6 Mar 2015

Top 10 Impressions From Mobile World Congress 2015

Mobile World Congress Is The Mecca Of The Mobile Industry. Nearly 90,000 People Landed In Barcelona For The 2015 Edition. It Was The Fifth MWC For Me.

As You Know There Is Lot Of Usual Stuff – New Device Launches, New Buzzword, Old Wine In New Bottle Etc. But It Helps To Know The Overall Trends. It Is Also A Great Event For People To Get Together – The Entire Eco-System Is There. Crack A Couple Of Deals And You Have Got Your ROI. Plus The New Knowledge Is Always Helpful.

The Best Way To Enjoy MWC Is To Attend Parallel Conferences, WIP Sessions, Networking Events Etc.

So What Were The Highlights This Time?

1. Digital Transformation: The New World Is A Place With Multiple Devices And Wearable, Connected Homes-Cars-Cities And M2M Transactions. There Are New Opportunities In Connected World For All Players – OEMs, Telcos, System Integrators (App Developers). The Digital Transformation Story Is More Compelling Than Ever Before. The Players Who Clear Their Baggages, Learn The Emerging Themes And Present A Compelling Story Will Move Forward. The New Winners May Arise.

2. Incremental Innovation: The MWC Saw Continual Ascent Of The Wearable, IOT And Connected Themes. More Refined And Defined Use Cases, More Tangible Evidences, More Clear Positioning Emerged. But Nothing That Can Shake The World.

3. Google Vs FaceBook: Google Announced Its MVNO Plans. It Was An Important Step Towards Further Control On Customer Lives In A Mobile First World. FaceBook’s Mark Zuckerberg Preached About internet.Org And FaceBook’s Vision. FaceBook And Google Are Watching Each Other Closely. (Mark Gave Hiring Mantra For Business Leaders – “only hire someone to work directly for you if you would work for that person.”)

4. 5G: 5G Discussions Start At Mobile World Congress. KT Telecom Will Offer 5G At 2018 Olympics – Cool – 2GB Per Second. (But Let The World Experience Good Quality 3G – Forget 4G)

5. Fusion Of Smart And Real World. WPP Group’s IkonMobile Had Some Of The Best Showcases Of Fusion Of Existing Products And New Technology. Mirror, Oral-B Toothbrush, e-Bikes Etc.

Ford Showcased A Great Example Of Adoption Of New Era With e-Bikes. It Showcased Two Bikes – For City Travel And For Delivery Purposes. It Had A Companion App That Showcased Pending Orders For Delivery Person, Route Etc. It Even Monitored Heart Rate Of The Rider.

6. Good Showcases:

– Runcible: Most Interesting Device From Monohm. A Watch For Generations Like A Family Jewel. It Is To Out Last Smartphones. It Has All The Cool Features But It Is A Round Jewel That You Can Handover To Kids And Grand-Kids
– HTC VIVE Was An Impressive Example And Showcased The Maturity Of Virtual Reality
– BabyMe Demonstrated How A Pre-Mature Baby Can Feel That It Is In The Womb Of The Mother – Nice Idea Worth Taking Ahead. The Motherly Comfort Can Aid Faster Development For The Baby
– LG Showcased Magic Mirror – Mirror That Can Analyze Your Face And Suggest Different Make-Ups For Office Party, Casual Look, Formal Event Etc. It Can Even Suggest Products Based On Your Skin Type.
– Different Use Cases Of Beacons, IOT, Wearables And Overall Trends By S K Telecom.
– Supercharger From StoreDot Charges Phones In 2 Minutes. That What We Need !
– Smart Luggage Tags – Location Enabled
– Eye Tracker. Last Year I Played Fruit Ninja With Eye Trackers. This Year, The Smart Watch Is The Focus Of Eye Tribe. Control Smart Watch With Eye Movements
– Wearables For Kids, Pets, Senior Citizens. Smart Kid Shoes With Mediatek Chips For The Kids Were On Display. They Had Chips – So Track The Child, Geo-Fence Them…2 Days Batter Power. Nice Shoes For Naughty Kids !
– Krystal Liquid Screen Protector – Create A Nano Layer On Screen In 2 Minutes And Prevent Stratches On Phones
– S-Disk 300GB SD Card – X Times More Space Than My First Computer ! A Year Of Movies In One Card – Even If You Watch A Movie Daily !
– Credit Card Sized Phones
– Smart Clothing – AiQ

7. The Usual Big Launches: All Major OEMs Launched New Devices. The Big Launch Was Samsung S6 – Its Bet On High Design And Finish. But I Was Surprised That Samsung Kept Its New Baby S6 Under Wraps For Crowds At MWC – While LG, HTC Clearly Showed Their New Labour Of Love – HTC One M9 – Just More Features, Nothing Breakthrough To Earlier Versions. In The Perspective Of Slowing Superiority, Greater Competition, Xiaomi, And ‘No Apple Dying’ Scenarios, Samsung’s Move Was Indeed Very Surprising. Blackberry Showcased Its New Phone – Leap. Microsoft Showcased New Lumia And Portable Foldable Keyboard. Sony, Lenovo, Alcatel, ZTE, Huawei, Blackphone And Many Others Announced New Devices. But The Most Interesting Launch Was Runcible From San Francisco Based MonoHm – Heirloom Product !

