Mobile and Pervasive Computing Services
School of Computer Science (08-781/08-766/46-866)
Instructor: Norman M. Sadeh
Background:
With over 5 billion mobile phone users worldwide, including a billion people accessing the mobile Web via 3+G, new wireless and pervasive computing services are changing the way enterprises interact with both their customers and their employees. The explosion in smart phone ownership, the adoption of faster wireless standards, and the emergence of different mobile social networking and location-sensitive apps are but a few factors contributing to rapid developments in this area. These include mobile commerce apps, mobile social software services, enterprise applications all the way to more futuristic pervasive computing services.
Objective:
The objective of the course is to introduce participants to the technologies, services and business models associated with Mobile and Pervasive Commerce. It also provides an overview of future trends and ongoing research in this new and fast growing area.
What You Will Learn:
This course is about learning to design successful mobile and pervasive computing applications and services. Students who take this course will learn to evaluate critical design tradeoffs associated with different mobile technologies, architectures, interfaces and business models and how they impact the usability, security, privacy and commercial viability of mobile and pervasive computing services and applications.
Topics include:
Mobile Communication and Mobile Internet technologies, Mobile Operating Systems, Mobile and Wireless Security, Mobile Development Environments, Mobile Commerce Applications (e.g. mobile banking, mobile ticketing, mobile payment, mobile infotainment), location tracking and location-based services, mobile social networking, RFID, mobile enterprise and mobile government applications, context awareness, pervasive computing. The course looks at relevant technologies and architectures as well as the many security, privacy, usability and business models entailed by this fast growing area.
Projects:
Students enrolled in the 9-unit section of the course are expected to complete a team project. Students are encouraged to develop fully-fledged apps ready to be deployed on the iPhone App Store, Android Market, etc. Projects can also be more research-oriented in nature and involve the study particular usage scenarios or other relevant issues (e.g. privacy preferences in mobile social networking apps). All projects are expected to include the demonstration of some sort of prototype. Read more on class projects here
There is also an option to enroll in a 12-unit (full-semester) version of the course. Students who opt for the 12-unit section are subject to the exact same expectations as those in the 9-unit section, which includes completing a class project by the end of the first mini-semester. During the second half of the semester, they are given a chance to further refine their prototype. There are no classes during the second half of the semester. Students just have a couple of meetings with the instructor and then provide an updated version of their final report along with a demo of their refined prototype. This option is primarily intended for students who want to refine their app prior to releasing on the iPhone App Store or Android Market.