Amazon's Platform Business Model

Dr Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon, describes Amazon’s platform business model and its ‘flywheel’ for growth on the latest episode of the Telco 2.0 ‘executive brainstorm’ series on Telecom TV. It is well worth the time to watch it.

The other videos are also full of insights:

• Chris Barraclough, co-founder, Telco 2.0 Initiative describes how the ‘two-sided’ telecoms business model works, and what’s needed to turn it into reality
• Martin Geddes, Chief Analyst Telco 2.0 Initiative articulates the untapped opportunity for growth in the core telephony business
• Pieter Knook, Director of Internet Services, Vodafone Group, unveils his vision for a ‘next generation open mobile internet platform’
• Cenk Serdar, Chief VAS Officer, Turkcell on how his company is blazing a trail with identity and banking services
• Evidence that challenges the Long Tail theory
• James Enck, Senior Associate Analyst at the Telco 2.0 Initiative on the impact and opportunity of the Credit Crunch for telcos
• And a stirring speech by Trudy Norris-Grey, MD Strategy & Transformation at BT Wholesale challenging the Telecoms sector to make the change to realise the $375bn Telco 2.0 growth opportunity

Break Free of the Browser with JavaFX

Internet innovations have taken another step towards Web 3.0 with the introduction of Drag-to-Install feature of Sun's new JavaFX Rich Client Platform. Do you like a (JavaFX) web application? Break free of the browser and drag it to your desktop! Check out the demo video here.

JavaFX is a rich client platform for building cross-device applications and content. Designed to enable easy creation and deployment of rich internet applications (RIAs) with immersive media and content, the JavaFX platform promises that RIAs look and behave consistently across diverse form factors and devices.

JavaFX will have to compete with existing RIA platforms like Adobe Flex/Flash and Microsoft Silverlight. See the JavaFX samples for some example applications.

Kevin Kelly on the Future of the Web

Kevin Kelly recently delivered a pure inspirational talk at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

"I gave a talk yesterday at the Web 2.0 Summit. It's a short talk, only 10 minutes long, so I decided to skip Web 3 - Web 9 and just speak about the upcoming Web 10.0 and what I think will happen in the next 6,500 days."



Some notes:

• Evolution: Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the web 6,527 days ago. In that period we saw: linking of computers (the net), then linking pages (the web), sharing links, the next phase will be linking data
• Sharing data feels intimate, we are entering an era in which we will share data. Every object we make (even physical) will have data in it, and it will all be part of this web -> the database of Things
• In the next 6,500 days of the web: it will not be the web only better, it will be something entirely different
• There will be one machine, everything will be part of it. The web will be its OS. If information is not on the web it will not count. Everything is always on.

Kevin Kelly had a similar talk earlier on TED: Predicting the next 5,000 days of the web. Is this the way to Web 3.0?

Recast Digital Delivers HD Flash Video with RVD1

2009 will be the year of Full screen HD video on the Web.


Recast Digital is a provider of High Definition (HD) Internet video streaming services.

Recast Digital combines advanced Flash Player development with vastly scalable video delivery mechanisms to offer content owners, media businesses, and online advertisers, a highly effective method of serving ultra-high quality interactive on-demand - and live - video to large audiences.

Recast Digital's Flash-based RDV1 player senses the computer power and bandwidth available to the user, and adjusts the definition accordingly up to the 3.2 Mbit/s required for full HD quality. They have re-engineered Flash using existing codecs so that it enables HD content very smoothly, even across the internet and works with Adobe Flash 9 or above. The player supports the following quality and bandwidth options:

• 580 Kb/s - WD Bronze
• 736 Kb/s - WD Silver
• 1036 Kb/s - WD Gold
• 860 Kb/s - SD Bronze
• 1.2 Mb/s - SD Silver
• 1.7 Mb/s - SD Gold
• 1.2 Mb/s - HD Bronze
• 2.2 Mb/s - HD Silver
• 3.2 Mb/s - HD Gold

Experience the Recast Digital high-definition Web video on their demo site.

