EE Times reports on a company called IMEC, which has made a piezo electric energy harvester:
This is a big deal; if not today, then at some point in the next ten years, as the price of the PE energy scavengers comes down. I suspect that the military will adopt these first, and then, possibly companies seeking cheaper alternatives to fiber optic nets for detecting strain (I could see a vibration-powered sensor mesh on a bridge provided there is some way to allow the sensors to detect minute changes in nearest neighbor proximity). after that, green architecture and then, once the generators become cheap and sensitive enough, small electronics. SRI had a great sneaker powered cellphone charger a few years back. it worked on the same principle. I could see Nike powering their in-shoe running diagnostics using similar technology (if it did not change the dynamics of the sneakers too much).
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EETimes also covers the Freescale/ STMicro agreement on micro-controllers for automobiles. This field is interesting. I rarely see technological development race so far ahead of consumer feedback. I suspect that this may be a side effect of a strong regulatory environment, which dictates failsafe systems and strong performance requirements under a wide range of conditions. In these cases, products which come close to the core of the automobile will need to be overdeveloped and over-tested and the long lead time before the market has inspired automotive MCU manufacturers to compete in a bit of a vacuum. The response? Include the widest possible array of features in order to get Automotive manufacturers to lock in to long term supply agreements. The goal: to become the Intel of the automotive world. I am not sure that this strategy will work, if only because it seems to foster a vicious cycle. Complex systems tend to break down, driving more testing and overbuilding. It all looks like an arms race. The most demanding consumers will pay for these items, just in time for a smaller company to adapt the "best of" in a simpler and cheaper fashion and pull the bottom 80% of the market away
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Gizmag has a great article on Lenovo's struggles to implement the Dell model in china and elsewhere. They are reporting on a paper issued by CCID Consulting, a publicly listed consulting firm in China.
CCID notes that Lenovo may be struggling because supply chain infrastructure is not as powerful in Asia as it is in the United States:
How much would it cost to set up a shipping comapny dedicated to supporting JIT delivery models in Asia? What would this company look like and could it be run in a cost effective manner? I suspect that we could easily develop a company that specialized in pulling Lenovo components from 2-3 suppliers to one distribution point in a major city. It is the last mile that is troublesome.
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The Internet Scout Blog tracks down Loco, an online rideshare finder. I am surprised that we have not seen more of these companies. I am also surprised that more social networks and online event planning services (e-vite) have not done this.
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If you are curious about the Wii demographic, Gothamist is providing coverage of Wiinmbleton, an apparently off the cuff tournament that developed in New York after two guys registered the wiimbleton.com on a whim.
So, looking at the best of the wiimbleton crowd, it is clear that wii has managed to grab Apple's Hipster aspirational status. Also, hipster, not twee. And a big age range. Thankfully, this crowd is painfully media-aware so Nintendo does not need to go very far to develop interesting ad campaigns that position this as an aspirational demographic. If they pay attention to wiimbleton and similar events, they should be able to build a great, responsive sales platform in the United States. If they are really sharp, they might start here and then look at other affinity groups (post Sufjian Christian twee crossover, seniors on rollerskates, etc), tailoring their product and approach to each market, by allowing the end users to advertise the product rather than relying on irrelevant "cutting edge" ad campaigns. A potential hipster gaming message "It is okay to be really bad at these games, as long as you are having fun with someone else." This stands in sharp contract to the playstation, where life can be miserable for noob players who want to participate in somewhat exclusive online gaming environments. Another message: off line gaming with friends can beat online gaming hands down. A third message: you don't need to be an expert to have fun. Madden has been a great football title enjoyed by tons of people who don't play other games. There is a steep learning curve, though. How much better a user friendly online version of ultimate?
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Lifehacker points to a new Google Maps/ Ajax mashup, this time devoted to recycling.
A bit urelated, but this makes me think of the wide range of Google widgets, incluidng a new array of Google gears widgets.
I'm interested in seeing how Google competes with Yahoo on the pipes/ gears front. How many widgets are coming out of Yahoo pipes? How many consumers are using these things? Will the Web 2.0 OS really function to integrate hundreds of small widgets instead of major applications or will it do both? (probably both)
Micromachine energy harvesters transform ambient energy into electric power. They can be used in environments where other power sources are not available and batteries cannot be replaced—for instance in autonomous sensor networks that are spread over large areas or in places difficult to access.
