Thanks Naif
These two videos have Pranav Mistry explaining how the Sixth Sense Came to be at TED India.
What do you think?
From “Digital Society”
From the blog post “The MAC address which can uniquely identify a person’s laptop, smartphone, or any other device with 802.11 Wi-Fi capability”.
What do you think? What will you do?
Thanks Shawn
From Wired
Bionic Finger Article and Video
This is an amazing technology.
From the article ” ProDigits, as the device is called, can help its users bend, touch, pick up and point — reflecting almost all the key functions of a natural hand. The prosthetic fingers are for those who have a partial hand, where the absence of fingers is due either to congenital anomalies or to amputation, says Touch Bionics.”
What do you think? What is next?
Thanks Hugh
From CNN
Twitter Reveals Square Payment Device
Payment by mobile phone, hardly new idea. We have “smart cards” already. Integration with devices….. seems cool.
From Hugh ……. Cool, but I think wireless version will over take this quickly or proximity like an ipass used at the toll gate. Loved the use of electricity generated to drive this by swiping, a mini linear generator! I wonder what other daily motions we could harvest power, like walking, don’t you….
However, the last line of the article is HUGE.
What do you think? Cool?
Thanks Hugh
“The Sarasota County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office has deployed handheld devices that scan fingerprints to aid officers working in the field. The Sheriff’s Office purchased 14 of the handheld scanners that connect to state and local databases and the FBI Repository for Individuals of Special Concern to identify individuals. The devices allow police officers to positively identify people in the field, instead of returning to the jail to process the information.”
Quite Cool. Where else might this be used?
Thanks for the link Hugh.
And, my favorite link Jobs’ Greatest Hits — A Timeline
So, is he the CEO of the decade? Is he one of the most innovative manager/leaders ever?
What do you think?
CIO Magazine has a Slideshow of statistics from surveys that presents the use of Facebook at work.
How can Facebook we used at work where it would be a productive use of work time and IT resources?
Fast Company posted “The Argument for Kindles in Schools“. Mainly, the arument is that it saves money.
What do you think? Would you prefer an electronic textbook reader? What features would you think beneficial?
Thanks to VV for this referral.
Well, if you like to think about how vast the universe is, this video is for you. If you like think about how much we really do not know, this video is for you.
What do you think?
Fast Company published a posting with a video circa 1987 called “Screw Microsoft’s Courier: Apple Had a Better Idea 22 Years Ago” The posting has another video you might enjoy as well.
What do you think about this posting? Do you like the original or the “latest version”?
Continuing with a bit of a theme around “design”, we have an article that suggests five ways to use “design” in this economic time of recovery. I like the idea of recovery versus crisis, don’t you?
“Roadmap for Recovery: Five Ways to Come Out on Top”
Do you think “design” can play the role the author suggests? Why or why not? Should design be articulated in new product or innovation strategy? How?
In Businessweek’s article “Is Innovation Too Costly in Hard Times?” they talk about the priorities of R&D and innovation. This article is the context of their rankings of the “Most Innovative Companies” (Slide Show) Companies such as Apple, Google, Toyota, Microsoft etc.
What do you think? Are the “hard times” the time to get innovative and invest in R&D and New Product Development?
An article on Business Week entitled “Coming at You:3D on Your PC” describs how NVIDIA has created a system using glasses and software to bring you the 3D experience. From the article “Nvidia’s GeForce 3D Vision system ($199) consists of software and special glasses that connect wirelessly to your PC. This approach is called stereoscopic because the computer sends separate images to each eye. Objects in the two images are slightly offset from each other—a gap the brain interprets as depth, resulting in a compelling 3D illusion. ”
We were talking in class about how, with the explosion of bandwidth, additional technology, and a bit of time many things would be possible, even full 3D. Well, it looks like it is coming, although not streaming at you yet.
What do you think of 3D? Where should the technology go next? What kind of innovation would you like? What can the web do for you?
