Videoconference in three dimensions

It’s neither a dream nor something that you find in an amusement park. 3D videoconference, also called 'telepresence', consists on creating a virtual image of the person at the other side of the line like if he or she were in our own room. Some related examples are 3D movies, which anyway are not having the spread of classical movies, probably because the industry is not concentrating their efforts on them, which might be spectacular but difficult to produce.

Some of the main big players in the industry are interested in this platform like Nortel, Cisco, Ericsson, Lucent, etc. If we compare this proposal with existing mobile videoconferencing, it seems there’s no much hype around this service over 3G networks: still not many people using it. However, if we think in today’s global world where lots of people travel around the world for business matters, don’t you think that these advances in videoconferencing can help to reduce the travel necessities and improve the quality of people’s personal life?

Cell cinema

One of the main drawbacks of today's cell phone is its small screen and its limited capabilities when talking about visual content. However this situation is improving. Screen resolution and graphic processors are inevitably arriving to this industry.

There’s a company called Actimagine that patented a video codec that uses low power, therefore suitable for mobile and portable devices. There’s has been a recent launch with a Sony Ericsson phone and it seems that it’s just the beginning of a new era for mobile video. Do you imagine watching films in your while flying in your phone?

Video in your pocket

DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting – Hanheld, there’s for example another version for Satellite) is a technology that enables efficient video transmission over the air. It uses IPDC (IP Datacasting). The idea is to offer a common standard and provide a useful harmonisation for the deployment of the mobile operators. The technology can be integrated in networks such as UMTS.

Video streaming is one of the most characteristic services that 3G networks can offer. The possibilities are quite varied and after the recent success of web initiatives like YouTube, we could say it’s a promising service. Now we should think about the revenue model for it. Users download video for free on the internet, and the industry is already talking about profitable advertising. Mobile video will have to differentiate to offer high quality content anywhere. And how is going to be the acceptance for this offer?

Telecom stars play together

There’s an initiative called Telecommunications Platform Initiative, initiated by Sun MicroSystems in junction with Ericsson and Nokia. The idea is to create a standardized Platform to facilitate the integration of telecom equipment and improve the design, development and supply chain of the networks provided by the networks.

Standardization is fundamental for Telecommunications, and it’s interesting that some of the giants in this world partner to come up with a unique solution. But standards are good also for several other aspects of life. For example, the world is a “babel” of languages, but can you imagine what would happen if not all the world were using a decimal numbering system?

Communications in the sky

Satellite communications are a lesser known means of telecommunication compared to fiber, DSL, wireless, etc. However their possibilities are quite wide. Their have a very broad reach, which makes them really suitable for broadcast applications like Satellite TV. For example, satellite TV is surviving and being profitable despite deploying costs are huge.

But what about transmitting personal communications? The problem is that in this case the capacity is limited because it depends on the number of total communications, while broadcasting uses a fixed bandwidth to transmit data in the downlink. At the same time it requires big power to be transmitted by the handsets… Actually attempts of creating mobile operators through satellites sunk. Now let’s fly with our imagination and think in a future with colonies in Mars and other planets… Then satellites could be the ‘fiber’ that interconnects the world nowadays. Hundreds of satellites deployed in the space acting as repeaters to link planets one to another, does it sound sci-fi?

Collaborate for 'humanity research': it's free!

You may have heard about the SETI project, where it was asked for the collaborative union of the idle capacity of computers connected around the world to analyse vast amounts of information of signals captured from the space, searching for any extra-terrestrial communication. IBM is powering the project “World Community Grid” to contribute to different projects in humanity benefit (including AIDS, genome comparison, cancer, etc.). I have already tried it and the computer performance is not affected, try it!

There’s another curious initiative initiated in a University in Barcelona, where they want to take profit of the high capabilities of the Play Station 3 (20 times bigger that that of a normal computer). They’re researching molecular interactions that are useful for pharmaceutical research, and that requires very high calculation capabilities which become quite expensive. They discovered PS3 power and have started to recruit videogamers which can share the idle time of their consoles while connected to the internet.

Wireless world congress

For the second year in a row, Barcelona has been the host city for the GSM World Congress, the biggest annual event of the GSM Association, which gathers almost one thousand members in the mobile industry. Each year, the main players in the arena dress up to astonish the telecom world: no one can be left behind.

This year one of the main actors has been the content producers and internet companies. Probably operators trust them a lot to boost their 3G networks. Another interesting point is the strong irruption of Chinese manufacturers, while other big players have switched part of their business to other activities more related to IT solutions providers. For those readers that are Spanish speakers, you can check the Vodafone blog for this Congress with some interesting topics. Apart from the convergence happening in this world, what would you expect for the future of wireless communications?

