Mobile Commerce

Mobile Commerce is basically being able to use your mobile phone or other devices such as PDA in order to conduct commerce. After doing some research on mobile commerce I found a definiton on an article that explains mobile commerce brilliantly."M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services through wireless handheld devices such as cellular telephone and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Known as next-generation e-commerce, m-commerce enables users to access the Internet without needing to find a place to plug in. The emerging technology behind m-commerce, which is based on the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), has made far greater strides in Europe, where mobile devices equipped with Web-ready micro-browsers are much more common than in the United States"

The website where I found this definition goes on to explain how back in 2000 companies who manufacture mobile phones for example Nokia and Motorola are working with carriers such as AT&T wireless to develop WAP-enabled smart phones. According to this article these phones are "the industry's answer to the Swiss Army Knife, and ways to reach them. Using Bluetooth technology, smart phones offer fax, e-mail, and phone capabilities all in one, paving the way for m-commerce to be accepted by an increasingly mobile workforce".

Smart phones have now been introduced to the marketplace. An example of a smart phone can be seen in the picture to the right. A lot of these phones have excellent features such windows operating systems to let you edit and share microsoft word and excel spreadsheets. Wi Fi wireless networking is use in these phones so you can connect to the internet. Blackberry phones are seen as one one of the most popular smart phones in the market. According to the blackberry website their smart phones have features on it that can be defined under the following headings:

•  Stay in touch:
• "Distance is truly outdated as BlackBerry® smartphones keep everyone close. Phone, email or text your friends, family and contacts. Instant message and access social networks to immediately share your latest updates"
• Instant Information
• "Find more, know more, do more. Browse the web, find your destination with mapping applications and organize all your personal data. BlackBerry smartphones pull it all together."
• Entertainment on the go
• "Bring your own entertainment. Wherever you are, BlackBerry smartphones let you listen to music, snap pictures, view clips and capture video"
• Browse, Shop and Buy
• "Boost your purchase power. BlackBerry smartphones can remember forms once you fill them in, letting you make that buy quickly and securely. And no rush, BlackBerry smartphones don't have a closing time."

Here is a video I found that talks about mobile commerce

According to an article "how smartphones are becoming central to shopping- and what retailers must do to prepare" smart phones have become very popular for shopping, it allows customers not only to shop online but but allows people to compare shopping and locating stores. So these latest technology have made mobile commerce a lot more easier.