Next Level Innovation Blog

Safe City-wide Wi-fi Roaming In The Works

Ever dreamed of using free wi-fi roaming?   http://en.fon.com/ is a website enabling you to use your home Internet gateway and turn it into a public hotspot for the FON community. Please note that not all ISP's have signed a deal with FON. Joining that community will also win you a handsome rebate on a home Internet wi-fi gateway which can then install at home and turn into a public wi-fi hotspot for the benefit of other "foneros" who will be able to locate you thanks to the online locator provided by FON on their website. This is a community approach to pervasive networking. This type of approach seems to become one of the major routes for making wi-fi available to all at all times in large cities. It is aslo safer since only other declared fonero members can use your hotspot. In Paris there are rumours (leaked by French Sunday paper JDD) going on at the moment of French ISP "Free" partnering with wi-fi operator "ozone" (a network similar to "cloud" in London and making wi-fi available to all in Paris by the beginning of 2007. Whilst the delivery date might seem difficult to believe, I am convinced that in a very short period of time, i.e. less than 18 months from now, we will have pervasive network access in the street, in the home and of course in public places. Free's method is different from Fon's. Their approach is to turn their clients' home gateways into hotspots de facto, and it is possible that some of them might not like it (but Free's customer base is made of techno enthusisasts so it may happen after all, time will tell). Orange has declared that their coverage is in fact far better (their market share is still approx. 50% in France) and could cook something better than Free and Ozone. Let's keep our options open, all this is brewing and is bound to happen sooner than later.

"MIT" digital drawing board: Innovation is in the eye of the beholder

By Yann Gourvennec

In the following video presentation, you will discover the so-called MIT digital drawing board complete with geometrical recognition and simulation of movements. Everybody on the Internet or so seems to have seen this video, and a lot of bloggers have liked it and commented on it. Taken at face value, I must admit that this video is quite impressive and I even started to imagine what this could do to the world of design and Marketing. I suspected that there would still be a fair amount of development to do if one wanted to design a fully-fledged vehicle for instance with a tool like this, but if it existed, it sounded pretty clear to me that this kind of intelligent recognition technology is offering a lot of new possibilities to designers and engineers alike. Marketeers could have also been interested  in order to test new ideas in front of potential clients. But is this video so impressive and besides, what did it have to do with the MIT altogether? French-speaking blogger Pierre Vandeginste on his site "aïetech" thinks he has the answer to that question and his opinion is quite straightforward. Here is a rough translation of some of Vandeginste's  points:

• First of all, Vandeginste is amazed by the fact that most commenters think that this video shows state-of-the-art interactive boading technology whereas in fact it looks very old. Weird,
• The video is labelled as if the drawing board was an MIT, but there are no traces to be found on MIT's website of a 'digital drawing board' of that kind. Even weirder,
• If this video is 10-15 years old, then the simulation of the chariot that slides down the hill - Vandeginste goes on commenting - is rather impressive. However, it looks like it's a well-prepared, maybe too well prepared demo. Vandeginste believes that some up-to-date games are performing better than that. Weirder and weirder,
• What commenters seem to be most amazed at in this 'digital drawing board' is the screen, but Vandeginste argues that this kind of tools has been available for donkeys' years and he could even trace its usage in remoter country grammar schools in the Auvergne where the proACTIVboard by Promethean is used at the Lycée Blaise Pascal at Ambert (a rural area in the Auvergne) or at the vocational Lycée Professionnel Marie Curie in Nogent sur Oise (in Picardy, an other rural area). Vandeginste could even quote French TV Channels 1 and 2 in the following 2005 link: TF1 & France 2. Even weirder,
• Vandeginste is a freelance journalist who specialises in High Tech and has been working on such subjects for the past 30 years. He saw that kind of contraptions for the first time in 1993 at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Centre (PARC). Mark Weiser (late PARC researcher who died in 1999, and much regretted ever since, inventor of the Ubiquitous Computing concept. A researcher I have admired for decades) and his team had been working on the LiveBoard concept. The marketing of Liveboard had been spun off into the LiveWorks subsidiary since 1992.
• Last but not least, Vandeginste quotes better andmore uptodate examples such as the Mitsubishi DiamondTouch which is available for purchase now. (see MERL video here)

