TVs are becoming the next app battleground — from by Emily Adler

Excerpt:

The app store phenomenon, centered on smartphones and tablets, has been the biggest story in software for the past five years.

Its next logical destination: the living room, via smart TVs and set-top boxes connected to the Internet.

  • The smart TV app revolution is inevitable: People spend four hours in front of their TVs in the U.S., and 63% of all global ad spending goes to TVs. The old guard, represented by cable and entertainment conglomerates, will not be able to fend off improvements like those that apps are bringing to mobile phones.
    .
  • The smart TV revolution will not just be led by new TVs with built-in Internet connections, it will also result from consumer adoption of less expensive game consoles or set-top boxes like Roku and Apple TV, which transform traditional TVs into smart TVs with access to app stores. At least 20% of U.S. consumers already have their TVs connected in one of these ways.

 

From DSC:

  1. Keep an eye on the convergence of the telephone, the television, and the computer.
    .
  2. Start thinking of ways that you could provide learning/educationally-based experiences with second screen apps. What would that experience look and act like?
    .
  3. If such “channels” come to fruition — and happen to coincide with MOOCs and advances in cognitive computing (such as IBM’s Watson) — the word disruption comes to mind.
    .
  4. The trick, then, will be to offer streams of content that are relevant, and up-to-date.
    .
  5. Such a platform could be used in learning hubs throughout the world, as well as in hybrid/blended classrooms — while also addressing lifelong learners from their living rooms.
    .
  6. Such a platform could take Communities of Practice to an entirely new level.

 

 

The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

 

 

streams-of-content-blue-overlay

 

 

 

Addendum/also see:

 

IoE-SmartTVs-Feb2014

 

 

 

Transmedia Storytelling: Trends for 2014 —  from Robert Pratten, CEO  at Transmedia Storyteller Ltd on Dec 06, 2013

Excerpt:

Pratten-TransmediaStorytellingIn2014

 

Conducttr-Jan2014

 

From DSC:
Something here for education/learning? With the creativity, innovation, interactivity, participation, and opportunities for more choice/more control being offered here, I would say YES!

 

 

Also see:

 

 

 

IDC predicts 2014 will be a year of escalation, consolidation, and innovation as the transition to IT’s “3rd platform” accelerates — from idc.com

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

  • The 3rd Platform will deliver the next generation of competitive advantage apps and services that will significantly disrupt market leaders in virtually every industry.
  • Worldwide IT spending will grow 5% year over year to $2.1 trillion in 2014.
  • Emerging markets will return to double-digit growth of 10%, driving nearly $740 billion or 35% of worldwide IT revenues
  • Within the 3rd Platform, value will start to migrate “up the stack”, from infrastructure as a service (IaaS) to platform as a service (PaaS) and from generic PaaS to data-optimized PaaS.
  • Cloud spending, including cloud services and the technology to enable these services, will surge by 25% in 2014, reaching over $100 billion.

 

Also see:

What is the 3rd platform and how will it affect business? — by Mark Neistat US Signal Company

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Simply stated, the 3rd Platform is the next phase of the IT revolution. The first platform was the mainframe computer. The second was Personal Computers (PC) which dominated the IT landscape from 1985 to 2005. The 3rd Platform is being built on mobile computing, social networking, cloud services, and Big Data analytics technologies.

 

From DSC:
First some recent/relevant postings:



IFTTT’s ingenious new feature: Controlling apps with your location
— from wired.com by Kyle VanHemert

 

An update to the IFTTT app lets you use your location in recipes. Image: IFTTT

 

Excerpt:

IFTTT stands athwart history. At a point where the software world is obsessed with finding ever more specialized apps for increasingly specific problems, the San Francisco-based company is gleefully doing just the opposite. It simply wants to give people a bunch of tools and let them figure it out. It all happens with simple conditional statements the company calls “recipes.” So, you can use the service to execute the following command: If I take a screenshot, then upload it to Dropbox. If this RSS feed is updated, then send me a text message. It’s great for kluging together quick, automated solutions for the little workflows that slip into the cracks between apps and services.

