Idea Center

With a looming energy and oil crisis, improvement in Energy storage technology might be the best way forward in the immediate. While many are looking for alternate energy sources, there is an immediate need for rationing energy that we can still produce for our needs. Startups should be looking to provide solutions in this space.

We would be seeing the following rising in demand in the immediate. This has already started:

• Energy efficient equipment using low power
• Telecommuting to avoid Commuting Energy spend
• Energy Storage Technology for highly energy efficient equipment

The Ultracapacitor or the Supercapacitor energy storage story was something just out of Sci-Fi. If any of you saw the newer version of Planet of The Apes you would have seen a display showing "energy capacitors" referring to the new Ultracapacitor technology. It seems that necessity does indeed drive technology to land earlier than it would have otherwise.

Here's a car that will be using ultracapacitors. You could read more about it here. Energy efficient technology has been a much anticipated need, but has huge challenges in integrating and providing solutions to the end customer. Here is a webmag that has a lot of information on the technology available today.

Posted by morpheus at 06:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

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This is a radical idea , but the brain is really a superb scenario building system given the time and opportunity to think on it's own . 

A lot of researchers have tried brain based input control to the computer but very few have tried to capture images rendered in the brain to a computer system like this research link

http://io9.com/5107674/technology-puts-images-from-your-brain-onto-a-computer#c

I think this is a worthwhile idea to be invested in considering the huge amount of research in recent time's 

http://www.engadget.com/tag/brain/

Commercialization o tis technology to make it industrial grade is key so let my imagination run wild ...

Steven Speilberg puts on the "Brain Render" device and he has just read the script of his new SciFi movie " ET vs Jurassic Dino " :) you can imagine the rest ... and if it is production quality he might just release it like that ..:)

and we get instant movie reviews and downloads .. ( Crappy movie steve use real actors not your imagination ) 

Just a thought . 

Posted by neo at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

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This is a sort of useful idea that i am considering , suppose the "Theory of patches" used to develop the DARCS versioning system were incorporated into the filesystem like  ReiserFS with the patches version corresponding to the ime and date the change was made , It would be a great leap for automatic archival retrieval system.

In simpler terms suppose i am writing a 400 page novel ( like Bourne identity ..:) ) and as the author i decide to change the final climax to something better .. ,If i have the automatic archiving capability in the filesystem i will be able to go to a particular date on which i sarted on the current plot and rewrite the new plot and i can save both branches and send it for consideration to my publisher ... he choose the plot that he likes best ... 

Amazing what a simple change can do ... !!!!! the thing is it should be transparent and having a rock solid recovery system like reiserfs sould be great ... 

Posted by neo at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

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This idea seems to be useful for people with a large number o credit cards or subscribe to a large amount of loyalty schemes ( eg BP Petro card) .

The basic idea is to store the info from the original credit or debit card into the device using the card reader on the upper part of the card . 

After scanning all your cards they can be scrolled through with the LCD screen and teo directional buttons as shown in the figure. 

The numeric pad below the LCD screen can be used to enter a PIN code for security before using the device. 

After you select the card and enter the PIN code you can swipe the device's lower magnetic strip onto the shopping clerks card reader machine ... 

Happy shopping..:) 

Posted by neo at 06:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

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I have been reading an article on my local newspaper, "The Hindu" which states that an estimated 1.2 Million people die annually in road crashes world wide and up to 50 million end up injured. This is from a WHO study.

There's an interesting list of safety systems listed:

1. Traction Control Systems: Introduced in 1971 by General Motors
2. Anti-lock Braking Sytsems: ABS was introduced in 1978 by automating steering control under heavy braking.  It was introduced by Mercedes-Benz.
3. Enhanced Stability Control: Anti-Skid systems were introduced by Robert Bosch in 1987
4. Emergency Brake Assist: Engaging an additional braking system to reduce the stopping distance by an extra 20% was introduced in 1992 by Daimler.
5. Pre-Crash Response Systems: These systems detect a possible crash, tighten seatbelts and activate all brakes. This was introduced by Denso. Sounds a bit scary to me, taking over braking and using pre-cognition. This was introduced in 2003.
   
6. Blind Spot Detector: Blind spot detectors introduced by Visiocorp detect cars in the adjacent lane within 10 meters. The trouble is in high traffic density these distance metrics don't work. This was introduced in 2005.
7. Lane-Departure Warning: This sounds off an alarm if the car strays away from the lane. This is quite close to what I was wanting for crash warning, but more of erratic driving warning is what I'd love, lane departure may be intentional. This was introduced in 2007 by Mobileye.
8. Automated Braking: Now this is the car trying to drive by avoiding low-speed collisions. This is in 2008 by Volvo's City Safety group.
9. Automatic Pedestrian Detection: This detects people or animals in the car's path. I guess this is meant for highways and possibly for night driving when vision is also impaired. This is also offerred by Mobileye. Mobileye is offering this in 2009.
   
10. Backover Detection: This is a feature I'd love to have for everyone else. This applies brakes on a car that's reversing potentially protecting both the car and if there was a pedastrian or obstacle behind the car, that too. I have been hit by cars reversing without warning at least twice and would love this feature. Ford and Mobileye are stated to introduce it in 2009. 

With the automobile industry facing tough times, technology might take time to hit the road and become helpful. Watching the Auto market in India, ABS, Airbags, Crumple Zones are among the few safety systems available in the fuel-efficient small car segments. The rest are reserved for the luxury car segment which includes Saloons and SUVs.

My thoughts on these features are mixed. If you are driving a car with this feature on the road and have a truck following you that doesn't have it, you are about to break for when you get too close to another car in front, while the truck without the technology is probably not. The result is left to imagination. The point is introducing these systems across vehicular segments that use the same roads. The automobile industry would therefore be pinned down to introduce true safety technology only through Government enforcement authorities.

