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.