Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Mobile internet is poised to take a new turn, hopefully for the better. The point of departure is the launch of a new domain type - .mobi. The .mobi domains were approved last year by ICANN, amid much controversy and over the objections of Mr Internet himself - Sir Timothy Berners-Lee. The launch started in the first quarter of this year, and companies are now busy registering their mobi domain names to protect them. The purpose of mobi domains is that they must follow rules that make it easy for mobile devices - cells and PDA's - to access them, using the WAP 2 protocol. Good access to the internet by mobile devices is very limited now, but all indications are that it is poised to take off over the next couple of years. It's wise, if you have a domain on the web now to register a .mobi name to protect it. Most providers offer programs where they can be registered for a two year period, after which it will be clearer where they are going - or have gone. InformationWeek Mobile Phone Browsers Two Events Show Effort To Fix Mobile Web Browsing May 29, 2006

Friday, May 26, 2006

San Francisco has announced the formation of a task force to study the deployment of a city wide wireless network. The City by the Bay has been studying this initiative, for reasons similar to those of Philadelphia, to provide opportunity across the economic spectrum and help break down the digital divide. They have also formed SF TEchConnect, an arm of the city, to focus on the project. SF TechConnect: Press Release - April 20 2006

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Identity theft has become a major problem, affecting 9.3 Americans last year and proportionately as many Canadians. But there are steps that ordinary people can take to help control it, such as checking your credit with a Credit Reporting Agency such as Equifax. It may cost a few dollars, but it may save a lot more. Technology Review: Emerging Technologies and their Impact

Monday, May 22, 2006

With cable companies moving into the telephone business and telephone companies moving into the television business, we have an interesting competition that will help determine the shape of the communications/entertainment industry for a long time to come. Will it be winner take all? This report indicates the cable companies are pulling ahead in the race. Will that mean the phone companies end up with an insufficient customer base to even support their phone business? With the phone business going wireless as well, it could be the death knell for the traditional phone carriers. globeandmail.com : Telcos' TV tardiness may put phones at risk

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Since e-business began there has been talk of connecting appliances to the internet for various reasons. For example, your fridge detects that you are running low on milk and sends you a reminder or even places an order to the store for delivery. That hasn't happened yet, and maybe it was a bit fanciful, but now Whirlpool and IBM have combined forces to connect washers and dryers to the internet to monitor power prices, and choose the most opportune time price-wise to do their work. It could save consumers money and also provide more efficient distribution of a scarce resource. We'll see much more of that sort of thing. InformationWeek Internet-Connected Appliances Internet-Connected Appliances Could Lower Energy Bills May 15, 2006

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Spyware is often viewed as an aggravation and a potential invasion of privacy. However, it can be more than that, as shown by the Sony case that started last year. As one of the world's largest suppliers of recorded music, Sony is concerned about music piracy. Legitimately, since music piracy costs the indistry an estimated 4.2 billion annually in the US alone. In recent years, the fight has gone underground, through the use of various types of digital protection. The Sony case involved the sale of CD's that contained programs for use on PC's. When inserted into PC's, the autorun feature takes over and installs a "rootkit", a small program that resides inside the PC's registry and serves to shield certain tracking cookies installed by Sony. The big problem is that the rootkit could also shield programs used by hackers, thus opening up the computers to hacker attacks. This unintended consequence raises a serious question as to the use of invasive technology by groups such as the music industry. How far should they be allowed to go to protect their interests? Technology Review: Emerging Technologies and their Impact

Monday, May 15, 2006

The City of Philadelphia has inspired much discussion after its decision to go ahead with a city-wide wireless plan. Recently, the city council approved a plan to implement, which means they are going ahead with the city-wide wireless system. One of their prime objectives was to provide an infrastructure for economic growth. But they also wanted to make low cost or free wireless high speed internet available to the poorer areas of the city. Moreover, they didn't want the city to be providing and supporting the service, and indeed wanted the city to remain "cost neutral" on the program. These were challenging criteria, and the city adopted an outsourcing approach and did a considerable amount of studying to come up with a business model for all the players that could work. Their business plan is at the link below. They identified several business models (pages 30 etc. in the document) and the sponsoring committee recommended a hybrid plan that combined a "non-profit" and a "cooperative wholesale" approach. It makes an interesting study in municipal government and business working together. http://www.phila.gov/wireless/pdfs/Wireless-Phila-Business-Plan-040305-1245pm.pdf