So what is this video telling us on innovation? First, it's telling us that Vandeginste is a very knowledgeable journalist. Yet, many of us weren't in business in 1993 and are not aware that previous attempts at creating interactive drawing-boards had existed. On the contrary, most commenters on the Internet - many of them very technology savvy by the way - were impressed when they saw that video. I suppose that what this story tells us about innovation is that innovation - like beauty - is in the eyes of the beholder. Even though Vandeginste must be right, many of our Internet friends would like to know more about that product/concept. The fact is that - like or not - if you are not working in that obsure little school in rural France you are most likely to find such a concept different and interesting anyway. What this story tells us too is that people never check the sources of the documents they pick up from the Internet, but that we knew already ...

Access the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df8wAla57PI target ="blank"

Innovation & cross media: Picnic '06

Last week I was at the Picnic '06, Cross Media Week in Amsterdam. Not only was the Westergasfabriek a nice location for meeting each other, the whole entourage and atmosphere I found very stimulating. But of course that was not the only reason I went...

During the three cross media-focussed days I heared 'between the lines', that a lot of succesfull (innovative) idea's spring from enthousiasm, teaming and creativity.

It was very cool to see the Pixar presentation by Michael B. Johnson, where the enthousiasm just spluttered all around when he gave us some insight in the process of creating a movie. On friday I listened to John Underkoffler (worked on Minority Report), talking about his view on the replacement of the current computermouse. He showed us a video of the Gesture Glove, in which enthousiasm and creativity were centric again...

Another thing I heared a lot at the Picnic was the buzz of 'user-generated content'. This is, as you probably all know, one of the most important factors in Web 2.0.

If I should name two companies that really get it (and inspire me), I'd say MTV Networks and Linden Lab (creators of Second Life).

• MTV Networks: because of projects like Digital Scout and Flux, that give young people the opportunity to make their generated content count in today's world. Simon Guild, President MTV Europe, said MTV is all about constantly pushing the creative boundaries. For the Flux concept in Italy, they promoted the website YOS.it. Nobody knew MTV was behind this, and the page was at first all black. For every visit another pixel appeared, till the whole Flux page was visible...
• Linden Lab, Second Life: because this game is all about what the users do with it. You can create your own house, company, cars, etc, and can even make a good living out of it. Where other games restrict their users, Second Life gives a lot of opportunities. For example, the PR company Text100 (also speaking at Picnic) opened it's first office in Second Life and even conferences are finding their way to this virtual world.

Of course there are a lot of other good examples, so feel free to put your favorites in the comments.

Finally I'd like to tell you about the presentation by Joseph Jaffe. Mostly revolving around his book Life after the 30 second spot, he tells the audience about the fact that consumers aren't stupid anymore and they're no longer impressed by 50 years of branding. The new branding is about engagement, reach out to your customers and connect with them. Sharing, respect, listening, working together...

I seriously started to doubt then and there, wheter the big companies with long history (such as IBM) are able to make the switch on time, to this new branding Jaffe talkes about... And if you'd ask me if they're able to handle Web 2.0? I think most traditional marketers and comms are scared as hell of customers having a voice.

An interesting quote for marketers from Jaffe, which I fully agree on: "Consumers know your brand better than you". Let's start learning from them!

Live commenting at the Weblog stand

The weblog is really starting to take off here at the Next Level event in High Tech Campus Eindhoven! Many enthousiastic reactions have come back to us from guests that think it is really powerful to have information up instantly after a session. Here is a guest that is commenting on the Healthcare blogpost at the Weblog stand.

Let's play...

Last Tuesday IBM announced a new Blade server: the QS20. No big deal, you might say. But I think it is. Not because it's from IBM, but because the processor that's used is quite special. It is not powered by an Intel processor (Pentium or Itanium), nor an AMD. Even not an IBM POWER processor. It's powered by a Cell Broadband Engine processor.

Perhaps you've heard of this processor being used a totally different environment. Let me refresh your memory: It's the engine for the upcoming PlayStation3 from Sony. And in televisions and DVD-players. You might wonder how a game console processor ends up in a business server?

