Satisfaction = Reality – Expectations. (Thanks!)

And they would be right.

I remember a call from my dad’s friend about a year ago, to come over to his house to check out his new computer that his Son had gotten for him. His children live in the US and they had gotten their parents a computer so as to take advantage of Skype, Webcams and all those cost effective ways of communicating, which would mean more long hours and detailed conversations amongst themselves. His complaint was that the computer sales guy sold him a slower computer when he marketed it as the fastest computer available in the market.

A little bit of clicking around, and lo and behold, it was a duo core, bloated with RAM, hard disk space and a nifty 19″ monitor, bundled with the entire multi-media suite. All was right here except for the expectations.

When I did mention that, this does seem like a fast computer, his simple question was as to why it takes so long to “turn on”. His comparison: “I push the button on my TV and its on, in about five seconds max. I doubt its as fast as they claim these computers are”

This certainly is a serious case of expectations set wrong, but I believe is also an insight. If we are serious about the next one billion, then we need to address this. The reason why India has more cellphone users than computer users, is also because mobile phones in a way did give people the “instant on” reaction that they were expecting – which might not last for long, now that we are getting more complicated OSes into mobile phones and also taking it down the same route as PCs.

Technologists often quote that the mobile phone is the New PC. I think that entire ideology is wrong. PCs have to become what Mobile phones were, and hopefully are still. We are still far away from computing becoming a utility. If it has to evade every household, it has to become what the television is. Thats the expectation we need to satisfy.

When I am at home, and during weekends, I manage my Calendar on my Nokia Handset with an hour reminder. When I am in Office, I use Outlook’s calendar to manage schedules. The biggest issue is the first few meetings on Monday mornings – there are times when something comes up and there is no way for me to check my schedule.

So here’s the solution I’ve gone with.

Using Google calendar exclusively to manage my entire data. I found to my pleasant surprise that Google has a small app that can syncronize your outlook calendars with Gcalendar.

Secondly, after trying a host of free, opensource and cant-seem-to-get-it-to-work apps, I found CalSyncS60 which works like a charm with my Nokia Phone to do a two-way sync with my schedule in Google Calendar.

As of now, life seems to be in order. The fine line between, work and personal line is blurred forever, but it should atleast save me from breaking people’s hearts by forgetting scheduled meets and keep me on time. That’s a fair tradeoff.

With the economy slowing down a little, I guess the 3G talk is going to be dampened a bit here in India. But I dont think it should be. The consumerist trend hasnt slowed down and Indians have woken up to enjoying the usage of digital media, devices and services, that 3G as a service could very much consolidate and bank on. This post is partly written with the knowledge I’ve gathered being on both sides of the camp, as part of the Telecom group (and the plans that they are making with IMS – IP Multimedia Subsystem) and where the web, and industry have evolved.

Lets start with a Picture.

Ubiquitous Computing, will not be just a term anymore. Centralized, easily accessible, and convergence. I think that’s the three keywords which are almost mantras in the new lifestyle that is emerging.

Trends:

Follow the numbers on the diagram with the explanations below.

1. Your mobile phone is not just a phone. Ask Nokia and they will tell you that. If we start with the way of 3G, its also the means to a broadband pipe, and 3G is just the beginning. HSDPA, LTE, and all the planned roadmap of the GSM Data Network, seems to be only getting faster and faster. Now, why would I advocate relying on my mobile’s data network as the crucial pipe for everything?

Simply because its personal. I wouldnt use most of these devices on this diagram, unless I was home. Secondly, the “Base” would have an inbuilt GSM device, that would continue the connection even when the device is removed. The Device, if inserted will enable the SIM card, and hence authenticating the user being “home”

2. There are already Cordless devices available from Siemens and the likes who allow you to “add” as many handsets as you want. I’d imagine that the Home Communications device would be something like that. When you come home and plugin your Communication Device into the base, that would configure the Home Telephony system to handle all your phone calls. I think this is where the beauty of Social networks come in. Do you realize why OpenSocial, and especially Dataportability makes a lot of sense? Partly cause of this. Spam. Imagine, you knowing someone and them knowing someone else. If Person C calls you, you might want to pick up the phone. If a random person who has no connection to you in your “Social Map” calls you, there is a high chance it might be a spam. The VoIP Gateway, will be smart enough to also have a routing engine, which will put such calls directly into the voicemail. When you are home, you wont be bringing work home, especially the calls. There will be provisions for different profiles – such as Busy, Family Time, Free and Available Etc, which will allow a person to configure their settings.

