Mobility figures prominently in new Hype Cycle report

It should come as little surprise that many of the emerging technologies featured in the latest Gartner Hype Cycle report are centered on mobility.

The spread of mobile technology, including smartphones, tablets and mobile applications, among others, has been well documented. Consumers and companies alike are adopting mobility solutions for a wide range of reasons.

According to the Gartner Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle report, media tablets, such as the iPad, BlackBerry PlayBook and devices based on Google's Android, are now less than five years from mainstream adoption.

"Mobile technologies continue to be part of most of our clients' short- and long-range plans and are present on this Hype Cycle in the form of media tablets, NFC payments, quick response [and] color codes, mobile application stores and location-aware applications," Jackie Fenn, vice president and Gartner fellow, said.

Enterprise mobility has played a large role in adding to the hype of mobile technologies. Companies of all sizes are now supplying and supporting the use of smartphones and tablets to allow employees to be more productive and to increase the efficiency of businesses processes.