Augmented Reality Check - from Michael Liebhold - Nov 2011

 

Excerpt:

A REVOLUTION IN PERCEPTION is in the air, a transformation decades in the making. It will require a radical shift in viewpoint, as the way we experience data and information revolves 90 degrees from our traditional bird’s-eye view of maps, paper and screens to a more natural cinematic vision of the real world, one overlaid with digital information virtually attached to specific places.

And while augmented reality may still be in its infancy – with smartphone viewfinders displaying floating objects that are only vaguely connected to real places – don’t let that fool you.

The changes could reach far beyond mobile broadband and potentially be as profound as the development of the World Wide Web, says Michael Liebhold of the Institute for the Future. Liebhold forecasts that within five to 10 years, “the unadorned world will be history,” and our reality will have become a mix of the real and the digital. Telecom companies need to be ready, he says, to meet the demands of networks in which we are connected right before our eyes.

.

HTML5 program promises to be game changer — from mediapost.com by Diane Mermigas

Also see:

  • Elevation Partners Director and Co-Founder Roger McNamee [Video-based presentation]
    Chapters (full program: 52 min 22 sec)
    01. Introduction
    02. Demise of Microsoft means opportunity
    03. Google in a tough spot
    04. Creativity rules in HTML5
    05.  Apple domination in tablets
    06.  Access from any screen
    07.  The social wave is over
    08.  TV the last protected media
    09.  Economic context and seed investing
    10.  Why Apple supports HTML5
    11.  Privacy regulation
    12.  HTML5 implications for content protection
    13.  Investment in Forbes
    14. Ringback tones
    15. Money in the music industry
    16. Subscription television

 

  • #1: “Next” web architecture = Hypernet + Hyperweb
  • #2: The decline & fall of Windows unlocks revenue
  • #3: Index search is peaking
  • #4: Apple’s model threatens web
  • #5: HTML5 is game changer for publishers
    HTML5 is not just a programming language; enables new models of web experience
    – Developers will embed audio and video directly in web pages, replacing Adobe’s Flash plug-in; enables much greater differentiation in sites, advertising, etc.
    – Content publishers will redesign their sites to reduce power of Google, ad networks
    HTML5 will be disruptive in ways we cannot imagine today: pendulum swinging to favor content creators and publishers. Imagine Amazon or eBay storefront as an ad.
    – Everything can be an app . . . every piece of content . . . every tweet . . . every ad
    – Ads: create demand and fulfill it at the same time . . . without leaving publisher’s page
    – Other tech (e.g., Wordnik) enables publishers to protect and monetize text onsite and off
  • #6: Tablets are hugely disruptive
  • #7: First wave of “social web” is over
  • #8: Smartphones in US: Apple + 7 Dwarfs
  • #9: Wireless infrastructure is a competitive threat to US
  • #10: Integration of TV & Internet could be disruptive

 

From DSC:

  • A recommendation that caught my eye:
    Focus 100% on companies that are cloud + multiscreen; HTML 5 as proxy.

 

Apple plans to revolutionize your living room next, just as Steve Jobs wanted — from readwriteweb.com by John Paul Titlow

Excerpt:

apple-tv-set.jpg“I finally cracked it,” Steve Jobs told his biographer Walter Isaacson just months before his death. He was referring to the design and functionality of television, something Jobs had long wanted his company to reimagine.

In the official biography of the late Apple founder that came out today, one of the last topics discussed before Isaacson touches on Jobs’ summer 2011 resignation is how he had hoped to revolutionize the television set.

 

From DSC:
Interesting thing about those who innovate…sometimes, others come to them in the hopes that the innovative company will create an X, Y, or Z product line.  Jobs and Ives, by being known as two of the top heads of an innovative company, had an army of people contributing ideas to Apple (and many of them doing so freely through the years). 

So I also give credit to those encouraging Apple to take certain approaches, for submitting potential ideas and suggestions, and for those employees/contractors/suppliers who are working at (or on behalf of) Apple who are working hard to bring those ideas/visions to fruition (Jeff Robbin comes to mind).  Jobs most likely didn’t come to cracking this thing on his own.

