According to the Engineering and Physical Science Research Centre, mobile phone technology is set to make life a lot easier in the future. Ideas such as….

“….One day our mobile phones may be able to broadcast our identities and preferences to wireless chips embedded, for example, in a hotel room, allowing us to check-in automatically and get local information that suits our needs.
We may also be able to remotely control electronic devices in our homes, such as the DVD recorder or the heating, by punching commands into our phone. Each device would contain a wireless chip allowing them to ‘talk’ to each other and to our phone.

Many UK groups are working on making these futuristic possibilities a reality. Researchers at the universities of Edinburgh, Southampton and Bristol are working on wireless technologies with data transfer rates of 100Mb/s over the air. At the University of Strathclyde, research is focusing on getting the software right to support easy-to-use personalised services. Other major efforts are underway at the University of Surrey and Kings College London.”

With these advances, security issues are becoming more prominent. That’s why here at UMU, we take the risk of attack very seriously and our research and development engineers are constantly updating and upgrading our protection systems. In addition, groups like those at Royal Holloway, University of London and the University of Bristol are working on encryption technologies to protect our privacy and secure the networks from attack.

(Adapted from EPSRC, 2009 http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/ResearchHighlights/Timelines/MobilePhones/TomorrowsTechnology.htm )