Emergintex

We are done with Web2.0 for this year. What good did it give to us? Maybe we got some cool applications like Meebo & Morfik. But at the end of the day these are just some applications that would be available online for the more than average user. Whats in store for the average users? Do we need a phase shift in the technology to include the average user and introduce some ‘non application-centric’ concepts.

This is what I would call LifeStyle2.0. Microsoft & Apple are already changing how you look at home entertainment. Though at this moment its not available to the average users but its a start. Microsoft with Media Center and Apple to some extent now with FrontRow are moving towards LifeStyle2.0.

For us to make a considerable change in next 10-15 years in daily lives of an average user, using broadband and highspeed connectivity as a platform, companies like Microsoft need to start shaping things in the coming year.

• Where is our ‘connected intelligent home’ reality? There are some sporadic implementations, but surely not for an average user.
• Where is our ‘intelligent entertainment system’ that would get the right stream at the right time for the right family member?
• Whats happening with the automobile industry?
• Where are smart mobiles?

Autmobile industry for example is doing a great work at this moment, trying to converge the gap between the technology being used in our automobiles & the technology available on our desktops. Car manufacturers are on full throttle to bring automobiles that would integrate with your mobile/pda via Bluetooth as soon as you sit in. Implementations of this are already out by Acura, BMW & Mercedes Benz for example. This is one awesome integration that lets you bring your mobile in your car systems.

What about personal services outside our desktop screens? When would we have smart devices around the home, that would be self contained providers of services to the owners, all thriving on one single backbone: the broadband. Today if I need to get something current, why do I have to go to my desktop (or the TV) to start getting it so I can see & hear it. Why are my emails, ummm emails? Why cant they be available to me outside my virtual mailbox, say on my breakfast table, same as conventional mails?

We just heard that Apple might be coming out with a networked version of iPod in the next year or so. We also have the Nokia 770 in pipeling later this year (not much time left!). I would look at these devices as stepping stones or the building blocks of a bigger eco-system that would evolve towards LifeStyle2.0. How can I forget Sony PSP. Today it just plays games and a bit fo surfing, but maybe tommorow it evolves into my more intelligent service provider and integration point for the rest of service providers around me.

Well, we gotta wait and watch…

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 15th, 2005 at 10:00 pm and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.