innovation playground Idris Mootee

Microsoft's Next Big Innovation: Google Maps Meets Grand Theft Auto

What's new with GPS? There were the 3D maps, then traffic information with live refresh every two minutes so to help others to avoid heavy traffic jams and GPS watch? What’s next?

Surprise the next big innovation will come from Microsoft. It is Grand Theft Auto meets Google Map. The company just granted a patent that is designed to make its maps more pedestrian-friendly meaning not only just when you’re driving, even walking. I think this is a truly innovative idea. This feature is designed to help you t avoid certain dangerous area. You know two blocks can make big differences in many cities.

This "mind-the-ghetto" feature will be killer applications in future Windows phones. So while you’re roaming the streets of LA or Chicago, your smart phones will send GPS into to a system that maps the crime statistics as well as nature of crime, day of time happened and frequency. Not sure how this will impact real estate prices or retail rent.

And they may allow you to do a trial run in the neighborhood as downloadable scenes in Grand Theft Auto on your X-Box? I am sure there is a disclaimant that you need to click ‘accept’ meaning if you do get mugged in what was identified as a safe area would not be their fault.

It is definitely a useful feature for parents to make sure the kids are not allowed hanging out in those areas and it will prompt them and send a message to the parents? If you use a little more imagination, there is so much untapped innovation with LBS and GPS.

GPS is not legal everywhere. Apple will be selling its iPhone in Egypt, people there will have to go without one of the star features: GPS navigation. Yes, because GPS is illegal in Egypt (Can you believe this?) and I think it is the only country in the world but I might be wrong. Apple is forced to take out the feature because there is a ban on the import of all GPS-enabled devices into Egypt. The ban has been in effect for years.

The Egyptian govertment considers GPS a military-grade technology that can be used to help pinpoint the location of government facilities. But if you so happen to be travelling in the desert, you’re advised to buy one, but only from the black market which you need a GPS to locate.

The Tablet War Is Moving To The Next Level. It Is Not Just A Game Of Interface And Content, It Is A Service Platform Game. It Will Be Google, Apple And Amazon.

Idea Couture San Francisco was excited to sponsor and host the Tofu event last week. The Tofu Project is a nicely curated boutique program created by TokyoMango journalist Lisa Katayama and designer Tomo Saito that brings 10 of the most innovative young entrepreneurs from Japan to the San Francisco Bay Area for a 7-day design thinking and innovation boot camp.

These isn't just another Silicon Valley-meets-Japan tour or incubator. It is not just a start-up meet and share, it is more of collaborative think tank where cool Japanese people and experts on Japanese culture from all different sectors gather together to re-imagine the future of Japanese innovation and globalization. I wish I was there. Here are some pictures to share.

A busy day driving to Waterloo for a several meetings and everytime I stopped at a book store I wonder how the tablet war will evolve in the next 12 months. The tablet war is moving to level two and there are only 3 finalists. Samsung and Amazon are the only two that are strategically qualified to play this game. Sony’s new tablet may have a small chance; if it does it will be domestically. Sony has been sleeping at the wheels and has no idea what the world is like.

Amazon's forthcoming Kindle Fire tablet will be hurting the sales of iPad and put price pressure on Apple. They might end up having to reduce the price to keep shares. I don’t see any new features that can keep iPad ahead of the game or sustain the growth. Many will hold off the purchase of iPad for themselves or chose to buy Fire because it is a great alternative.

Kindle Fire, launching next week at a price of $199. They are using a Gilette strategy of subsidizing the tablet and make money from content. Apple will never do that. And for the Nook, I am not sure. It is nicely designed and engineered product, a lot of good thinking on the UI level too but lacking a strategy to play this game. Yet the sales jumped 140% the first quarter due to overall demand growth.

Amazon Fire will have a dual-core processor, a fast browser, a good display, and lots and lots of content. Preorder is already tracking to exceed a million. Amazon will build a big user base and leverage this to launch a service platform. They are not viewing the tablet as an eReader game like Nook, they see this one piece of a larger emerging strategy to go against Apple. Amazon just purchased a voice startup Yap few months ago, a technology that could transcribe voice commands into text. Amazon is quietly building out its voice-recognition service platform and will be competing with Apple Siri. That’s the next big game.

Apple Is Gearing Up To Attack The Living Room And To Turn Siri Into The Next Google?

I am exciting seeing the advance copy of M/I/S/C next issue - "The Creativity Issue". It will be in bookstores in 22 countries sometime first week of December. Now starting to work on the next one - the "Big Insight Issue". I have a few great ideas and now looking for some good guest contributors. Publising is painful but fun and thank you for those 50+ emails that compliment our effort. It is great to see that people are really liking it.

I’ve been following and speculating how Apple will be using Sirri acquisition strategically to compete in the next white space. Imagine Apple is now working on creating the next home entertainment experience, a place that is still not occupied by Microsoft?

I can’t wait for the day that I throw away every remote control that I have in my living room. First it is hopeless for me to figure out their functions and second they are ugly and don’t fit in my modern and elegant living room. What I want to see is I can just say a command and the TV or the controller will translate them and activate them.

