Browse Definitions :
Definition

mobile device

A mobile device is essentially a handheld computer. Although the category of mobile device might seem to include any electronic device small enough to be carried around, the term implies wireless communications and the capacity for general computing.

Currently, the most common examples of mobile devices are tablets, smartphones and e-readers. Within the enterprise and in the context of mobile device management (MDM), laptops are also included in the category because they are portable, employees use them in similar out-of-office locations, and they involve similar oversight and security requirements to those of smaller devices. Outside of this context, however, the category of mobile device is generally confined to smaller form factor devices.

The first mobile device, in this sense, was the personal digital assistant (PDA). Popular in the 1990s and early 2000s, PDAs are considered the precursors to smartphones. However, because they could not make phone calls, they were more like a very small tablet. Most PDAs had a physical keyboard and limited software. Some had an electronically sensitive pad for written input.

The size of a mobile device necessarily involves compromise between the functionality of a larger interface and the ease of carrying a smaller device. The Phablet was designed larger than a smartphone for ease of input but smaller than most tablets, to fit in pockets and purses. The devices also include the phone function ordinarily lacking in tablets.

This was last updated in June 2017

Continue Reading About mobile device

Networking
  • User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

    User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a communications protocol primarily used to establish low-latency and loss-tolerating connections...

  • Telnet

    Telnet is a network protocol used to virtually access a computer and provide a two-way, collaborative and text-based ...

  • big-endian and little-endian

    The term endianness describes the order in which computer memory stores a sequence of bytes.

Security
  • advanced persistent threat (APT)

    An advanced persistent threat (APT) is a prolonged and targeted cyber attack in which an intruder gains access to a network and ...

  • Mitre ATT&CK framework

    The Mitre ATT&CK (pronounced miter attack) framework is a free, globally accessible knowledge base that describes the latest ...

  • timing attack

    A timing attack is a type of side-channel attack that exploits the amount of time a computer process runs to gain knowledge about...

CIO
HRSoftware
  • employee resource group (ERG)

    An employee resource group is a workplace club or more formally realized affinity group organized around a shared interest or ...

  • employee training and development

    Employee training and development is a set of activities and programs designed to enhance the knowledge, skills and abilities of ...

  • employee sentiment analysis

    Employee sentiment analysis is the use of natural language processing and other AI techniques to automatically analyze employee ...

Customer Experience
  • customer profiling

    Customer profiling is the detailed and systematic process of constructing a clear portrait of a company's ideal customer by ...

  • customer insight (consumer insight)

    Customer insight, also known as consumer insight, is the understanding and interpretation of customer data, behaviors and ...

  • buyer persona

    A buyer persona is a composite representation of a specific type of customer in a market segment.

Close