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The emergence and deployment of new digital communication technologies (3G
mobile networks, digital television, xDSL, home automation networks, etc.) has
led to a gradual increase in speed while a steady decline in prices at Internet connections.
Moreover, since much longer ago, the continuing advances in electronic
technology have led to a steady rise in computer performance at a price increasingly
smaller, which has turned the computer into a product accessible to everyone,
at least in developed countries. More recently, again advances in electronic technology
have made possible the emergence of new Internet devices (game consoles,
mobile phones, PDAs, tablets, etc.) that paint a scenario in which ubiquitous access
to the Information Society is no longer an illusion.
In this new scenario, full of unquestionable strengths and opportunities, one
would expect that users would benefit from the potential of ubiquitous access (from
home or from anywhere via mobile devices) to an increasing amount of contents
and interactive services. We talk about a new technological playground which only
seems be restricted by the capacity for innovation and economic viability of this
innovation; a huge space of possibilities which encompass any imaginable and even
unimaginable application domain, such as entertainment, news, electronic commerce,
learning, games, multimedia, ... In short, every conceivable e-technology;
e-learning, e-administration, e-health, e-tourism, e-governance and so on. |