The Siri in the living room will be different from the one on your iPhone. It will be your personal entertainment assistant and understand whether you’re in the mood of a movie, convert, news or just some soft jazz. I think this is the killer app for TV and will give Apple TV a real chance to take off. Up till now Apple TV is just a little experiment. I think we are 18 months away. There are still a lot of challenges such as bandwidth in some cases and voice recognition accuracy. May be there will be a tactile interface control or gesture-based control in additional to the voice command. The beauty is Siri doesn't need a rigid set of voice commands an able to interpret natural phrases by picking out keywords and some other cues.

And then the whole idea of “search” will bring Google into the game. It is reported that they are throwing resources into a refreshed Google TV and Apple has bought its third mapping company, beefing up its cartographic portfolio with eye-popping 3D imagery based on declassified missile-targeting technology.

Apple will be playing the same new game strategy as it did to the music industry creating an industry breakpoint. It will be a hardware, software and integration play powered by the iCloud. They still need to soft the gaming piece which Xbox and PS3 are the last defensible positions. I hope the Apple TV set will be available in black other than silver and white.

Apple: A Rare Case Of Successfully Building A Truly Sustainable Compeitive Advantage. It Is Definitely Worth The Current Valuation Premium.

Here's the cover model for the coming issue of my M/I/S/C magazine. We shot the cover in London and here is a picture of her taking a picture of me. The concept seems surrealistic. The next M/I/S/C Design Thinking and Customer Experience Issue will be in book stores Sept in the US and a bit later in Europe and Asia/Australia. Now I am working on the Dec issue which is Design Thinking and Creativity. I am thinking of who to invite to write for this issue. BTW this is a picture below of Idea Couture's latest window display. I am liking it.

If you've just upgraded your iPhone you will not be happy if Apple is bringing out a new one in a few short months. In addition to launching both iPhone 5 and iOS 5, there will be the new iTunes 11 bought to you from the Cloud.

Expect a very clean design and iCloud will be closely integrated with iTunes. iTunes Store is actually turning into a browser (funny without we seeing it that way) and it will actually be integrated into the entire app. Your music will be backed up by the Cloud and everything will be fully synced.

It is harder and harder to beat Apple with its deep integration between apps, OS and devices. It is reported that iCloud will be offered for free initially, and at some point users will be charged $25 annually for subscription of the service. That’s another way to get another recurring revenue stream just like MobileMe service.

Apple has finally locked-in deals with big record labels Warner, EMI, Sony, and Universal. With 30% of revenue from iCloud’s music offering with the major lablels, 12% with those holding the songwriting rights, and the remaining 58% for Apple to keep. That’s a good profit margin. Not only it is helping with the bottom line, it is further stenghtening the Apple fortress with all these integration.

Apple is building a fortress around its suite of product/services/experiences and it is almost impossible to break that. It is not only around music and devices. They have just filed a patent application that an iProjector that I believe is in the making. It makes perfect sense, a minisize slim projector that sells for $600 to $1,000 and most of them have problems with setting up. And you thought it should be easy. I will not think for a second of getting one if it is fully integrated with my MacBook or iPhone or iPad. With interactive presentations and sharable contents between devices.... and not to mention a really good looking Apple design.

The patent application "Projected display shared workspaces" was filed in February 2010 and it is basically a system for taking what's on screen and projecting it onto a nearby surface such as a wall etc. The true innovation is that about the system proposed in this filing is that it can combine projections from multiple devices into one screen, in what's dubbed the "shared workspace." So you can simultaneously show power point from your computer, a video from your iPhone and notes from your iPad. No switching between apps anymore. Called it a “presentation canvas”?

Apple’s horizontal integration strategy across devices and channels and vertical integration strategy from chip design to software and retail is creating a truly sustainable competitive advantage that is hard to replicate. For that reason alone, its valuation skyrocketed. This is a brilliant example of classic business strategy theory at work.

Every single Apple products complement (compete) and complete each other. Get an iPod, and you can download content via iTunes and access them trhough iCloud and use that to move content to iPad or other devices. The sort of control over the entire user experience or process, from hardware to software, strengthens customer loyalty and provide lock-in. You cannot leave Apple once you’re in. It is becoming the consumer equivalent of IBM for business.

There's Gotta Be Easier And Cooler Ways To Transfer Files Between Devices. A Lot Of People Are Working On It.

When people talk about innovation generally people are quick to refer to something completely new. The question is how many new ideas are really new? Or recanation of old ideas or new applications of old ideas? Or just new ways to package old ideas? It is not uncommon that multiple companies or people are working on the same new idea but no one knows each other are working on the same thing?

So many people are working on innovative ways to send and receive files over a wireless network which is done through Bluetooth or infrared or whatever. Some engineers are playing with the idea of using the optical spectrum that offers better security and higher transfer rates. Engineers from Pennsylvania State University have now succeeded in moving data outside the usual line of sight restrictions at speeds of over one gigabit per second, more than double the max speed available today.