Chinese Device Makers Climb The Ladder – The Device Space From China and South East Asia Gets Crowdier And Crowdier As Outsourced Manufacturers From Schengen Move Up The Value Chain And Build Their Brands. You Get Phones With All The Latest Specs At USD 29.99. The Commoditization Of Devices Looks Complete With So Many Samsung Killers. And Xiaomi Was Not Even Present!

8. Commoditization At Birth: Smartphones And Tablets Took A While To Get Commoditized. But The Growing Aspirations Of Chinese OEMs Has Ensured That Smart Watches, Wearable Bands, Fitness Bands, Weighing Scales And All Other Devices Are Commoditized At Birth. It Was Interesting To Note That We Had FitBit And Garmin At Corridors Near Entrance, But All Chinese OEMs Dominating The Main Halls At MWC. How Will Fitbit Survive? I Guess The Answer Lies In First Mover Advantage, Overall Experience, Superior Branding, Allied Services, Software Etc!

There Are Wearables And Embedded Devices For Every Purpose – And Every Body Part!

9. Mobile Payments: Samsung Pay Got Announced. Mobile Payment Companies Were In Herds!

10.Apple: Apple Was Not There But Was There – Apple Cannot Ignore Mobile Mavens Shaping The Industry. Apple Was Present – But Not Directly.

Trivia:

Walked About 60,000 Plus Steps In 3 Days. Wow !
Jai Shri Krishna Heard In Even Super Uber Hotel W’s Chic Parties
Another Mahatma Gandhi Restaurant Serving Non-Veg Food Spotted!
The Future Of Mobile Was At MWC But One Shop In Barcelona Promised The Future Of Sex With Gadgets! Even 50 Shades Of Grey Merchandise Was There!

An Evening In Vienna
26 Jan 2015

An Evening In Vienna

Somedays are just designed special. It was one of those memorable days for us. Our conference day one had gone well, our session was well received and there was a new victory. And we decided to venture out in the evening and enjoy fresh air and explore Vienna city. It would be very cruel to be in Vienna for three days and be pigeon-holed in a hotel. Little we knew that the day was going to get even better !

People of Vienna are very friendly and hospitable with genuine warmth. When we requested suggestions for the evening, we got nice feedback. A new friend we made at the conference was even more kind and gracious – Ms Britta S. She not only recommended us a few restaurants and places to visit, she actually accompanied us and guided us through the city’s District 1. We did not want to steal her personal time but she wanted us to see real Vienna and accompanied us. And this has actually been the hallmark of the Vienna Trip. People have been very wonderful in Vienna. We got help and assistance from everyone. People actually took efforts to help us. We wanted to buy local SIM and we got it from a local shopkeeper. He did not charge us for the SIM. Now many retailers receive free SIM but people never miss a chance to charge for it – especially to tourists. I had a small issue with my new shoe and a store manager at a top notch shoe retailer helped us fix it. She really wanted to help us and went out of her way. People helped us airports, hotel and city centre.

Our first stop on a wonderful evening in Vienna was a Persian Vegetarian joint called Kardamom. The owner was a Persian lady and she made the food from best local vegetables and she actually flew spices from her mother’s garden. We were happy to visit this place – as we entered the joint, she recognized our friend. She asked whether we would enjoy Vegetarian as she does not serve non-Veg. We were like – enjoy Vegetarian? We only eat VEg. We are more than delighted to visit this Pure Veg and highly recommended restaurant. We started our evening with a refreshing mint-ginger-lime cooler. It was followed by a wonderful Pumpkin soup. I had eggplant and hummus while my colleague had fresh salads, beans and vegetables with yogurt. Our friend had veggie patties and Persian rice. The food was wonderful and we were delighted after a lunch of soups and soups only !

After a wonderful dinner, we decided to walk around the First District. We saw the St Stephen’s Cathedral – it was majestic. There is something about these vintage and spiritual places – there is always so much peace and positive energy. The live piano music added to the charm of the place. After that we went to local chocolate and pastry shops. We bought the wafers from Vienna’s sweetest corner – Wanner. We visited the Castle. It was indeed magnificent. Vienna was founded by Romans and the excavations of the central garrison of Roman period are still for people to view. On the way, we saw a monument dedicated to people who died in the great plague – Pestsaule. The noteworthy city memorial remembered the 76000 victims of the plague. But we wondered why was the memorial in total gold?

The city’s town centre was very spacious – it indeed lookec like a city of royals and emperors. The city centre is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The First District was truly royal. It was very grand as compared to London. The small streets present a beautiful charm. The palatial structures along the spacious big streets reminded us of a royal heritage. The evening was little cold but pleasant and shops had wonderful lights and best displays. We were enjoying our walking and nice conversations.

We visited Cafe Central – It was established in 1876 and had a very classic and vintage look. During summer days, people had to really book well in advance. Lot of people come and enjoy their coffee and reading. People can pick up magazines and newspapers and enjoy reading while drinking coffee. They can spend an entire day with one coffee – nobody asks questions!

