Forthcoming versions of Bluetooth, M2M and GPS are all technologies to watch in 2010 and 2011.
Research firm Gartner says Bluetooth 3 and Bluetooth 4, due for release this year, should be on every operator’s radar, because they will respectively enable large-bandwidth applications, and new sensor-based business models in healthcare and environmental control industries.
“Combining location and direction enables applications such as augmented reality viewers, which have started to emerge for tasks such as searching, social networking and tour guides,” it states.
Gartner also predicts the cost of embedded M2M cellular modules will fall below €20 for large-volume purchases by the end of 2011, noting that “although the M2M market is very fragmented, it's growing at over 30% per year.”
The mobile web should also be on operator hit lists, according to Gartner, which forecasts that 85% of handsets shipped globally will include some form of browser by end-2011.
Mobile widgets are also expected to be important over the next two years.
“Despite the lack of standards, widgets provide a convenient way to deliver simple, connected applications, especially those involving real-time data updates (such as weather forecasts, email notifications, marketing, blogs and information feeds),” Gartner states.
App stores will be a key short-term business driver. “App stores will be the primary (and, in some cases, the only) way to distribute applications to smartphones and other mobile devices,” says Gartner.
Platform-independent mobile app development tools, device-independent security, HSPA/EV-DO, and touchscreens are also Gartner’s top technology calls for 2010 and 2011.
However, it has dismissed Near Field Communication (NFC), which has been “displaced by other technologies that have become more significant in the short term.”