mobile

Blog Post: The Year of the Wearable Platform

One of the greatest parts of my job is to read report after report from analysts on current and future trends. There are some whose opinions I holder higher than others (Thomas Husson at Forrester being one of the best), and for the most part you have to take a lot of research with a grain of salt. Trends are in the eye of the beholder, just like in the stock market.

One of the trends I have been reading over the past few months is that now is the time to launch your own platform. Of course, it’s impossible to do that without a killer app. This GigaOm article provides a very important twist on the need for a platform: a wearable, data-gathering, Bluetooth-linked platform.

Remember the days when our mobile phones kept getting smaller and thinner? Apple still thinks it’s an important feature. I am starting to think our mobile phone needs to just be small enough to fit in our pockets so that it can be connected to my wearable devices.

The days where we are scared about the data our devices gather are basically over. The more I can learn what is happening with my body, the weather, the food I eat, and countless other data points, the better. Add in messaging, GPS, social media, and call alerts, and the platform is complete.

Applications may not be enough to compete in the mobile sphere alone anymore. With app stores still in their infancy, that is a scary idea to float out there. I will be keeping track of the wearable device market with great interest this year. This may be the year of the wearable platform.

Blog Post: The Year of the Wearable Platform

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Blog Post: Take That Facebook

This is why we are in an unprecedented age of technological innovation. A 12-year-old boy in Florida (12), was tired of the age restriction Facebook has so he lied and created a few accounts. After accumulating over 600 friends and a slew of inappropriate information shared with him, his parents found out and shut it down. How did the parents resolve the connundrum?

They helped him create his own social network just for kids.

Zach Marks presents Grom Social, a site for kids 16 and under, and many think it has a chance. It receives over 6,000 views a day, and growing by the minute. The best part? Marks’ parents serve on the leadership team for the site.

Many wonder how Facebook is going to grow now that it is reaching the peak of it’s market saturation. With sites like Grom Social cropping up, they may have missed their opportunity to grow.

Blog Post: Take That Facebook

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Blog Post: The Internet of Your Appendage

The is the kind of article I want to be reading at the conclusion of CES: cool gadgets that might change how we live our lives. If you read my post on Thursday, I talked about how we should be seeing the fashion of tomorrow’s technology today at CES. If you thought mobile technology was just phones and tablets, please read this post by Quartz.

Very soon, we will be receiving messages on watches, reminded to get up and walk around by a bracelet, even have our blood pressure measured by a tattoo. The heath care aspects are mind boggling, but it also may impact fashion itself. I haven’t worn any jewelry other than my wedding ring for years. I could easily see myself with a watch, bracelet and ear piece in the near future.

Blog Post: The Internet of Your Appendage

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Blog Post: what does the word “design” mean to you?

Anyone who is or has worked with designers (of any kind) will enjoy today’s link.

I would not consider myself a “designer” in the truest sense, even though I have held jobs with that word in the title. Most of the time, I merely gathered the requirements of the customer and made sure everything they asked for made it to the comps. This article refers to true leaders in how to make something from scratch.

Then again, don’t we all grasp that concept? If a designer quit their job for a few years to stay home with kids or care for a family member, does the fact that they aren’t clicking the mouse anymore make them any less of a designer?

This goes back to something I posted previously. We all have ideas on how to make stuff. Granted, the ideas of the uninitiated may be rough or uninformed. We must look at design work as something in between a trade and art. There are mechanics to learn, but training can only take you so far. The upper echelon of any industry just have “it”.

Keep all this in mind when meeting with your design team. Curious of your thoughts.

Blog Post: what does the word “design” mean to you?

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We are all users

I love what I do. It didn’t take much for me to become passionate about mobile devices, even before the advent of the iPhone. During my television days, I used a Palm PDA to keep track of contacts and appointments. The addiction to my smartphone started way before Apple with my black Treo. Of course, […]

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Beginnings

One of the labels you see buzzing around the tech community (an many other industries) is “thought leader”. Of course, the idea of being a leader with your thoughts seems a little ridiculous. Obvious questions arise from this idea. How does one prove this? Is it even possible? Before I continue on, in full disclosure, […]

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