Camera Phones to Scan 2-D Mobile Codes

Camera phones combined with 2D codes in innovation that mobile users could take advantage of. The use of Mobile Codes is only limited by imagination. One possibility is innovative marketing:

When BMW launched the BMW 1 Series 3-door version last year, it was the first white car they had introduced in a long time. So they decided to produce their advertising campaigns in black and white.
“Because the campaign was black and white, we decided to combine it with 2D bar codes, which we wanted to test.” (2D bar codes, both Semacodes and QR Codes, are also black and white).

What are mobile codes?

'Mobile codes' are codes in the same way as ordinary barcodes are, but their matrix structure can hold more information. The codes are also mobile in the sense that the camera of mobile devices can be used to scan and decode them.

A web address (URL), a phone number, an email address or plain text can be converted into a mobile code. After scanning it their camera phone, people will have instant access to the encoded information straight on the display of their mobile device.

Mobile codes are increasing in popularity: as tags on flyers and posters; on business cards and CVs; in magazines and blogs; offline and online.

Mobile phones such as a Nokia N82, N93, N93i, N95, N95 8GB, E66, E71, E90 or 6220 Classic comes with the Nokia barcode reader preinstalled, ready to scan mobile codes.

How to Create Mobile Codes?

There are free easy to use tools to create Mobile Codes such as the Nokia Mobile Barcodes site. Once the mobile code has been generated scan, print or save it for sharing the way you want.

How to scan and decode Mobile Codes?

There are many other tools in addition to Nokia Barcode Reader such as

• NeoReader, by NeoMedia for the Apple iPhone
  
• I-nigma reader, by 3GVision
• Glass reader, by Active Print(HP) / Gavitec AG-mobile digit
• UpCode reader, by UPC
• Semacode reader, by Semacode
• QuickMark reader

Have fun and connect the real world and the virtual world with innovative mobile codes!

Mobile Broadband Usage Statistics by Nielsen

The mobile consumer spends $350B each year on connectivity, devices, and content.
Nielsen Mobile provides syndicated consumer research to the mobile media markets.

The latest Nielsen Mobile Insight Research Reports feature interesting topics such as

• iPhone 3G and Smartphone Statistics
• U.S. Mobile Advertising Market
• Entertainment Drives Mobile Internet Growth in BRIC Countries
• Mobile Gaming Statistics
• Increased Availability of GPS on Mobile Phones Drives Consumption of Navigation and other Location-Based Services
• Mobile Video Popularity Reaching New Heights with Triple-Digit Growth in Revenues and Subscribers
• Mobile Audio Media Study
• Critical Mass - The Worldwide State of the Mobile Web

Check out Nielsen Mobile's other Research Findings here.

Spykee Robot - Remote Control Spy Robot with Wifi Skype Video

Spykee, the spy robot is an innovative home surveillance solution and an incredible fun and cool gadget all in one. It is Skype compatible and have 3 different models.

Spykee Spy is the WiFi robot you build yourself! He can be controlled remotely from anywhere in the world using a computer and Internet connection. Spykee moves, watches, hears, speaks and monitors (whatever you want). He is available for preorder on Amazon.com for less than $300. He is a great toy but also an universal home surveillance security guard robot too.

Discover all his other functions:

• Photo/Video: Spykee takes pictures and records video.
• Monitoring and Video Surveillance: He monitors and protects your room from intruders with his video surveillance function! Spykee detects movement and sends you a picture of the intruder by e-mail.
• VoIP Phone: Spykee lets you make free calls on the Internet with VoIP Phone function!
• MP3 Player: Spykee can play mp3 music. It is made for iPod through Erector.
  
• Self-recharging: When Spykee gets low on power it will find its power station and automatically dock with it to recharge.
  

The robot is equipped with:

• Webcam
• Microphone
• Speaker
• Flash lightning and lights
  
• Rubber tracks
• Comes with recharging dock

The Spykee robotic sentry is the most fun wireless broadband gadget you can get today. I can't wait to get mine! I hope that the Spykee remote control iPhone app will soon make it to the Apple iPhone App Store. Check out the Spykee page for more information.