Safety in my opinion, unlike other features, is a combined effort of vehicles, people driving vehicles, manufacturers, road/highway planners & designers and Traffic Control authorities. Technology alone would give you about 10% of the mileage in true safety. Formula One racing is an example of how combined effort can yield 100% safety inspite of a 300kph crash.

Posted by morpheus at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBacks (0)

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Automobiles have been here for more than a century. A common direction they are all heading towards is fuel efficiency and the usage of alternate fuel to reduce energy usage. I would still look for usability/driving improvements that would make a significant difference to automobile usage. This is essentially a list of features I find missing in the average automobile, but should be available:

• A full-fledged on-board computer that acts as a black box, records data from various sensors in the car would be useful. Some of these are available as add-on installations, but most cars in the Saloon, Golf-Car, S-U-V segment don't come with one. This is not the in-car entertainment system that has become more powerful in today's models. This should be telling the driver when car fluids and parts need to be serviced or replaced. If the inside of the car has taken in too much of dust this should warn the driver and possibly initiate cleaning if the automobile provides capabilities to actuate that. this computer should be capable of wirelessly connecting to a home PC to send data collected and stored on the car. The converse should be possible with a lot of security checks limiting the type of data that can be transferred to the car from a Home PC.
  
• Fuel efficient automated gearshift with (optional) user tunable ratios for each gear. It is strange despite all the technology that we continue to build automobiles with manual gearshift. The automated gearshift can be provided with a manual "Paddle Gear" mode like the ones used for Race cars. Honda does provide the "Paddle Gear." When someone is driving through heavy slow-moving traffic this could be more optimal than the user engaging and disengaging the clutch/gearbox system.
  
• Realtime Fuel Tank Pressure sensors which can be interfaced to the on-board computer and sensor read-outs through a neat "Heads-up Display" (HUD). With an interface to the on-board computer, this could be used to check realtime usage and actual fuel efficiency of the vehicle. Gone ar ethe days when drivers wrote down the trip meter readings and then tried to calculate the fuel efficiency.
  
• Tyre Pressure Readouts that give the driver an instant colored read-out of Tyre temperature and Tyre pressure. These have been available for over a decade on Race cars and should be easy to bring to road cars. A good number of accidents can be caused by tyre failure, and a red tyre on the HUD or tyre health read-out of a car can forewarn a driver.
• A Digital Compass display on the HUD unless the driver requests a GPS read-out should be available. I don't see a simple digital compass on many of the In-car GPS models I have seen. Car navigation can also show a compass read-out until a satellite lock is received. 
• An In-Car Weight Calculator should be able to calculate the weight of the car while driving. If the weight of the people and luggage inside a car is higher than the prescribed limits, there should be a warning. Most suspension failure is caused due to extra weight or improper weight balancing of luggage loaded in a car. With all the sensors available today, this should be an easy one.
• User controlled Glass Tints would be a nice feature. Today we have light sensitive glass tints available for cars that darken everything except the driver's view. It would be nice if these were all user controlled. This is possible, but I haven't seen anyone offer a user controlled tint.
• Automated Route Learning and Mapping software that works with the car's GPS is also something that's missing. I can statically set the route before I start for setting "manual routes" on a GPS guidance system. However, a GPS system that learns routes from a drive, that one's not so common.  There would be some locations that remain unmapped and while driving through those streets for the first time, I'd like the GPS to learn. Now this doesn't sound too difficult to implement and would be really useful in places where available maps are obsolete or poor. A huge add-on could be the ability to share the maps I have learnt with my friends. by directly loading it onto their GPS.
• Most GPS modules do not tell you how "good" or "bad" the actual road is. If you are in for off-roading or are driving in territory that has no intention of maintaining roads this is something that can be recorded to keep you warned the next time you venture out in that direction.
• The amount of lighting available at night time on a particular road while driving could also be a comfort point for the car driver. This too could be captured on the GPS with the timing detail. I am seriously not asking for too much?
• Weather systems should be integrated with the GPS which should be able to warn the driver that she is going into territory experiencing heavy rain, snow or fog.
  
• Keyless entry systems are around. Remote controls to turn on or turn off head lights, parking lamps, in-car lamps of the car before entering would be an easy feature to incorporate. Remote In-Car lighting controls would be a simple idea if I wanted to locate my car in a parking lot without making it scream.
• Cruise Control while driving on the highways to let the driver take a breather are easier to implement. Efforts towards unmanned driving are trying to take a huge leap in one shot. However, cruise control where the car can drive itself only on highways with limited traffic with the possibility of the user to intervene the moment she uses the steering wheel is something possible without extremely high Image Recognition and AI algorithms.
• Driving Guidance Systems could be a good way of stepping towards automated car driving. We now have Parking Guidance System that can do most of the parking with user guidance. This could be targeted at "new" car users.
• A Driver Warning System is easy to implement today. This system can also initiate a siren or warning if the car is being handled erratic or at speeds not reccommended for that car model. The driver should be able to turn them off, but as a basic safety feature this would prove useful. If vital parts of the car like the brake or gearshift or hydraulic fluid or coolant fluid is below the safety level, the car can initiate a warning and request the user to pull over. The user should still have the freedom to drive despite the warning (I hate taking the freedom away from a user.)
  