Squeezing the spectrum

A more technical post today: let’s talk about ultra-wideband (UWB). The frequency spectrum for wireless communications is becoming quite scarce, and expensive for some operators… So it’s like a ‘natural resource’ with some slight differences: its amount is fixed and we know it (well, theoretically frequencies are infinitely extended, but other thing is that they are feasible), and their extensive use is not exhausting the resource nor polluting the environment…

UWB uses a very large bandwidth (more than 500 Mhz, imagine commercial UMTS mobile communications use carriers of 5Mhz…). And the more bandwidth tat is used, the more is the throughput. Although this is some kind of tricky because they have to use very high frequencies, and the range is very low Taking into account Shannon limit for the wireless channel, that states that the highest the bandwidth, the lower the signal to noise ratio required for a certain throughput. Also the emission levels permitted are relatively small. Therefore its main use will be for personal area networks.

Be an owner of the web

Have you ever dreamt of owning the web? Do you want to get part of the cake that you generate while web browsing? Now you can do it with AGLOCO. I got to know it when reading to my ex-colleague in Nortel Javier Alvira, now MBA Candidate in Stanford. Actually it’s an idea born in Stanford Business School, the cradle of so many successful internet start-ups.

It works essentially with a Viewbar that is added to the bottom of your browser and allows you to get the benefit from the money generated by your searches, ads, and anti-fraud and other software utilities. The idea is to refer as much people as possible so you can get benefit also from their navigation and referrals. However the Viewbar is not still available, just as a beta tester. It is an original idea, attracting people with revenue, so it seems a nice move...

IP all around us

IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) is a standard for Next Generation Networks (NGN) that will allow operators to offer different multimedia services: video retransmission, PTT (push-to-talk), instant messaging, presence indicator, etc. IMS entails using IP protocol for all the networks, independently of the access. It simplifies the structure so in the application level, there’s more freedom to provide ‘all-platform’ solutions.

Mobile operators are the customers for handset and network manufacturers, which are already offering this technology. And IMS offers them very big possibilities to leverage their 3G networks. And the questions are: how are they going to promote these services to really make them as extensive as possible? Talking about the flat rate model, by the one hand operators seem to be reluctant to impose it, but the market is asking for the flat rate and the idea of making people used to new services through this type of invoicing customers, what would you say?

Cyber Society

Today we have an issue that might open our mind to different reflections and ideas about how new technologies and gadgets are changing our lives. Daniel Goleman is the well-known author of the books about Emotional Intelligence and more recently Social Intelligence. They are two interesting concepts that extend the concept of intelligence beyond the classic one. Both are linked and take into account the capacity of people to capture and manage emotions and social relation in a positive manner.

Now let’s turn these concepts into an application to the Digital Society that we have today, specially in big cities full of noise, rush and computerized systems. In our everyday life we see continuously examples of how people spend more time with their fashionable devices that allow them to listen to music, make photographs or play videogames. Some can argue that internet and seamless connectivity is allowing us to establish relations with people far away and make contact easier. However at the same time, don’t you think that the traditional way of living and contacting with the people we meet everyday in our way, is being put aside and substituted by these machines, our ‘new friends’? Where is all this going?

iPhone comes to rock the coolness world

It's one of the main news in the new year for the telecom and IT sector: Apple finally decided to launch the iPhone. It's a ver cool (and expensive) gadget with the following characteristics: there's an option with 4 GB and other with 8 GB memory, a 3.5 inches tactile screen, a 2 megapixel photo camera, and connectivity through WiFi, Bluetooth and EDGE (GSM based). It's gonna be launched in the USA in June and planned for Europe in the end of this year.

For those of you also Spanish speakers you can find here two opinions from my Master mates Alex and Javier. Personally I see there's a big lack in the connectivity of the iPhone as it doesn't include 3G technologies. I would bet that at least for its European introduction it's going to be upgraded to include 3G connectivity. For example, Nokia N series already have very high capabilities as music reproducers, photo cameras, PDAs and they of course are 3G capable, one year before iPhone landing... Anyway, Apple is clearly leveraging its reputation with the iPod and its high design capabilities. Do you dare to make any predictions?

Low-cost laptops

Reaching already Christmas and New Year’s time, while everybody rushes to big shopping malls to buy the last-minute presents, we can take a look to this news about a laptop that will be sold for 100$!

As you can see in the article, they’re called the ‘green computer’, and it can be used as a normal laptop or as an electronic book. First models are expected to be manufactured in February. MIT and United Nations are supporting the project, and also several high tech companies showed interest on it. Some different questions come to my mind at this moment: after the manufacturing, how do you make that these laptops reach the places that need this? Is all this initiative just a tactic that some companies carry out to get people’s attention? Here comes the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility that refers to corporate activities that respond to their responsibility towards the society and how they can contribute to social actions based on their capabilities. So ho much commitment can we expect from all the organizations involved in this project?

