Digital Trends recently interviewed Silicon Valley’s most prominent firms regarding what tech categories are expected to stand out in 2012.
“If the venture capital community has anything to do with it, this time next year, you’ll be monitoring your blood pressure with your iPhone, recruiting helpers from the Web to help around the house, and automatically receiving coupons for free coffee at your destination the next time you board a train,” indicates the post.
According to the VCs, categories set to explode include Healthcare, Education Technology, Data Science and Big Data, Consumerization of the Enterprise, and Collaborative Consumption.
Healthcare-related companies to watch: Healthtap, Vertos Medical, Avado, Skimble, Patientslikeme and 23andme.
Education-related companies to watch: Khan Academy,Grockit, Piazza, Course Hero, Codecademy, Skillshare and Tutorspree.
Data-related companies to watch: Socrata, Palantir, Addepar, Hortonworks, CitusData and Relevvant.
Enterprise-related companies to watch: Evernote, Box, Socialcast, Survey Monkey, Yammer and Dropbox.
Collaboration-related companies to watch: Airbnb, GetAround, Rentcycle, Zipcar, Kickstarter and Task Rabbit.
Painter Loren Munk offers a compelling social media twist to the art world, posting hundreds of videos to YouTube that cover a wide range of New York museum and gallery shows.
Using the alias James Kalm, Munk once had a combative relationship with venues and security forces concerned about copyright infringement.
However, now that his videos have attracted about 2 million views, galleries are turning to him for free publicity.
“His videos — recognizable for their unseen narrator’s labored breathing, jerky camera work and informed but uncritical commentary — run about 10 minutes and are shot with a tiny Canon Elph digital camera,” reports The New York Times.
“Coverage of the art world is fading from the mainstream press, so I’m trying to use alternative media to fill the void,” explains Munk.
While recently recording some charcoal drawings by the painter Bob Thompson (who died in 1966 at age 28), Munk was spotted by artist Katherine Bradford. “He deserves a MacArthur grant for what he’s doing,” she said, adding that Munk had shot one of her shows in 2007. “Look at him,” Bradford said. “Bob Thompson’s been dead over 40 years, and here’s Loren doing him a favor.”
The migration from Internet Protocol version four (IPv4) to Internet Protocol version six (IPv6) has already been underway for over a decade, reports TVTechnology.
“The current system, which uses 32 bit IP addresses, is being replaced with a system that uses 128 bit IP addresses. IPv6 also uses a completely different packet header than IPv4,” indicates the article. “These differences mean that IPv4 devices cannot communicate with IPv6 websites and vice-versa. Fortunately, both protocols can work over existing Ethernet and other low-level networking technologies, so there is no need to replace the physical infrastructure of LANs or carrier networks.”
Content providers, including broadcasters that run websites, may one day need to address users who only have IPv6 addresses. “To support these users, many websites are employing a ‘dual-stack’ approach, where Web servers are configured to have interfaces for both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic.”
Additional challenges for broadcast facilities include “the added overhead of the larger IP packet headers,” and “the cost in both time and support fees that could be required to update and verify all of the specialized equipment used inside a broadcast facility, including video file servers and editing workstations.”
The transition to IP V6 will be like a slow Y2K event. It will enable major opportunities in tagging content and devices, but it will not be fully backward compatible with existing Web data, formats, and metadata.
DigiTimes reports there may not be many new innovations revealed at CES 2012 and, as a result, the show may do little to pump up consumer demand.
Samsung, Microsoft and Intel are expected to provide the highlights of next month’s convention. However, Samsung will likely outshine the other two as Microsoft is only expected to release Windows 8 and Intel will only preview the Ivy Bridge processor.
“Since there are not many new surprising products showing up at the show, some notebook vendors are concerned that the show’s weak morale may not provide much help to attract consumers to purchase IT products afterward,” the article states.
In a related commentary posted on Digital Trends, analyst Rob Enderle asks: “Is CES even relevant anymore?”
Enderle suggests that “an overwhelming deluge of announcements, quickening release schedules and the rise of Apple have all made CES less and less relevant,” and unless something changes, the show may eventually go the way of Comdex.
Although the show remains popular, Enderle anticipates a decline, citing: 1) Large companies such as Apple are taking a product-driven approach to releases rather than event-driven, leveraging a timeline not reliant upon shows such as CES; 2) Timing has changed, and now that the market moves faster and is more tied to the fourth quarter, a January CES may become problematic; and 3) “CES remains a good place for parties and dinners” but less business is conducted, and the show is becoming more about prototypes and what we may see in the future.
“The 42nd fastest supercomputer on earth doesn’t exist,” reports Wired. “Except that it does.”
Confused? Wired explains how virtual servers may augment the possibilities of cloud computing.
“This fall, Amazon built a virtual supercomputer atop its Elastic Compute Cloud — a Web service that spins up virtual servers whenever you want them — and this nonexistent mega-machine outraced all but 41 of the world’s real supercomputers.”
The company’s worldwide network of data centers provides instant access to computing resources, “including not only virtual servers but virtual storage and all sorts of other services that can be accessed from any machine on the net.”