Well, in my opinion, this will be business as usual in a couple of years. The investment to develop new processors (or techniques for that matter) is huge. Although technology is often minimized, from a design point of view it's not the case. It's costs a fortune. The only way to recover the costs are to produce in large numbers.

The Home Electronics market is where the numbers are made, and therefore where the money is generated. Those hard-earned euro's can be spent on development for yet new technologies. This is a trend I see for the coming years. 

The era where technology is developed for (business) computers are likely to diminish. So, when will the time come that IT is going to look at the big Home Electronic companies of this world with raised eyebrows asking: When are you going to (co)develop a new technology, perhaps we can benefit of it...? Innovation is all about collaboration, right?

Next Level event photo's

The photoalbum for Next Level event is now online. Every day photo's will be taken of the different sessions and will be updated regulary. If you'd like to have your own pictures added, please contact the Blog moderator.

Look at the pictures and feel the atmosphere...

Next Level event Photoalbum

Analoge for a digitized world

I'd like to share with you a more or less IT-related subject. It's a about high-end audio.

Lately, I found a rather interesting device: a tube-powered preamp for an iPod. Well, well, how should I treat that one? I, as an audiophile, still have difficulties to move over from good-old analog turntable and it's vinyl carriers to CD. Oh, yes, I own a CD-player which was prized far above average, but the real thing is my turntable. Undisputable. The resolution (16 bits) and the limited sample frequency (a lousy 42 KHz) of CD's is too limited to produce an acceptable copy of the performed.

Therefore I lack mp3 and all other compressed audio formats, from a purist point of view. Sure, I use it and love the easy of handling.
IT itself is one big enabler of what is going on in this world, and the very start of IT, being the ability to do things digitally, is forcing the music industry in what it is becoming: a commodity. Not only the content, which is discussable, but also the way it's recorded. Knowing that the world is moving towards compressed audio, the producers are not triggered to put a lot of effort (like dynamics, space, etc)  into the recording. When it sounds OK on a simple mp3-like device, it's good enough.

So, now there is a manufacturer that developed a tube-powered pre-amp for an iPod. I must admit: I didn't test the device, and I'm not against iPods. On the contrary. I'm just struck by the sheer fact that in a commoditized world, a commoditized product (iPod) which produces commoditized output, an analog device sees birth to bring a bit of warmth and sensation to it. Wonderful.

Cool

Summer is due to end. Hot days are diminishing. Well, are they?  The temperatures outside are likely to drop, but looking at datacenters, temperatures are going up. Not surprisingly because the number of power hungry processors are increasing. Every Watt a processor needs, is ultimately transformed into heat. The problem is, that if a processor needs an aditional 1 Watt, the power supply needs more than that 1 Watt due to losses. The losses itself are ultimately transformed in heat as well. So to cool all of the servers the airco needs to be upgraded as well, drawing even more power from the grid.
IBM has, as many other companies in the world, looked for a way to minimize the amount of power a processor needs. One way to do so was to exchange the aluminium interconnects in a processor with copper. Copper has a much, much better conductivity than aluminium. Every Ohm of resistance you don't have to overcome will save you power (equals heat) in the end. To give you an idea. In the latest processor of IBM 267 million transistors are residing. All with three leads which have to be connected.  Must end up with miles of internal wiring.
Problem with copper: it doesn't 'stick' on silicium. Ai, that's too bad. So, the hard-core researchers of IBM (and all other chip-minded companies in the world) started to find ways to solve this sticky problem. After more than 25 years, IBM found a way to let copper 'stick' to silicium. That was in the late '90's. I can tell you: some bottle popped open that day!
Since then other techniques like Silicon-on-Insulator, Stretched Silicium, and Low-k dielectric made it possible to even lower the dissipated power of chips. Also chips with a Silicium-Germanium combination (SiGe) was a very good way to process very high frequencies without too many losses. Every cell-phone in the world uses this technique.
Recently, IBM made another breakthrough. We developed, in cooperation of Georgia Institute of Technology, a SiGe chip which can operate at 500 GHz (that's half a Tera Hertz!). Wow! Yet, one problem to solve. This frequency is (for the time being) only possible when cooled to a chilly minus 268 centigrade.  Like I said: hot days are diminishing...

