Month: January 2013

Leaving CES, entering the future


Developers jump on a new mobile platform.

If mobile, desktop and other devices like TVs converge on a single operating system, it'll be a Linux variant. When processing, display and input technology get to the point that the size and form factor of a device is irrelevant, an open source ecosystem will provide a cross-sector point of convergence for developers and manufacturers. Service providers will follow. It's an entrepreneurs' world.

Windows 8 will survive as a mobile operating system.… More

Proud and few, African companies at CES

10 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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Nemotek brings Moroccan manufactured products to CES.

More than three thousand companies from 52 countries are exhibiting at CES, but only two are from Africa.

“There's a lot of manufacturing going on,” said Philip Guttentag, CEO of South Africa-based Vivid Audio. “It's just not very well marketed.”

Vivid was showing its sleek speakers in a high-end audio group display. The company makes its products near Durban.

Nemotek designs and builds its tiny CMOS camera modules in Morocco.… More

New mobile OS worlds, maybe

10 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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Mobile moves fast, but not to Linux yet.

“The world changes on a dime, especially in the mobile industry,” said Ed Elkin, marketing director for advanced communications solutions at Alcatel-Lucent. “The next thing that happens is HTML 5.”

He was speaking at the “Smart phone trends: current and future” panel at CES this afternoon. Moderated by Mashable editor Lance Ulanoff, it also featured representatives from T-Mobile, AT&T and HTC.

In theory, applications based on HTML 5 could run on any mobile operating system with little or no modification.… More

Indian start-ups trickle into CES

10 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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India comes to the table.

“Everybody wants to do a start-up in India,” said Zafar Baig, a board member of Emo2, one of the few Indian companies that's exhibiting at CES this week. The problem is, investors and entrepreneurs are focused on software and services, not hardware. There's a belief that “design is not mature enough to be accepted globally. Software is an easy play.”

Only ten India-based companies are exhibiting, out of more than three thousand total on the show floor.… More

Qualcomm's medical M2M platform gaining ground

10 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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Sensible shoes.

Qualcomm Life's medical M2M (machine-to-machine) platform, 2net, had a good first year on the market. About a dozen companies were demonstrating their connected medical and fitness products in and around the Qualcomm booth at CES. So far, about two hundred have adopted the platform.

Introduced at the show last year, 2net securely connects personal monitoring and measurement devices – glucose meters, activity trackers, blood pressure monitors, for example – to health professionals. It provides the gateway and and the backend servers, plus the Internet connectivity when necessary.… More

Makers move CES

10 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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Today an arm, tomorrow a kidney.

One of the most talked about technologies at CES this week is 3D printing. When asked what impressed them most at the show, four out of four FCC commissioners – who might be expected to focus on telecommunications gear – said is was the promise of making physical objects, even human kidneys, with the technology.

Makerbot showed its Replicator 2X, intended for producing commercial products. Sculpteo pushed its cloud-based production and fulfillment service.… More

The Internet faces the dark side of the Force

9 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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International telecommunications diplomacy isn't a pretty business.

“It was a little bit like the Star Wars bar scene,” said FCC commissioner Robert McDowell, as he described his experience as a U.S. representative at last month's World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai.

He was part of a delegation that included private sector companies, like Google, as well as a boat load of diplomats and policy wonks. They were up against a solid wall of countries that wanted the International Telecommunications Union – a United Nations organization – to get into the business of regulating the Internet.… More

Winners and head scratchers at LaunchFest pitch night

9 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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Party until you invest.

I counted eight start-up companies at tonight's Digital Hollywood Launchfest, held in conjunction with CES.

There might have been more. It was hard to tell exactly how many hopefuls were looking to impress a panel of angel investors. By the time I got there, the event was more party than anything else. But the music and investor pitches made for a good mix at Planet Hollywood.

Raw Porter aims to put money in the pocket of amateur paparazzi.… More

FCC commissioners push to quickly rewrite rules, free spectrum

9 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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Collegial commissioners at CES.

As plain old telephone service migrates to mobile and Internet protocol platforms, new regulations to match technology shifts and more wireless spectrum are the top priorities for the FCC this year.

Four of the five commissioners talked about what's ahead at a CES panel session this afternoon. Chairman Julius Genachowski made a solo appearance earlier, and his colleagues endorsed his plan to move ahead quickly with freeing up government spectrum in the 5 GHz band for unlicensed use.… More

Wearable computing delivered

9 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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Migicovsky shows Pebble watch and app.

“We're proud of it, it's a full blown consumer electronics product,” said Eric Migicovsky, CEO of Pebble, as he introduced the Pebble smart watch at CES, promising a shipping date of 23 January 2013.

It's a real watch. It sits on your wrist, tells the time and you can swim with it. It's also “a connected device, which talks to your smart phone,” Migicovsky explained.

If the production units perform like this morning's demo, Pebble has a shot at being the first mass market, non-geek smart watch.… More