A method to share a computation task among a plurality of devices including at least one mobile device. The method includes estimating a cost to perform a computation task on a data set. If the estimated cost is greater than a threshold cost, the method further includes forming an ad-hoc wireless network comprised of a plurality of devices; downloading a portion of the data set to individual ones of the devices; performing a computation task by each device on the downloaded portion of the data set; and wirelessly transferring a result of the computation task from each device to all other devices of the network. The method can be performed by execution of an application program stored in mobile devices configured for local area wireless connectivity with neighboring mobile devices and for wireless connectivity to a remote server from which the portion of the data set is downloaded.