diamond management and technology consultants technology innovations on the horizon august 2007
TRANSCRIPT
Diamond Management and Technology Consultants
Technology Innovations on the Horizon
August 2007
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© 2007 Diamond.
Contents
The following technologies and concepts are a sampling of those being tracked by Diamond Knowledge Leaders in 2007.
2007 Technology Innovations, August 2007
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© 2007 Diamond.
Local Area Mesh Networks
• In terms of collection/control, there is a new wireless communication standard called Zigbee, kind of a better Bluetooth, which is being targeted at home automation and control among other things.
• It is an implementation of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard.
• Some examples include: – Control4
• Possible uses and benefits:– Car-based meshes used to pass traffic data to
one another
2007 Technology Innovations, August 2007
From ti.com
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© 2007 Diamond.
Hardware Mashups
• We are also seeing more hardware recombination (mashups) like the Nintendo Wii controller which is a pretty standard combination of components: game contoller + IR remote control + accelerometer + Bluetooth.
• Another example is the Celestron Sky Scout, which is a star identifier for amateur astronomers. It combines LCD display + GPS + electronic compass + MP3 player + SD reader.
• Some examples include: – Celestron SkyScout
– Nintendo Wii controller
• Possible uses and benefits:– Provide product researchers modular, standards
based components for experimentation
– Facilitate customer innovation (hacking?!) by using standard components and publishing specifications and interfaces
2007 Technology Innovations, August 2007
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© 2007 Diamond.
Multi-touch Interfaces
• With all of the iPhone hype, there will be increased interest in multi-touch interfaces, which allow users to perform more advanced actions with multiple fingers or hands. Multi-touch requires a touch-sensitive display device or a new kind of input peripheral.
• Some examples include: – iPhone user interface
– Microsoft table
– Perceptivepixel.com
• Possible uses and benefits:– More engaging user experiences, possibly in
store, at movie theaters, music/media retailers, etc
2007 Technology Innovations, August 2007
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© 2007 Diamond.
Crowdsourcing
• Crowdsourcing is the idea of breaking up a large problem into small tasks to be completed by a large group of people. The Web is an ideal medium to both reach the crowds and also to manage the tasks and results.
• Some examples include: – Wikipedia
– Amazon’s Mechanical Turk
• Possible uses and benefits:– Solve large problems that require human
reasoning or are difficult to programmatically model
– Access a (potentially) larger, more appropriate group of workers for a particular task
2007 Technology Innovations, August 2007
From salon.com
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© 2007 Diamond.
Collaborative Online Databases
• With the evolution of sophisticated Web-based user interfaces and inexpensive storage, a new class of data management tools are emerging:
– Multi-user
– Web-based
– Simple (transparent) authoring tools
• Some examples include: – DabbleDB
– WikiCalc
• Possible uses and benefits:– Iterative online modeling and prototyping
2007 Technology Innovations, August 2007
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© 2007 Diamond.
User Developed Datafeeds
• Building on the popularity of RRS-based data feeds, a new set of tools have been introduced that allow end-users to customize - edit, combine and modify – feeds for their own purposes
• Some examples include: – Yahoo Pipes
• Possible uses and benefits:– Allow freeform data exploration by R&D and
product design groups based on combining simple information feeds and tools
– Provide end-users at customers and trading partners access to data feeds and tools to greatly speedup simple data analysis and views
2007 Technology Innovations, August 2007
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© 2007 Diamond.
Webtops and Widgets
• Another category of tools that are benefiting from improved Web interfaces is known as “webtops” which create a desktop metaphor within a browser and provide sophisticated features such as drag-and-drop, animation and multi-media.
• The individual mini-applications available on the webtop are also known as widgets.
• Some examples include: – Netvibes (webtop)
– Goowy (webtop)
– Yahoo Widgets (desktop widgets)
• Possible uses and benefits:– Custom widgets showcasing retail locations,
product information/comparison, user communities
– Branded webtop for customers
– Internal-facing webtop for employees as an evolution of the enterprise portal
2007 Technology Innovations, August 2007
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© 2007 Diamond.
Open Source SOA
• Building SOA and ESB are critical to compete in this increasingly complex and swift business environment, but it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
• There are several cost-effective tools that we see as viable components in an SOA foundation that come from the Open Source community.
• Some examples include: – FUSE ESB
– Mule
• Possible uses and benefits:– More cost effective experimentation and testing
– Simple, focused communication platform versus more feature-laden commercial products
2007 Technology Innovations, August 2007
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© 2007 Diamond.
Grid
• Currently considered by most as a specialty architecture, we believe that the Grid computing model is ready to become a core part of the enterprise infrastructure platform.
• Some examples include: – Univa
– Globus
– Condor
• Possible uses and benefits:– More engaging user experiences, possibly in
store, at movie theaters, music/media retailers, etc
2007 Technology Innovations, August 2007
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© 2007 Diamond.
Rich User Interfaces
• Several design and programming models have been created increase interactivity and performance for browser-based applications. Each have their own attributes, but most provide a graphics/control API and asynchronous processing. Some also allow for disconnected/offline use.
• Some examples include: – Java Swing (rich client tool/framework)
– Eclipse RCP/SWT (rich client tool/framework)
– Flash (rich client tool/framework)
– Zimbra (offline browser architecture)
– Google Gears (offline browser architecture)
• Possible uses and benefits:– Development of much more robust applications
that balance usability and performance with the access to information offered by a Web connected app.
2007 Technology Innovations, August 2007