The Future of Mobile Apps – How it Will Affect Our Lives (updated)

Smart devices have become the new standard for personal communication, networking, and

productivity… and corporate efficiency and collaboration.

Everywhere we look, smart technology has become the must have for everything from communication, networking, personal productivity, personal comfort, even mission critical tasks… and app developers can only move forward in creating a world that is more mobile, hands free, dynamically integrated and cross-functional.

With children playing on their tablets for fun, and business executives on their smartphones looking for apps to configure and standardize the workplace, the future trend over the next few years is going to not only push the limits of how we interact with mobile technology, but how mobile technology can interact with us.

Major companies like Microsoft─ with Microsoft Surface and mobile functionality in Windows 8, and Google─ with its Google Glass technology, are showing a renewed focus on design for mobile devices that not only affect tablets and smartphones you’re using today.  They’re also talking about the smartwatches, visors, pico projectors, and God knows what else we’ll be using next year and the year after that.

Mobile was an add-on. Today, mobile is just as, if not more, important than the traditional desktop PC… and who knows what’s around the corner with wearable computing?

It would be crazy not to be looking at all these new devices and new ideas, from things hitting the market now like…

• Google Glass,
• MicroVisions Laser PicoP Display Engine in every single mobile device,
• or things that are just rumors like Apple’s watch.

Our growing reliance on the Cloud and big data streaming has only accentuated what mobile technology can do. Apps are better looking, more versatile and make connecting with people easier and essential. Looking ahead further into 2014, a few mobile trends are beginning to become extremely visible.

The Cloud:

SD cards and internal storage are still essential for personal computing technology, but what about cross-platform mobile accessibility? I remember the days when carrying a floppy disk or USB stick was the only ways to keep my data on me at all times.  As I got older, I started emailing things to myself. But now with apps like DropBox or my Google Drive, sharing and archiving my data from any smart device is as easy as uploading a file.

Now, this same model is being applied to basically every app, from content streaming applications to niche utility apps… and being able to save your data somewhere other than your device for sharing and retrieval is paramount. Apps that used to offer options for social media sharing are starting to adopt DropBox availability and drive accessibility as a basic feature for more efficient apps.
Access to online storage is not only making data easier to get to regardless of device, but encouraging more personal connections through networking.

Mobile Sharing:

Playing on-line games with friends from far away lands to sharing your content with others via your mobile device is becoming the standard for workplace and social networking. Just look at any website as evidence for this model of mobile trending. You cannot find an article online, for example, that does not have an option for sharing a link or assorted media on basically any social networking site imaginable. Mobile sharing goes beyond social engagement… it can, if done right, spread your message like wild fire.

As mobile technology and its ubiquitous use continue to multiply, configuring apps to keep everyone connected, regardless of mobile platform, is the most important step to keeping our personal smart technology as efficient as it can be.

Cross-platform Apps Configuration:

This trend is more applicable to the corporate setting; where apps not only need to be focused and efficient in bringing out the best from the workforce… but also allow standardization across the entire user base for fluid communication from the bottom up. Apps that are developed for corporate use must be designed and be natively intuitive for multiple types of devices and be able to efficiently communicate throughout a large collection of personal smart devices, to ensure that the mobile network is not only transparent but also works as it should.

The workplace demands streamlined communication, specifically the accessibility to embedded analytic for corporate, departmental or local office operations. On the spot reports may be a luxury right now, but when everyone is standardized on an app, reports can be as easy as inputting data and watching it trend throughout the office. Executives looking for the quickest way to provide accurate analysis are turning to apps developed specifically to create trends for essential data. Whether employees are using personal mobile smart devices or their personal work computers, apps that mimic the office environment online are a company’s best bet for efficient data management and communication.

Also, cloud-based employee management apps that consolidate employee information, interaction, business expenses, and production into an easy to access database are continuing to pick up speed.

High Definition Laser Pico Projector Display Engine in Mobile Devices  

The combination of a mobile device and a built-in HD laser pico projector offers ultimate in mobility… functionality… video sharing… and the cool factor ownership of an interactive and 3D projector display.

