Modern technology has become an integral part of our life. Schools are often conservative, so involvement of technology in education is delayed. Most of the population own a smartphone, and while some people say that smartphones should be used in the lessons, others would prefer a complete ban on them. This work sums up strengths and weaknesses of smartphones in education based on literature and discusses some recommendations on their use. Smartphones usage in education was studied in an application which helps with basics of Russian alphabet. It was shown that majority of the users did not read license terms, preferred the same sex for application voice and tended to leave the application prematurely. A questionnaire survey on a school was used to grasp the whole topic. It was revealed that that touch devices would be welcome in education by students, and they are prepared to use their own smartphone for studying although rather at school than in their free time. Mobile phone is the preferred device for games playing and internet browsing but the most commonly used applications include social networks, communication programs and video players. It seems that the worst school results are achieved by students who use the smartphones most, but best results are not achieved by students who use the phone the least.

In umfangreichen Datenerhebungen zeigen sich webbasierte Applikationen als ein besonders flexibel einzusetzendes Instrument, welches zudem im Vergleich zu analogen Varianten u.a. hinsichtlich der Anzahl nicht beantworteter Fragen im Vorteil ist (Rada, 2014). Weiterhin kommen Deutskens et al. (2006) zu der Erkenntnis, dass die Ergebnisse zwischen Online- und Offline-Umfragen durchaus zu vergleichen sind. Die Art und Qualität der Antworten sind nicht von der Wahl der technischen Methodik abhängig (Tuten et al., 2002). Ferner wurde sogar gezeigt, dass Online-Befragungen umfassendere Informationen liefern als beispielsweise traditionelle Postumfragen (Ilieva u. a., 2002). Schon seit längerer Zeit werden solche webbasierten Fragebogen nun nicht mehr ausschließlich auf Desktop-Computern bearbeitet (Callegaro, 2010). Vielmehr ist eine klare Tendenz zur mobilen Nutzung erkennbar. Während im Jahre 2011 erst 4% der Teilnehmenden Smartphones zur Beantwortung von Online-Befragungen nutzten, waren es im Jahre 2014 bereits 18% (Sarraf et al., 2014) und im Jahre 2018 33,7% (Nissen & Janneck, 2018). Durch den stetig steigenden Gebrauch mobiler Geräte, wie insbesondere Smartphones, stellt sich die Frage, inwieweit Online-Fragebogen als spezifische Anwendung für eine mobile Nutzung geeignet sind. Einerseits scheinen mobile Geräte mit ihren eher kleineren Displays womöglich schlechter geeignet für die Bearbeitung von z.T. umfangreichen Fragebogen zu sein. Eine mangelnde Eignung zeigt sich beispielsweise in höheren Abbruchquoten (Sarraf et al., 2014; Lambert & Miller, 2015; Mavletova, 2013; Nissen & Janneck, 2018), längeren Bearbeitungszeiten (Lugtig et al., 2016; Mavletova, 2013; Horwitz, 2014; Nissen & Janneck, 2018) oder auch auffälligen Antwortmustern (Nissen & Janneck, 2018), die zu einer schlechteren Datenqualität führen können. Andererseits bieten Fragebogen auf Smartphones die Möglichkeit, sehr flexibel an Studien teilzunehmen und u.U. die Teilnahmequote zu erhöhen. Um diese Möglichkeit zu nutzen und eine Grundlage für künftige technische Entwicklungen zu bieten, wird in diesem Beitrag eine Untersuchung zu soziodemographischen Daten (Geschlecht und Alter) und dem zeitlichen und örtlichen Kontext der Bearbeitung von Web-Fragebogen – mit besonderem Fokus auf die mobile Nutzung – durchgeführt. [... aus der Einleitung] 91