The engineers have developed a system where a high-powered laser diode transmits data by converting electricity into infrared light, which then bounces off any walls and surfaces before being received by an avalanche photo diode, where it's converted back into electricity and translated into usable data. Using it in a room with no windows will ensure that any transmitted signals do not escape and cannot be intercepted or less interferences. Not sure how many rooms are completely closed with no windows.

One creative application could be the "wireless projection of HD television. Currently, two high definition broadcasts exceed the bandwidth of any radio system, but with a 1.6 gigabit per second gigabit system, two HD channels could be broadcast," according to Professor of Electrical Engineering Mohshen Kavehrad.

At Idea Couture we’ve been playing with the idea for more than 18 months exploring new ways to transfer files between devices using simple touch gestures. We called it “Touch-and-Send”. Obviously there must have been dozens of start-ups or labs working on solving file transfer problems or creative ways to do that using similar approach. Currently there is no simple way to move things, plugging into the USB is still the simplest way and requires no set up. 

But a new research project at MIT called Sparsh is also working to fix the file transfer problem. Sparsh (Hindi word for "touch") is a virtual cloud-based clipboard where any data, like a phone number or photograph, can temporarily live until it's "pasted" to another device. It is kind of like the mailroom.

To make it work, both devices need to be Sparsh-enabled and the person touches data on a device, such as a picture or a music file can be sent through the cloud and receive by another device. Right now, Sparsh is at a concept satge at MIT's Media Research Lab. Very exciting idea indeed.

Expect to see many more innovations enabled by the cloud. The sky is the limit.

Experience Design Innovation Can Use Nostalgic Clues To Create Emotive Connections. Don't Under Estimate The Power Of Nostalgia.

As technology pushes forward and sometimes it is easy for us to forget about the past. I think marketers and product designers could benefit more from looking to the past. I am not ready to claim that many of the classic design whether it is product or interfaces will stand the test of being both functional and timeless, but I can comfortably say that many brands/ products /interfaces carry a lot of sentimental value for many people. And many of these deign will not only survive this lifetime and well into the next generation. 

For me, I am at a stage where the best objects or brands or products are the ones that connect me with my childhood and memories of my time with my Dad when I was a little boy. I have been collecting these objects since a while back and they seem to contain a bit of my past. I guess as we age we will become more receptive to marketers and designers who make use of what market researchers call "a longing for positive memories from the past."

The science of nostalgia isn't yet fully understood, but studies have shown nostalgic cues that can be exploited and the ways in which images from the past can yield favorable attitudes about products in the present. Ask our team of resident anthropologists and they can explain why.

The best examples would be my McIntosh amplifiers, JBL studio monitors and Leica cameras. I couldn’t really accord these (not the top end models) when I was 14 and my dad ended up buying me the entry models. I remember the joy when we bought a pair of giant speakers and we struggled to carry that home. It seems the objects I love most around the house are those that reminds me of him.  He once said to me “You're the most wonderful boy in the world, and doesn’t matter what you choose to do you will do it well. And you can do anything you want to.” 

I’ve heard the saying “A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it” and I am not sure who said that. That’s kind of what I feel when I look at stuff around me. I have a thing for McIntosh (picture above my living room) and have quite a few of them lying around everywhere, I think I have at least 3,000 watts of pure clean power to feed to my JBLs. These pretty "Big Blue Meter" McIntoshes are more than sound machine, the classic design and the physical knobs are part of a very simple user experience. I am sick of remote control and I can’t even use them other than power on and off. It brings me the question why machine + usability + style can come in such a nice package then and we hardly see many today (Apple is the exception).

A nice surprise for me is now I can download a McIntosh app for my iPad (picute above). It is very smart idea, not that the app will upgrade the sound from my iTunes, but the skins with the big blue VU meter brings moments of joy even when I am not in front of my McIntosh. Now I can listen to and playback music from my iPad within the classic McIntosh experience. I can now access to my digital music library in a simple elegant interface inspired by the line of McIntosh audio equipment. Genius idea!! And it is free too!!

A great brand/product and even interface if stylistically design and adding some nostalgia touches can power up a wave of innovation that has strong emotive connections.  With more and more people entering the boomers lifestage, expect to see collectable toys inspired nostalgia factor. The essence of these brands is very appealing and emotive; something that people grew up with. It is more than Lanvin porcelain dolls and Prada toy keyrings, it is time to visit eBay.

 

 

Apple iPad Is More Than A Tablet, It Is A Window To New Behavior That Has Yet To Fully Emerge. And I Want A New MacBook Pro With A New Design Before The Summer.

Microsoft and Apple are both great companies for different reasons and operate under very different philosophies. The interesting thing is as Apple grows bigger and bigger, will it begin to behave like other large mature organizations such as Microsoft or IBM? Ever since Apple market cap surpassed Microsoft, it signified an indicator that the investment community was sending a message to the industries..