• Infrared or Alternate Vision systems with support on the HUD for driving under conditions of poor visibility. These conditions may be heavy rain or fog or snow or just the car's headlight's malfunctioning and only the parking light working on a highway. The fog has always been addressed with fog lamps, but today we can focus on improving the driver's vision of the actual road and conditions with less powerful lighting.
• New Generation Alcohol sensors (not breathalyzers but the new skin-based ones) should be integrated with the car (steering perhaps). The car needs to warn the driver that she may not be in the best of states to drive. This could be recorded on the in-car computer.
• Stealth Prevention Systems need to take in new technology by integrating WiMax and 3G to help assist law enforcement authorities in identifying stolen cars. The car can start emitting a beacon if the owner enables one from a remote control point. The owner of the car can choose to shutdown the car (potentially disabling the ignition system.) or limit the speed.
• Advanced Climate Control systems that can darken or brighten the color of the car's chassis based on the ambient temperature and light would be a good advancement. This would help the internal climate control system to adjust temperature faster for the driver in the cockpit and all the passengers. Sensing the number of passengers in the car could help optimize the energy used for cooling or heating various parts of the car.
• Mobile Phone/PDA cradles should be available in the car which can directly connect the in-car systems to the mobile phone or PDA and provide the user with a way to interact with the mobile phone without disturbing their actual driving. Today I see most models having holders for mobile phones and external mods or kits which allow having a voice activated system. But these systems are still very primitive. The PDA/Phone can give an automated SMS reply stating that the person is driving, and based on friend settings provide location data or abstain. The same system can help making an emergency call with the least user intervention in the event it is required. (And yes, charging the mobile phone's battery can continue.)
• In-Car object sensors can be used to locate objects that have either remained in the boot of the car or fallen below a seat. These would be really helpful in locating that USB Pen Drive or MP3 player that fell from my pocket somewhere in the car. If something fell inside the boot while removing the luggage, it would be easy if sensors could locate it and report them.
• Terrain Warning systems could help the driver avoid terrain on which the car cannot ride, especially terrain which is unfriendly to the drive height of the automobile. If you were driving in India, a good value add would be a detector for "Speed Breakers" or "Rumble Strips" that helped in slowing down the car.
• Ambient Light Sensors that help you turn on the cars Lights would also be very helpful. Often, the driver has to judge when the lighting is poor or respond to other cars driving with the lights on. But truly, lighting is required once the ambient lighting has dropped. The same sensors can help dim the headlights of the car when in heavily lighted urban roads to save fuel.
• A Digital Car Manual like the Amazon kindle would be a real good idea. This could be upgraded (unlike car manuals) with newer data. It can incorporate suggestions from Automobile clubs and can be of much better help than a standard issue car manual. 

All these enhancements "I'd like to have" for my car are "Personal" to the car, just as my PDA or PC is personal. As a driver, I would always want a manual override option to avoid using these features. Given that all the technology described here or at least most of them have been around for a while, they should be affordable to the end-user. The key problem has been offerring a manual model the customer buying the car and positioning these features as "may-have" add-ons with a heavy price tag. These value adds have to come in basic versions of the automobile to make them more usable and less pricey.

Posted by morpheus at 06:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (108) | TrackBacks (0)

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As a kid I enjoyed watching "Knight Rider" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Rider ), and always hoped that cars will one day drive themselves and all you needed to do was wait till you reach the destination. That hasn't yet happened.

Here's a look at what's already available in the car automation scene

• In car GPS for navigation; has been around for almost a decade, except that it is becoming more and more affordable today.
• In car Music entertainment systems have been around for decades together and now are coming up with Video solutions targeted at rear seat passengers.
• Location based services that inform the Driver to get to the nearest Gas station or Service station or Mall for shopping. This has slowly started coming in as GPS has become more accurate and usable.
• Reverse Parking sensors that help you make sure you aren't bumping into the kerb or the next vehicle parked.
• Rear View mirrors based on Camera technology and Infrared technology to help better driving solution for low light conditions. This might sound more like a luxury but does come in handy.
• Taxi cabs are equipped with Fleet management and point-of-sale terminals that ease their usage.
• Cargo vehicles have RFID tracking and reporting equipment that help locate cargo shipment. That really helps our DHL and FedEx shipments to be tracked anywhere on the globe.
• Automated braking systems based on simpler implementations are already available to complement the ease of driving experience offerred by Electronic Power Steerings (EPS); a new replacement to Hydraulic power steerings that dominated the automobiles of the past.
• Key-less entry systems based on remote RF activated locks or fingerprint scanning are available across different segments of automobiles.
• Ergonomic automatic adjustable seats are available in high end models and are slowly trickling into consumer models too. These are usually complemented with adjustable steerings.
  
• Paddle gear shifts are being promoted to Road cars (from the Racing car segment) as a luxury value addition by companies like Honda.
• Headlights capable of adjusting their brightness based on oncoming traffic and ambient lighting conditions are available today, but these are restricted to high-end sedans and luxury models.
• Automated car detection systems based on RFID or Bar Code integrated Number plates are also available. They facilitate in access control and parking payment system integration.
• Climate control which can be used to set the temperature inside the automobile without switching between heaters and air coolers are available.
• Crash sensors that deploy air bags and do a few additional safety functions before you crash are also provided with most automobiles today.
• Fuel economy for automobiles has improved and is at an all-time high if you were trying out one of the small car (not the gas guzzling SUV.)
• Automated systems that inform service stations and perform a system wide diagnostic check when the car is in trouble are available today in various forms. The most useful seems to be a wireless version that can connect to the car service provider who can receive the diagnostic data while you're stranded on a highway.
• A huge revolution in car lighting with HID lamps (did I say HID?) and LED light fittings for parking and turning indicators are available.
  

While the above list might sound incomplete, I have a huge list of "I Want" add-ons that modern day gadgets don't offer yet. I'll visit them in my next blog entry.

