Techyla

AJAX goes mobile - Yeehaa!

Eventually, a solution for developing AJAX based applications on mobile devices has been proposed. This opens up huge opportunities and could have tremendous impact on the mobile telecommunications landscape.

Customer control is moving

Mobile Network Operators and Device Manufacturers were dominant players on the market.

- MNOs own a network and propose services that are tightly linked to the network (Voice, MMS, WAP connections, SMS) - they can somehow influence the development of User Interfaces and customize the applications available on the device.
- Device manufacturers have larger customer bases than most MNOs. Customers are sensible to their brands. They have a large control over the development of user interfaces.

Newcomers are defining new customer touchpoints:

- Dedicated applications: EBay for its auctions, Google for its Google Maps service, Apple with its iTunes software
- Customer specific offers: MVNOs develop themselves focusing on dedicated customer segments (Hip hop fans, People who want to quit smoking, etc)

AJAX and LINUX will sustain the development of new ecosystems

Currently, Windows Mobile and Symbian are the most adopted OS for smartphones.  Linux adoption is growing however.

WIth the development of new AJAX based applications, relying on Opera, device manufacturer will have to align and to implement Linux and Opera (or equivalent) on their devices. Customers will consider their phone as an entrypoint to a new ecosystem, with free or payable applications. Data connection could eventually become a commodity if netaork providers fail to provide dedicated QoS for these applications.

More articles on Opera and its new browser here:
http://www.mobhappy.com/2005/11/welcome_our_new.html
http://feeds.feedburner.com/I-modestrategy?m=336

Previous post on AJAX:
Ajax implies changes in user interfaces
More on Ajax - Google's path to the OS
AJAX is so clean...

A robot is in your car

Citroên recently launched a new demonstration car, called "C3 CITY PARK". City park introduces a new feature: assisted parking. As listed by Julian Marsh it can:
- Locate a space for reverse parking
- Aid for parking in a semi automatic way.

Similar system were introduced by asian manufacturers in past few years, such as Honda or Mitsubishi. These systems were based on cameras, sensors and intelligence allowing the car to park itself, without any human assistance. But these systems were expensive and scared the drivers because they fully took the control of te car. Citroên has developed a smart system as this uses an existing technology (most of their mid-range cars use sensors similar as the city park one's), with a simple interface and leaves final decision of moving to the driver.

Having a well respected European car manufacturer (VW also released such system) moving in this area is a good news and could initiate potential moves in the robotic area in the future. Let's look at the situation worldwide:

- Asian car manufacturers (particularly Japanese) invest since years in developing humanoids: Honda's ASIMO is the best example. Some say that they want to replace their workforce by humanoids and prevent the lack of young workers in the future. Why not.

- US car manufacturers do not invest as much, but tried to market Assistance proucts in the past in their cars. Think about GM's OnStar system.

- US Army (DARPA) is keen on developing autonomous systems for the battlefield - yearly DARPA's Grand Challenge is an occation to watch the fantastic progress in that field.

- There are myriads of initiatives in Intelligent Trasportation Systems, particularly in Europe and US to better control trafic and reduce pollution / accidents.

- At same time, electronics remplaces mechanical parts in our cars. As noted by Mercer Management Consulting, "electronics will represent 35 percent of the value of a car in 2010, compared with 27 percent now".

These facts drive me to the following point of view: car manufacturers would be undoublty well positioned to handle the production of robots in the future (particularly humanoids), where large scale integration will be a key capability for those who will dominate the market.

Indeed, car manufacturers have capabilities in:
- integrating new technologies in their cars
- managing myriads of suppliers, although consolidation happened shaply in past years
- producing big series
- guaranting safety

... but they will have to introduce more software intelligence in their products and for this reason acquire new talents to keep on differenciate themselves.

URL's of interests:
- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/09/12/BUG3KEKQ1T1.DTL&type=printable
- www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/

iRobot secures 12MUSD contract for its military service robots

As I mentioned in a previous post, iRobot is a promising player in the robotic industry as it already plans to IPO and places its munitions both on residential and governmental market.

They recently secured a 12MUSD contract with US Army to deliver a light weight robot (on field remote controlled) to remove and destroy explosive device. For 103 robots to be delivered, it's more or less 100KUSD per robot.

They also have an opportunity for up to 1,200 robots to be delivered before 2012, which could generate farely 120MUSD.

This type of contract is fundamental for a company like iRobot as it guaranties sustainable revenues during years. That will help them investing in new platforms and differenciate themselves on the residential area, where cheaper robots are currently on track.

Credits: www.irobot.com