This is another speciality of Vienna – Its famous coffee culture. One can find many traditional coffee joints – such a break from Starbucks, Costa and Cafe Coffee Day world ! These coffee joints serve as an ideal place to catch-up with friends, read a newspaper or just enjoy the lovely coffee. And coffee is always served with a glass of water – which is either charged or has to be requested for in other cities. The coffee culture in Vienna was discovered accidentally. After the Turkish War, Turks abandoned hundreds of sacks of coffee beans. It were the Allies that helped Austrians discover the powers of Coffee. The Turkish war was driven at the behest of the Queen in Turkey who wanted her silks and shopping to reach her quickly via the silk route – women inspiration !

Our current joy land Cafe Central was patronized by Royal Family as well. We were happy to be there. It had some of the best desserts. We ordered Hot Chocolate and it was served with a special chocolate and water. I had one very special Chocolate called Chestnut Chocolate and it was indeed very different and exotic. The attendant was very thoughtful and he gave us some more almond chocolates as souvenirs of Cafe Central.

We ended the day with a stroll along the river Danube. It was a nice and pleasant walk. We watched the traffic drive by in the adjoining 10 lane roads. We saw trams on one side and boats in the river. We saw people walking with us. We saw people running. We saw people sitting on benches and talking. We saw people with pets. It was relaxing for everyone – and that relaxed us. We were at peace and we were experiencing immense happiness. Vienna was tranquil. Vienna was amazingly cajoling!

We were really loving Vienna and the wonderful evening. We have visited many cities but this city made an impact. Vienna has a population of just 1.7 million people ! Vienna has been chosen as the World’s Most Livable City for 5 times – amongst 200+ global cities. An achievement indeed ! About 30% of people in Vienna say they have no religion – significant indeed. Though my friends told that this might be to avoid payment of certain fees to Government. Every person entering Vienna (other than tourist) has to register with Government.

Vienna has something for everything. Royalty, Palaces, Music, Museums, Gardens, Opera, Night Life, World’s First Zoo ! Vienna has a museum for coffins and mortuary science. Its central cemetery is very famous as well. Of course, music is one of Vienna’s legacies. Musical prodigies including Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and many others were born or worked in Vienna.

The next day, we had lunch at Vegetasia. Very good vegetarian only restaurant – serving Asian food. Not very expensive as well. Good ambience, nice buffet spread and nice service as well. We saw nice soups, good collection of desserts, curries. We also saw Indian samosas!

Indeed, Vienna is a one lovely place to visit. Place with royalty, charm and lot of avenues for happiness. A place waiting to be discovered – again and again!

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Mobility & Technology
3 Jan 2015

The Mobility & Technology World In 2015

Mobility:

1. Smart Mobility will continue to increase its influence over daily life. Service schedules, ordering groceries, controlling appliances, school updates, managing finances – mobile will influence our lives in versatile ways.

2. Enterprise Apps and Platforms will mature as CIO drive “Mobile First” strategies. Mobile Application Programs will manage scalability, security and analytics amongst the portfolio of enterprise apps.

3. The world is becoming mobile-centric and app centric. Amongst plethora of Apps, apps with simplicity, refreshing clean UI and intelligent context will emerge as true winners.

4. The smartphones pecking order will change. Xiaomi has already broken into Top 5 smartphone sales. Samsung will be challenged. Rise of niche phones and purpose-driven phones. Flexible displays.

5. Local Language Apps and Specialist App Stores will be the next big thing. Curated App Stores and Curated Content will be the first call of the masses.

Technology:

1. The Top 4 Enterprise IT spend areas for 2015 will be the same as last year: Mobility, Security, Cloud and Big Data (The Big Four)

2. Wearable Technologies will get a big boost with Apple Watch and several Health and Fitness trackers. The first versions are already out but the refined version will determine the direction for future. Basis is a smart evolution over initial watches.

3. Mobile Wallets will be a reality. Managing expenses, rich analytics, money recommendations – things what credit cards cannot do will be possible now!

4. Smart Cars, Smart Homes, Smart Offices, Smart Cities – Our world will driven by technology like never before. Even TVs and Passwords will move to next level – think Biometric passwords.

5. Big Data has been the over-used & over-heard term. But it is the technology that will impact our daily life. The world is generating and gathering data at a maddening pace. Tools, technologies & people around big data will be in big demand!

6. Industrialization of Innovation for everyday and human challenges will matter more. Like waterless toilets, quick housing materials etc. Like the “Le Chal” shoes by Anirudh Sharma – shoes that use haptic signals and Google Maps to guide the visually impaired people. Can these innovations achieve success like Narayana Hridalalaya or Arvind Eye Hospital? IT Giants need to help them.

7. Innovations and business models from East will inspire West and Tech world.

8. Data Scientists, Data Architects, Mobile App Developers, Social Media Specialists, Business Analysts, UX visualizers, Mobile Testers – Top Job roles that will be in demand!

Photo Credit:Anders Adermark

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