There will also be another capability for this system. Notice how there is more than one “Base” in the architecture? The extra bases are for other members in the family. If the spouse comes home and puts his/her PCD into the base, whenever he/she gets a call, the Home Telephone System would pick up the call, and do the same thing, except with his/her settings, and will ring with a distinct ring. Wouldn’t that be neat? No more running around the house searching for your mobile to pick up a call.

Note: Iotum used to have something named a relevance engine to do this. Servion, an Indian Company, has a product named UQE – Universal Queuing Engine which does call routing based on rules as well.

3. The Shared Media Server concept is already happening. I used to be working on a Smart home project sometime back, and the first and foremost thing was a shared Media Server. Sony, along with its Vaio range of products offers a software that can access shared resources. The Songs that you purchase, be it from iTunes, Amazon, or anywhere, will automatically reside on the shared media server. It will also have the podcasts that you are subscribed to, both video and audio, the Television Shows that you have bought from iTunes, the Movies that you have rented over the net from the likes of Netflicks or Bigflicks, and will also be the storage for your Slingbox, or time-place shifted Television programs.

4. Television. Its nothing more than a screen actually. The only difference is that it will have an IP input (most televisions are starting to ship with it), instead of a Cable, and it will have the capability to directly interface with the media server or go online. Another option to configure this would be to allow your Xbox, PS3, or Apple TV Box to do the IP interface and connect the output to the television and shift the intelligence to the Box. With most Gaming consoles coming with an IP interface to go “Live”, and all of them obviously eying for this space in the system, they most probably will make it there.

5. Gone are the days when one used to have clunky and huge music and entertainment systems. I doubt we’d be buying those huge devices which can play music in the masses. There will be a need for such specialized hardware, but if you have a portable device, that is most probably going to go into a dock that can amplify the sound. That’ll pretty much be the extend of the use for home theatres and music systems. The portable systems would have the ability to purchase, download, and navigate to the internet to initiate a purchase/rental download to the media server and some integration to access the media on the Media server.

6. Computers. You will most probably not feel a difference at all. The computer has been the most flexible sandbox as technologies have evolved. The interaction mechanisms obviously would evolve, as touch, voice based technologies mature and become mainstream.

Other Scopes:

We will soon have centralized speaker systems and controls that would allow us to listen to music all around the space, and also zone off areas where we want to listen. Wireless speaker systems will play a part in all this.

RFID controls will factor in somewhere. If I do set the control to “follow me”, the music should follow me whichever room that I go to. RFIDs will also be a basic element for Smart homes.

Smart homes are definitely on the way in. Biometric keys, computer controlled lighting,  automatic curtain open settings, burglar sensors, vacuum robots, Digital Picture Frames, etc are already available in the market, and it wont take long before they all go mainstream.

Smart Toys, such as the Nabaztag, the Chumby are going to get more and more in the face, until people start adapting them. These devices apart from giving the impression of a rich-spoilt-brat, will also be aids for older people, assisting them, taking voice commands and getting things done for them. In markets like Japan where the population is more old than the young will especially go for such products – which is also the reason why there is heavy investments into robots. I’d give it another ten to twelve years before this becomes mainstream. But the Geekery toys are on their way much sooner for sure.

If you look closely at this system, most of them are already around us in some form or the other. It just needs to evolve a step further to become a reality – and that too not too high of a step. That’s where there is a lot of opportunity for startups to focus on. Perhaps that will happen, and we wont look at 3G as just a fat pipe, and keep scratching our head for more Value Added Services to appear to make it viable. Since the Subscription for the services such as the Gaming Console “Live”, the Music Store, the Television, Internet Access can be authenticated using the SIM card, there is a scope for Mobile Phone operators to leverage that. That’d be the secret to the ROI dilemma, in my opinion.