Posted by morpheus at 09:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (23) | TrackBacks (0)

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User Interfaces have defined our interaction with almost any device, not just an electronic gadget. This post is just to look at user interfaces for evolving electronic gadgets towards the near future and beyond. I should have more appropriately called this post Human Interface Devices for the future, but that gets me thinking of a specific class of USB devices.

The most common interface for every day usage of gadgets are Keyboards or Keypads. If one is frequently working on a laptop or Desktop PC, a mouse or a touchpad is the second most used interface. Touchscreen enabled PDAs and phones are also available and rank next in terms of usage. Douglas Engelbart invented the most used interface device for the PC, the "Mouse."

The Gaming Industry launched a revolution in User Interface Gadgets by creating multiple versions of the Gaming Controller, The Wheel, The Joystick and User Interface Variations to use gestures (which appeared very early in Video Games like Mortal Kombat.) I am not forgetting Voice recognition and Text to Speech which are strong user interfaces which are also useful for the disabled.

Much of our productivity in work, and at leisure depends on the ease of use and responsiveness of these User Interfaces and User Interface Gadgets.  With the gadgets are the screens and the LEDs that guide us through the usage giving us responses to each of our keypresses or requests or gestures.

Touchscreen technology has evolved to take on the Desktop, except that there are few takers right now as the technology is a drastic change from the traditional keyboard/mouse and has an immediate productivity hit when you try to get used to it. (If you switched from a phone with keys to one without any like the iPhone, you would have a good understanding of what I am talking about.)

I feel there are a lot of gaps in today's User Interface Gadgets and the User Interfaces themselves. What exactly is lacking in the modern user interface and the user interface gadget?

I first start with the User Interface Gadget, because they define the method of our communication with machines (if you could put it that way.)

• Speech Recognition started out big, but hasn't yet become available in a form that is easy to use. Today there are some speech recognition solutions that can be language and slang specific, but are heavily constrained. Most of them require to be trained and can be used only in low noise environments. This is an area where we need change which could be brought forth with better technology. Telephony solutions need to use speech recognition more and this has to be friendly. No more "Dial 1 to continue", "The Pound symbol to exit" messages. Those are slow and many a time irritating.
  
• Computer Speech or Text to Speech is primitive. There are phonetic languages, Voice Fonts and other technology available, yet they haven't reached end users. I really hate having an operator manning a PBX or a reception today because we have enough technology to replace a mundane job with the right technology.
• Cameras are abundantly available today. Webcams are the easiest. Cameras can act as input devices if they could catch gestures or follow the focus of a person. With Digital Image Processing technology having matured a lot, this is a huge gap that can be bridged. We do see PCs slowly bringing in Biometric authentication based on face recognition which is dependent on this technology. 
• The Tactile nature of the traditional keyboard is still retained. This essentially means that people doing extensive text-writing will have the risk of RSI (Repetitive Stress Injury.) We have new technology like Capacitive Sensing. If you have experienced the iPod, you probably know what Capacitive sensing interfaces are. You spend the least amount of pressure to actuate an interface, so less energy, less stress, better feedback or expected output from the device. Capacitive sensors with Glass and superimposing LCDs can act as reconfigurable tactile input devices taking the primitive keyboard into a whole new space. You just need to have as few keys as required for a specific application or task.
  
• the iPod's touch wheel. Read this if you are interested.
  
• Text Entry can also be powered by touch interfaces combined with specialized user interfaces. Most people would not like to keep talking to a Machine for creating a text document that is visually readable. There are light powered keyboards that can be deployed on any surface. This technology has to mature a lot more to become usable.
• Optical Sensor based User Interfaces. These are typically ones which help opening and closing doors based on proximity, protecting people operating heavy machinery. They have not been brought into day-to-day usage except for certain embedded applications. Imagine how simple it would be if your computer woke up or switched on, the moment you sat in front of it. The "Power Button" is redundant. Doors which open automatically after sensing the presence of someone who is to pass through (controlled through some authentifcation mechanism), Car Doors that can automatically open when you are about to enter are all possible, but missing.
  
• Heads up Displays for Automobiles are missing big time. Having an In-Car telematics system deployed with an extra display is always asking for more effort to use. Many of these devices survive because legacy usage involved reading the speedometer and watching other controls or readings while driving. However the HUD could easily make driving much more easier and free up much needed dash-board space on cars. They could be also be deployed at museums with exhibits. Our visual sense is very powerful and can filter information very easily. Our limbic system is closely coupled with our motor senses making audio a bad idea when you are actually driving a car.

Engineers would lecture for hours on all the barriers in getting these technologies to daily usage, that is exactly opportunity to make things easier for everyone.

The Unusable User interfaces of devices today are fundamentally of two kinds

1. Crammed with so many options that you don't want to choose any of them or end up confused
2. Have too few options and not the one you are looking for

Here is where a lot of work can go in while building a User interface for Minimum User Intervention and better Usability.

There are key areas where User Interfaces need improvement

• Text Prompting and Text Entry at much faster speeds. Text prompting today is possible. Mobile phones already use some prompting technology to make text entry easy with fewer keys. However the Business and Work Terminals where we spend time keying in a lot of text simply forget this must-have.
• There are enough rules that have been laid out about layout of Graphic User Interfaces (GUI.) They are based on Left-to-Right, Top-to-Bottom scanning that our mind uses. However each User Interface ends up being defined differently. Today this is changing with the help of renderin engines which can decide placement, while controls are merely defined by the "Software Application" or "Firmware." Yet, these haven't yet made it to our desks. Imagine changing the theme of your computer to suit your needs and simultaneously selecting the best type of "Button", "Dialog" and "Tab" Layout.
• The Use of colors to communicate has been a part of human communication. There are even cultural significances for colors. But seldom do we see a laptop display going red when the battery is dangerously low. Colors and Auras on displays and On-Screen-Displays (OSDs) are easy to implement, yet seldom used.
• The use of beeps in computers, phones and many gadgets is probably the most annoying thing in an office. An office environment typically has multiple computers in proximity and everything going "beep" once in a while is certainly undesired. There are better ways to communicate or "pop-up" or "buzz" with all the technology available today. Yet everyone is hoping to "live with" legacy "beeps." With 5.1 Surround Sound technology and  a lot of capable devices, one can use sound as a better way to communicate with the user without annoying them.
  

