlow) subsequently concluded (AGNIR 2003) that there is no biological evidence for mutation or tumour causation by RF exposure. AGNIR did not state that mobile phones have been proven to be entirely risk free. It identified the limitations of the published research and concluded that: ‘In aggregate the research published since the Stewart report (Stewart, 2000) does not give cause for concern. The Health Council of the Netherlands (HCN) stated ‘there is no reason to recommend that children should restrict the use of mobile telephones as much as possible’. In contrast the original Stewart Report (Stewart, 2000) stated that ‘if there are currently unrecognised adverse health effects from the use of mobile phones, children may be more vulnerable,’ and recommended that ‘the widespread use of mobile phones by children for non-essential calls should be discouraged.’