But Microsoft is still a much bigger company from both topline and bottom as well as other measure. What it means, now Apple is given the currency and blessing to go out and play the next game. Who’s the next big target? I don’t think is Microsoft, I don’t even think Apple sees Microsoft as competition. They are onto the next game.

I have three companies in mind that I think Apple will be out there trying to push out. Apple was set out not to beat Microsoft, but IBM. Are they still on that mission? Apple is still a fraction of IBM’s. Both companies have significant customers lock-in for different reasons and both are tied into the fabric of our economy. Let’s face it, the primary reason for Apple's stellar growth and valuation was due to their track record of repeatedly innovating and creating new products while at the same time maintaining a long-range vision – most companies do one at the expense of the other.

Apple's advantage is that it has a good view of the end game and driven by strategic foresight – not by today’s balance sheet and they can afford to be strategic. The iPad is not important not as a tablet, there are enough tablets out there. It is the first member of a growing family of 21st century computing appliances from Apple that co-creating a new behavior. Much like the first generation iPod. I think there will be a wave of innovation from the industry as people realize this is not just another computing device to fit between a phone and a computer. Many still don’t get it when I talked to people in CES. Tablets are dead, iPad is an appliance.

I am looking forward to the next gen MacBook Pro and I hope we will see something in 3 months. For sure it will be thinner, Light Peak will replace firewire, and the DVD drive will disappear (it should) and equipped with solid state drive. he next update to its MacBook line to make way for Intel's Sandy Bridge processors. There is 90% chance that Sandy Bridge processors will be used on the 13” MacBooks Pro, it is the first to feature a graphics chip grafted atop a processor. I hope they provide a choice of different colors (unlikely) such as silver, white and black. I will take black. I don’t think they will upgrade the 15’ and 17” until later in the year. I don’t think MacAir will survive long when the MacBookPro gets thinner. It is too pricey.

I am interested to see when the revenue stream from the iPad will eventually overtake the Mac's -- much as the iPhone did a few years ago and the iPod did before that. MacBook will eventually become just be a small business unit of Apple.

With The Tablets And E-Readers Race, Wonder How Many Of Those Will End Up In The Landfills Before They Were Actually Being Used.

This week in San Francisco is action packed. New people starting, more furniture coming, a few projects in final stages and magazines. Scott and I were doing some street bodystorming between meetings (photo above).

Since I wrote about tablet last year at the CES, it is still the main battlefield this year as everyone is not only jumping into it, but most have no clue of how to play or win this war. Yes iPad is now the common enemy and this one is not easy to beat, you have to beat them on hardware, software, human factors, interface, and most of all the Apple brand and integration with iTunes and iMac.

The biggest surprise is Motorola, beaten to death in the mobile space and now entering the tablet game in far better than shape that others The Motorola tablet is by far the best tablet, it runs on NVIDIA Tegra 2 and Google's new Android Honeycomb.

Motorola Mobility, the new Motorola spinoff that went live as a separate entity on the NASDAQ. This new company focuses entirely on consumer devices, in partnership with Google and Verizon they just announced the new the Motorola Atrix, a smartphone that doubles as a legitimate PC replacement with both desktop and laptop docks. This company is coming back big time.

The Motorola Xoom tablet and the HTC Thunderbolt were especially impressive in performance and usability. Both are the only two serious threat to iPad, at least until Apple comes up with iPad2 or iPadthin or iPadsports. With the tablet race, Nvidia looks like is becoming the Intel of the next great wave of computing. Where’s Intel? Samsung and LG folks are sleeping and eating in their war rooms thinking about fighting this tablet war. Both are committed and determined to be a key player, but could use a lot of help.

Where’s Sony? The once mighty consumer electronics giant? What’s the coolest thing from Sony? And when’s the last time you heard about a breakthrough product from Sony? When’s the last time you heard about a market-leading product from Sony? They spend too much time trying to win back the TV war by going full throttle on 3D. I know for them, losing the TV war is hurting them deep, as they have always been the kings of TVs, that is until Korea joined the game.

Sony deputy president Kunimasa Suzuki, "We'd really like to take the No. 2 position (in the tablet market) by 2012. At this moment, the timing of (those tablet) announcements versus (their) availability today is a different story. iPad is the king of tablets for sure. Who is going to be (the) second player?" Aiming for the second is not exactly a good strategy. They are missing the boat already.

The not-so-secret thing is most new tablets are still in design stage and most don't come out until September, if it all--take. And by then Apple will be another 12 months ahead of the game.

Unfortunately for those other 500plus e-readers I saw at the CES last year, most of them are so last season. Since the launch of the iPad early last year, it doesn not make sense not to merge the idea of e-books onto tablet devices that also surf the web, play games, play videos, and do a lot more. What I hate to see is that all those ebooks become ewaste in the landfill, let’s figure a way to do something with them.

The Future Battle Of Seach Will Be In Social Mobile. Does Social Search Make Any Sense?

A friend of mine visited me from Japan and our conversation was around mobile search, since Apple’s acquisition of Siri, a company that makes voice-operated personal assistant app for the iPhone, people wonder what’s Apple intent was. This move has big implications for the future of mobile search and is just a first step into the game.