Commoditization of IT

We live in a commoditized world. Lately, I found out that shipping a 21" flatpanel from China to Europe cost about 7 Euro's. In bulk that is, but still it gave me food for thought. If I like to go by train and have 7 Euro's to spend, I'd better stay at home...

Commoditization counts for products, shipping, as it seems, but also for IT itself. Aha, a paradox. In my opinion IT makes it possible to commoditize a lot of things. At least IT enables numerous activities in society (perhaps society itself?).

A week ago I ordered (cross-border) some Home Automation equipment via the web. One day later the package arrived and I was able to track the package real-time, door-to-door. No big deal, happens all the time, but sometimes I'm struck by the omnipresence of IT. Since the internet and the consequential bubble, there is plenty of bandwidth available. That yields to the fact that IT-related activities can take place everywhere in the world. In addition: IT itself has become a commodity.

A couple of years ago the people working in IT where King of the Hills. Big cars, big houses, nice gadgets, suntanned etc. Nowadays they are realizing that their job could be done somewhere in the world, at much lower prices and, perhaps, against better results. IT departments used to be 'a speciality'. Today it is just an ordinary department, just like Purchasing, Finance and other departments. Or at least, it will become that way...

Koud en razendsnel

Innovatie is de ‘name of the game’ van vandaag de dag. IBM wil zich manifesteren als een bedrijf dat andere bedrijven helpt om innovatief te worden. Maar ook intern blijven we een technologisch bedrijf dat veel innovatieve zaken doet.

Zo is ooglasering in origine een uitvinding van IBM. Niet dat IBM de apparatuur voor het laseren van het hoornvlies heeft uitgevonden, maar de techniek erachter wel. In de laboratoria van IBM is een uitvinder eens bezig geweest om laserstralen zo miniem te kunnen doseren dat het mogelijk werd om zeer precies materiaal weg te branden. De uitvinding heeft 16 jaar op de plank gelegen tot een oogchirurg er notie van nam en de techniek verder heeft verfijnd. Ik kan me voorstellen dat iemand tegen de IBM uitvinder van deze laser-techniek heeft gezegd: “Leuk, maaruh, wat heb je er eigenlijk aan?”. De uitvinder zal enigzins verbaasd hebben opgekeken en schouderophalend hebben gezegd: “-Tja, dat weet ik ook niet zo direct, maar heel veel ”. En zo gaat het natuurlijk vaker met uitvindingen. Van te voren weet je niet of het praktisch nut heeft, maar dat is nooit een reden om dingen niet te proberen. Zo ook deze:

IBM heeft een nieuw record gevestigd op gebied van kloksnelheid voor chips. Ga er even bij zitten: 0,5 THz! (geen typefout). Inderdaad, 500 GHz, en dat is ongeveer 250 keer sneller dan nu te doen gebruikelijk is. Om deze snelheid te krijgen moet de chip afgekoeld worden tot vlakbij het absolute nulpunt (-273 graden Celcius), hetgeen toepassingen in de praktijk voorlopig wat lastig maakt. Maar het idee achter het experiment (gezamelijk uitgevoerd met het Georgia Institute of Technology) is om meer inzicht te krijgen in de chips die opgebouwd zijn uit Silicium-Germanium (SiGe). Chips gemaakt van SiGe zitten in elke GSM-telefoon in de wereld. SiGe-chips, ook een vinding van IBM van eind jaren negentig, heeft zeer goede eigenschappen om onder hoge frequenties weinig stroom te verbruiken. Het is dé reden waarom GSM-gebruikers relatief lang kunnen telefoneren met de hoge frequenties die bij mobiel telefoonverkeer gehanteerd worden. Het snelheidsrecord van SiGe-chips bij kamertemperatuur ligt overigens ook al hoog: zo rond de 350 Ghz. Wat u vandaag de dag met dit snelheidsrecord van 500 GHz kan doen beperkt zich tot er stukjes over schrijven en er, tijdens verjaardagen en partijen, over te praten. Maar dat het ooit zijn toepassing zal krijgen is natuurlijk duidelijk. Ook deze innovatie zal er uiteindelijk voor zorgen dat andere bedrijven weer innovatief kunnen worden.