D. Tech. (Department of Process Control and Computer Systems, Faculty of Engineering and Technology), Vaal University of Technology. / In this research study, a scheme to minimise interference in converged mobile cellular networks (MCNs) and wireless sensor networks (WSNs) was designed and implemented. The focus was the mitigation of interference that arises when proximity service (ProSe)-enabled sensors engage in a device-to device (D2D) communication to alert smartphone users upon the detection of explosives at highly crowded areas like shopping malls. D2D is a technology that academia and industry experts believe will play a prominent role in the implementation of the next generation of mobile networks, specifically, the fifth generation (5G). However, the full roll out of D2D is being impeded by the interference that the technology introduces to the cellular network. D2D devices cause a significant amount of interference to the primary cellular network especially when radio resources are shared. In the downlink phase, primary user equipment is likely to suffer from interference emanating from a D2D transmitter. On the other hand, the immobile base station is affected by interference caused by the D2D transmitter in the uplink phase. This type of interference can be avoided or reduced if radio resources are allocated intelligently under strict coordination of the base station. An NP-hard optimisation problem was formulated and finding a solution to this problem in 1 ms is not possible. 5G has a frame structure duration of 10 ms with 10 subframes of 1 ms each. Heuristic algorithms were then developed to mitigate the interference affecting the primary network that could carry out resource allocation within the fast-scheduling period of 1 ms. Smartphones have progressed into devices capable of generating massive volumes of data. The challenge is that battery technology is not keeping up with the pace of smartphone technology, so any additional feature that designers want to add, is met with a lot of contempt from customers who are concerned about their smartphone batteries depleting rapidly. In this context, the strategy must be energy-efficient for smartphone users to embrace it. A system level simulator was developed using MATLAB to evaluate the efficacy of the proposed design. Extensive simulation results showed that ProSe-enabled sensors can safely be integrated into cellular networks participating in D2D communication with smart phones, without introducing significant harm to the primary cellular network. The results showed that after implementing the proposed strategy, overall user throughput decreased by 3.63 %. In cellular networks, this is a modest figure since a reduction of up to 5% is acceptable to both users and network providers. The figure generally capped in service level agreements signed between network providers and users is 5%. The proposed technique also resulted in a 0 % reduction in SINR of CUEs in a cellular network, according to the findings. In terms of D2D link throughput for different D2D transmit levels, the method proposed in this research work surpassed a similar scheme proposed in literature by an average of 18.3%.

This study examines how smartphones, laptops and tablets are used to create a sense of security, place, and time in the everyday lives of their consumers. Mark Deuze (2012) and his take on the modern society as a zombie apocalypse has been an inspiration for my work, there of the title. ”We’re all fucking zombies” is a metaphor for how highly-connected people of today are by living in and through the media, instead of living with it. To implement this I’ve chosen a phenomenological perspective, as it is the media-users’ subjective experiences of their everyday lives that I’m mainly interested in studying. I decided to focus on the mobile use of media since most of the research in this area focus on domestic media use. The theoretical framework that has set the foundation for the study is a combination of the time- space-dimensions of mobility, media as practice, symbolic interactionism, relational artifacts and phenomenological sociology. The purpose of using these theories is to get insight on how the media creates new opportunities for our social life, and to get an overview of how the new technological media leads to entirely new types of practices. The empirical data has been collected through a qualitative focus group interview with four respondents. They were selected to participate as they perceive themselves to be above average in comparison with the statistics of Mediebarometern (2014). The results showed that being connected through mobile media is considered to be of high importance. Although the ”connectedness” is only vital when being present in the locations directly related to the everyday life. Based on Silverstones (1994) explanation of phenomenology, and his studies of how television contributes to the ontological security, I conclude that the personalized mobile media has the same effect on it’s users.