Ofcourse, this is just the first draft. What are your thoughts?

Download: Higher Resolution Image of Diagram

Well, there are a few platforms that you might be interested to play around with, if you have an interest for embedded systems, and especially the mobile platform. Here it goes:

MobiSy: Rich Applications for your Mobile.

OpenMoko: An open development kit – Imagine having a phone with everything unlocked, and nothing beyond the realm of control by code. That’s what OpenMoko grants you. It’s a fabulous kit for folks who want to go beyond developing apps for Java or Symbian, or Windows Mobile.

Android: Well known. Enough said.

Bug Labs: Custom-build your pieces. I found this a few days ago, and am absolutely floored. The beauty about this kit is that its not restricted to mobile handsets. Its almost the lego of the electronics world.

Mango Technologies: Mobile Application Framework. A Bangalore based company. Related note: Check out Mophun, a mobile gaming application Framework.

Flashlite: When this thing gets mainstream from adobe, we better watch out for some deadly applications.

QTopia from Trolltech, an application platform and User Interface Layer for Linux powered devices – handhelds, and the likes.

So why am I mentioning all this? If a Luxury handset manufacturer in Bangalore has gotten funded $2Million, what are the next set of pieces which will have to fall in place?

Virtualization is a term that started ages ago and the term has been ubiquitously been used in many things. The way virtual processing happens inside an operating system, to How a virtual software layer within an OS to run an instance of another OS – which is what VMware does, and does quite beautifully. Lately virtualization has found its new use in grid computing and in clubbing together of resources without the differentiation of physical attributes. It’s quite a steaming industry as of now, and does have some very positive implications for remote management and so on.

What I am talking about is hardware resource virtualization. I wish i could come up with a new term for it, and as the thinking deepens, I perhaps might write a longer post about it. The idea is simple. Going back to the fact that there are quite a few computational resources and some more powerful than the rest, is it possible that the resources could be shared so that “on-demand” the one that needs it could make use of it?

I know that laptops in order to consume less power have also been built with a little bit of stupider chips which dont provide as high throughput as server machines, or even desktops do. The convenience of a laptop is great, but if possible, could i link this laptop to the server so that i could make use of those extra cycles to perhaps compile the new kernel, or launch the photoshop application faster, and maybe even manage to do something in Illustrator, if required? (Illustrator as of now, hogs my machine to a standstill).

Things like this are possible, mostly cause what I am talking about is essentially cluster computing. Sharing of processes and memory space so that the one in need could use it. But I am also talking about hot-plugging this as a resource, so that i could technically walk out of the room with my laptop, or shut it down and the server would not go berserk losing a resource. Imagine, if mobile phones could have an extra shot of computing power… we wouldn’t even know what to do with it.

I am assuming that the general trend as we move on into the future would be that, computing power is going to remain pretty much the same. I think we’ve already hit a plateau and the only way we could enhance more clock cycles is if we start looking at going 3 dimensional and that is going to take a lot of power. Considering that we still haven’t come up with more efficient fuel cells yet, we do have a problem.

But imagine walking into a coffee shop and just like how you share Wifi access, you could “plug” into their server and use some computational power, and get your work done faster, wouldn’t that be amazing?

Virtualization is a term that started ages ago and the term has been ubiquitously been used in many things. The way virtual processing happens inside an operating system, to How a virtual software layer within an OS to run an instance of another OS – which is what VMware does, and does quite beautifully. Lately virtualization has found its new use in grid computing and in clubbing together of resources without the differentiation of physical attributes. It’s quite a steaming industry as of now, and does have some very positive implications for remote management and so on.

What I am talking about is hardware resource virtualization. I wish i could come up with a new term for it, and as the thinking deepens, I perhaps might write a longer post about it. The idea is simple. Going back to the fact that there are quite a few computational resources and some more powerful than the rest, is it possible that the resources could be shared so that “on-demand” the one that needs it could make use of it?