This space is where Google is not winning as generalized search is not working and so people have to resort to specialized apps. It can be super-local for hyper-specialized and need-based. It is more than just getting information but getting some jobs done. It is two steps within minutes versus most online search is the first step. Whether it is about finding a nearby pub, getting a movie ticket or getting a dinner reservation through OpenTable, context is crucial. So business model is pretty much based around affiliate commissions from partners.

There are still a lot of usability issues to solve and there is little tolerance to sifting through irrelevant search results and they include: How to create clear quick access action buttons? How do you combine motion and gestures into the usability language? How to use limited real estate particular there are a lot of information to display? How to meet the user’s needs quickly? He or she has less than 3 minutes to get what they want. How to deal with user mistakes? It is not just a backward button?

Is social search the answer? I don’t know and I am not sure. There are apps that go out there and search for rankings and aggregate them and translate them into usable data. I think there are some apps that simply go through social networks and find out what people are recommending. Adding social layers onto search results is one option but I don’t think it is an effective solution. I am not sure I know what is the best filtering technique? I think location matters. What people are tweeting is often irrelevant. Searching for ‘likes’ in Facebook can’t be too useful. We are still a few years away from AI search.

Researchers at IBM have been working on a machine called Watson that can sift through a terabyte of data and crank out answers to complicated questions in a few seconds. A version of the software that runs Watson could reside on a doctor's tablet computer in 3-5 years, analyzing test results to proffer a diagnosis, according to Dave Ferrucci, a senior manager at IBM.

Smartphones are getting more prevalent and powerful enough to handle complex tasks. More than 70% of Americans will own a smartphone by the end of 2013 and mobile tablets sport more powerful processors that let users run complex artificial intelligence apps on them. Ai will be available at the palm of your hands.. .in no more that 2 -3 years I hope.

In the meantime, Google will be buying up anything that helps the to colonized the mobile space. Anytime you need to use any of these services on your Android devices, you need to log into your Google account. That means all your location history, browsing history, and preferences are available for Google to use so that they can show you send advertisements your way.

For Now Tablet Is Dominated By iPad, And Then There Are Hundreds Of Others Who Want A Piece Of The Action.

Microsoft just posted a really good quarter and has been openly criticized for its lack of strategy in the tablet market and other consumer market. This software giant has failed to innovate in many fronts despite massive resources and strong talent based. The company has also failed to create any buzz on their product launches; you wonder what is not working with this company. It is not lack of money for sure, and not about lack of talent either.

The iPod has only been on the market for half a year, the buzz has quiet down but adoption is high and broad unlike previous products. This is an instant success and looks like no one us close to being a threat. Though Samsung, LG, HTC, Dell, HP and Lenovo, and others are unveiling their own tablets, no on has the advantage of full software and hardware integration. Apple's complete integration of hardware, software, operating system, and applications is a major competitive advantage.

Many think Galaxy is only potential threat to Apple. The Galaxy's screen has about three times the surface area of typical smart phones, including the phone. When it comes to tablet features and performance, here's how the Galaxy measures up to the iPad. The Galaxy is about the size of large paperbacks and don’t expect battery to last more than 8 hrs.

Samsung has identified two problems to solve as a competitive weapon to compete against iPad. First is flash. And then the other is face-to-face communication. The Galaxy has two cameras, one facing you and the other facing away, and you can use the Qik app to videoconference with other online members. This is an attractive feature and for sure will be matched quickly.

There are a handful of Qik enabled phones out there, but it still hard to find someone to talk than using Skype. iPad2 might incorporate a camera and FaceTime. Android have more apps, above100, 000 apps but the proportion of high-quality apps that you have to pay for has not gone up significantly. Apple leans way the other way on this, limiting some of its 300,000 apps solely to iPad distribution. And most are willing to apps for the iPad. Mobile usage has become pervasive. Mobile devices (smart phones, tablets and whatever in between) will be experienced dramatic evolution in the next 5 years. It is the new competitive ground and becoming a real category on its own rather than something as complimentary to the PCs.

These tablets or large smart phones are fast becoming mini-computers with nearly 13 million iPads shipped this year and expect to grow 3x next year. These tablets’ bigger screens promise more immersive experiences for marketers. The web will become more app like and the user experiences will converge. I can see tons of innovation opportunities to drive new behavior. It is so easy to view content on iPad and people considered that as less private, and more willing to share. 2-3 users sitting in a coffee shop can easily view the screen. And as a shared device, the iPad invites social interaction and imagine design apps for real life social interactions rather than virtual. A game that can be passed around and played or something that people can use in a retail environment, sort of self-help navigation in mall and view merchandise and promotions etc. I can come up with another ten scenarios.