The evolution and proliferation of mobile devices (m-devices) in the workplace have been rapid. In comparison to conventional services provided by mobile phones (m-phones), smartphones feature sophisticated functionality, such as Internet access, video/audio streaming, and business productivity applications. As a consequence of increased demand for smartphones in the workplace, an understanding of the factors that determine the decision to adopt smartphones in business settings is necessary. The goal of this investigation was to identify the key factors that have an impact on the adoption of smartphones. This dissertation investigation provided an understanding of the key factors that affect the adoption of smartphones for the domain of professional consultants and validated the key constructs of a conceptual map of smartphone adoption through the analysis of data generated from a survey of professional consultants from a global professional services firm, ZS Associates. A total of 130 valid responses from an online survey distributed to 336 ZS Associates professional consultants located in North America, European Union, Japan, China, and India were used in this study. The results of this investigation indicated that social influence, perceived ease of use (PEU), perceived usefulness (PU)/compatibility in the workplace, job relevance, and technology are the key factors that affect the adoption of a smartphone. Demographics and observability factors such as age and observing others' using smartphones in the workplace were found to have no significant impact on smartphone adoption. The outcomes of this investigation indicated that there were no significant cultural differences between respondents in the North America, EU, and Asia-Pacific regions in regard to the adoption of a smartphone. The results of this investigation expanded the research on the adoption of smartphones to the domain of professional consultants. The investigation expanded the research of smartphone adoption from a cultural perspective. Further, the research bridged the gap in the information technology (IT) literature on the intention to use a smartphone by incorporating the key constructs from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technologies (UTAUT), and the Diffusion of Innovations Theory (DOI) models.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / Factors influencing the adoption of smartphones are not known in South Africa. Smartphone adoption globally is currently measured as being around forty-seven percent of all mobile phone users, with an expectation that it will be around the fifty per cent mark by 2017. Most of this growth will come from markets that are highly price-sensitive, and low-cost smartphones will allow users to shift from feature phones to smartphones, or they may skip the step of buying a feature phone altogether and upgrade directly to a smartphone. With one of the fastest growing smartphone adoption rates in the world. Primary data was collected using an online survey tool, and four hundred and twenty-six responses to the survey were collected. The survey instrument was designed to collect information regarding the smartphone attributes and features that are most pertinent to the smartphone purchasing decision. The research also profiled how consumers were currently using their mobile devices from a time and frequency perspective. This was done through descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of the sample data. The research adopted the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) with three added constructs from the literature, being Entertainment, Security and Privacy, and Social Networking. The objective of the research, therefore, was to test the relationship of these constructs in relation to smartphone adoption by the sample collected. Inspection of the data was done through multiple logistic regression on respondent’s current adoption status of smartphones. Only PU (Perceived Usefulness) was measured to be significant after inferential statistical analysis, but this proved to have only minor influence on the overall multiple regression equation of the research. Entertainment was statistically not significant in the research, but was measured as very close to significance whenusing a confidence level alpha of 0.05. The application of the TAM model with added constructs proved to be successful, although the added constructs did not result in significance of the associated sample data. Respondents indicated that smartphone features such as battery life and the affordability of data were the most important to them in the decision of purchasing a smartphone. The descriptive data did reveal differing adoption trends among different race groups within South Africa, and it is recommended that this phenomenon be explored in further detail in future research.

The aim of this project is to develop an application with the purpose to help students procrastinate less and plan their studies. Cellphones are a common distraction among students today and many people find procrastination on cellphones to be a major problem. The purpose of the application is to prevent procrastination and stress by turning off distractive apps during a study session as well as offering the user help in planning upcoming deadlines and examinations. The application HappyHelper provides the user features such as blocking distracting application during a certain amount of time and a calendar for organizing studies; consequently, the aim of the project is achieved. To determine whether the purpose is fulfilled or not a user survey is required and is scheduled to be executed in the near future. / Målet med detta projekt är att utveckla en applikation med syfte att hjälpa studenter prokrastinera mindre och planera sina studier. Att distraheras av mobiltelefonen är ett vanligt problem bland studenter idag och många ser prokrastineringen med en mobiltelefon som ett allvarligt bekymmer. Applikationens syfte är att motverka prokrastinering och stress genom att stänga av distraherande appar under en studiesession och erbjuda användaren att planera in arbeten och examinationer. Applikationen HappyHelper erbjuder användaren att under en tidsinställd period blockera distraherande applikationer och en kalenderfunktion för att planera in sina studier; projektet uppnår därmed sitt mål. För att avgöra huruvida syftet är uppfyllt eller inte, krävs en användarundersökning som är planerad att genomföras in en snar framtid.