I know that laptops in order to consume less power have also been built with a little bit of stupider chips which dont provide as high throughput as server machines, or even desktops do. The convenience of a laptop is great, but if possible, could i link this laptop to the server so that i could make use of those extra cycles to perhaps compile the new kernel, or launch the photoshop application faster, and maybe even manage to do something in Illustrator, if required? (Illustrator as of now, hogs my machine to a standstill).

Things like this are possible, mostly cause what I am talking about is essentially cluster computing. Sharing of processes and memory space so that the one in need could use it. But I am also talking about hot-plugging this as a resource, so that i could technically walk out of the room with my laptop, or shut it down and the server would not go berserk losing a resource. Imagine, if mobile phones could have an extra shot of computing power… we wouldn’t even know what to do with it.

I am assuming that the general trend as we move on into the future would be that, computing power is going to remain pretty much the same. I think we’ve already hit a plateau and the only way we could enhance more clock cycles is if we start looking at going 3 dimensional and that is going to take a lot of power. Considering that we still haven’t come up with more efficient fuel cells yet, we do have a problem.

But imagine walking into a coffee shop and just like how you share Wifi access, you could “plug” into their server and use some computational power, and get your work done faster, wouldn’t that be amazing?

How, I ask?

Most of the folks who do know me personally will tell you that I shudder everytime I hear “Web 2.0″. It might as well be pronounced as the “thing that sinks in money and gives back nothing” as far as I am concerned. I am not totally going against everything in that category. Some are just great businesses which are cursed under that category, but the usual trend seems to be that, if you can whip up some snazzy thing, you can float it up as a venture. Not too sure about that one.

So why am I writing this post, when I’ve said this countless times before? I got an email which goes something like this in the part where it describes the company and what it does:

“The xyz software and the xyz IM and Text Message Service are completely free. PC calls from xyz are also free. Mobile calls from xyz, however, are charged at local fixed line calling rates (or deducted as part of your monthly local minutes package). This will change soon, when we release our Mobile VOIP solution – and all calls will also be free.”

I read a Free, another Free, another one and yet another Free. There was this minute little scope for revenue which was also washed out by the following Free. So, if I were an investor, when would I see my money back?

PS: I’m going to categorize this under “humor”

I wonder if this is a new trend in the making…

Social networking has taken on a new life with facebook and with their wise choice in opening up a limited set of APIs to test the water in terms of user applications.

But we are nowhere close to what socially-networked applications can really do. It might hold the key to some of the most complex problems that we face as we enter into the digital lifestyle of instant messaging, emails (flooded with invitations from SN sites), and bugged down on the phones – with mobile phones even bringing work along us in vacations.

Truth be told, we are yet to even scratch the surface of what digital living really means. Let me get to the details:

Imagine ourselves to be the centre of the universe and everybody we know to be connected by different means. We either know people directly, or through someone else. Yep, its the same concept that Linkedin denotes as 1st, 2nd and third degree networks. The unfortunate thing is that, we keep making this definitions in everything that we use. From our email clients, to our telephone priorities to the list of people that we converse often and hence would like their names on top on our favorite IM clients. Relevance is key in digital communications and it has yet to hit our lives.

Now, its not as if people have been oblivious to this problem. There are companies such as Iotum which have been working on creating what they call a rules-engine, which routes calls depending on who is calling to whichever device. Its as simple as, if your mom calls she will reach you on your mobile phone even if you are in the middle of a meeting, and if your boss calls, he gets the voicemail no matter what. Well, that might not be your choice of settings, but you get the point. Everybody is given priorities and those priorities automatically shift by the amount of conversations that are carried out. Have frequent calls with someone and their priority level goes up a notch, so that instead of the voicemail, one gets to land in your landline phone. There is also another beauty to this sytem: the fact that there is one common number that is given and all your other numbers – mobile, landline, office and etc are only known to that system. As far as the whole world is concerned, you could change your mobile numbers a zillion times and they wouldnt notice. An update on the system and it will keep routing calls as if nothing ever flinched. One number for life, and that is all that you have to give anyone without prejudice. How important they are, and how and on which device… well the system will determine that. Now tell me who wouldnt love such a system! This is precisely what Grandcentral offers.