MicroVision unveiled their latest HD Laser pico projector with focus-free touch Interactive and 3D display. This second generation laser PicoP display engine has higher screen resolutions than the original. MicroVision describes the PicoP Gen 2 engine and PicoMagic display applications as “ideal for various consumer and commercial mobile applications such as entertainment, advanced gaming, business projection, and education.” 

Focus-free touch interactive displays will allow users to instantly interact with a projected image on any surface, as well as, create Multi-user applications such as virtual whiteboards. For business users, touch interactive technology will provide the convenience to conduct business presentations with only the touch of their fingertips on a large display surface. Avid mobile gamers would also benefit from touch interactive technology by interacting with projected images with high response levels, making mobile gaming more realistic.

This technology is sure to engage the creative imagination of thousands of app developers, and we can hope to see many thousand of apps that will be useful in business, entertainment, and educational field. 

Self-care Healthcare for Global Markets:

Present day medical technologies are far advanced over those available to our ancestors─ and as a result we suffer far less than they did. Yet modern medicine can achieve little in comparison to what scientists know is possible for the future. Despite amazing advances in understanding and treating conditions [such as cancer, heart disease, dementia, diabetes, and many others], it is still the case that, for basically healthy people, no presently available therapy or tool can produce even a fraction of the long-term benefits to health and life expectancy provided by awareness, prevention, nutrition, regular exercise, a calorie restricted diet, natural therapy, and natural supplements.

Self healthcare behavior is the new paradigm; and an up close and personal choice that is as unique [in scope and strategy] as you and I and billions other on this planet decide to choose.  Developing a suite of comprehensive self healthcare mobile apps with such diversity is a complex proposition… unless you follow the old mantra of “one-size-fits-all” recommendations based on books, articles, and blogs that talk generalities and quote statistics.

Self-care behavior, a key concept in healthcare, refers to decisions and actions that an individual can take to cope with a health problem or to improve his or her health. Examples of self healthcare behaviors include seeking information (e.g., reading books, searching the Internet, attending classes, joining a self-help group); exercising; seeing a doctor on a regular basis; getting more rest; lifestyle changes; following low fat diets; monitoring vital signs; and seeking advice through lay and alternative care networks, evaluating this information, and making decisions to act or even to do nothing.

Self-care is generally viewed as a complement to professional health care for persons with chronic health conditions. Self-care behavior is, however, broader than just following a doctor’s advice. It also encompasses an individual’s learning from things that have worked in the past.

Presumed benefits of self-care include lower costs for the health care system; more effective working relationships between patients and physicians and other health care providers; increased patient satisfaction; and improved perceptions of one’s health condition. Self-help behaviors have been shown to lessen pain and depression and to improve quality of life. Generally, health care practitioners encourage and support patients to practice self-care behaviors because patients then actively participate in their own care. However, many practitioners experience difficulty in offering advice on self-care behaviors because they are not aware of specific techniques, strategies, and supports their patients can use.

Self-care is seen as empowering and with acquisition of self-care skills, people are able to participate more actively in fostering their own health and in shaping conditions that influence their health.
There are several apps under development that focus on mind and body fitness and will allow the subscriber to establish his/her own personal scope and strategy for self healthcare… and serve as the guiding light for their personal journey to health, wellness, and longevity.

We believe there is a massive awareness and movement underway where individuals want to take charge and get-on with a personal journey to enhance their health and wellness… and prevent onset of chronic diseases. Self-care healthcare apps will help them understand, facilitate and support this journey.

Cognitions Bridge, for example, is a suite of apps for education, entertainment, brain fitness, cognitive development, and prevention of age related cognitive decline and dementia.

These apps are examples of where apps are going. Some are paid and others are free, but are evidence that the mobile apps are no longer meant to just improve the day-to-day tasks of using a smart device.

Future mobile apps will be more interactive, offer more cloud-based models, work across smart devices, and keep people engaged… to entertain, educate, network, and bring about a paradigm shift in self-care healthcare.

According to IDC report published in 2011, app downloads are projected to grow from 10.7 billion (in 2010) to more than 182 billion (in 2015).  Reports also show that mobile advertising spending is increasing 20-30% annually in the developed markets. We are finally at the stage where mobile is seriously considered as one of the channels for marketing.

Anant Goel

Producer CEO – RKNet Studios