I have a much longer "I want" list for User Interfaces, but much lesser time to type it in. But there is so much you could think of that is just passed on from one generation of gadgets to the other because no one really thought about usability. So the stronger message is to focus on usability for all devices and gadgets requiring human interaction. Reconfigurability of User interfaces and a more meaningful use of colors and theming should hopefully come in the near future.

There is much talk about Ergonomics and Ergonomic input devices. However the fundamental "Use case" is sometimes lost in trying to make an input device "Ergonomic." While some devices have to head in this direction, they sometimes lose the usability along the way creating a barrier for devices that really wanted to help assist in health issues that arised due to pizza boxed input gadgets.

Posted by morpheus at 07:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

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Just when we think some ideas have gone obsolete, you see them hit the markets all over again. The big question one wants to ask is, "Why should they be useful or successful this time round?"

The new breed of Netbooks partially driven by the advent of the Atom processor and its cousins have made us rethink the idea.

The above image is a Simmtronics 10.2" screen based netbook, one of the larger of the lot. I have seen 8.9" screens and a lot of non-standard screen sizes wondering how they would really impact the actual price to the end-user.Anyone hearing the name "Netbook" would be instantly reminded of Asus' EEE PC, the first of its kind to reach ears worldwide.

So what is the netbook model?

Back in 2003, AMD came out with their 50x15 programme which was, quite similar to a venture of Intel's intending to make low cost PC motherboards integrated with software in a box that could provide low cost computing. The key to this product was to tie the Microprocessor, the Motherboard and the solution to a Service Provider thereby decreasing the cost incurred by the consumer in availing "Network" connected computing.

Five(5) years from then, one would guess that this never took off in the big way it was expected to. A similar one was the OLPC story.  This was also "low power" computing that could be delivered at low cost to bridge the digital divide. The ambition of this project was definitely exaggerated.

These stories remind me of Larry Ellison's Network Computer (NC) idea which never really made it. To make the long story short, this was an attempt at the sub $1000 computer. Microsoft, with a knee-jerk reaction launched the "Network PC" at almost competitive costs but complemented with some of Microsoft's software stack. All of this never really made it big time.

While one side of the gadget spectrum is clearly targetted at:

• Powering the Mobile Phone to become a Multi-purpose Personal Information Manager
• Adding High Resolution Cameras, Music and Multimedia Capabilities to the Mobile Phone
• Making the Mobile Phone capable of web browsing
• Adding Office Document read/write capability to the mobile phone
• Introducing Mobile Phones to the consumers at subsidies through Service Providers intended as a Price subsidy and a Value addition
• Adding Wireless VOIP and Video Call capabilities (with or without Skype) to the Mobile Phone
• Enabling Application Developers to create simple value additions through easy application SDKs for mobile phones. (These are primarily Java or BREW based SDKs.)
  

Many would agree that the above strategy actually worked. I carry a phone that can do almost everything I have listed above.

Now there were down-sides to the strategy:

• Using my mobile phone for a corporate presentation isn't really possible yet although it does allow presentations and TV out
• Editing documents through the mobile phone would require me to buy at least a wireless keyboard that is compatible with the mobile phone.
• The mobile phone's battery isn't really equipped to help you handle long hours of WiFi connectivity, you will have to re-charge, this might potentially be a size constraint.

This gap needed to be bridged with an easy to carry device that can complement the user with Business use and use of Internet services seamlessly. 

The Netbook allows you to:

• Connect to the Internet using Wireless or if needed a wired network.
• Use purely Wireless services including WiFi and WiMax for connectivity.
  
• Provide simple video-conferencing solutions using a higher megapixel camera doubling up as a Videophone.
• Allowing you to create, edit and display your corporate presentations, especially if you are a road warrior.
• For the first time have a strong case of large scale deployment of Bluetooth and GPS on a Gadget that can truly help in location based services.
• Play your favorite music and connect to devices through USB.
  

For practical purposes the netbook almost just offers you a web browser on steroids with little or no native software installed.

The Challenges in getting the netbook down to the market are

• Size of the netbook (which is something that has been achieved with low form factor screens.)
• Weight of the netbook making it lighter than almost all the standard Laptops available in the market making it attractive to carry for the road warrior.
  
• Usability in terms of tactile keyboards and easy solutions for the mouse like a track point.
• Cost of the netbook to make it compete within the Mobile Phone / PDA segment, rather than the high power laptop segment.
• Have the netbook adopted by Wireless or Mobile service providers by offering WiMax and 3G alternatives as the netbook relies heavily on being connected to the Internet.
• Today the netbook looks like a Low-cost or 'Cheap' Laptop, which is an image that has to be squashed and replaced with its role as the PDA-Laptop inbetween that can be carried around.

Unless the above challenges can be met, the Netbook will remain one more semiconductor driven attempt at offering large scale computing to tap a new kind of market. It might become an eerie reminder of the earlier technology like the OLPC or the AMD 50x15 or worse still the NC that never made it. Given the economic scenario today, there is a lot of hope for the Netbook if it can only get to market faster with the right value additions.