I am looking forward to see the Blackberry Tablet rumored to cost just under $500. The PlayBook will have a smaller screen than the iPad (7-inch PlayBook versus 9.7-inch iPad), and there won't be a 3G option (it shouldn’t as it should use the BlackBerry connection). The screen resolution will be similar the iPad, but will translate to more pixels per inch. The PlayBook will also have bigger ram than the iPad (1GB PlayBook versus 256MB iPad), and RIM also included in two cameras (5MP back, 3MP front). I think this is useful for BalackBerry users like me and will guaranteed a minimum adoption. Great, now I’ve got one more thing to add to my briefcase.

You Can Criticize South Koreans For The Lack Of Creativity, But You Cannot Criticize Their Hospitality. I Think They Beat The Japanese.

Seoul is really a surprisingly friendly place. It was a surprise even for me as I am so used to different hospitable culture. Despite the city is a little too much concrete and dull, the younger generations of Koreans are bringing life to the city. They are different from the Shinsedae (means new generation in Korea in the 80s) who are now older, the current generation of young people is technologically savvy, heavily immersed in consumption both material and cultural and they are the first generation who have the opportunity to travel abroad for visit or study with the liberalization of overseas travel and the advent of an era of information and communications. Funny after the first day of meeting till 7pm started right when I arrived the afternoon, my Korean friends conmplained the next day they were tired and I worked them too hard. Funny coming from a Korean.

I think the Korean hospitality is worth a mention, here are my three stories happened the last few days. Despite the language barrier, people went all the way to help me as a foreigner. There is something about Korean hospitality that is little known.

I was looking for the location of University of Seoul and I went into a tailor shop to ask for direction, he didn’t understand what I was saying so he bought me to another tailor shop (custom made suit) and the guy called another person to the store. After 5 minutes of Korean conversation (no idea what they were saying), he picked up the phone and then there was a male voice speaking English on the other side. I told him where I was going and next thing was, the tailor shop owner closed the shop and walked 30 minutes to show me where the school is. I felt bad he actually had to walk that far to show me the place. He was probably around 45, and didn’t speak a word of English.

Then the next day I was looking for this tiny place that I was supposed to meet my friends after they’re done with the G20, no taxi driver can find it even with detail address. I stopped and asked 2 young guys on the street, they pulled out their iPhones and then looked it up for me, didn’t get it as I might not have the English spelling of the street right, then he stopped another two girls on the street, in 5 minutes I have 4 people searching on their iPhones to help me to locate the place. Not sure you will get the same service in a 5 stars hotel in the US or Europe. So when you travel to Seoul, there is no need to bring a map. These young people can communicate in English and all equipped with smart phones to help. Anything you need they have a widget for it.

Yesterday, The third one is I was having a quick lunch in a small Italian place before rushing to a meeting, there was a song playing in the restaurant that I really like. So I asked the waiter who’s the singer. Two minutes later the chef came out and turned on an app in his iPhone, he said it listened and then searched for the artist name. Didn’t work for the first time, then he bought out another person with the same app and tried again near the speakers, it worked this time. The hospitality is not trained, it is truly authentic. He is not a hotel concierge he is the chef.

I feel there is no distance between them and me even there is a language barrier. I have never experienced that level of authentic and sincere hospitality. And yes, they even give out free hugs. I didn't experience thta as I was in a rush, next time. Also, I'd prefer to have a few girls to chose from. This is no Thailand or Japan where everyone is polite and smiles at you. They did that because you’re a tourist or a customer or because they were taught to be polite, this is not the case. The only disappointment is taxi drivers usually don’t speak any English and don’t know the city well. In London, they know the city inside out, but not here. I don’t know why Samsung or LG can easily solve this problem, a voice based language translator in every taxi. Type in the text on your mobile phone and it will be translated and broadcasted to the taxi’s radio.

But in generally, there is still a deep-rooted conservatism in the Korean culture, even for the young people. The government is doing everything they can to encourage creativity and entrepreneurialism, with some success, but still a long way to go.

When Obama praised the Korean education system came as a surprise to many South Koreans at that time as the country's education system has been under intensed public criticism due to its lack of creativity and heavy dependence on private tutoring. In fact, very common among Asia. Keep in mind that Western social and political values such as democracy, individualism, the equality of the sexes, and national self-determination were only introduced by late 19th century Korean reformers and foreign missionaries, who made profound, affect upon the development of Korean education and cultural values. These concepts have played an increasingly prominent role in South Korean life the last few decades. Have talked to more a half dozen of local design professionals to get a sense of their views on design and art and the changing Korean culture, that’s a next post. Need to catch my flight.

What's The Latest Innovation From Credit Card Companies? It Is Time For Them To Do More. We Need To Have Spend Control Mechanism Embedded In Credit Cards.

Credit card fraud continues to be an issue, for banks as well for customers. I remember 15 years ago they tried putting photos on credit cards, I am not sure why they stopped doing that, that seems to be a simple solution to reduce fraud.

Now they are turning to technology to do the job, but often it solves one problem but creates another one. Think about the RFIP credit card, the idea makes sense since all you need to wave your card at the cashier and the chip supplies the card's number and expiry date through radio waves and print our a receipt. There is no opportunity for criminals to copy it since the card remains in your pocket during the purchase.

