2013, a Further Year of Revolution in the M2M Business

The Machine-to-Machine industry is on its way to revolutionise the world. Every year, we are getting closer to the Internet of Things. The commercial potential is enormous. There will be more “machines” and “things” connected to controlling and managing applications than PCs and cellular phones combined. The forecasts for 2015-20 go into the double-digit billions of devices. The promises from M2M for “M2M consumers” are very interesting as they are often related to cost savings, particularly Opex, and better customer service. Where are we today and what’s next? Continue reading

Secret Sauce? Marketing Telco Network APIs To Developers

Telecoms network API exposure to software developers looks like a straightforward game in some cases and like an eternal struggle in others. The market opportunity is sized to be in the billions of dollars. Network operators are torn between going it alone, inspired by vertical ecosystems some Internet players were able to create and thereby following the mantra of differentiation, or teaming up with others for the sake of reach and economies of scale. Telefonica’s BlueVia has made some noise recently with Telenor joining the BlueVia initiative in Oct 2012. What’s happening in the industry? Continue reading

Open Web Platform – Relentless Progress

 

Once a year, the World Wide Web gathers in the form of its ‘member companies’ and experts to meet, take stock, look into the future and debate what the focus areas shall be to improve the web. The organisation undertaking this effort is the World Wide Web Consortium, W3C. End of Oct 2012, the latest gathering took place, this time in France. Some of the discussions stay private to the consortium members, others are public. Here some opinions on the public aspects. Continue reading

Has Firefox OS A Good Chance Against The Big Smartphone Platforms from Google and Apple?

More recently news emerged about handset manufacturer ZTE showing off a mobile phone with a new operating system called Firefox OS. Fire is all over the place now. News about a Firefox OS app store leaked onto the Web and Mozilla has brought Firefox OS now to the public on YouTube [1]. There is buzz around what Mozilla and a few network operators are in the process of creating. A new web-based operating system for smartphones, completely open for innovation and much less proprietary then what we got used to, namely Android phones and iPhones. Is the end near for Apple’s ever-rising stock price? Let’s have a closer look. Continue reading

Will HTTP 2.0 Revolutionise Business and the Web?

HTTP 2.0? Ever heard before? It’s a new version of the HTTP protocol being worked on by Internet engineers, specifically now with major input in 2012 from Google and Microsoft. Every time you are browsing the Web, the chosen Internet address likely shows http:// in the address bar. Most likely this is HTTP version 1.1 in use. What sort of revolution is to be expected from the new version? When? What’s the innovation that’s supposed to come along with it? We shed some light on this. Continue reading

Software Developer Guidelines from the Mobile Telecoms Industry? Worth a Look

The first announcement came in Feb 2012, at the industry conference Mobile World Congress: The industry association GSMA has been working on software development guidelines for smartphone applications. This work is continuing. Does it mean that mobile network operators are now aiming at becoming software development consultancies? Not exactly.  There is a more significant rationale behind this. Continue reading

About REST and REST APIs on the Web and in Mobile Telecoms

There has been a lot of buzz in the mobile telecoms industry about a new era, characterised by the emergence of RESTful application programming interfaces (APIs). What is REST in the first place, where are we in the process, has it made a difference, why are RESTful APIs supposedly better than the ones which are not full of rest? Continue reading

In Memory of Greg Smith and Goldman Sachs

In case you missed this story, please visit the link to The New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/opinion/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html.
Greg Smith is leaving the investment bank after many years, revealing what the investment bankers do with their clients: nicely or not so nicely dealing with them and from time to time calling them “muppets” and more…,well, they stop short of eating them, of course. Nobody eats clients. Not even in fiction. Continue reading

Do Process and Procedure Make A Difference?

Process, procedures, policies, rules – these are just a couple of things employees often get exposed to or asked to adhere to or apply in daily employee life. Are they making businesses more efficient, or life more enjoyable, or goals more attainable? I explain why that dreaded process is hugely beneficial for organising one’s private life. Continue reading