The problem ofcourse is that the “rules” and the relationships you have with those on the address book have to be defined by you – as of now. It wont be the case once social graphs start to make sense. And thats what Opensocial APIs are after. That’s where Google, if it plays its cards right will mint its money.

Take it one step forward, and the dream word that most used to throw in making a pitch to VCs in the 90s will come back to life – convergence and unified communications. Imagine a system that can manage your IM, emails, telephone calls, and will prioritize them as per the interactions you have with them and will give YOU the flexibility to manage communications, rather than 2000 unread mails staring right at your face each morning. That’s freedom indeed. That’s when you start having a glimpse at what digital communications really is all about!

So did Facebook start a trend of opening up its APIs for third party applications? Absolutely. Is it the end? Nope. We definitely need to go beyond that and the limitations that one has in having to develop more rich, flexible and feature-rich applications within the limited interface and the functionalities of facebook, simply isnt possible. The platform, simply wasnt built for it. Instead, take the relationships (A.k.a Social Graph, as defined by Brad Fitzpatrick) and make them available for anyone to access and develop on, and you have just unleashed a whole new world of interaction.

Social networking has taken on a new life with facebook and with their wise choice in opening up a limited set of APIs to test the water in terms of user applications.

But we are nowhere close to what socially-networked applications can really do. It might hold the key to some of the most complex problems that we face as we enter into the digital lifestyle of instant messaging, emails (flooded with invitations from SN sites), and bugged down on the phones – with mobile phones even bringing work along us in vacations.

Truth be told, we are yet to even scratch the surface of what digital living really means. Let me get to the details:

Imagine ourselves to be the centre of the universe and everybody we know to be connected by different means. We either know people directly, or through someone else. Yep, its the same concept that Linkedin denotes as 1st, 2nd and third degree networks. The unfortunate thing is that, we keep making this definitions in everything that we use. From our email clients, to our telephone priorities to the list of people that we converse often and hence would like their names on top on our favorite IM clients. Relevance is key in digital communications and it has yet to hit our lives.

Now, its not as if people have been oblivious to this problem. There are companies such as Iotum which have been working on creating what they call a rules-engine, which routes calls depending on who is calling to whichever device. Its as simple as, if your mom calls she will reach you on your mobile phone even if you are in the middle of a meeting, and if your boss calls, he gets the voicemail no matter what. Well, that might not be your choice of settings, but you get the point. Everybody is given priorities and those priorities automatically shift by the amount of conversations that are carried out. Have frequent calls with someone and their priority level goes up a notch, so that instead of the voicemail, one gets to land in your landline phone. There is also another beauty to this sytem: the fact that there is one common number that is given and all your other numbers – mobile, landline, office and etc are only known to that system. As far as the whole world is concerned, you could change your mobile numbers a zillion times and they wouldnt notice. An update on the system and it will keep routing calls as if nothing ever flinched. One number for life, and that is all that you have to give anyone without prejudice. How important they are, and how and on which device… well the system will determine that. Now tell me who wouldnt love such a system! This is precisely what Grandcentral offers.

The problem ofcourse is that the “rules” and the relationships you have with those on the address book have to be defined by you – as of now. It wont be the case once social graphs start to make sense. And thats what Opensocial APIs are after. That’s where Google, if it plays its cards right will mint its money.

Take it one step forward, and the dream word that most used to throw in making a pitch to VCs in the 90s will come back to life – convergence and unified communications. Imagine a system that can manage your IM, emails, telephone calls, and will prioritize them as per the interactions you have with them and will give YOU the flexibility to manage communications, rather than 2000 unread mails staring right at your face each morning. That’s freedom indeed. That’s when you start having a glimpse at what digital communications really is all about!

So did Facebook start a trend of opening up its APIs for third party applications? Absolutely. Is it the end? Nope. We definitely need to go beyond that and the limitations that one has in having to develop more rich, flexible and feature-rich applications within the limited interface and the functionalities of facebook, simply isnt possible. The platform, simply wasnt built for it. Instead, take the relationships (A.k.a Social Graph, as defined by Brad Fitzpatrick) and make them available for anyone to access and develop on, and you have just unleashed a whole new world of interaction.