Omnitrol Networks bolsters RFID edge application software, releases industry’s smallest middleware appliance solution

We are in GA! The new release of EASE comes with a new development environment (SDK) that allows our partners to quickly develop new SDL-based Edgelets with an intuitive user interface. The new release also comes with an upgraded emulator to complete the picture.


Time to development is an important part of our value proposition but ease of deployment is also very critical; this is why this new software release comes with a new small foot print appliance. The new OMNITROL Nano is both a plug-and-play solution, and practically plug-and-forget. A manufacturing company can have a complete OMNITROL-based track and trace solution up and running in less than 60 minutes, and need only maintain it when they add more sensors.

Read more here.

Google releases a browser

Google is obviously going after Microsoft's position on the desktop with this new announcement. But if you look at the Android announcement last year, this makes even more sense for Google to have a light-weight browser that can run on top of mobile devices using their OS. It's always a concern to see too many initiatives launched without a real long-term strategy behind it. The Chrome announcement doesn't seem to belong in this category, and could become a cornerstone of Google's strategy in the mobility space.

Gartner Hype Cycle

This is a very interesting blog entry about Gartner Hype Cycle. This is a great way to look at future, current and past technologies and understand investment and development cycles. They key to understand and use these graphs is to estimate the time to plateau. Monitoring these graphs for a long time, I can tell you that some of the technologies tend to exceed or miss their target dates. They can even get stuck in that "Trough of Disillusionment" and never get out of it.

Facebook Hits 100 Million Users

Facebook, as did MySpace in 2006, just reached 100 million registered users. There are a few things fascinating about this platform. As opposed to MySpace which was mostly focusing on music, Facebook has the potential to develop into a single unifying platform for all services. Another key to their success is the focus on the developer community with their Facebook platform. The establishment of a strong developer community allows Facebook to keep their users on their site and increases the volume of interactions between them.

The importance of Facebook struck me as I was walking in an airport lounge and everyone had a Facebook screen on. It would be interesting to see how they develop their mobile strategy. With so much personal information at stake, security has to be their number one priority if they want to become the fabric of the new internet operating system.

Will Facebook follow in the Apple and Google's footsteps and provide a phone or even become a service provider? They are clearly becoming a key player around the network triangle from a content point of view.

Social Networking Mobile Applications

You might have missed the news two weeks ago, but myspace and facebook released their mobile applications for smartphones. One important thing I noted is that there is no advertising on the facebook mobile application. From the screenshots of the myspace application, it seems that it is the same thing there too. As more people will access and share content and updates through their mobile applications, how will myspace and facebook monetize these interactions?

There's great potential for location based revenue opportunities but they are mostly based on some sort of ads (coupon). If the screen size is a limitation, they have to think about inserting them in another way. The integration of GPS data can certainly make the ads extremely relevant to the user while making sure it is not perceived as a nuisance.

iPhone 3G and App Store: The Long Tail

Much has been written about the new iPhone 3G released by Apple last week. While it is a great device, attention should be paid to the release of the App Store. The App Store can be installed through an iTune update, and allows you to buy and install applications on your new iPhone. This is a major achievement for Apple and more importantly for the developer community. I wrote about such an environment back in 2006: "harness the millions of developers to work on creating value for your network, bring the new media content to your subscribers' handsets".

I'm very curious to see the number of applications (good and bad) that will be made available to the public. I won't try to forecast that number but it will be another order of magnitude to what carriers could bring to market. I believe we will see a true example of The Long Tail where consumers will be offered a large (huge) selection of applications at a very low price.

Endwave Receives Award for Manufacturing Innovation

I can't tell you how I felt watching one of our customers getting not one but two awards for what they have achieved as a result of using our software.















Congratulations to the Endwave team!

Omnitrol Networks Named a "Cool Vendor" in Manufacturing by Leading Industry Analyst Firm

In their recent report, Dan Miklovic and Andrew Hughes designated Omnitrol Networks as a “Cool Vendor” for Manufacturing. The Omnitrol Networks’ Work-In-Process tracking application software provides connectivity, real-time operational visibility and workflow management on the shop floor for business leaders and manufacturing plant managers.

According to the report, “Manufacturers with operations that include processes that are not fully automated should consider a combination of hardware and software solutions to provide end-to-end process integration.” Moreover, “Manufacturers have traditionally been receptive to using small vendors that bring innovation and leading-edge functionality, particularly at the plant level.”

Gartner defines a cool vendor as a company that offers technologies or solutions that are: Innovative, enable users to do things they couldn't do before; Impactful, have, or will have, business impact.

Microsoft Proposes Acquisition of Yahoo!

Let's look at the numbers: $44.6 billion in cash and stock (62% premium to current trading price). This is on par with the carriers acquisitions we have seen in the past.

Yahoo, you should take this offer and run. Nobody else can make you a better offer and you don't stand a chance to make it on your since you haven't had any significant innovation in the last few years that can threaten Google's domination in the search area (if this is your space?). You are in a slow decline and I don't see a leader emerging to take over the company and make the changes needed. Anyone trying to make the required drastic changes would go against the board that probably doesn't want this kind of changes.

Microsoft, you have a huge amount of cash but nothing in the works that can produce growth on the scale needed by your shareholders. Yahoo is a falling knife that you are trying to catch. This seems the only options, but I can't imagine how many start-ups or smaller companies you could evaluate, purchase, and develop with $44 billion dollars. Far more difficult but so much more rewarding.

Omnitrol Networks selected by Endwave for automated RFID-based manufacturing tracking solution

Another great success story for our customers and Omnitrol Networks. Endwave’s Defense and Security business unit is a supplier to both the defense electronics and homeland security industries. As such, their products are under intense scrutiny since they are components of mission-critical systems that are essential to safety and success. Furthermore, key defense contractors and the Department of Defense are starting to request real-time visibility on order status to improve the performance of their own lean manufacturing process. The project focused on automating work-in-process visibility on the assembly line to report progress and needs to customers, management, and suppliers, while also reducing waste and delays in the manufacturing process. Read more about it here.