Technology predictions for 2013

It is the time of year again to look into the crystal-ball for technologies. In hindsight, some of the 2012 predictions mentioned came true – hopefully my track record will be better this year !

Let us look at the five technologies that will gain mainstream in 2013 then

1. BYOD – “Bring Your Own Device” will gain traction in the market, leading to organizations figure out how they want to integrate their existing Support activities with the new consumer devices that their employees use. Hence, Mobile Device/Application Management will be the focus for many organizations.
2. Social Networking moves into enterprise – Yes, Social Networking will get into mainstream adoption within the enterprise. Once again, organizations will realize that there is no value in restricting/prohibiting/banning social media within the enterprise and instead look at ways to allow social media in a controlled manner in the enterprise.
3. Apple will see their sales impacted (mostly by the absence of Steve Jobs at the helm) and Microsoft leading other vendors to grab a share off from the Mac. Android will get a big push this year and slowly come closer to the Apple ecosystem.
4. Mobile Payment is poised for a big explosion in the enterprise. Organizations will have to incorporate this with their traditional offerings so that they can use the proliferation of mobiles.
5. Gamification will increase within the enterprise and organizations will use it to counter all the “soft aspects” that they face within.

Do you agree? Have I missed any key technology that will gain ground next year? Let me know.

Apptasting

Apptasting has been coined by Nokia for their themed sessions to promote their latest products, especially the Lumia 920. Nokia have brought together famous chef Vikas Khanna and technology guru, Rajiv Makhni to showcase the features that make their phone (with Windows) unique. And definitely on evidence, the Two did Tango!

I was invited by IndiBlogger to be part of one such event last night in Bangalore. There were 300 bloggers who participated in the event, ranging from a 10-year old (who blogs to express his feelings) to a 62-year-old who has been blogging for the last 10 years! Other bloggers selected randomly were chosen to introduce themselves to the crowd (with few of them winning prizes from Nokia) – prominent among them was one who called himself Tiger (having four girlfriends and a wife!), a farmer who blogs, a scientist who blogged in kannada, a senior blogger who is changing the Character Bank of India.

Live blogging went on throughout the event, accompanied by loud music and witty anchoring by Rajiv (who used every possible opportunity to pull Vikas’s leg). Vikas used the chance to plug his kannada to the audience – with his rendering of  “Nara Janma bandaga Nalige iruvaga Krishna enabarade” – we can have a MasterChef combined with SaReGaMa now! Food and Wine were flowing generously throughout the event at ITC Gardenia.

The event was well-choreographed to highlight the phone’s features like

• City Lens – the Augmented Reality app that shows shops, restaurants, attractions close to the user. This worked within the hotel banquet room also (that was impressive to see!). This app would further give more details about the attractions and give the ability for the user to phone out from within the app!! Though Rajiv did mention about Vikas using this app in Hampi, I am not so sure about it !
• Breathalyzer – the next feature shown was that of the breathalyzer where the phone can determine the amount of alcohol in a person’s blood levels – I am still trying to figure out how it works (think it is an abstracted number calculated based on the sex/weight/pressure). Traffic police can be now given Lumia phones as accessories one the field.
• Dance app – Gangnam Style dancers were rated to see how they fared. After their initial performance, the app on the phone showed how the dance moves are to be done! Two teams then tried out the moves later to the rapturous applause of the audience. Will the dance app help those with two left feet?
• Food/Wine Pairing – there was another app that showed which wine would go well with the food that a person was having. Fried Chicken gave the name of ‘Sauvignon blanc’ or seviyan in the words of Vikas. This is one good app that can help those who are not aware of how the wine taste interferes with the good (making one appear like a good  connoisseur)

There was also a section where app requests were taken from the audience and those who were short-listed were asked to present on stage. The winner was an app where anyone can take a picture of an accessory worn by a friend and get details on the nearest place it can be bought! This was just a teaser for a reality event that will start soon.

Will the Nokia recapture people’s mindshare and make a dent into the smartphone market occupied by HTC and Samsung with the introduction of Windows OS? While the initial branding exercise undertaken is promising, the growth will be determined by the users inclination to move away from their current brands!

To send or not from your iPad?

How many times have we seen in mails received from our friends where, at the end of the mail, you see ‘Sent From My IPad’? No, I am not waiting for your answer – there are ‘n’ number of times you have seen it. But, is the iPad the right tool for sending/receiving mails? I dont think so, after my experience (of 2 weeks).

