By

Kumar

Definition

A smart device is an electronic device,

generally connected to other devices or

networks via different protocols such as

Bluetooth, NFC, Wi-Fi, 3G, etc., that can

operate to some extent interactively and

autonomously

Contents

Form factors

Characteristics

Mobile Devices

Ubiquitous Computing Properties

Environments

Smart Devices versus Services

Information Appliances versus Smart Devices

Overview

Conclusion

Form factors

In 1991 Mark Weiser proposed three basic

forms for ubiquitous system devices: tabs, pads

and boards.

• Tabs : accompanied or wearable centimetre sized devices,

e.g., smart phones, smart cards etc.,

• Pads : hand-held decimetre-sized devices,

e.g., laptops.

• Boards : meter sized interactive display devices, e.g.,

horizontal surface computers and vertical smart boards.

Characteristics

Smart Devices can be characterised as follows:

• A set of system hardware & software ICT resources. This set is

usually static fixed at design time.

• Dynamic component-oriented resource extensions & plug-ins (Plug

and play) of some hardware resources.

• Remote external service access and execution.

• Local, internal autonomous service execution

• Access to specific external environments: human interaction, physical

world interaction and distributed ICT / virtual computing interaction.

• Ubiquitous computing properties.

Common types of smart devices include:

Tab and pad type smart devices that often as act as personalised #smart mobile

devices

Smart environment devices.

Mobile Devices

• Multi-purpose ICT devices e.g., personal office, mobile phone,

camera, games console, etc

• Multi-functional support eases access & interoperability of multi-

functions at run-time but this can lead to a decreased openness

of the system to maintain (upgrade) hardware components and

to support more dynamic flexible run-time interoperability.

• Personalised, configured to a specified owner. Device access can

be secured only for the owner.

• Operates as a single portal, e.g., a Web portal.

Smart mobile device service access is characterised by:

Open service discovery

Intermittent resource access.

Smart Mobile Devices

Highly portable devices becoming increasingly

popular:

Mobile Smart Devices

Examples:

Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)

iPhone and other “smartphones”

iPad and other tablet PCs

Portable game consoles with wireless connectivity

(e.g. Nintendo DS and Sony PSP)

Mobile Devices of Tomorrow

Ultra-Mobile PC

Tablets

Mobile Hotspots

Fixed Wireless Terminals

Ubiquitous Computing Properties

Weiser’s vision for ubiquitous computing can be

summarized in terms of three core properties:

Devices need to be networked, distributed and transparently accessible.

Human Computer Interaction with devices is hidden to a degree

from its users.

Devices exhibit Context awareness of an environment in order to

optimise their operation in that environment.

It is proposed that there are two additional core types of

properties for UbiCom systems:

Devices can operate to some extent autonomously, i.e., without human

intervention, be self-governed.

Devices can handle a multiplicity of dynamic actions and interactions,

governed by intelligent decision-making and organisational interaction.

Environments

The term Smart Device Environments has two meanings.

First, it can refer to a greater variety of device

environments. Three different kinds of environments for

devices can be differentiated as:

Virtual computing environments that enable smart devices to access pertinent

services anywhere and anytime.

Physical environments that may be embedded with a variety of smart

devices of different types including tags, sensors and controllers.

These can have different form factors ranging from nano to micro

to macro sized.

Humans environments : humans, either individually or collectively,

inherently form a smart environment for devices. Such as mobile

phones, pacemakers etc.,

Smart Devices versus Services

Devices may access or offer one or many

services from other devices.

Services may be split across several devices or be

offered by multiple types of services.

Smart Cards devices

VCC

Reset

Clock

GND

VPP

I/O

Reserved

Information Appliances versus

Smart Devices

Smart Devices are characterised and differ in several

key ways. First, Smart Devices in general can take a much wider range of form-

factors than appliances.

Second, Smart Devices support the ubiquitous computing properties.

Third information appliances focus on remote interaction with

computing environments that tend to be personalised whereas Smart

Devices can also focus heavily on impersonal physical world interaction.

Four, the term appliance generally implies that devices are task specific

and under the control of some embedded system or application specific

operating system, whereas Smart Devices may support multiple tasks, e.g.,

a mobile phone can act as a phone but also as a games console, music

player, camera, etc.

Overview

Conclusion

Smart devices have good and bad sides.

According to the research smart devices only have the

disadvantages of addiction and not using for the right

purposes some times. With the type of world that we have

today smart devices are very useful.

I think that smart devices do have an effect on education in

both good and bad ways. It makes it easier to research but

some students abuse them.

In conclusion I think we really need smart devices these

days because they have good effects.