It also shows that “just about anyone can run a supercomputer-sized application without actually building a supercomputer.”
“If you wanted to spin up a ten or twenty thousand [processor] core cluster, you could do it with a single mouse click,” says Jason Stowe, the CEO of Cycle Computing, a firm that helps businesses run supercomputing applications atop EC2. “Fluid dynamics simulations. Molecular dynamics simulations. Financial analysis. Risk analysis. DNA sequencing. All of those things can run exceptionally well atop the [Amazon EC2 infrastructure].”
Instead of spending months and millions of dollars building a supercomputer, companies can get world-class computing performance for considerably less than the cost of building their own supercomputer. “Cycle Computing set up a virtual supercomputer for an unnamed pharmaceutical giant that spans 30,000 processor cores, and it cost $1,279 an hour,” according to the article.
Kumu Puri, senior exec with Accenture’s consumer electronics practice in San Francisco, has identified what she believes will be the top trends at next month’s CES.
“Microsoft will have a major role to play this time around; and as per usual, Apple will cast a giant shadow on the proceedings, though as usual it won’t be actually participating,” reports Forbes.
Puri’s anticipated trends include: 1) Ultrabooks, driven by Intel, which aim to compete with Apple’s MacBook Air; 2) Mobile devices, especially Android-based tablet computers and smartphones with mobile-payment systems and location-based services; 3) All sorts of connected devices, topped by automotive electronics, kitchen appliances and TV sets; 4) An increased focus on health care centered on the increased adoption of tablets in medical facilities, “cloud-based solutions for storing, archiving, accessing and retrieving medical records,” and new consumer medical devices, including apps and dedicated gizmos; and 5) Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system and “a variety of new Windows Phone-based mobile devices.”
Shawn DuBravac, chief economist and director of research for the Consumer Electronics Association, discusses the popularity of phones and tablets in 2011 and offers some predictions for 2012.
“The driving theme for 2012 will be ubiquitous connectivity,” he writes. “This will influence every consumer tech category.”
“2011 marked an important inflection point for consumer technologies: purchases of smartphones and tablets together surpassed the sales of all traditional computing devices combined, including netbooks, notebooks, desktops and all-in-ones,” points out DuBravac. “Worldwide in 2012, smartphones will outsell all computer categories combined.”
DuBravac suggests 2011 saw improvements in the consumer tech sector, despite the overall economic landscape. “It will be a long time (read: potentially never) before we return to high double-digit year-over-year growth, but the industry has become well positioned to succeed with solid mid-single digit growth. I would argue the industry — inclusive of retailers and OEMs — is as efficient as it has ever been.”
LG has announced three new models of 3D glasses that will be available in 2012. “New CINEMA 3D TV glasses will convince more consumers that 3D doesn’t have to be uncomfortable or ugly,” suggests the press release.
The F310 weighs 20 percent less than the company’s default glasses from last year and is curved for a better fit, the F320 (designed by Alain Mikli) clips on for those who wear glasses, and the F360 feature half-rim frames.
“Compared to active shutter glasses, LG’s 3D glasses are far more comfortable to wear and much more affordable, making it possible for large groups and entire families to watch 3D programs and movies together,” claims Havis Kwon, president and CEO of LG Home Entertainment.
According to LG, all of its 3D glasses can be used in theaters showing 3D movies “since both CINEMA 3D and theaters utilize the same FPR and RealD technologies.”
The company also announced new Smart TV features for 2012 in a separate press release, highlighting the new Magic Remote (with voice activation) and confirmation of Intel WiDi integration.
“We’re not seeing any Google TV tie-ins here, LG is focusing on its homegrown ecosystem which it says now offers 1,200 apps (of course, that probably includes the thousand or so recently added via its deal with Chumby),” reports Engadget. “There’s no word on pricing for the glasses, but after this and announcing a 55-inch OLED prototype, we’re wondering what else the Lucky Goldstar folks will have up their sleeves at CES.”
Amazon’s ongoing large-scale success with CEO Jeff Bezos at the helm has some speculating whether the company could replace Apple on top of the tech world.
Amazon does it all with its retail store, Prime accounts, media streaming, Kindle products, Web hosting service and more.
Tim Fernholz at GOOD Magazine, along with his team, named Amazon the next top tech company: “In the new Internet economy of cloud computing and content distribution, only Amazon is moving with confidence. It has winning products in multiple key sectors and a visionary founder poised to iterate on success.”
Even so, Forbes contributing writer E.D. Kain suggests that “Android may be catching up in terms of the number of installations and apps, but the Google OS is still light years behind Apple’s operating system and only a very small handful of Android phones have come close to the design quality of Apple’s line-up. No tablet, including Amazon’s Kindle Fire, can hold a candle to the iPad.”
Kain adds that it’s interesting to note how Microsoft is not mentioned in this discussion. He also points out how electronics manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony, and LG are left out of the equation. “Amazon, on the other hand, which used to sell primarily books is being crowned the tech company of the future.”
