A platform for seamless context transfers in the mobile cloud

Mobile users who are on-the-go frequently make use of a variety of apps in order to achieve a task. For example, even the simple task of planning an evening outing with a dinner and a movie may involve the use of multiple apps such as maps, movie ticket reservation, restaurant booking, social networking, restaurant and movie reviews, and cab booking. The most time consuming aspect of task completion for the mobile user is the frequent context transfers that happens as the result of the user switching between apps. The current state of mobility offers little or no support for context transfers in that the newly invoked app is oblivious to the context in which it is invoked (i.e., cold state) and it is largely left to the user to bring the app to the appropriate context (i.e., warm state). We present our design of a commercial platform for enabling seamless context transfers among the apps hosted in the mobile cloud. The platform would ensure the apps invoked during the process of finishing a task are automatically made aware of the current context. In particular, context transfer is envisioned as an evolving service in the mobile cloud, where apps must mutually cooperate with one another in order to evolve toward seamless context transfers, or perish as a group in the crowded marketplace of apps.