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A strange battle is coming up. Apple's portable devices cannot access Flash content on websites. The declared reason is that Apple thinks HTML5 content would work better on mobile devices and wants to force website developers to adopt this standard instead of Flash. This looks like a dangerous position: why should a company engaged in a standards batlle look for the "technically best" solution and forego the advantage of compatibility with the main complementary asset (the Internet)? Apple made a big mistake a few decades ago with a similar stance. Or, could it be that Apple thinks that the diffusion of the Flash proprietary standard is a threat?

Analysts are starting to recognize that - maybe - operating systems for smartphones will follow a different story than in the past. Instead of a winner-take-all market based on standardization, diversity is likely to prevail. This because handset makers and telcos will try to push in that direction  - as long as this will not reduce customer utility - and because the real source of value (and potential locus of standardization) now sits in the web and in social networks. In this case, which device and which OS is going to be used is going to be irrelevant.

The battle between Adobe and Apple has an underlying objective: to defend their business model. The two corporations are fighting about the threat of the new standards into the video on-line market: Flash vs. Html 5. Adobe ensures that the choice of Apple will have no influence on its sales, but it's also true that new standards are appearing on the Web and are threatening Adobe one.

USB 3.0, a revolution? No, not really but it is a substantial improvement of the popular and indispensable interface that opens the door to a quick and easy management of large files in the home. It's a clear type of incremental innovation, and it's going to became the new connect standard for pcs and all the other devices. The competence enhancing content comes out from the compatibility properties with the current standard 2.0. The third generation of USB is promoted in performance even if the old 2.0, ten times slower in normal usage, have much to say to all those users, and the vast majority, who must manage large volumes of data .

Short article on the up-and-coming technology of 3D televisions, with some comments on the problem of standardization

The cloud computing paradigm is getting closer. Now Google is launching Chrome as an OS. While there appears to be widespread acceptance of the paradigm, we should not forget that Microsoft is strongly entrenched as a standard. The Chrome browser still has 2% market share!

The rise of the new IT paradigm (i.e. netbooks and "cloud computing") allows reshuffling in the dominance of the operating systems standard. Could Google's Chrome be the next Windows?

Some years ago the operating systems challenge for smartphones seemed to be a Microsoft vs. Nokia affair. Then Apple and RIM - and Google later - stole the march and Microsoft somewhat disappeared from the field. But now they are back, and will probably use their usual tactics to gain dominance. But the real issues is: in a world where most applications run "in the cloud", do users really need "one" standard operating systems any more?

2010 will probably be the year in which 3D television sets enter the market. Interesting that this up-and-coming technology will probably emerge before its predecessor (HDTV) becomes dominant, especially because the useful life of a TV set is longer than the lifeitme of its technology. Another interesting point is the standard that will emerge as a foundation for 3D TVs, whether it will be based on traditional colored eyeglasses, or (more costly) glass-less technology.

An interesting perspective on the smartphone business model. Given that success of an operating system is tightly connected to the availability of applications, what will happen if the cost of porting an app to different platforms is low? Will this reduce the economic reason to standardize and lead us to a world where a number of such platforms exist?

Talking about s-curves, we now have an s-curve that is not going up. The shfit from DVDs to online movies seemed to be a no-brainer because of evident advantages in the overall economics and convenience. However, the industry is getting tangled up in the issue of multiple and competing DRM standards and devices, and customers are sitting on the sidelines.

This is another important standards war, though few people mention it. The early entrant, wimax, didn't have the time to gain critical mass, and the latecomer, LTE, seems to have stolen the march. The technologies are  roughly equivalent but - the writer says - LTE is becoming the winner, seemingly because it is endorsed by downstream players (device makers such as Nokia), while wimax is being pushed by upstream ones (component makers such as Intel). This causal relationship is not clear, but nonetheless interesting.

Nokia's once established dominance in smartphones is a distant memory, due to iPhones and Android based devices. It is true that being an early mover is key to setting standards, but it is not enough if dominance doesn't remain when one moves along the s-curve from early adopters to the early majority.

Few people have heard of Zune, the audio-video entertainment brand that Microsoft built in order to challenge Apple's iPod. Microsoft is now stepping up the challenge. Will its standard, based on interoperability between devices (Zune player, PCs/smartphones and Xbox consoles), be able to increase its market share from it's current and paltry 2%? Seems like a desperate attempt, but Microsoft has done it already in the past

E' pacifico che alcune scelte di Microsoft non siano risultate brillanti, ma alcuni asseriscono che la società possa stare tranquilla in vista del contrasto Apple v.s Google, i quali ancora non hanno le sue stesse quote di mercato. Tuttavia, come sappiamo, la situazione è destinata a cambiare, perciò nel leggere questo articolo ci si chiede se la scommessa di Bill Gates, vuoi tradizionalista, vuoi vincente finora nell'espandere la propria tela fra i consumatori medi (che poi siamo quasi tutti), possa spuntarla sul lunghissimo periodo. Microsoft è nota per aver trasformato le difficoltà dell'informatica in un pacchetto appetibile e pronto all'uso. Ma se pensiamo alla co-creation, alla specializzazione sempre più acuta delle persone, quanto vale davvero ostinarsi nello standard, nelle piattaforme, quando accanto a te c'è chi, con il cloud computing e l'open source, propone leggerezza di terminali, indipendenza dalla piattaforma, mobilità? Per ora tra i due litiganti Microsoft sta più o meno bene, ma l'innovazione ci insegna ad adeguarci, come lo stesso ingegnere IBM notava al seminario.

Sharp has developed a small 3D display that does not require users to wear special glasses: this innovation will become a new standard on mobile devices or customers are not so interested in 3D video on their mobile device?

It sounds obvious, but it is always appropriate to remember, that public policy can have a strong role in nudging the market towards technological solutions, especially during transitions times between paradigms. The case of electric vehicles is interesting, since you can find both issues related to regulation (e.g. emission-based standards, and traffic rules), taxation (e.g. fuel tax, tax incentives) and infrastructure (e.g. recharging stations )

An article on competition in the smartphone industry. Nokia is the market leader thanks to its brand and grip on the Symbian OS, but competitors like Apple and RIM are growing quickly thanks to superior product concepts. It is interesting that Nokia is teaming up with Microsoft in the area of Office applications, in order to increase the appeal of its products.

Nokia and Microsoft, who have always been at odds in the battle for smartphone operating systems, have now formed an alliance for mobile applications. The idea is to bring personal productivity (Office) tools on Nokia (Symbian) phones and fight against growing market share by RIM (Blackberry phones).

A well-written paper on the battle for OS dominance when moving from a PC-based world to cloud computing (provided this transition really happens, of course). Some interesting examples from history are provided too.