I was reading an article a while back that discussed Texas Instrument’s chip with multiple transceivers. With this chip devices will be able to connect to WiFi networks, Bluetooth and FM radio. This got me thinking, is this the beginning of a distributed communication revolution? Will the next versions include ultra wide band and WiMax transceivers as well?
Imagine a phone that not only connects to your cell provider but any other wireless network in the area. Handheld devices with increasingly more powerful processors could act as routers providing QoS for individual communication (deciding which network to use based on price and speed) and network nodes to pass data for other local devices (participating in a mobile ad-hoc network).
What would this mean for consumers and the current communication companies? First I think it would give consumers flexibility. A mobile device user would be able to communicate with local devices, think walkie talkies, for little or no cost and at the same time communicate with a device in Japan. Second the major communication companies might be forced to rethink their business plans if their customers only required long distance service or they might be relegated to operating satellite and under water fiber links as mobile and mesh networks mature.
In any case if this technology comes to fruition I predict some legal battles with the major communication companies (see New Orleans) and the RIAA.
A couple weeks back, Ian spoke highly about leveraging Google Apps and other online applications to lower your IT overhead. Well, today, Google Announced a much anticipated release of a fee-based hosted ASP (application service provider) version of Google Apps, called Google Premier.
When I left Prudential, we just starting migrating over to Google Apps, primarily for Gmail. That was a miraculous time, as from where we came from before that, was a dark place. Since my departure, things have moved full force, and the new Director of Technology, Camden Daily, made some inroads and pushed Google Premier to the next level.
See for yourself during his interview with Google for their release marketing campaign. Camden is top of his game, and he loves a challenge, and he loves pushing technology to the next level. But he also knows how to leverage technology to accomplish feats that you probably couldn’t have under your ordinary situation.
Anyway, sit back and enjoy - and let it sink in. Think about his interview ambiguous to Google Apps, and more about how leveraging technology is as good as inventing it.
Good Job Cam-man! keep that Google Juice Flyin’ 
A friend of mine and his family are moving back into the West Chicago suburbs after living elsewhere for a few years. He had a comment about a field that he feels the Multiple Listing Service needs:
They need a new field/attribute for broadband availability, so I don’t have to call 3 or 4 companies every time I consider a property. Also they should include area code and exchange in MLS listings to check DSL.
Yes, he is a geek, but he’s a full time work-at-home geek. As internet connectively is becoming more and more important in our lives for everything from telecommuting to entertainment delivery, this will start to be something that more and more people consider when they are looking. 4 years ago when my wife and I were looking for a house, one of the things on our checklist was this connectivity issue, but I had forgotten about it until the comment today.
This leaves me with a question or two: Are any MLS’s starting to include information like this? I haven’t heard of it, but its something I might not hear often. If they aren’t, what are they waiting for?
[Update 2/9: Robbie over at Rain City Guide has expanded on this with some additional data ideas.]
I may be a legal layperson, but I thought patents were supposed to be new, useful and nonobvious. A growing problem in our industry is not patents themselves, but how they are issued. Patents are submitted to the Patent Office (PTO), reviewed and then issued. If you have an issue with the legitimacy of the patent, you hire a lawyer and go to court.
When applying for a patent, you are supposed list other work that preceded your idea. The people using the identified items are considered to have prior art and the PTO determines whether the new idea is novel using these submissions.
The weakness in the system is determining whether a submission is obvious or not. Examining the issue in the context of software is difficult and many believe the PTO does not have the capabilitiy to make these judgements. The issue has been kicking around for a while, and had made its way to Congress again.
This week a hearing was held on the topic of patent reform. In his opening remarks, Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) said:
If the patent system allows questionable patents to issue and does not provide adequate safeguards against patent abuses, the system will stifle innovation and interfere with competitive market forces.
This hearing is exploring the idea of providing a period, after review, for the community to comment on the submission before the patent is issued. This approach would allow for more information to be collected that in turn would be used to determine whether a submission was obvious. The community would be used to help the PTO make the determination before the patent is granted.
Continue reading ‘It Looks Obvious to Me’