Seven ways an integrated Apple TV could change everything — from forbes.com by Louis Bedigian

Sony expects “fight for the living room” — from warc.com

Excerpt:

TOKYO: Sony, the electronics group, believes it is in a “fight for the living room” not only with traditional rivals like Samsung and LG, but also with new players in the TV arena, such as Apple and Google.

 PlayJam Closes Round A Financing for $5 million from Adobe, GameStop and Endeavour for Connected TV Games — from http://appmarket.tv by Richard Kastelein

One More Thing….Does Jobs Have a Final Trick Up His Sleeve? — from http://digitallivingroom.com

Apple Could Release TV Set in 2012 [REPORT] — from Mashable.com by Lauren Indvik

Google TV reboot expected imminently — from informitv.com

Excerpt:

The release of Google TV 2.0 is imminent. It was supposed to be available in the United States before the end of the summer. Developers were told in May that existing devices would be updated to the version of Android known as Honeycomb, which has already been overtaken by a new release. While the first release of Google TV failed to impress many, the presence of Android applications on television could be the start of something.

U-verse TV goes social with new apps to interact with what you’re watching, while you’re watching — from appmarket.tv by Richard Kastelein

Excerpt:

The way viewers watch TV today has become a multi-screen, multi-tasking experience. According to Nielsen, nearly 30 percent of TV viewers looked up info related to a TV program while they were watching it. AT&T U-verse TV customers now have new and better ways to bring together their favorite social apps on their smartphone or tablet with what they’re watching on TV.

“Customers want their TV viewing experience to be social, without distracting from the TV show on their TV screen, and they want their choice of apps from their smartphone or tablet to work seamlessly with their TV and enhance their favorite TV shows,” said Jeff Weber, vice president of video services, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “These apps allow you to interact and share details about the shows you’re watching in simple and engaging ways. And you can do that on the devices that are in your hands or right next to you on the couch.”

Polycom® RealPresence Mobile — now for both the iPad and Android-based devices
Take video collaboration mobile with the first enterprise HD software solution for Motorola and Samsung tablets

Polycom® RealPresence™ Mobile is a new, free-to-download software solution that extends our legendary HD video collaboration technology, built on the Polycom RealPresence Platform, beyond the office and conference room to your Apple® iPad® 2, Motorola XOOM™ and Samsung Galaxy Tab™ tablet PCs.

 

Polycom RealPresence Mobile brings HD video conferencing to the tablet

Also see:

Addendum on 10/18/11:

On October 12, Polycom president and CEO Andy Miller gave a keynote address during the CTIA Enterprise & Applications™ 2011 conference in San Diego, Calif., discussing video collaboration in today’s mobile society. During his keynote, Andy presented key industry trends, and share how Polycom is delivering video to mobile platforms, extending HD video collaboration technology beyond the office and conference room. The keynote included a live demonstration of a game-changing mobile video solution for enterprises – the Polycom® RealPresence™ Mobile.

The Cloud & HTML5 — Smart TV’s Dynamic Duo — from itvt.com by Edgar Villalpando

Excerpt:

Why is HTML5 so awesome for smart TV?

  • HTML5 standards are managed by a non-corporate entity (the W3C), and are non-proprietary.
  • HTML5 utilizes the existing skill sets and tools of an enormous, established development community.
  • HTML5 is one of the few technologies that receives nearly ubiquitous support from the big players in technology and media alike. Apple, Google, and even Adobe have endorsed it.
  • HTML5 allows developers to create one application that will run on many different devices, including TVs, STBs, PCs, tablets and mobile devices.

For the smart TV space, HTML5 will speed app development cycles, reduce development costs, provide a much larger reach, and make integration of apps with the Web, and Web-connected devices, much smoother.

We’re about to exit the Walled Garden era of smart TV, and enter the Smart TV Everywhere era.

From DSC: Expectations, today, are getting hard to beat

Since Apple’s event yesterday, I’ve heard some conversations on the radio and reviewed several blog postings and articles about Apple’s announcements…many with a sense of let down (and some with the usual critical viewpoints by the backseat drivers out there who have never tried to invent anything, but who sure like to find fault with everyone else’s inventions and innovations).