 

If This, Then That (IFTTT)

IFTTT-Dec2013

 

4 reasons why Apple’s iBeacon is about to disrupt interaction design — from wired.com by Kyle VanHemert

Excerpt:

You step inside Walmart and your shopping list is transformed into a personalized map, showing you the deals that’ll appeal to you most. You pause in front of a concert poster on the street, pull out your phone, and you’re greeted with an option to buy tickets with a single tap. You go to your local watering hole, have a round of drinks, and just leave, having paid—and tipped!—with Uber-like ease. Welcome to the world of iBeacon.

It sounds absurd, but it’s true: Here we are in 2013, and one of the most exciting things going on in consumer technology is Bluetooth. Indeed, times have changed. This isn’t the maddening, battery-leeching, why-won’t-it-stay-paired protocol of yore. Today we have Bluetooth Low Energy which solves many of the technology’s perennial problems with new protocols for ambient, continuous, low-power connectivity. It’s quickly becoming big deal.

 

The Internet of iThings: Apple’s iBeacon is already in almost 200 million iPhones and iPads — from forbes.com by Anthony Kosner

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Because of iBeacons’ limited range, they are well-suited for transmitting content that is relevant in the immediate proximity.

 

 


 

From DSC:
Along the lines of the above postings…I recently had a meeting whereby the topic of iBeacons came up. It was mentioned that museums will be using this sort of thing; i.e. approaching a piece of art will initiate an explanation of that piece on the museum’s self-guided tour application. 

That idea made me wonder whether such technology could be used in a classroom…and I quickly thought, “Yes!” 

For example, if a student goes to the SW corner of the room, they approach a table. That table has an iBeacon like device on it, which triggers a presentation within a mobile application on the student’s device.  The students reviews the presentation and moves onto the SE corner of the room whereby they approach a different table with another/different iBeacon on it.  That beacon triggers a quiz on the material they just reviewed, and then proceeds to build upon that information.  Etc. Etc.   Physically-based scaffolding along with some serious blended/hybrid learning. It’s like taking the concept of QR codes to the next level. 

Some iBeacon vendors out there include:

Data mining, interaction design, user interface design, and user experience design may never be the same again.

 

Learning from the Living (Class) Room [Grush & Christian]

CampusTechnology-12-5-13-DSCLivingClassRoom

 

Learning in ‘the Living [Class] Room’
From campustechnology.com by Mary Grush and Daniel Christian
Convergent technologies have the ability to support streams of low-cost, personalized content, both at home and in college.

 

IBM-Opening-up-Watson---11-15-13

 

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

For the first time, IBM will open up Watson as a development platform in the Cloud to spur innovation and fuel a new ecosystem of entrepreneurial software app providers who will bring forward a new generation of applications infused with Watson’s cognitive computing intelligence.

The Watson Ecosystem empowers development of “Powered by IBM Watson” applications. Partners are building a community of organizations who share a vision for shaping the future of their industry through the power of cognitive computing. IBM’s cognitive computing cloud platform will help drive innovation and creative solutions to some of life’s most challenging problems. The ecosystem combines business partners’ experience, offerings, domain knowledge and presence with IBM’s technology, tools, brand, and marketing.

 

Items re: Helpouts by Google, which was just introduced on Monday, November 4th, 2013:


 

HelpoutsByGoogle-IntroducedNov-4-2013

 

 

 


From DSC:
This type of thing goes hand and hand with what I’m saying in the Learning from the Living Room vision/concept:  “More choice. More control.”   This type of thing may impact K-12, higher ed, and corporate training/L&D departments.

It this how we are going to make a living in the future?  If so, what changes do we need to make:

  • To the curricula out there?
  • To the “cores” out there?
  • In helping people build their digital/online-based footprints?
  • In helping people market themselves?