Posted by morpheus at 06:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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One of the key uses of electricity today is lighting. Worse still, many office environments today depend on artificial lighting even if it is daytime. Considering that there is an economic crisis and a need for better management of Energy, advances in lighting technology would be crucial.

Today, in most areas  incandescent lamps have been replaced by  flourescent lamps of various types. HID lighting is still used although it is very power hungry for shows.

Here are the most influential factors in present day lighting

• The ambient color of the area being lit
• The purpose of the light and therefore its luminosity
  
• The type of light fitting to be used and therefore any thermal characteristics
  
• The amount of power that can be used over time by the light
• The time of day or night when the light will be used

The rule in general is that outdoor lighting is costlier and more power hungry than indoor lighting. The cost of the lighting  usually depends on the amount of luminosity expected from the light. This cost is both the non recurrent investment and the recurring investment in powering up and maintaining the light over the period of usage.

So, how does the technology roadmap for lighting figure?

• Presently lighting technology has brought in LED based lights with much higher efficiency in terms of the luminosity vs power requirement. The deployment of such LED based lighting has just begun.
• Highly efficient Photosensors are available today to assist in controlling the luminosity of light deployments. These coupled with low-power microcontroller and microprocessor technology help in keeping lighting systems tuned to a uniform level of luminosity with the least need for user intervention.
• Photo collectors that generate electricity for Solar power are now available with increased efficiency. To give one more boost to their usability, light fixtures incorporating solar panels are more readily available. Better panels are available to easily integrate into existing light fixtures.
• Traffic lights that use Solar Power coupled with controllers that can source the same power and run very efficiently are available today. These are sometimes packaged as full fledged traffic solutions.
• Lighting fixtures are enabled with special reflective material that require fewer lights to reach a specific luminosity level. Coupled with technology called Light Tubes or Light Pipes, loss of light inside the fixtures is minimized by using reflection to bring the light to the point where it is required.
• In buildings where there is originally no provision for natural light to enter during daylight conditions, light tubes are available to transmit daylight from a sort of light collector to different points in the building. The same concept can be used to transmit light using reflective pipes from one part of the building to the other making lighting management easier.
• The Color of Lighting has also improved, thanks to materials available for creating color coatings of light fittings as well as material that can be incorporated into light pipes and reflective light fittings. The light fittings on the current generation of automobiles are testament to this technology.
• Further occupancy sensors and automatic luminosity dimmers are available to improve the energy efficacy of any light fixture.
  

Many of us have been unaware of lighting tubes (which were derived as an offshoot of plastic lenses and refractive material manufacturers.) We have been aware of LED lighting as we have seen this being shown in many shows, sometimes as a promotional offer. Most people involved in technology have seen the power of LED lighting and the solutions.

LED Lighting has evolved to a stage where we can deploy them in large scale outdoor lighting requirements.

 There is little doubt that improvements however small count for huge savings in this industry. Lighting industry is in for change as never before. The next push would be towards Intelligent light systems that can be deployed as full fledged solutions over a complete indoor setup.

Light pipe technology in terms of the material used is quite costly today and needs evolution in both material technology and the amount of light delivered vis a vis the distance light can be carried.

There are flexible light pipes, light pipes that increase the distribution of light from a single light source and much more. These light pipes hold a key to coming up with a complete lighting solution for the future. The drive may not be just saving power, but having light throughout the day that complements our daily activities in the best possible way. A simple function would be to help humans maintain biological clock rhythms, an extension of this idea could be used to fight jet lag and much more.

Anybody interested in starting up a new venture will find a lot of room to improvise and innovate here. Necessity is also a strong driver in this indusry to make more energy efficient solutions. At the same time, there is no diminishing the enthusiasm in the razzle dazzle of lighting.

Posted by morpheus at 09:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBacks (0)

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In the not too distant future, Cyber Cafes are heading for a big change. Their business models will have to tune to work even when last mile connectivity is available to everyone.

Today, this is what a Cyber Cafe looks like (one that might even allow gaming;) Irrespective of where in the world you might be going to look for one, you could be assured that small partitions like the one shown, standard terminals are to be expected. Some allow headphones, others let you use speakers.

Here are the pressing problems that the future Cybercafes could solve in the future. Before jumping in, you might even like to give Maverick and Seven Day Weekend a read for concepts of extremely flexible work environments.

Commuting, as urban population and business increases is not going to be a norm for many roles at the workplace. 

The Cybercafe will

• Double up as the flexible office at which people can meet up and work in smaller groups
• Allow for higher bandwidth applications such as group video conferences with multiple individuals
• Start evolving into data-centers that can securely store user data with trust
• Provide for specialized support staff to create company presentations and corporate documents
• Charge individuals or groups based on bandwidth consumed over a week rather than daily for better customer relationships. (While this might seem naive, it is an idea that is already in vogue.)
• Provide better processing power than available at offices using special cluster equipment for those rendering graphics or checking out applications for demonstrations.

There could be themed Cybercafes that will

• Provide special gaming-centric facilities including Wheels, Keypads, access to Gameboys and all the gaming gadgets of the future.
• Ones that provide virtual music concerts by giving the user a feel of being in a true music concert while they are unable to attend the actual concert (possibly because they are 100s of miles away.)
• Provide more corporate centric solutions like meeting rooms that can transcribe conversations alongwith video conferencing faclilities.
• Couple special touring facilities with the ability to check e-mail and book their tour timings with a tourist-centric adaptation.
  

The flexible office is a more inviting idea based on the demographics they currently cater to. This would be revenue that they can rely on. Further this would also mean that IT infrastructure of the office is getting outsourced and easily accessible to the employees by a distributed system that can also remain a profit center. This is one step beyond work from home.

