The Mobile Ecosystem

"Not only do we understand the technology, but we also understand the whole ecosystem and the context of the mobile user," Ferra continues. And in the mobile space, he stresses, "Context is king -- you have to understand the end user and how he or she is using your services."

Over the years, part of that contextual understanding has come from the use of device detection technology, according to Ferra, who says the keys to wireless adoption are "discoverability, accessibility and usability." In 2002, he relates, Fidelity introduced browser detection technology to Fidelity.com with the objective of facilitating a redirect to Fidelity Anywhere when the request initiated from a mobile browser. In 2005 device detection was enhanced to identify device characteristics beyond the mobile browser, such as device type, screen size, graphics supported, keyboard layout and network speed. By knowing all the characteristics across all the mobile handsets, Ferra insists, Fidelity Anywhere can render the best possible user experience.

"There's been a tremendous focus on ease of use -- on improving the end-user's experience and to simplify as much as possible," Ferra comments. Today Fidelity Anywhere applications operate on the latest, most popular devices, including the BlackBerry, iPhone, Palm Pre and Google's Android operating system. "Our application today is device agnostic -- it runs wherever you have a Web browser," explains Ferra, who reiterates that he keeps an eye on developments in the mobile space to ensure that Fidelity Anywhere remains current.

One of the trends Ferra is watching is the development of the WebKit open source Web browser, which could expand the capabilities of the browser to run rich Internet applications, such as video, animation and location-based services. Meanwhile, Fidelity also is monitoring the trend toward open, or browser-based, technology rather than closed applications, which require client deployment. For instance, while the iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry distribute their applications, which are designed to run on specific devices, via app stores, that approach is somewhat closed, according to Ferra, compared to Google's approach, which is to use open source development and the Web.

"Right now people are pleased with client apps such as games that work well on specific devices," notes Ferra. But long term, he predicts, mobile apps will follow Web apps toward more open deployments.

On the networking side, Fidelity is anticipating the deployment of 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless networks (which will replace 3G networks) by the latter half of 2010. According to Ferra, 4G promises the high speed of cable networks, which should expand the limits of the mobile experience.

Fidelity also is watching the emergence of multimodal communication, or the ability to conduct asynchronous voice and data communication. A user on a device that doesn't support multimodal interaction would need to suspend his data session in order to call a Fidelity rep. With the introduction of multimodal capabilities on devices such as the BlackBerry Bold, however, the user experience is changed once again, Ferra says. "If that person was in Fidelity Anywhere, they can make that call [without suspending] the data session," he explains. "They could toggle between the phone and their data session."

But perhaps the trend with the most potential to change the mobile user experience, according to Ferra, is the growing use of SMS texting by Generations X and Y, which use their mobile devices to send more SMS text messages than they do to make telephone calls. SMS messaging, he notes, works over a cell phone's voice network -- it doesn't require the user to have a data plan. "Now you're audience for text messaging expands -- you can touch everybody with a cell phone," Ferra says. "It's a much more convenient way to reach a wider audience."