Diamond Management and Technology Consultants Technology Innovations on the Horizon August 2007.

Diamond Management and Technology Consultants

Technology Innovations on the Horizon

August 2007

© 2007 Diamond.

Contents

The following technologies and concepts are a sampling of those being tracked by Diamond Knowledge Leaders in 2007.

2007 Technology Innovations, August 2007

© 2007 Diamond.

Local Area Mesh Networks

• In terms of collection/control, there is a new wireless communication standard called Zigbee, kind of a better Bluetooth, which is being targeted at home automation and control among other things.

• It is an implementation of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard.

• Some examples include: – Control4

• Possible uses and benefits:– Car-based meshes used to pass traffic data to

one another


From ti.com

© 2007 Diamond.

Hardware Mashups

• We are also seeing more hardware recombination (mashups) like the Nintendo Wii controller which is a pretty standard combination of components: game contoller + IR remote control + accelerometer + Bluetooth.

• Another example is the Celestron Sky Scout, which is a star identifier for amateur astronomers. It combines LCD display + GPS + electronic compass + MP3 player + SD reader.

• Some examples include: – Celestron SkyScout

– Nintendo Wii controller

• Possible uses and benefits:– Provide product researchers modular, standards

based components for experimentation

– Facilitate customer innovation (hacking?!) by using standard components and publishing specifications and interfaces


© 2007 Diamond.

Multi-touch Interfaces

• With all of the iPhone hype, there will be increased interest in multi-touch interfaces, which allow users to perform more advanced actions with multiple fingers or hands. Multi-touch requires a touch-sensitive display device or a new kind of input peripheral.

• Some examples include: – iPhone user interface

– Microsoft table

– Perceptivepixel.com

• Possible uses and benefits:– More engaging user experiences, possibly in

store, at movie theaters, music/media retailers, etc


© 2007 Diamond.

Crowdsourcing

• Crowdsourcing is the idea of breaking up a large problem into small tasks to be completed by a large group of people. The Web is an ideal medium to both reach the crowds and also to manage the tasks and results.

• Some examples include: – Wikipedia

– Amazon’s Mechanical Turk

• Possible uses and benefits:– Solve large problems that require human

reasoning or are difficult to programmatically model

– Access a (potentially) larger, more appropriate group of workers for a particular task


From salon.com

© 2007 Diamond.

Collaborative Online Databases

• With the evolution of sophisticated Web-based user interfaces and inexpensive storage, a new class of data management tools are emerging:

– Multi-user

– Web-based

– Simple (transparent) authoring tools

• Some examples include: – DabbleDB

– WikiCalc

• Possible uses and benefits:– Iterative online modeling and prototyping


© 2007 Diamond.

User Developed Datafeeds

• Building on the popularity of RRS-based data feeds, a new set of tools have been introduced that allow end-users to customize - edit, combine and modify – feeds for their own purposes

• Some examples include: – Yahoo Pipes

• Possible uses and benefits:– Allow freeform data exploration by R&D and

product design groups based on combining simple information feeds and tools

– Provide end-users at customers and trading partners access to data feeds and tools to greatly speedup simple data analysis and views


© 2007 Diamond.

Webtops and Widgets

• Another category of tools that are benefiting from improved Web interfaces is known as “webtops” which create a desktop metaphor within a browser and provide sophisticated features such as drag-and-drop, animation and multi-media.

• The individual mini-applications available on the webtop are also known as widgets.

• Some examples include: – Netvibes (webtop)

– Goowy (webtop)

– Yahoo Widgets (desktop widgets)

• Possible uses and benefits:– Custom widgets showcasing retail locations,

product information/comparison, user communities

– Branded webtop for customers

– Internal-facing webtop for employees as an evolution of the enterprise portal


© 2007 Diamond.

Open Source SOA

• Building SOA and ESB are critical to compete in this increasingly complex and swift business environment, but it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.

• There are several cost-effective tools that we see as viable components in an SOA foundation that come from the Open Source community.

• Some examples include: – FUSE ESB

– Mule

• Possible uses and benefits:– More cost effective experimentation and testing

– Simple, focused communication platform versus more feature-laden commercial products


© 2007 Diamond.

Grid

• Currently considered by most as a specialty architecture, we believe that the Grid computing model is ready to become a core part of the enterprise infrastructure platform.

• Some examples include: – Univa

– Globus

– Condor

• Possible uses and benefits:– More engaging user experiences, possibly in

store, at movie theaters, music/media retailers, etc


© 2007 Diamond.

Rich User Interfaces

• Several design and programming models have been created increase interactivity and performance for browser-based applications. Each have their own attributes, but most provide a graphics/control API and asynchronous processing. Some also allow for disconnected/offline use.

• Some examples include: – Java Swing (rich client tool/framework)

– Eclipse RCP/SWT (rich client tool/framework)

– Flash (rich client tool/framework)

– Zimbra (offline browser architecture)

– Google Gears (offline browser architecture)

• Possible uses and benefits:– Development of much more robust applications

that balance usability and performance with the access to information offered by a Web connected app.


Diamond Management and Technology Consultants Technology Innovations on the Horizon August 2007.

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