It made me reflect on how high our expectations are becoming these days!  It wasn’t enough that iCloud is coming on 10/12 (and who knows the directions that will take society in). It wasn’t enough to introduce some serious software-based innovations such as Siri (which bring some significant advancements in the world of artificial intelligence) or AirPlay for the iPhone.  It wasn’t enough to enter into the multi-billion dollar card industry with their new Cards app for the iPhone.  Wow…tough crowd.

What might these announcements — and expectations — mean for education? 
Well…I can see intelligent tutoring, intelligent agents, machine-to-machine communications, the continued growth of mobile learning, learning from the living room, the initiation of programs/events caused by changes in one’s location, continued convergence of the television/computer/telephone, continued use of videoconferencing on handheld devices, cloud-based textbooks/apps, and more.


 

Siri on the iPhone 4S -- October 4, 2011

 

 

 

Some items from Apple today:

 

 

From DSC:
This posting evolved after having read $500 billion TV market new battlefield for Internet companies (from forbes.com and the Trefis Team therein) as well as the posting at Future TV disruption – Forbes says it’s worth half a trillion dollars for Internet companies (from appmarket.tv).

As the convergence — and the movement of data/apps/content/services towards the cloud — continues, I wanted to jot down some thoughts re: the current field:

  • Apple, Google, Cisco and Microsoft seem to be solid players to watch in terms of cloud-based computing architectures, tools, and functionality — something to keep in mind when planning for the future directions of your organization’s set of tools and technologies.
  • Personally, I vote for vendors that “get the web.”  Apple and Google have traditionally been very solid innovators on the web and have turned in solid report cards in terms of innovation, performance, and web-based applications.  (Adobe — with their Macromedia purchase years ago and their current lineup of tools — has also done a pretty good job, but doesn’t have the arsenal to make my top 4 picks here.)
  • I don’t need to say much about Apple in terms of innovation — as they have out innovated every company on the planet while becoming the world’s most valuable company in terms of market cap.   Apple is on the verge of adding enormously powerful, cloud-based functionality and apps to their ecosystem when they introduce iCloud this fall (and perhaps a web-connected/smart TV type of device in the future).  They have proven themselves to be #1 in terms of working with multimedia-based content — its creation and distribution. Given the continuing trend of the convergence taking place with computers, telephones, and televisions, the ability to create and work with multimedia is key for many technology-related vendors, and, in my mind, Apple leads in this area.
  • Google has shown themselves to be solid innovators as well — and they “get the web.”   Their current set of web-based apps — including Google Docs, Calendar, Hangouts, Reader, Alerts, etc. — provide a solid menu of web-based apps to choose from.
  • Cisco has proven themselves to be innovative as well, and owns some powerful technologies in their WebEx Meeting Center, Videoscape, networking infrastructures, and some of its other tools.
  • Though traditionally not a leader/innovator on the web, I think that Microsoft has deep pockets and they are a savvy business (having just purchased Skype as an example).  So with SharePoint, Skype and Office 365, Microsoft is laying the foundation for a solid, web-based collaboration space.

Having said this, one can see that it is getting harder to practice the KISS principle in the IT departments out there.  But where we can do so, it makes sense to do so — as there is less finger pointing and more accountability.  It’s easier to support a fewer amount of tools and, often times, it seems that things simply work better with a reduced amount of vendors/technologies involved.

So I’ll wrap up this posting by listing some of the things that I’m trying to (simultaneously) keep in mind:
  • Web-based collaboration tools such as videoconferencing, shared interactive whiteboards, shared document creation, calendars/scheduling, form creation and reporting tools, chat, other
  • Cloud-based content/data/apps/services
  • Synchronization across multiple types of devices
  • Web-based updates (think publishers’ content in addition to apps)
  • Storage plans and pricing
  • Types of integration and tools a vendor provides on the cloud
  • The end user experience and the usability of proposed solutions
  • A vendor’s strategic direction(s) for the future
 
 
© 2024 | Daniel Christian