Mobile Computing

Mobile Computing: Living wire free

A narrowed price gap between desktops and notebooks and the freedom provided by wireless technology have resulted in a mobile boom. By Kushal Shah

Gone are the days of dependence on fixed machines, be it computers or communication devices, it’s time to live wire free. That’s the mantra for executives, entrepreneurs, students and even home users. As the economy booms, business related travel is on the rise. Be it for business, education or just to stay connected; notebooks are replacing desktops thanks to their portability.

It’s not only notebooks which are selling like hot cakes; some other fast growing mobile devices are smartphones and PDAs. These devices serve as a cheaper and more portable option for people who need limited use of mobile applications such as e-mail and basic Web browsing.

2006: boom time for notebooks

People are on a buying spree—businessmen, students, educational institutions, and casual users are all buying notebooks. According to IDC, notebook sales have doubled when compared to 2005. The overall PC market grew 25 percent year on year in 2006 but notebook growth was a stunning 104 percent.

Market leader HP with about 38 percent of the units sold saw growth of 130 percent in 2006, well above the industry average. “Some of the new buyers are educational institutes and students, institutes are buying for their own students because they include the cost of a notebook in the fee structure and apart from institutes, students are also buying on their own,” says Rajiev Grover, Country Category Manager –Consumer Portables, HP India. The other segment which is booming is the small office segment. Some individuals namely insurance agents and architects are also moving towards mobility.

For Acer, education and SOHO have shown the highest growth in terms of notebook adoption which is the case for most vendors. Businesses have always been buying notebooks for their sales and marketing forces and top executives but HCL has found a new trend amongst enterprises. “Among enterprise customers, many businesses are adopting a laptop-only policy and hence all PC purchases are those of notebooks leading to notebook sales growing by a large margin,” says Rajendra Kumar, Executive Vice President, HCL Infosystems Limited. Apart from enterprises, in specific segments, services industries with the exception of banking and BPO emerged as big adopters of notebooks last year.

Segments like SOHO and SMB users are buying laptops rapidly but unlike the corporate or education buyer they purchase these at retail and notebook outlets.

“The Indian laptop market is growing exponentially. This explosive growth has been due to a combination of affordability, increasing demand for mobile computing, and the growth of wireless technologies. Moreover, price competitiveness of laptops vis-à-vis desktops has played a major role. We grew significantly faster than the market at Dell,” says Rajan Anandan, Vice President & General Manager, Dell India.

Variations galore

With various segments buying notebooks, the needs of each differ. While business users mostly go for connectivity or enhanced battery life, home users or casual users look for multimedia and entertainment options.

According to Anandan, there are virtually no limitations on the capabilities of notebooks as was the case in the past. The increasing proliferation of broadband access and the multiple modes of gaining access to the Internet are playing a big role in this change. Wireless access, enhanced gaming capabilities, and tremendous improvements in multimedia—audio, photography and video—will continue to drive demand for mobile computing.

People are now demanding same level of performance that they are used to from their desktop experience, something that is technically possible today. Heightened interest in gaming is forcing notebook vendors to offer superior graphics capabilities as is the availability of Windows Vista. People want a good looking device and this is putting pressure on designers too. “People don’t want entry-level or basic products. It is more about the experience and the notebook complementing a user’s lifestyle. A notebook has become a personal accessory,” explains Grover.

The popularity of the Internet means that users want to attach accessories to their notebooks be it Wireless LAN cards, a Web camera, speakers or microphones. These devices help users stay connected with the rest of the world. For business users these advances in technology serve as a fast and cheap mechanism for meetings and conferences.

With Vista there’s a need for better configurations in terms of RAM and hard disks.

“The consumer today looks for a complete configuration with 512 MB RAM by default, DVD writers, a larger hard disk (80 or 120 GB minimum), integrated camera, inbuilt software features such as anti-theft technology, easy presentation settings and quick recharge technology,” says S Rajendran, General Manager - Sales & Marketing, Mobility & Display Products Group, Acer India.

Now that there’s no need to compromise on computing power, key considerations in the purchase of a notebook today are battery backup time, wireless access capabilities and weight. Processor speed, wireless connectivity, quality and size of display, optical drives and pointing devices, power consumption, cost of usage, maintenance and a host of other factors come into play depending on a consumer’s specific needs.

Closing the gap

Notebook sales are on a roll. The price gap between notebooks and desktops has been bridged to some extent. If we see the mass market desktop, it retails for an average of Rs 19,000 whereas an entry level notebook costs about Rs 28,000.

Earlier notebook sales were confined to the metros which is not the case anymore. There has been a rapid growth in the sales of notebooks in cities beyond the five metros. One of the reasons driving this is the shift of businesses to non metros due to which large numbers of tech savvy people are buying these products in smaller cities. One more thing which matters here is cultural change. It has become mandatory to own a notebook in the same way that you cannot live without a phone. We like to be connected and the same is true of notebooks.

Banks are doing their bit by giving loans to people. “For consumers and first-time buyers, notebook financing is a major relief. HCL offers attractive finance schemes to buyers of its laptops, with EMIs as low as Rs 790. The adoption of this trend will be beneficial for the entire industry,” says Kumar.

Features, features, features

Vendors are using new technologies to lure customers. “We are coming up with technologies such as a dual screen for showing important messages while executing specific software applications. You can check the system’s status even when the screen panel is closed. Besides MP3 and DVD playback, wireless Digital TV or analogue cable TV can be recorded onto the hard drive,” says Andrew Tsui, Managing Director, ASUS India.

