The Evolution of Mobile Operating Systems and User Context

Pick your metaphor: Smartphones are "remote controls" for the physical world, or perhaps, as Steve Cheney argues, they're "cursors for the physical world".

Either way, it's clear that the age of mobile is here, GPS is not enough, and with sensors all around us -- both outdoors and in indoor locations -- it's finally time for truly context-aware computing. But what will that take, both content- and design-wise -- is it all just about eliminating friction? And how are players like Apple and Google positioning themselves for this micro-mapped world? a16z's Benedict Evans and Estimote's Steve Cheney talk about these questions and more in this episode of the a16z Podcast...