January 2010 Archives

While the buzz around the Apple Tablet (http://gizmodo.com/5434566/)the-exhaustive-guide-to-apple-tablet-rumors), or as some are calling it, the "iPad", reaches a fever pitch in anticipation of this week's announcement, most folks are talking about the disruption to the mobile consumer market.  Yes, this could change the device paradigm, the way we consume apps, and even the next evolution of the publishing/ereader model, but the more interesting opportunity that no one is talking about is what it could do in the enterprise space.  Given the impact of rudimentary iPhone apps in the enterprise space like bar code scanners, navigation, and live video, the Apple Tablet could turn this crack into a gaping hole of change.  With a larger, more interactive screen and a high speed, ubiquitous 4G network, healthcare, supply chain, maintenance/repair, training, collaboration, customer service/support, sales force automation, and even product design applications could all become completely untethered.  This could result in new levels of efficiency and productivity gains that would further fuel investments in wireless/mobile innovation for enterprises.  Imagine a home inspector being able interact with a live picture of the home to note deficiencies, or a truck repairman sending diagnostic info and getting back the appropriate repair video instructions.  The Digital Swarm just became more capable.

So while there is no doubt the iPad will be very cool for consumers with breakthrough mobile entertainment, access to content, and useful apps, the real excitement may be in the enterprise world once they realize what's coming.
Continue Reading...

I got to spend yesterday speaking and moderating a panel at the 4GWE conference in Miami http://4g-wirelessevolution.tmcnet.com/conference/east-10/ where a number of industry players and thought leaders exchanged ideas on the future of wireless and the path to 4G.  I took the opportunity to get feedback from the participants on the two future scenarios for 4G I present in my book, The New World of Wireless: How to Compete in the 4G Revolution http://www.whartonsp.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=9780137003792 after presenting early signs from the edge that may foreshadow things to come.  These included Nexus One as a precursor to a true cognitive, carrier independent device, ustream as a surveilance network, Google Goggles as an early AR application, Tendril as the future of home energy management, TomTom as the future of intelligent highways, and even cellphone disabling/jamming as an early sign if backlash against over-use of wireless.  The general feedback seemed to weight towards a "Nature Aligns" future scenario where the user is in control, market power shifts to device/content/application providers, and broadband wireless networks become a utility.  A world in which the carriers must migrate to a new profit model or see their margins erode.  However, there was enough doubt in some of the Nature Aligns enablers and concerns about security/privacy backlash that the "Killer Bees" future scenario where we move back to controlled, closed networks with the carriers being the primary gateway to manage users, content, applications and ensure the integrity and security of the network.  Killer Bees results in a balkanized 4G world versus as truly ubiquitous broadband cloud.  The main takeaway, as suspected, is that no one has the answer yet and we must continue to monitor the market  and consumers to see what future may be emerging, and create adaptive strategies and "WiQ" in our organization that allows us to innovate fast no matter what happens. Continue Reading...

While the reviews may be mixed on Google's recently launched NexusOne, especially given some of the early support issues, the bigger question is how this changes the wireless game and the traditional carrier model.  The NexusOne not only pushes the envelope on performance with the 1GHz Snapdragon processor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdragon_(processor) that integrates several RF standards (HSPA+, WiFi, Bluetooth) and GPS with applications processing into one processing chip, but it represents a stpe towards a carrier-independent device.  It is no secret that one of Google's frustrations with Android devices is having the carrier lock out certain features due to their own network policies and revenue models.  The NexusOne is a direct assault on this current model and also represents and important step in the evolution towards sofware defined radios that will allow devices to work on virtually any network with a software download.  This would ultimaltely put a player like Google (or even Apple) in the drivers seat and commoditize the network providers.   It would also put consumers in control of the applications, content, and network resources they use, a very different proposition then today,

As we know from history, this kind of dramatic shifts do not happen overnight.  But the early signals are appearing.   The recent announcement of a WiMax phone by Samsung http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=5348 that willl allow interoperation between CDMA and WiMax networks in another example of more flexible, adaptive devices, and the shift towards a true cloud where devices can operate across wireless networks.  Just don't count on it happening tomorrow.  VoIP only tool about a decade before it truly changed the carrier model.

Continue Reading...

The application we have all been waiting for us finally here.  The ability to record your everyday life on video.  uCorder (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/personal-tech/gadgets/your-own-personal-black-box/article1417654/ ) has come out with a small camera that easily clips to your clothing and will store up to 2GB of video on flash memory and another 8GB with an extra memory card.  The camera is about the size of a USB thumb drive and can run a few hours on its battery.  Despite the fact this is not the ideal form factor, battery life, video quality, or memory size yet, it is an early signal of the trend towards ubiquitous personal video and surveillance that will affect both wireless networks and our personal lives dramatically.  If this progresses to a streaming model like uStream, the traffic generated would be massive and could crush existing networks.  The personal implications are that every action will be caught on video making everyone's life a documentary.  It also furthers the concept of people as sensors that I discussed in a previous blog and in my book The New World of Wireless: How to Compete in the 4G Revolution (http://www.whartonsp.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=9780137003792) Continue Reading...