Almost everybody possesses a smartphone these days. We use it in different situations: For navigating, for playing, for paying, for chatting, for social networks, home banking and many other purposes. In this module we would like to teach what technologies enable these functions.

A smartphone offers perfect preconditions for exemplary considering several aspects. We look at the hardware first during this lecture. For example, we learn how it can be achieved that a CPU delivers enormous computing power while using little current, which display technologies are installed, how a touch screen works, which sensors exist, how, for instance, an acceleration sensor and GPS receiver work. Diverse radio technologies and network protocols are also considered. We take a look at which functions are offered by common operation systems, which architecture they have and what the economic aims of platform providers are. After we dealt with these preconditions, we reflect how typical applications base on this. We learn, for example, how a navigation application works and which data structures are used for location based services to quickly find the nearest point of interest. We reflect which algorithms are used for implementing language control. We learn how measuring values of sensors must be interpreted to recognize if the smartphone user runs, climbs stairs or goes by bus. The topics safety, digital rights management and business modules round off the module.

The module lasts one term, comprises of a lecture and a tutorial and is completed with an oral examination. We program a small smartphone app, for instance a simple smart home application with language control for switching light on and off, in the tutorial. Those who attend the module shall get started to deal with the mentioned aspects in further detail later – for instance in the modules of the master study course.