With a large number of home users buying this mobile device, we can expect more technological advancements in the areas of entertainment and accessibility. HP’s tablet PCs sport technologies such as swivel, touch screens and stylus support.

Rajesh Gupta, Director - Sales and Marketing Group (West), Intel South Asia says, “Any new technology coming out of Intel targets at least one of three vectors of mobility—processor performance, battery life and connectivity.”

Intel is currently running a project called Santa Rosa—the fourth-generation Centrino platform which happens to focus on all three vectors of mobility by improving processor performance, battery life and connectivity options. This platform comes in two variants—Centrino Duo for casual and home users and Centrino Pro for business users.

“Modern notebooks are so technologically advanced that raw processing performance has ceased to be a cause of concern for most buyers. Instead, notebook users are more concerned about safety and security of data as well as reliability and consistency ,” says Kumar.

HCL has taken a step in that direction by providing feature like EC2 (Embedded Continuity and Control) PC-restoration technology. A notebook with EC2 is practically a zero-downtime PC, since even in the eventuality of a major crash, virus attack, software malfunction or any other error in data stored on the PC, EC2 enables ultra-fast restoration of a PC to normal working condition in less than sixty seconds.

Security: Biometrics and TPM

Increasing mobility and exposure to unknown networks has led to concerns over the security of notebooks and the data stored on them. Notebooks are easily accessible and that can be a worrying factor for users. How is the laptop protected from unknown users, how is the data encrypted and how can lost data be recovered; these are some of the basic questions asked by consumers.

One of the technologies is fingerprint scanning. Using this technology, the identity of a legitimate user is verified with the help of his fingerprint.

Some other means to secure a device are TPM (Trusted Platform Module), which is used to manage system resources and data stored on a notebook if the password and necessary fingerprint identification are not completed. Motion lock prevents the user’s data from being seen while the user is away for a short period of time.

Some new technologies for tracking data are being evaluated by Dell. “There are a couple of ways to track data, such as installing a GPS module in the product; another way is putting codes on either hard drive or in the BIOS, which will send out a signal while connected to the Internet, or utilising 3G technology through a cell phone. Dell is evaluating these technologies,” says Anandan. Even lost notebooks can be tracked with the help of GPS in such a case.

Internet on the move

Talking about the Indian mobile device market, it has not matured to the point where an adequate number of hot spots for Wi-Fi connectivity exists. Barring the occasional coffee shop or mall food court, Wi-Fi is not available in most public locations. WiMAX isn’t there yet. Internet data cards are expensive in terms of speed and the price that they come for.

Peeyush Agarwal, GM (Broadband) MTNL Mumbai and COO, Millennium Telecom Limited says, “There are varieties of wireless Internet access options available with varying speed for both the mobile and the fixed segment. On the mobile front, CDMA 1X and GSM 2.5G and enhanced versions of these protocols with datacards cover major mobile Internet segments. Wi-Fi riding on leased lines or broadband is also popular in major cities. Within the premises, many a time, customers use wireless modems on a fixed broadband connection. The tariff is fairly affordable which may further come down in the future as volumes grow. Performance is more important for mobile users than price.”

The effective speed of wireless access is currently far too slow when compared to that of fixed access. The Internet user community is anxiously looking to the speedy deployment of WIMAX which will provide wireless speed matching what is available in fixed access, at least in moderate traffic conditions.

The government’s step to deregulate the wireless spectrum and de-license wireless technologies such as 802.11b and 802.11g standards is an important step towards improving Internet penetration.

“We believe that the growing dominance of wireless data cards will eclipse the sporadic availability of Wi-Fi connectivity in India and will ensure all notebook users are forever connected to the Internet no matter where they are,” says Kumar.

Smart (phone) move

For users who do not need a full blown computer all the time there are devices such as the Blackberry or any smartphone for that matter.

A smartphone is a full-featured mobile phone with functionality resembling that of a personal computer. Most smartphones are camera phones that support full featured e-mail capabilities with the functionality of a personal organiser. A smartphone allows easy access to e-mail and the Web on the move.

These phones sport moderate processing power and data storage capacities. Since they are small in size and give round the clock connectivity, they are among the fastest selling devices. Blackberry and related phones gives a user a computer like experience with a QWERTY key pad.

To add the real touch of computing, software companies have created mobile versions of their applications. Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 provides push mail messaging, Microsoft Office on the move, multimedia functionality and line of business applications.

Mobile devices are largely used by the sales force to stay connected. “One of the major concerns for sales people is to know the right pricing, allowed variation of prices for a particular customer and to know the present status of inventory before taking an order. Which can be solved by using Sales Force Automation (SFA), which enables them to connect to their company server via GPRS and a secured gateway,” says Subodh Rustogi Country Manager –India & South East Asia, SCO Software (I) Pvt Ltd.

Although users cannot get the same experience as they would while using a laptop, such as a big screen, top notch graphics and processing speed and lots of storage; some section of the business world finds utility in a smartphone to serve their limited purpose as in case of the sales force. With the fastest growing mobile market tag attached to India, the smartphone market is poised to grow manifold in coming years.

The race has just begun

While the growth of notebooks is measured at 104 percent for the previous year, we lag by a huge margin compared to usage of notebooks in western countries. Prices needs to fall significantly, something that is not happening due to duties and taxes imposed on notebooks. As the customers look beyond basic usage, vendors need to pull up their socks to get new technologies to the market. The market will grow robustly in 2007 and over time desktops will be replaced by notebooks.