Showing 141 posts tagged mobile
Study warns on mobile location data privacy
Individuals can be uniquely identified with just four points of location data, a study of mobile phone records shows.
Countless mobile applications make use of location data, and such information is increasingly used to tailor both services for users and advertisements.
But a study in Scientific Reports warns that human mobility patterns are unique identifiers, even when data are scarce.
It presents a formula to describe the trade-off between genuine anonymity and the “resolution” of location data.
» via BBC
“A year after becoming the fastest-growing market for smart devices, China is expected to account for 246 million active Android and iOS smartphones and tablets at the end of February, compared with 230 million in the U.S., according to mobile analytics firm Flurry. That will reverse January’s rankings, in which the U.S. held the top spot with 222 million smart devices compared with China’s 221 million.”
High-res
Mobile Internet data traffic to grow 13-fold by 2017, says Cisco
One point also worth highlighting is that it appears researchers are forecasting mobile data traffic to increase sharply because of more devices online — not users.
By 2017, Cisco is predicting there will be 5.2 billion mobile users — up from 4.3 billion in 2012. But they also predicted that there will be more than 10 billion connected devices (including more than 1.7 billion M2M connections) within four years — up from 7 billion total in 2012.
» via CNET
F.T.C. Suggests ‘Do-Not-Track’ Feature for Mobile Software and Apps
In a strong move to protect the privacy of Americans as they use the Internet on their smartphones and tablets, the Federal Trade Commission on Friday said the mobile industry should include a do-not-track feature in software and apps and take other steps to safeguard personal information.
The staff report, which was approved by the commission, is not binding, but it is an indication of how seriously the agency is focused on mobile privacy. As if to emphasize that, the commission on Friday separately fined Path, a two-year-old social networking app, $800,000. It charged the company with violating federal privacy protections for children by collecting personal information on underage users, including almost everyone in users’ address books.
Together the actions represent the government’s heightened scrutiny of mobile devices, which for many Americans have become the primary way of gaining access to the Internet, rather than through a laptop or desktop computer.
» via The New York Times (Subscription may be required for some content)
“By 2015, more Americans will access the internet through mobile devices than through desktop computers, according to a prediction by International Data Corporation.”
(via slantback)
Library Web sites see boost in mobile traffic
Mobile is key for any organization that wants to capture the attention of Americans — even for an institution that seems as antiquated as the public library system.
The number of Americans using mobile devices to access library Web sites has more than doubled in the last three years, according to a Pew Research Center report released today.
Based on a survey of 2,300 people in October and November, Pew determined that 13 percent of Americans ages 16 and older go to a library Web site using a mobile device. That’s substantially more than the meager number of people who used mobile devices to view library sites three years ago. A survey conducted in 2009 found that 6 percent of Americans had contributed to library mobile traffic.
» via CNET
“Twenty years ago, we didn’t know how the Internet was going to get used by people, and we for sure didn’t know about mobile or tablets,” said Marc Andreessen, co-founder of the first major browser, Netscape Navigator, and an investor in Rockmelt, a browser start-up. “Mobile is a whole new level of reinvention, so it feels like we’re in the most fertile time of invention since the early ’90s.”
Khan Academy Brings Its 3,500 Educational Videos To The iPhone
Whether or not one believes Khan Academy is helping to reinvent education, it’s hard to dispute the fact that Khan (and now his team) are an educational video-producing machine, or that the platform continues to diversify. In part, that started with the release of its iPad app in March. This week, Khan Academy brought its 3,600 videos to the iPhone.
This means that the company’s learning library is now accessible on the web, tablets and the iPhone and will likely be showing up on Android in the not so distant future. It may not seem particularly shocking given the exploding popularity of mobile, but it does seem notable when put in context.
» via TechCrunch
Young teens in U.S. use mobile devices for homework
When your son or daughter says they are doing homework on the phone, they may be telling the truth.
More than a third of tweens and young teenagers in the United States said they are using smartphones to do homework, according to a survey released on Wednesday, with Hispanic students using them at a higher rate than African-Americans or whites.
“These middle school students are using mobile devices for more than entertainment purposes,” said Kristi Sarmiento, research director at TRU, in an interview. “They have grown up with this technology.”
» via Yahoo! News
“BlackBerry users are like Myspace users,” sneers Craig Robert Smith, a Los Angeles musician. “They probably still chat on AOL Instant Messenger.”
