The paradigm shift to electric cars and to the "smart grid" in electricity distribution is happening.What is particularly interesting is the complementarity and potential convergence between the two innovations, if V2G (Vehicle to Grid) technology develops as promised. In this case, the batteries in parked cars could become distributed accumulators of surplus energy and feed it back into the grid. 

The field of navigation devices is interesting, because it is focused on product-services, which makes it difficult to apply the usual concept of "dominant design", and also because the business model can by quite tricky. This is especially true when a pureplay like TomTom must confront itself with competitors who have a much wider range of services and who can easily subsidize free navigation apps through its other businesses, such as Nokia and Google. In any case, TomTom made a smart move in 2007 by acquiring a critical and potentially monopolistic supplier of mapping data such as TeleAtlas.

Yet another take on e-book readers, this time looking at the impact on magazine publishers, whose business model is likely to be impacted more than for book publishers.

While Microsoft is trying to gain market share in smartphone operating systems, Nokia too is trying to do something about its losing position with Symbian. A new OS is being developed together with Intel, targeting higher-end devices positioned close to netbooks. An interesting idea ... provided that users will really value this kind of device. To be sure, it seems like shying away from the core of the battle.

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?

Yet another move by Google... becoming one of the first providers of NGN (Next Generation Networks) services, allowing ultra-fast connectivity and a new generation of services to emerge. Understanding the business logic behind such moves is of course difficult, but we are accustomed to the fact that Google quite often gets it right!

Apple seems to be inarrestable. A dominant position in digital music, a potentially winning entry in the e-book industry (thanks to the iPad) and it is now looking for ways to disrupt television. No surprise that Apple's market capitalization is now bigger than Google's.

Another article on e-book readers and related business models. Will the dominant player be a distributor such as Amazon or Apple? If so, what will be best distribution agreement be? Or will neutral devices emerge, allowing a greater share to publishers? And, most of all, what will the role of a publisher be, if printing and distribution become a non-issue due to electronic delivery?

Something radically new. A pharmaceutical company integrating downstream to the point of setting up an e-payment system enabling it to sell direct to patients and to set up additional value-added services, such as checking prescription compliance.

Interesting take on open vs. closed operating systems. Apple's iPhone is a strange mixture that - though technically open - is however subject to close control over which applications are allowed to run on it. This raises some issues over openness of markets, well beyond the issues that people had with the monopolistic temptations often observed with Microsoft

There is another paradigm shift that is currently coming out. Incandescent lamps are getting to the end of their lifecycle, and we are observing competition between low-power fluorescents and LED lights. If progress in LED lights will be fast enough, it is likely that they will become the dominant technology. If not, they might remain confined to niche applications.

When dealing with e-books, the reader is not everything, of course, since you need content too. The problem is that with digital goods there is a huge risk of commoditization and of consumers feeling entitled to "free" content ("marginal cost is nil, so why shouldn't I get it for free"?). This explains the reason publishers are pushing to retain control over pricing decisions instead of leaving it to distributors.

An interesting portrait of the founder and CEO of SAS and of the corporate culture he created at his company, completely geared towards well-being, work-life balance. .. and somewhat less at financial wealth. As it appears, it seems to be a good way to extract commitment and productivity from highly-skilled knowledge workers.

Apple's iPad has opened up yet another element of uncertainty on the future "dominant" IT device. In addition, given that a major application of the iPad is likely to be book-reading, uncertainty is there concerning file and DRM formats for e-book. What will the prevailing strategy be? Proprietary formats, or open formats with proprietary DRM systems, or completely open formats? The problem of course is portability of content, which may or may not be valued by consumers. However, given that I currently can lend a book to a friend, what will happen when a Kindle-using friend will want to borrow my iPad-based novel?

One of the interesting elements in Apple's new product line - the iPad tablets - is the fact that the processor is not sourced from suppliers. Developing a microprocessor in-house is not a trivial thing at all, but the integrated nature of the product evidently suggested Apple to make this step in order to optimize performance and - possibly - to keep a stronger grip over a key component, thus avoiding commoditization.

Nokia has decided to place free mapping and navigation services on its smartphones. A reaction to Google's decision to do the same on Android-powered devices and a big blow to makers of dedicated devices such as Tomtom and Garmin. But this also implies a different business model that has yet to be defined. In the meanwhile, it certainly is good news for customers.

Tablet PCs have been recently been proposed as the big innovation in the PC arena. But the problem - as usual - is going beyond technology and into usability. Will people really accept something that is larger and more expensive than a handheld, smaller than a notebook, with a touchscreen but no keyboard? Will the devices be attractive per se, or will it be necessary to integrate them into a wider ecosystem? Of course, past experience tells us this last question suggests different potential winners (the PC camp in the former case, Apple in the latter).

Small high-tech firms are universally considered to be key for stimulating innovation and economic growth. But what if these companies do not grow, due to limited entrepreneurial ambition, premature acquisitions, limited access to market? This is a key problem for policy-makers, but also for the stakeholders of these firms.

Augmented reality in 2010 is a typical technology in the "incubation" phase. The technology is there, the basic building blocks (e.g. GPS-enabled smartphones cum camera) are already widely diffused... but it is now necessary to find a real application that people will be willing to pay for.

The emerging BRICs are partially changing the "demand" side of innovation. Instead of simply producing (or engineering) products targeted to the needs of developed countries, Indian companies are now rolling out a number of products targeted to the needs of the country. Journalists have come up with the term "Indovation". Scholars and managers might start questioning whether this might change the way technological trajectories emerge.