Friday, May 12, 2006

Technology offers many opportunities to foster development in Third World countries. With newer technologies, like wireless networks, it may even enable them to bypass the need for infrastructure, which many of them lack. Intel has launched a major initiative to spreead technology in a number of countries needing development. There are some very positive elements in their program, and hopefully other major High tech operators take up the challenge. Intel commits big money to Third World project - InterGovWorld.com

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Accenture has launched its Interactive Network with a large screen installed at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. People can interact with the display by touch, and it handles two people at a time. The idea is that people can pursue their particular interests by touching the screen and develop information of interest to them - a customizable information source. Accenture envisages a variety of potential applications for the new technology, such as use by car dealers where customers can design their own car onscreen. It's an innovation very much in tune with the age of e-business - offering interactive and customizable news and information that is useful for purposes of on-the-spot decision making. Accenture Interactive Network

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

The North American cell phone/pda revolution is under way and it is going to be a convergence of epic proportions. it's about new content. Soon, voice only cell phones will be a distant memory and the new versions will be configurable or customizable to handle pictures, music, video and other content as you wish. they'll be routinely used to surf the web, handle e-mail, make payments at cash registers, and pay tolls on highways. They will interface with your laptop, upload and download data wirelessly and become an integral part of your information system. Microsoft is trying to seize the moment with their windows Mobile Operating System, designed for cell phones/pda's and if they are successful could be very successful as they will be able to capitalize on their overwhelming penetration of Windows into the small computer market. This will mean even more challenges for the established purveyors of mobile phones, but great opportunities as well. Technology Review: Emerging Technologies and their Impact

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

We've all heard a lot about the promise of VoIP to transform the telephone system. We all know the problems we have with SPAM. We've heard less about the new VoIP Based version of SPAM called SPIT (Spam over Internet Telephony) It could be very a serious problem if it isn't addressed. globeandmail.com : Next-generation spam will hit where it hurts

Monday, May 08, 2006

Way back in '93, when the Internet was just getting nicely started, some people predicted the end of traditional television. They predicted the advent of interactive television, with all that implies. Now, we're on the verge of that happening. Eventually it is likely that interactive online television will replace traditional television. Exactly how the replacement/merge takes place is still a bit up in the air, whether it means that tv's become computers (likely) or computers become tv's (not likely) or neither (a new thing). In any event, the new sites, like youtube.com and google video allow people to upload and share their videos. With readily available video editing tools, they can create their own videos/movies/shows. It will change tv forever. And consider the commercial implications. The potential business models. Will it mean the death of the traditional networks? Or will they have to become interactive to survive? It's a world of new possibilities opening up for us. globeandmail.com : Nothing on TV?

Thursday, May 04, 2006

One of the major changes taking place in society driven by technology is the change going on in the media - the change from directional news to participatory news, as evidenced by blogs, where numerous people can post to them, or by the wikipedia phenomenon. We do not yet know where this change is leading us, or what the efffect will be on such e-business elements as e-marketing. However, there is growing evidence that the change will be considerable. A recent feature in the Economist detailed some of the significant possible implications of this change. however, a blog called We Media Blog, referenced in this post, is an interesting look at the global implications of the change to participatory media. BBC NEWS We Media Blog Global forum 3 - 4 May, London

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

The transition from EDI to web based portals has been a trend in the ongoing integration of business systems with suppliers. The challenge companies face is that EDI has worked well, and offers a standard platform for conducting transactions. On the other hand, portals are often preferred by buyers, and they are often asking their suppliers to use their portal rather than EDI. This means that suppliers can be in the position of being required to support numerous portals, which can be cumbersome and expensive. While they often tend to be XML based, this does not really solve the standards problem. It's a problem that's not going to go away. How to Keep the Web from Becoming a Trap - Editorial - CIO