Smartphones are innovations that currently provide immense benefits and convenience to users in society. However, not all the users of society are accepting and using smart phones, more specifically, for this research study older adults (50+) are a demographic group displaying such an attitude. Currently, there is minimal knowledge of the reasons that older adults adopt and use smartphones. Bearing this in mind, this research study aimed to identify, examine and explain the adoption and usage of smartphones in the UK within the 50 years old and above population. For this purpose, a conceptual framework, a Model of Smartphone Adoption (MOSA) was formed drawing factors from the theories of Unified theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the Diffusion of Innovations theory (DoI) and Technology Acceptance Model 3 (TAM3). Seven variables from the theories were brought to consideration, which were Observability, Social influence, Compatibility, Effort expectancy, Facilitation conditions, Performance expectancy and Perceived enjoyment. For the research method, a quantitative approach was selected to examine and apply MOSA that involved the data collection method of an online questionnaire survey that resulted in 204 completed replies during the pilot phase of this research and 984 in the final phase. The collected data was analysed using SEM-PLS where the results found that six of the eight formed hypotheses were supported, and the factors of Compatibility, Effort expectancy, Facilitation condition, Performance expectancy and Perceived enjoyment were important for the adoption of smartphones. From these results, it was understood that older adults used smartphones because they have enough knowledge, time and money to use. They also think that smartphones are easy to use, provide benefits including enjoyment and are compatible with their lifestyles. In terms of usage, older adults frequently used the basic features of smartphones such as making a phone call, SMS, email, and browsing. Older adults are also likely to use their devices for seeking information about their health and for appointments with their doctors; however, from this research it was found that more than half of the 50 years old and above adults did not use smartphones for health and well-being purposes. The contributions of this research are viewed to be the identification and understanding of the factors that encourage or inhibit smartphones use within the older adult population. Secondly, this research can inform smartphone manufacturers and developers of factors pertinent for the design of computing devices and applications specific to silver surfers. Finally, this research can enlighten policy makers when forming decisions that encourage the adoption and use of smartphones within the older adult population. Regarding limitations, these existed in the form of finance and time. To overcome the limitations, this research recommends further studies that apply qualitative research and/or to provide a comparison between western and eastern countries.

The theoretical part of this thesis intends to familiarize the reader with review of the results of recent studies of how a mobile phone affects individuals, communication and society as a whole. Space is given to the issue of behavioural differences between men and women in relation to mobile phones. The last section shows how big is the attention given to a mobile phone in the field of marketing research. In the research part, the author uses methods typical rather to marketing research, an eye tracking, RTA and interviews to do the research whose goal was to describe the process of selection when buying a mobile phone via e- shop and to point out the possible differences between men and women. Measuring eye attention of 50 participants in the age of 18 - 29 years (25 men, 25 women) showed that eye behaviour of men and women when choosing a mobile phone differed significantly, particularly at the time that respondents gave to particular information areas. The interviews resulted in further differences such as differences in the importance of different criteria for both genders or unequal level of independence in selecting the phone.

A research report submitted to the faculty of commerce, law and management, university of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master of management in Strategic Marketing. / Globally there has been a decrease in fixed line telephones while Smartphone sales have been on the rise; the same trend has also been happening in South Africa. Due to this trend, Smartphone brands have been placing importance on the retention of existing customers, therefore focusing on repurchase intentions. The research investigates the relationship between experiential marketing (sense, feel, think, act and relate experience), customer satisfaction and the repurchase intentions of Smartphones amongst the youth market of South Africa. The paper reviews literature on experiential marketing, customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions, then tests six hypotheses which were proposed which led to the development of a research model. Non-probability sampling was used at The University of the Witwatersrand where the study was conducted amongst 223 youth aged 15 – 35 years. Structural equational modelling was used to analyse the data, using SPSS and Amos software. The results revealed sense experience has the most influence on the customer satisfaction of Smartphone brands which then leads to repurchase intentions. The findings are expected to add to literature on experiential marketing, customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions as well as provide practical implications. / GR2018