It is not that I am against the iPad – the fact is that I am overwhelmed by the experience of working playing with the iPad. And, I don’t feel that one should spoil their experience by working on enterprise application (even if it is just an email). The iPad is to be used for the number of ‘apps’ that are available on iTunes – kids in your home will love it so much that it will addict them. Non-technical folks at home like your grandmother will love the simple and intuitive interface of the iPad. This can do many other tasks also but for that, you might as well use your good ol’ laptop.

The iPad is truly a ‘Blue Ocean‘ from the wonder-world of Apple. It is not in direct competition with the laptops or net-books of the world – it is in a league of its own, though organizations are running around creating their own version. Motorola, Samsung, DELL, NotionInk, Olive and a lot more options are available in the market today but it is doubtful if they know what they are doing. The iPad has taken an early start in this arena which means that the competition has a lot of catching up to do. Microsoft would have been ideally placed to capture this market but they are not yet prepared. Will they make up for the lost time? Does not look likely.

Well, what next from Apple? Obviously, there are many areas of improvement in the current experience – the camera can be much better, to start with. There will be multiple versions that will be released in the next 2 years before another ground-breaking invention from Apple.

What next from Apple? This is my understanding of the thinking that has gone so far:

Apple likes to target the senses of its consumers – sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. They started targeting the ‘hearing’ sense by creating the iPod. ‘Touch’ (and ‘Voice’) was targeted by iPhone. Next came the ‘sight’ and ‘touch’ by the iPad. The remaining are ‘taste’ and ‘smell’ – what will they create next? Steve Jobs might have the answer already.

No – I did not create this post on my iPad 🙂

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Will Yahoo turn around in 2010?

Image via CrunchBase

Good news for Yahoo finally – more people around the world read their news than Google News or CNN. Some positive news about Yahoo after a long time now!!! Also, do you know that among the Top 500 sites on the web, Alexa rates two sites from Yahoo on the top-10.

Why then is Yahoo not doing well?

A look at the Trefis website on Yahoo is interesting – Search Advertising is 26.0% of the stock price estimate, and is the most important division. 24.8% of the price comes from Strategic investments (e.g. Yahoo Japan and Alibaba)

Recently, they tied up with Facebook and Microsoft, which meant that the search and the social networking functions were ‘outsourced’ to others.

There were a lot of expectations on the new CEO of Yahoo, Carol Bartz, to turn around the company. It has been 8 months since she took over and it is probably a little early to gauge her performance. She promised recently to increase revenue, cut costs thereby reviving the company.

Who needed the $100 million USD blitz on their advertising? The money could have been put to better use, definitely. A country-wide stunt similar to theirs in 2 airports would have garnered more mind-share. They did a week-long shutdown to cut costs – a good move again.

What does Yahoo need now? They need to come up with a product that is now currently not being focused by Google and carve their niche there – easy said than done. What is ‘that’ area? Games with virtual cash – this seems to be the new fad for internet users, according to the BBC site. Acquisitions will help too – look at EA’s recent buy of Playfish. Second Life probably? Why not?

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Microsoft’s future is uncertain

Microsoft is falling behind in its war against Google, even though it is ahead in terms of market cap. Microsoft’s market cap, as of Thursday (10th December), is a little more than $ 265 Billion whereas Google is around 187 Billion, IBM at 169 and Apple at 176.

Looking at Microsoft’s yearly financial reports, they have reported their revenues/costs with respect to 5 Operating Segments. A look at these segments is interesting –

Microsoft had to resort, earlier this year, to widespread layoffs and announced its worst quarterly revenue earnings ever. They have created a new division to focus on Cloud but it seems to be a bit too late in the scene. No wonder, analysts say that but for their gaming, the war is over for Microsoft.

Now, where does Microsoft go? Services industry – one that has a lot of potential and a continuous stream of revenue that their big rival Google is still lacking. Microsoft plans to buy healthcare software maker Sentillion to expand its own healthcare offerings and capitalize on an upcoming opportunity for new sales. Where does it fit into the above segments is unknown.

Where it does fit is the $22 billion healthcare modernization bill that has been approved by Obama.  Very similar to the acquisition of Perot Systems by DELL (Perot Systems is well known for its expertise on healthcare solutions). This might be their new segment called ‘Services’ – I predict that an offshore acquisition will be next by Microsoft so that they can setup a full-fledged Business Center to support the new healthcare vertical.

Overall, the Xbox, Office Suite, Windows client/server, .Net framework seem to be pulling the company ahead. How long will it take for the likes of SONY, Google, Linux, Java to overtake them in the corresponding areas remains to be seen. Hence, Microsoft is getting into the services business to be a step ahead of Google. What will be Google’s retort?

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