This is a big deal; if not today, then at some point in the next ten years, as the price of the PE energy scavengers comes down. I suspect that the military will adopt these first, and then, possibly companies seeking cheaper alternatives to fiber optic nets for detecting strain (I could see a vibration-powered sensor mesh on a bridge provided there is some way to allow the sensors to detect minute changes in nearest neighbor proximity). after that, green architecture and then, once the generators become cheap and sensitive enough, small electronics. SRI had a great sneaker powered cellphone charger a few years back. it worked on the same principle. I could see Nike powering their in-shoe running diagnostics using similar technology (if it did not change the dynamics of the sneakers too much).
==========================================================================
EETimes also covers the Freescale/ STMicro agreement on micro-controllers for automobiles. This field is interesting. I rarely see technological development race so far ahead of consumer feedback. I suspect that this may be a side effect of a strong regulatory environment, which dictates failsafe systems and strong performance requirements under a wide range of conditions. In these cases, products which come close to the core of the automobile will need to be overdeveloped and over-tested and the long lead time before the market has inspired automotive MCU manufacturers to compete in a bit of a vacuum. The response? Include the widest possible array of features in order to get Automotive manufacturers to lock in to long term supply agreements. The goal: to become the Intel of the automotive world. I am not sure that this strategy will work, if only because it seems to foster a vicious cycle. Complex systems tend to break down, driving more testing and overbuilding. It all looks like an arms race. The most demanding consumers will pay for these items, just in time for a smaller company to adapt the "best of" in a simpler and cheaper fashion and pull the bottom 80% of the market away
==========================================================================
Gizmag has a great article on Lenovo's struggles to implement the Dell model in china and elsewhere. They are reporting on a paper issued by CCID Consulting, a publicly listed consulting firm in China.
CCID notes that Lenovo may be struggling because supply chain infrastructure is not as powerful in Asia as it is in the United States:
In early 2004, Lenovo also wanted to attempt the direct business model but at last it chose to give it up and focused on the distribution sales model. CCID Consulting thinks that it is mainly because the supply chain system of Lenovo was relatively weak, meaning it cannot provide prompt responses to direct business models. However, it was because of the lack of courage to expose itself that Lenovo missed the chance of further management upgrades and improvement and it therefore decided to cover the existing problems in supply chain management.
How much would it cost to set up a shipping comapny dedicated to supporting JIT delivery models in Asia? What would this company look like and could it be run in a cost effective manner? I suspect that we could easily develop a company that specialized in pulling Lenovo components from 2-3 suppliers to one distribution point in a major city. It is the last mile that is troublesome.
==========================================================================
The Internet Scout Blog tracks down Loco, an online rideshare finder. I am surprised that we have not seen more of these companies. I am also surprised that more social networks and online event planning services (e-vite) have not done this.
Driving alone can be a lonely experience at times, and it can be fun (and good for the environment) to have company along the way. Billed as "the ride revolution" GoLoco allows people to arrange shared rides and to share trip costs online. Just type in where you'd like to go and when you'd like to depart and you can see if anyone is going your way!
========================================================================
If you are curious about the Wii demographic, Gothamist is providing coverage of Wiinmbleton, an apparently off the cuff tournament that developed in New York after two guys registered the wiimbleton.com on a whim.
So, looking at the best of the wiimbleton crowd, it is clear that wii has managed to grab Apple's Hipster aspirational status. Also, hipster, not twee. And a big age range. Thankfully, this crowd is painfully media-aware so Nintendo does not need to go very far to develop interesting ad campaigns that position this as an aspirational demographic. If they pay attention to wiimbleton and similar events, they should be able to build a great, responsive sales platform in the United States. If they are really sharp, they might start here and then look at other affinity groups (post Sufjian Christian twee crossover, seniors on rollerskates, etc), tailoring their product and approach to each market, by allowing the end users to advertise the product rather than relying on irrelevant "cutting edge" ad campaigns. A potential hipster gaming message "It is okay to be really bad at these games, as long as you are having fun with someone else." This stands in sharp contract to the playstation, where life can be miserable for noob players who want to participate in somewhat exclusive online gaming environments. Another message: off line gaming with friends can beat online gaming hands down. A third message: you don't need to be an expert to have fun. Madden has been a great football title enjoyed by tons of people who don't play other games. There is a steep learning curve, though. How much better a user friendly online version of ultimate?
========================================================================
Lifehacker points to a new Google Maps/ Ajax mashup, this time devoted to recycling.
A bit urelated, but this makes me think of the wide range of Google widgets, incluidng a new array of Google gears widgets.
I'm interested in seeing how Google competes with Yahoo on the pipes/ gears front. How many widgets are coming out of Yahoo pipes? How many consumers are using these things? Will the Web 2.0 OS really function to integrate hundreds of small widgets instead of major applications or will it do both? (probably both)
