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Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / Technology - E-readers face risk of saturation - 0 views

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    Another take on e-book readers. We definitely are in the fluid phase of innovation, with a flurry of competing alternatives coming out, sales growing, price slowly decreasing (but still far from the level acceptable for mass diffusion)... but absolutely no agreement on dominant design. Will it be black-and-white, or must we wait for color? Will it be dedicated readers or tablet PCs?
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / Technology - Internet-enabled TVs to feature 'app stores' - 0 views

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    What will paradigms for TV sets after HDTV is a bit of a question mark. On the one side, it might be 3D technology. On the other, it might be convergence with the Internet. TV-set makers are playing big bets on both possibilities, and convergence is of course dependent on the existence of content and software that can make it interesting in the eyes of customers. As is currently happening for smartphones, content need not be generated internally, but through app-store mechanisms. Will this strategy pay off?
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / UK - Sony set to loom large at dawning of 3D television age - 0 views

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    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.
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / Columnists / John Gapper - Google's open battle with Apple - 0 views

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    The battle for smartphones is no longer a Symbian / Nokia vs.Microsoft affair. The two real competitors appear to be Apple and Google. However, it is interesting to notice that their strategy is markedly different, and depends on the underlying business model of the two companies. Apple wants to use cheap Apps to bring users to its devices. Google wants to use Internet access to bring users to its search algorithms. In any case, it is interesting to notice that both firms base their competitive position on a mixture of openness (to achieve reach) and secrecy/closeness (to make money).
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / Columnists / Jonathan Guthrie - Green start-ups need a charge - 0 views

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    "Green" energy is a trickly field for innovation. Energy is a pure commodity, and the market will never choose green over carbon-based energy unless it is cheaper. But green technology will not get to that point of maturity unless government introduces subsidies and/or carbon taxes. True, this is a cost for today, but also a potential driver of economic growth for the near future and for even greater benefits further on. The problem - of course - is in balancing benefits and cost.
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / UK - PVI books into digital prospects - 0 views

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    We all know stories of radical innovation becoming disruptive because incumbent cannot change their competencies and embrace the upcoming technology. Maybe not any more, given the fluidity of modern markets for technology. In fact, one of the main players of the e-paper industry, PVI, is in fact a subsidiary of a major Taiwanese paper mill, and has pursued an interesting strategy of partnership and acquisition in order to transition to the new technology.
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / UK - Camera makers focus on functionality - 1 views

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    After the "digital revolution" is a dominant design now established in digital photography? Apparently yes. Or maybe not, if a few of the innovations discussed in this article will actually be introduced to the market.
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / UK - Battle of quality instead of quantity - 0 views

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    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?
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / UK - Store set to be apple of master's eye - 0 views

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    Success in business models often comes unexpected and generally is due to complementary products and services. For instance, the app store has been one of the main drivers behind the success of i-phones and has been widely imitated by other smartphone manufacturers. However, it appears that Apple hadn't viewed it as such an important element of its strategy at launch
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / UK - AU Optronics warns over hype - 0 views

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    Interesting perspective on one of the (possibly) disruptive innovations of the coming decade: e-paper. Some players are wondering about the time it will take to truly disrupt traditional books and, most of all, on what will the dominant design for products based on e-ink.
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / Technology - Kindle supplier develops plastic screen - 0 views

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    LCD-based devices are based on glass screens. Now an LCD supplier is developing plastic screens, allowing cheaper, lighter and more robust devices to be developed. This could be an interesting turning point for e-book readers, and is a nice example of the interplay between performance and diffusion. At the same time, it could become a disruptive element in the value chain, given greater bargaining power to the suppliers and taking it away from device manufacturers.
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / UK - Innovation is not about wearing a white coat - 0 views

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    We know invenetion is not innovation. The implication - says commentator John Kay - is that while the former can be supported by through public R&D grants, these will not necessarily lead to innovation... and it is probably hopeless for a public entity to try and make the right bets on which will the winning innovations be. Finding the right intersection between technology opportunities and user needs is something that can better be left to markets.
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / Reports - Biomimicry: Scientists raid Mother Nature's cupboard - 0 views

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    Biomimicry is an interesting stream of innovation. Basically, scientists and product developers are using concepts from nature to solve problems, partially as a brainstroming exercise, and partially under the hypothesis that solutions shaped by millenia of evolution should work fairly well.
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / UK - Enterprise stakes out a place in space - 0 views

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    Interesting take the the news that space tourism is about to take off. The author's position is that the real business model by private companies will not (only) be to take wealthy people in orbit. Rather, it will be to take up the routinary and menial task of shuttling men and equipment to and from orbiting space stations in a more efficient way than governmental space agencies, with efficiency coming from competition. This will free up government agencies to pursue projects that are clearly beyond what private firms can do, i.e. going to the moon and Mars.
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / In depth - Industry looks to green electric future - 0 views

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    An introductory article on the radical innovation that is entering the field of energy distribution: the smart grid, that will use IT to optimize the balance between distributed production and demand.
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / UK - Periodicals look forward to a colourful future with e-readers - 0 views

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    e-books are an up-and-coming technology and there is a strong debate on the way they will affect the future of newspapers. The case is more complicated for magazines, that of course require color. An interesting case of the interplay between technology performance and user needs, leading (or not) to the enabling of a disruptive innovation.
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / Lex / Technology, media & telecoms - Surfing hertz - 0 views

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    Flat pricing schemes for mobile internet are enticing customers to dramatically increase use of bandwidth. Interestingly enough, that is the axiom on which most operators have buidlt their mobile internet business models. Will this be sustainable in the long run?
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / UK - Sony hopes SOS offering will be a saviour - 0 views

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    Sony, once the clear market leader in consumer electronics and entertainment, has strongly suffered because of paradigm shifts in the industries it is active in. Now it is making yet another attempt to re-establish its leadership, using online services and its coverage of a broad range of potentially interoperable devices. Will this be a sound value proposition for consumers?
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / UK - Nuts and bolts team regains command - 0 views

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    Boeing is suffering more than two years delay in launching its new composite-material 787 airliner and order cancellations are coming in. The reasons are interesting. First, Boeing has not only severely forfeited the product development capability it has always shown (e.g. in the 777 program) by shifting its attention and top management culture from engineering to sales. Second, it has inappropriately increased the degree of outsourcing, given the type of innovation involved. Using composite materials instead of alluminum for the airframe clearly is a radical innovation. Given that airplanes have an integral architecture, Boeing should have just done the opposite and developed competencies internally.
Marco Cantamessa

FT.com / UK - Zune to launch outside US - 0 views

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    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
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