Themed Cybercafes could spawn for any special need that can be catered. In a tourist city one could expect this to be a tourist hot spot. In a city where the majority are white collar workers, with both parents working, children might like to game outside in groups as they return from school or as a weekend activity. The possibilities again depend on the demographic and the actual demand.

Posted by morpheus at 06:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

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The original CyberCafe or Internet Cafe concept was to create an environment where everyone could browse the Internet on terminals. In India, with last mile connectivity being restricted due to several reasons, this happened in a big way. Anywhere in the world, once the last mile came in, the Cyber Cafes were threatened and business was hit.

The number of Cyber Cafe businesses in a city would probably tell you how good the last mile connectivity truly is in terms of reaching maximum customers (Locality matters) The Cybercafes usually helped very small business users or solo business users to connect to the Internet and stay in touch with their contacts and technology. Paper was also used to grab print-outs of information deemed useful. Later downloaded information was shared on CD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs.

So here's the first opportunity, if there are several people relying on an Internet Cafe, then "Network Infrastructure" and "Solution Integrator" companies have an opportunity in

• helping these users get connected to benefit in their unique ways. The solution sometimes has to come integrated with an ISP's reach, but technology like WiMax has a huge role to play to close the last mile.
  
• helping the Cafe provide a much higher set of services including printing, download and archival of large files, back-up of related information from the Internet to DVD or re-usable storage media. In simplicity, the remainder of the Cyber Cafes will have to find value additions that are attractive to their customres.

• The first transition that the "remainder" Cyber Cafes who had survived the onslaught of increasing last mile internet access delivery was towards "Gaming Centers." The last mile to consumers had QoS problems and cost issues. So Gaming from home was not possible in all countries with all plans as Internet gaming took off in a big way. This meant Cyber Cafes or Internet Cafes wanted low latency QoS but not necessarily high speed 2Mbps or higher bandwidth requirements.
• Providing Added services like Desktop Publishing, Data Archival.
• With new laws in place, they need improved security on the terminals with an easy or simple way to record those who are using their services.

With the advent of Wireless Access Points, there are many Cyber Cafes which offer Wireless Internet Access;

• With recent terrorist attacks; terror planning and execution, and information having flowed through unprotected wireless access points, the move is to get their access points secure, possibly without buying new equipment. This would be a hard need to service if their existing Access Points are not WPA2 compliant.
• They need secure Wireless Access Point solutions coupled with Routers that ensure that the internet connection has a specific transparent proxy that records a particular session to the extent possible and keeps a record of the laptop's connectivity signature apart from what is demanded by law.
• Some places tried out free laptops for wireless access, but this did not even help in reducing the table space occupied by a terminal and needed an alternate solution. I still haven't seen something deployed in strength.

Those Cyber Cafes catering to wireless connectivity options are usually targeting business users. They could have their own value add or core products such as coffee being served and also play the part of a social meeting place.

Even today, Star hotels are at a dilemma to include Wireless connectivity infrastructure to their guests. With Internet connectivity costs dropping particularly where they are for commercial use, this need would also be quickly addressed as many Hotels are actively moving to address this.

The only added element now is that the recent economic slow-down has caused a dramatic slowdown in the absorption of these products at every level. The needs have also dropped in terms of business customers connecting. The one remaining need that is very cost sensitive is to couple online social networking and social networking in one place.

Visit www.cybercafes.com for quite an exhaustive database of Cybercafes all over the world. If you are indeed traveling checking this should be a good idea. I'd even like a small plugin with a map on the database website that tells me how to get there.

Anyway, this game will have to change fast with more and more mobile phones getting WiFi access to a local network and potentially the Internet at higher speeds than GSM/CDMA connections with lower costs. The Cyber Cafe will have to evolve - I disagree with those who believe that the concept is in for disappearing. I'll cover some of my ideas on how the Cyber Cafe can evolve into the future as connectivity is becoming ubiquitous. 

Posted by morpheus at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

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If you had read such an article five(5) years ago or better still a decade ago, you would have found that most people had placed their quality bets on CCD cameras. CMOS Sensors were just entering the market and did not have attractive Signal to noise ratios.

At first, you might like to take a look at a CCD vs CMOS Sensor comparison to understand the differences.

To summarize

• CMOS Sensors output digital images directly without any post processing
• Most CMOS sensors come with on-board DSP capability if you are incorporating them in design
• CCD sensors still outdo CMOS Sensors in quality of the image; there is no dispute here.
  
• CCD sensors primarily take monochromatic images that are sent out in an analog format requiring an Analog to Digital Converter. (ADC)
  
• CMOS Sensors provide better quality for price and are now ready for mass deployment.
  
• CMOS Sensors have a long way to grow which means they are upcoming technology that will keep improving.
• They are available for densities upto 12 MegaPixels which makes them attractive for low-price still shot photography.

So, if you are looking at the newest SLR camera or a Camera phone in the market, it is most likely that you have a CMOS sensor inside it.  The two big companies that make these sensors are Micron Imaging, now Aptina and OmniVision. There are other smaller players in this market, but the big two have almost 80% market share.

Those who are working on Photo Conductivity and Photo Detectors for Solar energy and similar purposes may also land up on technology that might improve Digital Sensor technology.

As the world is turning increasingly digital, processing information from Analog to Digital is better done at the entry level even if it costs some quality (that can be made up using post-processing, filters and other technology.) 

Why are Digital Image Sensors so exciting today?

• Blogs have pictures from almost everywhere.
• Location and Mapping services allow users to connect photographs to actual map locations.
• Consumer Photography and Imaging has gained far more importance in volume. Many Digital cameras today almost match the yester-year SLRs in quality.
  
