A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a small computing device, typically, small enough to hold and operate in the hand and having an operating system capable of running mobile apps. These may provide a diverse range of functions. Typically, the device will have a display screen with a small numeric or alphanumeric keyboard or a touchscreen providing a virtual keyboard and buttons (icons) on-screen. Many such devices can connect to the Internet and interconnect with other devices such as car entertainment systems or headsets via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or near field communication (NFC). Integrated cameras, digital media players, mobile phone and GPS capabilities are common. Power is typically provided by a lithium battery.
Early pocket-sized devices were joined in the late 2000s by larger but otherwise similar tablet computers. Input and output is now usually via a touch-screen interface. Smartphones and personal digital assistants may provide much of the functionality of a laptop or desktop computer but more conveniently. Enterprise digital assistants can provide additional business functionality such as integrated data capture via barcode, RFID and smart card readers By 2010, mobile devices often contained sensors such as accelerometers, compasses, magnetometers and gyroscopes allowing detection of orientation and motion. Mobile devices may provide biometric user authentication such as face recognition or fingerprint recognition.
- Physical dimensions and weight
- Whether or not the device is mobile or some kind of host to which it is attached to is mobile
- What kind of host devices can be bound to
- How devices are attached to a host
- When the mobility occurs
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