Many people have concern over the encryption which causes security concern. You can easily set up a gate antenna to scan people’s car when they walk past. The idea is great for small purchase such as cup of coffee or vending machine etc. Take a look at the chip-and-Pin card which has been standard in Asia for years, it is now coming to the US and Canada. Can the PIN solves the problem? I am not sure.

There are more serious problems than frauds in terms of credit card. It should do more than just a spending mechanism. Should we put warning signs on credit cards the same way we do for tobacco? Why not? Let’s talk about the fraud prevention side, a company in the UK has come up with a solution that allowed us to turn off and on a credit card. Yes, a credit card with switch.

The London based CardSwitch Technology has started offering its credit unions under the name of CardLock. There are still some patent issues with Visa who applied for the patent a year later. Basically the product enables cardholders to define their own user limits and prohibitions and turn them on and off.

And then there are cards that have magnetic strips that can be written upon. The two-accounts-in-one card allows user to press a button to switch the card from one account to another. Second, he showed a security-enabled card that kept both the magnetic stripe and the human-readable number on the front of the card obscured until a security code was entered in.

Here is a cool idea, I think we should explore how a credit card needs to be enabled by a cell phone, instead of a PIN, use the cell phone as a PIN. So if someone steal the data on your card but without the cell phone activation, it will not work. This is an easy solution. The cell phone will also allow real time checking on spending and provide summary of spend and warns you about over spending. With a card (and a cell phone), I can view real-time data on my spending (or the spouse of children). Any warning will be posted on my Facebook page and informing both the account holders and the supplementary card users. That's how to make spending social. I like this idea.

The credit card needs to do more than just making itself secured, it should have mechanism to help people who has less self-control. A lot of innovation is needed here and we don’t see enough.

What Do You Know About Business Model Innovation? People Are Confused About The Difference Between Business Model, Strategy And Innovation.

Most people think they know what a business model is. But when you ask them about the "strategy' then they wondered what they're talking about. Most of the time they mean business strategy (what a company does and how to make money) and use the words interchangeably. That’s fine. Then some people even get more confused when they apply that in innovation context. They mean changing or rethinking the business itself, including its core, boundaries, activities and capabilities. That’s strategic innovation. Business model innovation could be part of the outcome. But let’s face it, how many companies out there need to (and can afford to) rethink their business models?

A company can innovate strategically but with no need to change its business models. After all, there are only less than 10 business models out there, it is not like you can do unlimited creative explorations. At its simplest, a business model simply about exploring various ways to develop, improve or optimize your revenue stream(s) and matching them to your customer value propositions. Here are some examples of how people missed the term: 

Google is probably perceived as one of the most innovative companies today. They are essential exploiting technology innovation and you can say they have created an innovative culture. But there is nothing innovative about their business model design. Selling ads and sponsored links, not different from other media in that case, but there are so many people saying Google has an innovative business model.

And think about Amazon.com, it is an online retailer started with books and now expanding into new categories and even products. OK, it is a pretty innovative company but there is nothing innovative about their business model. They are an online direct merchant even though they open up their channel for others to sell their products and take a cut, that doesn’t qualify as business model innovation. That’s retailing except there is no physical store, just technology infrastructures.

What is Facebook’s business model? Not sure there is one, but so far it is advertising. And what options are available to them, not many. You don't need a strategist to perform a business model design innovation exercise, I can tell you in 5 minutes. I’ve read so much garbage about people running seminars on business model innovation, these are feel business yoga classes for those who knows nothing about real business strategy or Jnana yoga.

I’ve just finished writing 90% of our Innovation and Strategy Training package material, lots of good stuff and we will be using them to help our clients to truly innovate from organizing to planning and activation. These materials can turn anyone with a few years of good general business experience into an innovation strategist in a few days, and smarter than those who write books and articles on business model innovation who are as confused as the people who they talk to.

To strategically innovate or complete redesign of a company business model, first there must be a need, or strategic intent. Driven by a business strategy that forces the rethinking of the business models. Not the cart before the horse. Also one must understand what options exist and the migration paths. Strategic innovation can sometimes include business model redesign in combination with product, service, social, technology and experience innovation.

Not every company need to make radical changes in its core business itself, and in some instances the case for change becomes desperately obvious – as it is in the case of Blockbuster, Kodak, Palm or GM. Business model redesign is driven by of strategic innovation (a strategy to play a new game). This means complete transformation—of the organization, its core offerings, structure, systems, culture and capabilities—to create value in a new way. This include a business strategic decisions to move up-market or down-market or shift from products to services or solutions when the pace of commoditization continues to accelerate or the industry boundaries is opening up for new entrants. Not every company needs it. But every company needs to innovate around their products/service/experience/delivery/technology in order to remain competitive, all without rethinking their business models. My strategy and innovation material includes methods and tools that are rigor and effective, sometimes reading these junks can actually confused me.

What Business Strategy And Photography Have In Common? It Is All About The Decisive Moment.