The home entertainment industry saw some interesting changes in 2011, including a reduction in the number of Netflix subscribers, VOD starting to attract consumers, movie rentals via Facebook, dramatic changes to YouTube content, and the launch of UltraViolet.
The industry posted its first positive quarter since the start of the 2008 economic downturn, with consumer spending up in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the same period the year before.
“We started out the year with tough year-over-year comps to box office, but have made steady gains throughout 2011, with an especially strong third quarter,” says Ron Sanders, president of Warner Home Video. “We seem to be getting some momentum in the sellthrough space, with catalog being a particular bright spot. Black Friday was very strong this year and also bodes well for a strong finish to 2011 and good momentum into the first quarter of 2012.”
“To be sure, challenges remain,” reports Home Media Magazine. “3D has yet to come into its own, in large part due to the various competing formats on the hardware side. BD-Live never became a major selling point, and retail merchandising on behalf of Blu-ray Disc, in the minds of many observers, remains woefully inadequate compared with the royal welcome afforded DVD a decade ago.”
However, a number of studio executives are optimistic for the upcoming year. “In 2012,” explains Lori MacPherson, EVP of global product management for Disney, “we’ll see greater consumption of Blu-ray and the many digital offerings, new and compelling 3D applications as well as the emergence of even more ubiquitous consumer access to our content.”
Skype is now eight years old and continues to grow. The New York Times reports: “300 million minutes of Skype video calls are made a day worldwide, up about 900 percent from 2007, according to data provided by Skype.”
The article highlights how people are increasingly using the service in interesting ways, especially during the holidays, focusing on one family that celebrates “Skypanukkah,” during which members of the family light Hannukah candles while on the video chatting service.
According to the article, “the software — and others like it, including Apple’s FaceTime and Google chat — has become a regular fixture in a growing number of American homes, providing new ways for families to stay connected in an age where generations are less likely to gather around the table on Sunday afternoons to share a meal.”
Additional uses for Skype include grandparents meeting new grandchildren, relatives and friends participating in a baby shower, and children performing routines for their relatives who may not have had the means to take a plane to a recital or school performance. The article notes: “…far-flung families are opening birthday gifts together, reading bedtime stories and even providing brief moments of child care.”
Maker Studios is an online media company and network of 250 channels that generate some 500 million hits per month on YouTube.
The Venice, California-based company produces 300-400 videos per month. Started with 8 people two years ago, the productions now involve 200 people (and growing).
They have created their own studio infrastructure — video production, editing, music, animation — to support the channels. Creators are provided a great deal of freedom.
According to one of the producers, discussing the motivation to break away from the traditional “gatekeepers” of film and TV: “I think when we found YouTube, it was just really exciting because it was like wow, this is a place where we can build and find a worldwide audience and create whatever we want, whenever we feel like it.”
Is Maker Studios the new model for an Internet content studio? Watch the 6-minute video tour with Carson Daly.
Although previously opponents in various patent infringement lawsuits, Nuance announced last week its acquisition of voice-recognition competitor Vlingo.
“Our combined resources afford us the opportunity to better compete, and offer a powerful proposition to customers, partners and developers,” Vlingo CEO Dave Grannan said.
“Nuance cited that a main reason for the acquisition is a ‘$5 billion market opportunity’ that spans phones, PCs, tablets, cars, music players and navigation devices,” reports Mashable, “and it plans to integrate natural language interfaces across these areas and devices.”
The collaboration hopes to provide a competitor to Siri and Google’s expected assistant Majel as more mobile and consumer electronics companies look to have conversational voice interactions with their devices.
Onkyo has announced that its 2012 line of AV receivers will include InstaPrevue technology from Silicon Image and HDMI ports leveraging Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) technology.
“When consumers connect an MHL-compatible smartphone or tablet to an MHL-equipped AV receiver or directly to an MHL-equipped TV, they can stream 1080p HD video and 7.1-channel surround sound from the mobile device to their home theater system,” reports TWICE.
“The HDMI port of the AV receiver or TV will also charge the portable device, and consumers will be able to use their TV or AVR remote to control the playback of content streamed from their MHL-enabled mobile device.”
According to the MHL Consortium, 23 smartphones currently feature MHL technology including the Samsung Galaxy S II, Samsung Infuse and HTC’s EVO 3D. In terms of tablets, the HTC Flyer and EVO 3D View 4G also feature MHL.
“Silicon Image’s InstaPrevue technology will be demonstrated at CES in a private booth in South Hall 2,” notes the article. “Onkyo will demonstrate both technologies at a public suite at the Venetian.”
Stream TV Networks will showcase its Ultra-D technology at CES that converts 2D content to 3D in real time.
Their products are designed for TVs, converter boxes, tablets, PCs, smartphones, digital signage and picture frames.
The technology allows the user to increase or decrease the real-time 3D rendering effect. Glasses are not required.
“The biggest hindrance to consumer adoption of 3D technology thus far has been a lack of content, and price,” reports TechCrunch. “While I can’t vouch for their price tags quite yet, it would seem that Stream TV Networks has come up with some new 3D technology that could make that whole limited content thing much less of an issue.”