WebCams: From a near-Billion Dollar industry to a multi-Billion Dollar one?
Sunday, December 26th, 2010
WebCams are devices that help Internet users to hold a video communication across the Web. The quality of the communication tended to suffer from the low bandwidth typical until recently.
However, with the increasing availability and popularity of broadband, the situation is changing. And the availability of free video communication applications provided by Google and Skype, the appeal of video communications is even more.
The WebCam industry is expected to grow fast in such a context. Logitech is the major player in the market now while others include Creative Technologies, Microsoft, Philips, Cisco and D-Link. Then there are a large number of Chinese manufacturers of OEM equipment included with notebook computers.
WebCams are also important in security applications as they provide the ability to monitor establishments remotely. You can, for example, monitor unauthorized intruders into your establishment while sitting across the globe, for example.
With the increasing importance of security everywhere, from homes to scientific establishments, the potential market for the WebCam industry is great.
The report titles Worldwide WebCam Market Shares Strategies, and Forecasts, 2009-2015 looks at the markets, forecasts and strategies for the WebCam industry that is estimated to amount to $3.2 billion by 2015.
Tags: business, information technology, video communications, web communications
Posted in broadband network, business, communications, emerging markets, information technology, trends | No Comments »
A Model for Future Retail?
Sunday, December 5th, 2010
While an increasing number of people go online for shopping we still go to brick-and-mortar stores to buy most of our requirements. A recent news item about an Amazon fulfillment center made this writer wonder about the possibilities. Can online stores like Amazon that focuses on selling and fulfillment centers widely distributed near production centers be the future of retail?
Of course that kind of arrangement will not allow shoppers to see, touch and feel actual physical merchandise. With advancing technology, however, the fulfillment centers should be able to provide the next best option, video viewing of the merchandise with the prospective customer being able to view it in as full detail as possible. And the customer can do it anonymously, 24/7, and examine merchandise stocked at different fulfillment centers before selecting one.
Such an arrangement can push sourcing to near production centers, create jobs for “lifting, sorting and packing”, and shipping merchandise at the fulfillment centers, and provide the convenience of shopping from home to shoppers. So long as there are effective arrangements for quality assurance of the products involved it should be possible to cover practically every kind of merchandise by such an arrangement.
Tags: fulfillment centers, information technology, online stores
Posted in business, information technology, innovation, online retail | No Comments »
Ethical Issues Raised by Emerging Technologies
Saturday, December 4th, 2010
Emerging technologies like nanotechnology and biotechnology raises health and ethical issues. Government regulations cannot hope to keep pace as the new technologies raise issues that nobody has a clear idea about. This situation creates a dilemma as countries want technological progress but are apprehensive about the unknown safety and ethical issues.
Nanotechnology is a revolutionary technology that has applications in many areas, including healthcare, consumer products, industrial products and energy. The technology involves working at nanoscale; a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter; and nanotechnology deals with materials of 100 nanometers or less. At nanoscale, normally harmless materials can become toxic, and nanomaterials can permeate the skin barrier and enter internal organs with unknown consequences.
An ethical issue arises when multinational corporations, unable to work in their home countries owing to rigorous regulations, shift operations to developing countries where regulations are non-existent or lax. In addition to MNCs, even local companies might engage in dangerous research and manufacturing activities in such an environment.
Modern biology raises issues that cause even greater concerns. For example, issues such as patenting life, DNA banks and genetically engineered animals and crops are issues that have raised serious controversies. Considerable discussions are taking place about these issues all over the world.
An article on Green Nanotechnology and a booklet on Ethics and Biotechnology go into these issues.
Tags: emerging technologies, ethical issues, health issues, safety issues
Posted in biotechnology, business, corporate responsibility, emerging technologies, health risks, impact on humanity, nanoethics, nanotechnology, social risks | No Comments »
Electric Car Charging Stations Network
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010
Electric cars are not going to be popular unless they can be charged with a minimum of ease at charging stations. That means setting up a network of charging stations just like existing network of fuel pumps. So far, nobody seems to have taken a lead in creating such a network, including governments.