 

 

 

“Learning in the Living [Class] Room” — as explained by Daniel Christian [Campus Technology]

Learning from the Living [Class] Room  — from Campus Technology by Daniel Christian and Mary Grush; with a huge thanks also going out to Mr. Steven Niedzielski (@Marketing4pt0) and to Mr. Sam Beckett (@SamJohnBeck) for their assistance and some of the graphics used in making these videos.

From DSC:
These 4 short videos explain what I’m trying to relay with a vision I’m entitling, Learning from the Living [Class] Room.  I’ve been pulse checking a variety of areas for years now, and the pieces of this vision continue to come into fruition.  This is what I see Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) morphing into (though there may be other directions/offshoots that they go in as well).

After watching these videos, I think you will see why I think we must move to a teambased approach.

(It looks like the production folks for Campus Technology had to scale things way back in terms of video quality to insure an overall better performance for the digitally-based magazine.) 


To watch these videos in a higher resolution, please use these links:


  1. What do you mean by “the living [class] room”?
  2. Why consider this now?
  3. What are some examples of apps and tech for “the living [class] room”?
  4. What skill sets will be needed to make “the living [class] room” a reality?

 

 


Alternatively, these videos can be found at:


 

DanielSChristianLearningFromTheLivingClassRoom-CampusTechnologyNovember2013

.

 

 

HTML5Research-VisionMobileNov2013

 

Example slides/information:

 

HTML5Routes2Market-VisionMobileNov2013

 

HTML5KeyPlayers-VisionMobileNov2013

 

 

Some items re: Steam and OUYA — with a thanks going out to Mr. Steven Chevalia for the information here

For the past 20 years, the video game industry has been controlled by three primary companies:

  1. Nintendo (Nintendo, Gamecube, Wii)
  2. Sony (Playstation)
  3. Microsoft (Xbox)

However, the past two years have shown an increased interest in hardware solutions from 3rd parties, such as:

  • OUYA is a 3rd party console that was designed to be a gaming system with a lower cost and was meant for all open-source games.
    (Further details at wikipedia.org)
     
  • Steam is a 3rd party that sells and updates all their games digitally. They offer all the same games as most of the consoles (listed above) and will soon be offering their own console, which will connect to the internet and allow you to play any game that you own on their service.
    (Further details at wikipedia.org)

 

STEAM-Expanding2014

 

These smaller, lesser known devices are prime targets for educational and kid-friendly material. (NOTE: Not all of the games available via these sites are appropriate for kids, as many of the games therein are meant for older audiences.) It is likely that iTunes U, YouTube, etc. will all be viewable on these consoles and the games made for them will be able to be made by smaller companies that can’t compete on the market with Nintendo, Playstation, or Xbox-based games.

 

 

Smart Machines: IBM’S Watson and the era of cognitive computing — from cup.columbia.edu by John E. Kelly III, Director of IBM Research, and Steve Hamm, writer at IBM and former business and technology journalist

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Computers today are brilliant idiots. They have tremendous capacities for storing information and performing numerical calculations-far superior to those of any human. Yet when it comes to another class of skills, the capacities for understanding, learning, adapting, and interacting, computers are woefully inferior to humans; there are many situations where computers can’t do a lot to help us.

But the goal is not to replicate human brains or replace human thinking with machine thinking. Rather, in the era of cognitive systems, humans and machines will collaborate to produce better results, each bringing its own skills to the partnership. The machines will be more rational and analytic-and, of course, possess encyclopedic memories and tremendous computational abilities. People will provide judgment, intuition, empathy, a moral compass, and human creativity.

 

 

 

 

From DSC:
Consider what Watson “read in” to come up with some recommendations:

 

Watson

 

Addendum on 10/14/13 (emphasis DSC):

Watson is being used to assist with the treatment of cancer patients. According to an article from medicalnewstoday.com, Watson is “revolutionizing cancer care and research and speeding up progress for patients.”

