• fleet tracking/asset tracking systems
• rugged handheld units
• security/alarm systems
• smart grid/utility meters.

Being ideal for machine-to-machine (M2M) and line-of-business applications, these Network-Ready Devices are used for solutions such as fleet management, alarm monitoring, telematics, remote monitoring, and more. The expectation is that this area will be the industry’s growth engine in the near term. However, Chris isn’t just thinking about the near term. He’s looking ahead to opportunities such as the implementation of the smart grid, innovations such as computing devices that can smoothly and reliably understand speech, and the day augmented reality becomes a transparent part of our lives.

When asked what changes he saw for mobility in the next three or four years, Chris said, “Now that mobile devices have effective sensors and high-speed wireless communications, I think augmented reality will transparently become a part of our lives. By transparently, I mean that we won’t necessarily think of the features as augmented reality.  One of many examples includes leveraging a smartphone’s camera, GPS and digital compass to give a user useful information about what they are seeing on the screen, such as street names, building names, geologic formations, museum objects, etc.”

Opportunities, innovations, and industry guidance?  Mr.  Johnston has a visionary’s perspective on the future of mobility.

What do you think? Let Chris know.