It is in this context that the eVgo initiative NRG Energy becomes significant. Under the initiative, the company is building the first privately funded, comprehensive electric vehicle ecosystem. There will be two types of charging stations:
* Freedom stations that will have Level 2 and DC chargers available 24/7 and
* Convenience stations hosted by retailers with Level 2 chargers available during their working hours
The company’s goal statement says: “Our goal is to provide complete range confidence across the metropolitan areas where eVgo operates. That means placing charging stations at the city center and at locations extending outward along major thoroughfares and at strategic destination points. In Houston, for example, charging stations are near the city center, at 25 miles out in all directions, and at points in between.”
Single family homes can have home charging docks. The company is now inviting the public to suggest retail and multifamily community locations for the eVgo stations, and planning to invest $10 million in expanding the network to cover the whole of Houston. Ironically, $10 million is not likely to be adequate for setting up more than two conventional fuel stations.
Tags: electric vehicles, ev charging stations, fossil fuels
Posted in business, clean technology, energy distribution, environment | No Comments »
Google Capitalism Emerging
Sunday, November 21st, 2010
Google is the top player in an industry that did not exist in the pre-Internet era. Starting out as a search engine, it has come to dominate the online advertising market. In the process it has created several innovations including AdSense that multiplied the ads exposure. Acquisition of Doubleclick enhanced its advertising offers.
Google has been able to mold the consumer mindset in new ways. With acquisitions like YouTube and other companies, it has been able to offer a complete package that includes news, entertainment and search results in the user’s Web browser. The user can enjoy music and movies, read the latest news and gossip, play games and search for information or products without leaving the computer workstation.
Google TV, with a TV and set-top box is another consumer friendly offer from Google.
Google has become much more than a search and online advertising company now with several new products, such as Google Earth, Cloud computing services offered through Google Docs and other channels, News feeds and Social networking. Software as a Service (SaaS) acquired a new meaning in Google’s hands.
SaaS was a natural next step for Google after it managed to attract a large number of business users through Google Mail. Google Docs has become an alternative to Microsoft Office.
Read about a report on the Google phenomenon and its impact on capitalism at Market Publishers..
Tags: Google, information technology, new business model
Posted in business, business transformation, cloud computing, information technology, innovation | No Comments »
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of the U.S. Government
Sunday, November 7th, 2010
The Act creates a more level playing field for small to mid-size companies, according to reports. It has created a new Internal Revenue Code Section 48D that provides some financial relief for companies with new therapies with a significant potential to:
* Cater to areas of unmet medical need
* Prevent, detect or treat chronic or acute diseases or conditions
* Reduce long-term health care costs in the United States
* Significantly advance the goal of curing cancer within 30 years
Grants are given to companies that have “Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Projects” as above. For each grant, several companies might be applying and there is a competitive application process.
A recent story reports that Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was successful in receiving grants for seven out of the eight applications it submitted. The grants, totaling $1.5 million, cover development of ProLindac, Thiarabine, MuGard, CobOral Oral Insulin and CobaCyte siRNA Delivery Programs.
“We are pleased to have been awarded these grants, and believe it reflects the considerable value of the Access development programs,” said Jeffrey Davis, CEO of Access Pharma. “Given the recent launch of our oral mucositis product, MuGard, and our ability to manage our cash burn through multiple partnerships, we believe these grants will significantly impact our balance sheet and product development timelines.”
Read the story at International Business Times
Tags: biopharmaceutical industry, biotechnology, financial relief under U.S. Act
Posted in biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, business | No Comments »
Electric Vehicles: Why they are Superior
Sunday, October 24th, 2010
The energy needed by Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) in our cars comes from fossil fuels, which are not only getting exhausted but are also causing harm to the environment through their emissions. Electricity, on the other hand, can be generated from many sources, including sustainable sources such as sunlight, wind and ocean tides. Vehicles that are powered by electricity are thus superior in terms of sustainability to ICE powered vehicles.
Electric vehicles cover a wide range of vehicles that use electric motors (rather than ICEs) for propulsion. The range includes not only cars and trucks but everything from smaller material handling vehicles through trains to spacecraft. Actually, it is only the cars and trucks that are still dominated by ICE power.
Electric vehicles have also the added benefit of converting the energy used in braking to electricity for further use.
Nations are trying to develop economic and convenient electric cars that can perform as well as ICE vehicles. Electric cars are non-polluting and can also free us from dependence on the depleting petroleum resources. As supply of fossil fuels decline, its price can shoot up, as we have already experienced.