In that same article, it mentions that, so far, Watson has ingested:

  • Over 600,000 pieces of medical evidence
  • 2,000,000 pages of text from 42 academic journals and clinical trials based on oncology research
  • A huge number of patients’ records spanning decades of cancer treatment history, including medical records and patient outcomes. Watson can sift through 1.5 million pieces of such records and provide doctors with evidence-based treatment options within seconds.

One of IBM’s General Managers who works with Watson said:

“breakthrough capabilities bring forward the first in a series of Watson-based technologies, which exemplifies the value of applying big data and analytics and cognitive computing to tackle the industry’s most pressing challenges.”

 

From DSC:
There’s something here for classrooms/education — even for the living rooms of the future!

 

Little Mermaid Second Screen Live makes iPads part of the movie world — from gigaom.com by Liz Shannon Miller

Summary:

Disney advertises the Second Screen Live experience as a rebellion: “Break the rules — bring your iPad to the movies!” But it’s less a trip to the movies and more a fully interactive experience.

As the film began, so did the games. Most second-screen experiences I’ve tried have been largely passive, but Little Mermaid demanded the audience’s attention right from the beginning with games, trivia questions and other forms of interactivity for all ages.

 

lmssl trivia 1

The action on the big screen even froze from time to time for more complex games, and there were moments of seemingly new animation inserted at key plot points, as well.

 

Introducing…the Learning Dashboard — from khanacademy.org

Excerpt:

The new learning dashboard is your personal homepage on Khan Academy. The dashboard gives you an easy way to find the best next things for you to do. It has a bunch of really cool things designed to help you learn math, and soon other subjects, really well on your own or with a coach. You can access it when you’re signed in by clicking on the Khan Academy logo at the top of the page.

 

KhanAcademy-NewLearningDashboard-Sept2013

 

From DSC:
Think of the power of this in a blended learning environment!  Use the dashboard to gain more choice, more control. See your progress.  Then go to your teacher, professor, trainer, supervisor, subject matter expert, etc. to get guidance, extra help, etc.   It also plays into what I envision in the “Learning from the Living [Class] Room” environment that continues to form in front of our very eyes.

 

 

 

Per Candace Opstvedt from Digital BrinQ:

The Air Force Collaboratory is “an interactive online platform that invites STEM inclined students, educators and innovators to solve some of the Air Force’s toughest challenges.  Over 900 ideas have already been submitted by participants in the first project, and we are confident that the “Mind of a Quadrotor” project will be just as successful.

“Mind of a Quadrotor” became active starting on September 1, 2013, and will remain open through October 31.  Anyone with an idea can submit their plan for how quadrotors can be used to perform certain actions autonomously; that is with minimal human intervention.

To give you a little more background, check out The Air Force Collaboratory website. You can also check out project highlights and information at, http://www.good.is/stem.

 AirForceCollaboratory-Sep2013

 

 

 

From DSC:
(At least) a few things strike me as noteworthy here:

  • Note the potential power of a web-based learner profile like this. Create a web-based profile. Choose project. Earn badges/achievements. Solve topics. Follow your activity (i.e. progress).  Hmmmmmmm…..interesting….
  • The use of crowdsourcing to identify/create solutions for existing problems.
  • Presenting real-world problems/projects and asking for real-world solutions.

Tagged with:  

IBM’s big data education outreach — from InformationWeek.com by Ellis Booker; with thanks to EducationDive for their posting this
In the last decade, IBM has partnered with more than 1,000 universities to increase the world’s pool of computer science graduates.  Latest focus: Big data.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The scarcity of data scientists is a problem for platform and tools vendors like IBM.

Even with impressive improvements in data visualization tools such as dashboards, IBM’s customers need employees able to set up these systems, correctly interpret their output and discuss it with business-side colleagues.

IBM and other technology companies themselves need new workers, trained in the latest data-science concepts and techniques. Like many of its customers, IBM is having trouble hiring enough data scientists.

For both of these reasons, IBM has been working closely with colleges and universities. Its educational partnerships now number more than 1,000 globally.

 

Also see:

 
© 2025 | Daniel Christian