mobile device a mobile device or handheld computer is a computing device small enough to hold and operate in the hand typically any handheld computer device will have an lcd flatscreen interface providing a touchscreen interface with digital buttons and keyboard or physical buttons along with a physical keyboard many such devices can connect to the internet and interconnect with other devices such as car entertainment systems or headsets via wifi bluetooth cellular networks or near field communication nfc integrated cameras digital media players the ability to place and receive telephone calls video games and global positioning system gps capabilities are common power is typically provided by a lithium battery mobile devices may run mobile operating systems that allow thirdparty apps specialized for said capabilities to be installed and run early smartphones were joined in the late 2000s by larger but otherwise essentially the same tablets input and output is now usually via a touchscreen interface phonestablets and personal digital assistants may provide much of the functionality of a laptopdesktop computer but more conveniently in addition to exclusive features 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 magnetometers and gyroscopes allowing detection of orientation and motion mobile devices may provide biometric user authentication such as face recognition or fingerprint recognition major global manufacturers of mobile devices include apple samsung sony google htc lg and motorola mobility characteristics device mobility can be viewed in the context of several dimensions 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 strictly speaking many socalled mobile devices are not mobile it is the host that is mobile ie a mobile human host carries a nonmobile smartphone device an example of a true mobile computing device where the device itself is mobile is a robot another example is an autonomous vehicle there are three basic ways mobile devices can be physically bound to mobile hosts accompanied surfacemounted or embedded into the fabric of a host eg an embedded controller embedded in a host device accompanied refers to an object being loosely bound and accompanying a mobile host eg a smartphone can be carried in a bag or pocket but can easily be misplaced hence mobile hosts with embedded devices such as an autonomous vehicle can appear larger than pocketsized as stated earlier the most common size of mobile computing device is pocketsized that can be handheld but other sizes for mobile devices exist too mark weiser known dust refers to miniaturised devices without direct hci interfaces eg micro electromechanical systems mems ranging from nanometres through micrometers to millimetres see also smart dust skin fabrics based upon light emitting and conductive polymers and organic computer devices these can be formed into more flexible nonplanar display surfaces and products such as clothes and curtains see oled display also see smart device although mobility is often regarded although a common form of mobile device a smartphone has a display another perhaps even more common form of smart computing device the smart card eg used as a bank card or travel card does not have a display this mobile device often has a cpu and memory but needs to connect or be inserted into a reader in order to display its internal data or state types smartphones handheld mobile devices there are many kinds of mobile devices designed for different applications this includes mobile computers mobile internet devices tabletssmartphones laptops wearable computers calculator watches smartwatches headmounted displays personal digital assistants enterprise digital assistants graphing calculators handheld game consoles portable media players calculators ultramobile pcs digital media player digital still cameras dsc digital video cameras dvc or digital camcorders feature phones pagers personal navigation devices pnd smart cards uses handheld devices have become ruggedized for use in mobile field management uses include digitizing notes sending and receiving invoices asset management recording signatures managing parts and scanning barcodes in 2009 developments in mobile collaboration systems enabled the use of handheld devices that combine video audio and onscreen drawing capabilities to enable multiparty conferencing in realtime independent of location in the 2010s mobile devices can sync and share many data despite the distance or specifications of said devices in the medical field mobile devices are quickly becoming essential tools for accessing clinical information such as drugs treatment even medical calculation converged device html5 in mobile devices list of emerging technologies mobile interaction near field communication nfc portable communications device smart device mobile devices library technology reports 44 5 1015 2008 hanson c w 2011 chapter 2 mobile devices in 2011 library technology reports 47 2 1123 wikiversity has learning resources about mobile device wikimedia commons has media related to handheld devices vtemajor mobile device companiescompanies with an annual revenue of over us3 billion acer amazon apple iphone asus bbk electronics oppo oneplus vivo realme blackberry limited google pixel android one htc huawei honor karbonn lava xolo lenovo motorola mobility lg electronics meizu micromax yu microsoft mobile microsoft surface phone hmd global nokia panasonic samsung electronics sony mobile tcl blackberry mobile alcatel mobile palm transsion tecno infinix spice tinno mobile wiko true xiaomi redmi zte nubia see also largest it companies categorymobile technology companies categorymobile phone manufacturers vte computer sizes classes of computers microcomputer personal computer stationary workstation desktop home personal supercomputer portable tabletop smart tv interactive kiosk game arcade cabinet system board home console microconsole sff nettop plug smart speaker mobilelaptop desktop replacement 2in1 subnotebook netbook smartbook ultrabook ultramobile pc tablet ultramobile pc 2in1 phablet tabletop handheld handheld pc palmtop pc pocket computer pda electronic organizer mobile phone feature phone smartphone phablet pmp ereader handheld game console portablemobile data terminal calculator scientific programmable graphing wearable digital wristwatch calculator watch smartwatch smartglasses smart ring midrange server minicomputer supermini large super mainframe minisuper others microcontroller nanocomputer singleboard computer smartdust wireless sensor network vtemobile operating systemslinuxkernel android forks bada ezx linux firefox os b2g os kaios maemo maemo leste meego mer sailfish os moblin motomagx openembedded ngstrm kaeilos openmoko linux qtmoko shr postmarketos tizen ubuntu touch ubports webos luneos xnu ios qnx blackberry 10 blackberry tablet os windows windows xp tablet pc edition windows mobile windows phone 7 8 81 windows rt windows 10 mobile zircon fuchsia other blackberry os epoc geos magic cap nintendo dsi nintendo 3ds s30 s30 s40 nokia asha platform palmdos palm os psp ps vita symbian comparison of mobile operating systems list of mobile app distribution platforms open handset alliance open mobile alliance mobile app development 