Marketing of any innovative technologies always encounter one big problem, they are being compared with an older generation of technology and although usually do better in many fronts such as performance and features but there are always those who wonder if the analog quality is better than digital. The argument for analog music versus digital has been going on for more than 20 years and now we’re finally coming to a point where people accepted that digital is equal to if not better from a naturalness and purity of sound perspectives.

The same thing for cameras has been going on for a long time. There are diehard fans that rightfully believe that digital quality still has a way to go. The claim that digital capture vastly surpasses the performance of silver halide material has a strong psychological basis that are not based on facts. The same case for those who loves vinyl records. I was only convinced recently that digital audio has reached a point where they don’t sound digital anymore.

For photography, I think we are seeing that happening now. I’ve seen a lot tests that with high end digital cameras such as a Leica M9 can now favorably be compared with the best ISO 100 emulsions and can hold this quality even up to the ISO400. (The photo above was part of a gallery exhibition of photos, taken at St. Germain, Paris 1988 with my M4-2)

I have yet to test my Lecia X1 which I picked up just last Thursday and see how far it compares to my old M4s. The unboxing experience was a big delight, even better than the iPad or iMac unboxing. The X1 is pretty camera with a good size and the best part is the manual function which works and feels like a film camera. Both aperture and shutter speed can be manually selected in a simple way on the deck and no need to go into navigating through different screens. The X1 has a 12.2-megapixel full size CMOS image sensor and an Elmarit f/2.8 lenses. The 24mm lens equate to 35mm which is great for photojournalism. And unlike the Leica M9 which can only manual focus, the X1 provides auto focus (contrast detect based) and can be live-view through a 2.7-inch LCD screen. The design is elegant. Makes you think why other cameras are so poorly designed with a few exception.

One exception is the Holga. The other end of the spectrum…the cheapest end. Remember the plastic cheap cameras in the 70s. It is really a camera more than a toy. Someone is resigning it and the digital version retains the qualities and simplicity of the original Holga camera and brings back the joy and delayed gratification associated with good old analog photography.

For those people who have no idea what a Holga is, it is an inexpensive, medium format 120mm film toy camera (yes toy), known for its surrealistic effect as a result of poor quality optics and design. 

It has a low-cost construction and simple meniscus plastic and that creates vignetting, blur, light leaks, and other 'qualities' that's unacceptable a traditional sense. But the quality problems have attracted a cult as a creative style. The best part is there is no feature. Yes no feature. I hope there are products in other category that offers no feature. No feature is one big innovation opportunity that everyone misses. Just remember you first hear about that here.

On another note, I missed the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibition in MOMA, I was in NYC almost every week but couldn’t even find an hour to see that. Henri Cartier-Bresson is one of the most original, influential, and beloved master of photography (yes, he used Leicas ony). His work of the early 1930s helped define the creative potential of modern photography, and his uncanny ability to capture life on the run made his work synonymous with “the decisive moment”. The beauty about photography … it is like business, you’re always waiting for that “decisive moment”, the rest of the time is just wait and wait. And when it comes, you have only one shot. So you gotta be prepared for that moment.

Have your Leica ready! And happy July 4th!

The Intersection Of Style And Sustainability Lies Great Opportunities.

I am not sure if Hunter boots are still in fashion, but I do like the look. I always have a thing for girls wearing boots or be specific Wellies. It is less about splashing in puddles and more about the look. Do you know what Lilly Allen, Kelly Osborne, Kate Moss, Samantha Cameron, Liz Hurley, and Angelina Jolie (and my wife) have in common? They all have the same boots.

They were so hot last year and not sure they can sustain that. The first original rubber Wellington boots were produced in Scotland in 1856 and Hunter Wellies were then introduced back in the mid '50s. But only 36 pairs were sold. I see many making the mistakes not wearing them right, such as not pairing with jeans that are slim enough or not matching the right short dresses or skirts.

The next cool thing is a pair of Orange Power Wellies, they are thermoelectric rubber boots that charge your cell phone using heat from your feet. These could come in very handy and also very energy friendly. UK mobile operator Orange teamed up with renewable-energy company GotWind to create the boots, which feature a power-generating sole that converts feet heat into an electrical current. That’s a great idea.

The power collected in the ‘power generating sole’ is collected via a process known as the ‘Seebeck’ effect. I hope they will make one that can power up an iPad with an extended cord, or a matching raincoat with a pocket for iPad. It will take a lot of walking (roughly12 hours) to give a full charge to your phone. We don’t know how much it cost but this is a great example of applying sustainable technologies to our everyday lives.

The idea is not new, Japanese telecommunications company NTT was developing shoes that generate electricity upon movement early 2008. The shoes generate 1.2 watts of electricity— enough to power an iPod forever if the wearer doesn’t stop walking. Unfortunately, the shoes are not capable of storing energy, but they are certainly good for juicing up gadgets on the go. The shoes are powered by small turbines and each shoe has a small generator attached to the water-filled sole, which spins a small turbine and generate power each time the wearer takes a step. Last heard they plan to bring them to market later this year. I hope Apple can design their own iBoots. That will be very cool.