• Quality consciousness exists in the Industrial, Military and Aerospace Arena. They are also turning towards cheap imaging arrays that can correct error by larger sizes.

Is there something missing in Digital Imaging today?

• Lens technology and matching Lenses with digital images is a space that is lacking today.
• Digital Lenses that can be purely controlled in digital space for the amount of light allowed in, and auto-focus and zooming are still emerging technology
• Power hungry lighting is being replaced by power conscious lighting technology. The downside is such lighting technology produces light of much less luminosity and is less suited for photography.
• Digital Imaging may not perform very well for very low exposure times or very high shutter speeds. The response time of a sensor needs to be worked on.
• Marrying lenses with sensor technology to create camera solutions that can fit multiple applications is something that hasn't yet happened in a big way. Part of this is due to mechanical design constraints, lens size constraints and the unique nature of each application of digital imaging.

We are expecting innovation to get Lens technology better and more friendly towards digital sensors in a big way. This could help unleash the revolution of digital imaging (which has already shown up with the ubiquitous webcam on everyone's desk) faster and in ways we could never have dreamt of. Simple applications are face recognition, easier surveillance solutions with direct digital distributed end points, car rear view mirrors with night vision or thermal vision for better low light or night performance and more!

Posted by morpheus at 07:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

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The next gadget revolution that everyone is waiting for is Modular Hardware.The Software we use today is modular and upgradable. I can always replace pieces of my word processor (get a better spell checker or a grammar checker) or have my windows game emulator's GUI alone upgraded or have multiple engines installed. (visit http://www.cedega.com.)

This year we have had open source hardware coming in with the "Intellectual Property" (IP - Design Schematics, Prototypes) of such hardware available. We have already had more than two(2) years of Open Chip Designs as www.opencores.org This actually lets us choose the exact Intellectual Property (IP) and therefore function that goes into a chip (in these days usually FPGAs which are most re-configurable.)

What if, Hardware could be upgraded with more features and peripherals or increase connectivity by plugging in a few modules like Lego cubes? The minute I got this idea, the first company I noticed on the web was Bug Labs. They have some nifty products if you look around. Bug Labs is cleverly targeted at the Hardware enthusiast and not the end customer.

How would the end-user benefit from modular hardware?

• If you went to shop for a small home ethernet switch, you could buy a "Power" Module and an "Ethernet Switch" Module and sandwich them together. You connect this to your power and start using this like a normal Ethernet Switch.
• You now want to have a DSL modem. Instead of buying a full-fledged DSL Modem, you go ahead and buy a "DSL Modem" Module that can be plugged to the "Power" Module and "Ethernet Switch" and you get access to DSL while still having your switch.
• Let's say your car stereo, you buy a standard "Car Stereo" module compatibility kit and then add in an MP3 player console module and  a Storage Module. Tomorrow, you buy a DVD Module that can play MP3 songs from CDs and DVDs. You could plug this in directly and use this as the source of your music.
  
• Later all your gadgets still remain "Reconfigurable." Better still you could Re-sell modules you are not using on eBay or some place.
  

The idea could spread to any area where Consumer Hardware is being deployed. There are of course challenges to Hardware manufacturers should they decide to bring modular hardware to the market. Some of the simple things I could think of are:

1. Safety certifications including UL, FCC (inclusive of EMI/EMC Class B), RoHS, QM333 and CE to get a product on a consumer's desktop.
   
2. The standard size of a module in terms of dimensions and form-factor for best modularity and ease of use.
3. Power sourcing modules and the number of modules that can be powered using a single power source module.
4. The Modular bus standard to be used to make modules compatible across manufacturerers to give more value to the user.
5. Providing the ability to build custom products using modules while a standard set of products remain available. With licenses like Creative Commons or just about any other Open Source, a Hardware Device community can be created to share devices with ease. Should they open up the form factor and the connectivity as an open standard?
6. How can the highly customized device be branded? (This is a tough one.)
   

Why Modular Hardware?

• Today we do have technology that can make hardware truly modular. Plug and Play High speed Bus architectures exposed to the consumer like USB or Firewire are available already. The mechanical connectors required for fitting modules is also available today.
  
• No Two users have the same requirement in using a device, say even a telephone except for some basic functions (like making and receiving phone calls.)
• Manufacturing houses are able to cater to smaller and smaller numbers of hardware solutions customized for their consumers. If the growth of the "Product" segment is to grow closer to being customer friendly, then modular hardware might help them manufacture at lower costs but serve customers in a more specific manner.
• For pricing, the thumb rule is the fewer numbers you can mass manufacture; the higher the price paid by the user and vice versa. Modular Hardware could be used to make larger number of modules, but assemble a fewer products focused towards customer needs instead.

I am convinced that if the market is to stay truly consumer focused, they will find that the exact requirement for each customer (this could be an individual, a Small Office/Home Office [SOHO] or a Small or Medium-sized Business [SMB]) difficult to meet. Today most companies try to offer the customer flexibility. We call this "customization." At the very minimum in the SMB/SME/SOHO sectors we are willing to offer custom menus and logos. In the mobile telephony industry, we are willing to offer "Service Provider" specific menus and applications. Unfortunately except for logos and skins, the entire device is not easily customizable in terms of functions.

The next drive to get to the customer will be to get the entire device customizable including its hardware components. So you could potentially buy a device with no USB interface and then 1, 2 or 4 depending on the module you could plug-in. You could have a device with no display and decide to buy a small, medium or large sized Display, which in turn could be  a TFT LCD or an OLED or you name it.

Posted by morpheus at 06:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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