We have been talking a bit about the Kindle in class, and an article on Business Week’s site called “Shakespeare’s on the Cell Phone” discusses the competition for the ‘electronic book’ experience. According to the article “Amazon and Sony have been battling each other to create the ultimate electronic book. But the solution for readers on the go may end up being something much simpler”. It would seem that carrying one device is better than carrying multiple devices, no matter how elegant. The opportunity seems quite large (for electronic books and downloads) versus print because of the ease in distribution as well as cost advantage. “Some publishing houses see the growing popularity of digital books for cell phones as a promising opportunity to boost sales. “There’s a chance for us as publishers to reach a wider audience, maybe people who weren’t walking into the bookstore,” says Matt Shatz, vice-president for digital at Random House. Although the revenue per book may be lower, profits for digital books could be higher since there are no printing and distribution costs. Shatz believes the mobile phone will become the most popular way to read digital books in the coming years. “The opportunity is a lot greater via a phone than for a physically printed book,” he says.”.
The article does go on to disucss the iPhone’s role in this competition as well.
What do you think? What do you prefer? What about the business models assocaited with these opportunities? What is the Knowledge Management opportunity here?
Not only does MLB have a most unique business model, they “get” the web. Much of this is due to a long-time Milwaukee Brewers fan Bob Bowman says an article in Fast Company called “MLB’s Digital Dominance” .
The article articulates Bowman’s original vision “expand his original vision, “to get the games immediately available on every possible device,” he says. “If it takes a plug or a battery, we should have baseball on it.”
Baseball, in my opinion is better because of the web. I actually like “watching” some of the stats and additional information I can get while AT the games. I wish WIFI were available throughout the stadium! Since I have a BlackBerry, I am able to get access to lots of information, like where the pitch was. My BB has a special app that accesses the information directly without going through a browser (but I can do that too). My wife, a huge fan is not too happy with me looking at my BB during the game (although she will listen to Bob Uecker one in a while while at the game — I think it is because he knows what the catcher actually says to the pitcher in the mound conferences!)
I am not alone in my opinion, according to the article and “Jupiter Research analyst Bobby Tulsiani. “If you’re going to make people pay, you have to give them something they can’t get on TV. “You could even argue that with sports, watching online is a better experience.”
Users seem to agree. In a typical day during the season, as many as 11 million people visit the site. Three million watch video. The average user watches for an unheard-of 37 minutes per viewing — only one minute less than the average time spent watching baseball on TV. The league, in a way, is becoming its own broadcast partner, even sending announcing crews to games not covered by ESPN or local stations.”
It seems like just about “everything” can integrate the web and information technology.
What do you think? Can technology and the web in particular, make the professional sport experience better? Is there, anything that cannot integrate the web and information technology?
We have been talking about operating systems and in doing so have talked about “open” systems that allow developers to contribute.
The “Android Operating System Demo” is a You Tube Video (6 minutes) that introduces the phone and the system and the invitation to develop apps.
What do you think? Will this challenge the iPhone and its Apps?
So last night in clas we talked, or perhaps I talked about the success of Apple and how their brand and their core competence in design permeates all of their success. Just to balance out the success, Apple has had its share of flops.
In the Wired article “Learning from Failure: Apple’s Most Notorious Flops” we can see a slide show and brief description of eight “flops”. The first of which was the first iteration of the now ubiquitious “PDA”. I recall making a trip to Best Buy and having a Newton in my hand, ready to buy, and I took it back. It was just too big. My first PDA was a Palm Pilot, it fit in my shirt pocket, and did basically the same things as the Newton. So there you have it, a “flop” that defined an industry, and now, with the iPhone and iTouch, Apple is back in the PDA market; dare we call them PDAs.
What do you think? Any memories of these “flops”? Did Apple “learn” from the failures, or in your opinion, did they just move on?
I was going through a stack of magazines (before I recycled them) and re-read an article entitled “Inconvienient Truths: Get Ready to Rethink What it Means to be Green” the cover was a bright orange and encouraged readers to “Keep our SUVs and Abandon Organics“ and cutting carbon is where it is at. And then, I hear on the radio this morning that doing two GOOGLE searches produces more carbon than boiling a tea kettle. Wow, lots to think about.
Be sure to click on the “heresies” listed for further information.
I was shocked to read a few of the ideas it had presented. I consider myself to be “green” but practical, having given my first large group presentation on the first Earth Day (April 22, 1970) regarding water pollution, however, some of these ideas really get me thinking.
Looks like some fertile ground for innovation!
What do you think?
There are rumors out there, and I guess I am spreading this further, that there may be a Microsoft branded mobile phone. Cellular New Article From a new product management strategy, is this a good idea? How can they possibly produce a “unique and superior product”? What is their competitive advantage? What about their partners? Operating systems competition? Do you have some suggestions for how they can use their “muscle” to make this successful?
