The rapid adoption of smartphones and tablet computers over the last couple years is merely a preview of the enormous changes in store for mobile computing, pundits predict. Some, including InfoWorld's Galen Gruman, see the popularity of these technologies as setting the stage for a "mobile revolution." Gruman offers his take on how this revolution will unfold over the next 10 years.

This year, the slate (or tablet) computer will gain further momentum as operating systems, including Android, are optimized for them, he predicts. Eventually, this device will begin to replace the laptop and help popularize videoconferencing. IT will gain new security and compliance options for smartphones as mobile management tools are rolled out. Mobile platform providers, including Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), will offer browsers that are the equivalent of desktop-oriented browsers, improving the web functionality of smartphones and other mobile devices.

Next year, in Gruman's view, we will see the chief mobile platform vendors roll out APIs that link with sensor controls and data, and the following year touch-based user interfaces will become more advanced. Smartphones will come with standard "Mobile wallet" technology.

In 2014, hands-free control of mobile devices will increase as voice recognition and transcription features become more advanced, Gruman forecasts. This is the year that HTML5 will be formally approved, he predicts, and smartphones and slate computers will take over as the main computing device used outside the office or home.

In the second half of the decade, "environmental sensors-on-a-chip" will become affordable, and improved 4G and LET technologies will be deployed throughout most of the metropolitan areas in North America. As the decade comes to a close, mobile devices will be wearable.

For more:
- see Galen Gruman's post at InfoWorld

Related Articles:
Shopping for mobile apps for business
Why smartphones will rise in the enterprise (slideshow)
Ten-year forecast for enterprise mobility: Complicated