An Electric Vehicles Market Research Report analyzes the market for electric vehicles segmented into Battery Powered Electric Vehicles (BPEVs), Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs). It includes a historic analysis of electric vehicles market and forecasts to 2015.
Tags: electric car, electric vehicles, energy, renewable energy
Posted in business, clean technology, energy efficiency, energy generation, environment | No Comments »
How exactly should Companies go about Using Cloud Computing?
Sunday, October 10th, 2010
Cloud computing is the current hot topic in information technology. In essence it involves doing much of the computing work on the Internet “cloud” rather than locally. This can have a significant cost impact as organizations can reduce their spends on:
* Hardware such as servers and application software
* Upgrading from older versions of software to latest versions
* The time involved in planning, implementing and testing additions to the IT functionality
* Training and retraining staff involved in maintaining the hardware and software with each major change
Under full-fledged cloud computing, the vendor will provide the servers, software and storage while users will need only work at their local “terminals” entering data and doing other work. All software will be upgraded to latest versions by the vendor. Users pay only for what they use.
In actual practice, such complete shift of computing to the cloud is rare. Also, most companies and other users are already using cloud computing to some extent without even being aware of it.
In this fluid situation, few users have a clear idea of how to tap the full potential of the cloud computing development. While the term “cloud” computing might give way to another newly coined word in due time, the underlying technology and practices will be in use for a long time.
The Cloud Computing Fundamentals Report discusses all the issues involved such as its impact on business, selecting the particular model of cloud that meets your needs best and best practices for deployment and management.
Tags: business impact, cloud computing, information technology
Posted in best practices, cloud computing, information technology, innovation | 1 Comment »
Nanotechnology and Business Strategy
Thursday, October 7th, 2010
The dramatic potential of nanotechnology can be visualized by imagining the possibility of converting coal into diamonds. Both coal and diamonds are made of carbon atoms, but the atoms are arranged in different ways. Now, if we can work with those atoms and rearrange them, it will be possible to convert coal into diamonds. Nanotechnology works at nanoscale, using equipment that can handle invisible stuff like molecules and atoms. It is only be a matter of time before the technology gets advanced enough to do the kind of transformations mentioned above. However, the coal-into-diamond transformation will pale into practical insignificance compared to all the changes that nanotechnology can generate. Completely new materials with just the properties needed for specific purposes can be created to order, for example. Already, there are self-cleaning glass and bacteria-destroying wound-dressing. And batteries that can last “for ever” are under research.
Businesses have to get themselves oriented to the new scenarios that can emerge as a result of such developments. The impact of nanotechnology will be greater than the impact of information technology, which was more a facilitating technology for mainstream businesses. Nanotechnology will enable creation of completely new products and doing business in a nanotech world will require a different kind of thinking. Nanotechnology has applications in all areas including medicine, food, energy, entertainment, manufacturing practices and consumer products. Businesses have to prepare themselves for the nanotech revolution in the not-too-distant future.
Tags: business, nanotechnology, strategy
Posted in business, nanotech business, nanotechnology | 1 Comment »
China’s March on IT Services Front
Saturday, October 2nd, 2010
During the eight months to August 2010, China’s software industry revenues were:
* Software design and development business 44.9 billion yuan
* Information technology consulting services 78 billion yuan
* Software products 287.5 billion yuan
* Software exports 14.4 billion US Dollars
* Outsourcing services 1.75 billion US Dollars
China’s software industry as a whole earned revenues of 828.6 billion yuan (123.67 billion U.S. dollars) during the above period, a rise of 29.8 percent over the previous year. The growth rate in revenues had gone up by 8.8 percent compared to the year before that.
A notable fact is that the revenues for the month of August 2010 were 105.5 billion yuan, a rise of 34.9 percent year on year.
Chinese government’s tax exemption policy helped the impressive growth of the industry. Early in August, the government had announced that it would exempt offshore services provided under outsourcing business from operating taxes. This exemption was granted to businesses in 21 cities in order to promote the development of this industry. The five percent operating tax exemption will be in force until the end of 2013.
China’s Ministry of Information Industry is a regulatory body in charge of the manufacture of electronic and information products, the communications and software industry. It is planning to bring out an English version of its website according to the Gov.cn website.
Tags: china, information technology, outsourcing, software services
Posted in business, emerging markets, information technology | No Comments »