Back to the communications future

Push to Talk (PTT) is a wireless technology that enables peer to peer communications similarly to a walkie-talkie. Do you remember or ever used one? Personally, I remember it as a toy when you receive the walkie-talkie for Christmas for example. Actually they’re initial wireless communications, replacing the rudimentary system made of two plastic glasses and a thread, which could represent our wired communications toy.

PTT is normally a half-duplex (one way) system that allows instant communications between systems, using the carrier’s packet network (actually a VoIP solution is one of the alternatives). It means that you’re only allowed to talk when no one else is doing so, and while pressing the button of your terminal. After all the fancy cell phones with new capabilities that flood the market, don’t you think that this service is like coming back some years ago to ages where you couldn’t contact your friends when they were out of their homes? Anyway PTT is working and it has already been launched in different countries.

Today's library of Alexandria

One of the biggest undertakings of Google is to digitize the books and documents from the most important libraries around the world. This is in accordance with their vision of organizing all the information in the world and making it accessible. Today, only 15 % of the information worldwide is available on the internet, less than what you expected?

The application behind this is called “Google Book Search”. However this is a huge task and not free of complications. Imagine taking ancient printings and manage to scan and convert them into digital documents. But this is also an initiative that aims to give people in less developed countries the possibility to accede to information that maybe otherwise couldn’t because they don’t have a library close to them. And with a computer and a click, you can do it now. But you may think: how Google does business out of this, and are they entering traditional book sellers business? More than that, they’re re-directing traffic to their sites and all this is just quite aligned with their vision stated above. What is next for Google?

Pay wireless

Why mobile commerce (m-commerce) is not boosting and is not being adopted by most users? Cell phone penetration is being very high, sometimes over 100%. So, why users don't really trust on using it instead of credit or debit cards? Well, is it a matter of trust? Security is one of the reasons, but today's mobile networks are quite secure at least like a credit card payment system. Another issue is the amount of places where you can pay with the phone, still not very extended... Also we can talk about the ease of use of this payment method. Is it really easy for not tech-friendly users?

But actually I'd say that one of the main problems is the small involvement of the companies in the sector. There are the shops and the banks, as well as card issuers, and apart from this we have the service enablers. Maybe there are too many players? The key question: would you be eager to pay using your phone, and why?

The TechIE fellowship

This week, I have a more 'personal' post. I'll talk about the Instituto de Empresa Business School, where I'm studying Telecom Management since two months ago. IE is one of the top Business Schools in Spain and Europe, present in the best rankings worldwide. We have decided to start a "Tech Club" there. This is mainly aimed to promote the networking and interchange of ideas about IT and the Digital Business.

One of my friends told me once that he couldn't understand our Engineering, talking about waves that he cannot touch, see,... like the bridges that he may design. Well, that's not magic, that's physics enabling human communication. And around IT there's a lot of business and inter-relation with very different aspects of our life nowadays. As what I try to do in this blog, if you want to know more and understand this world in a simpler way, join the 'community'! Do you dare?

Internet.afr

Today’s post might be a reflection in a loud voice. We know wealth is not equally distributed. And Africa is the main point everybody can look at. It might sound a little futile to talk about internet access in Africa, when lots of people are starving, not having basic Maslow’s pyramid needs covered…

But that’s what I read in this article, and just the first phrase shows us the great digital divide: African users must pay 90 times more than US ones! Not fair at all, in that way for example, how could they be able to access online education? Maybe that’s still a too far objective… but education is basic for the progress of these nations and to confront the evils that happen there. And that doesn’t mean that a bad usage of internet could bring more evils… Although the primary task is to ease accessibility to people, after they get more food first…

Users rule the web

Probably, if you’re reading this, you ever used Second Life, or LinkedIn, or MySpace… Also you may know that then you’re part of the web 2.0. Basically, we could consider that web 1.0 is the way we used internet since its beginning, being a passive receiver of information, while now we can become a very active part of the web.

And all this is creating a wave for new businesses and new models. Most of them have online advertisement as one of the main source of income. And they are also looking for other sources of revenue. Or course some are asking for membership fees, or special services charges. Would you be willing to pay for one of these online social networks and what is the extra value you get from this decision?

Wide Wireless World

What do you want wires for? It’s not only that they occupy a space in our room, house, etc, neither that they are not the most fashionable way of decorating your house… It’s also that you can go to spend the afternoon to the park and have connectivity to anywhere in the world with your laptop and your phone for example.

Doesn’t that sound great? Well, it’s still in developing process. The reliability and speed of today’s fixed lines (DSL, cable, etc.) cannot be comparable to the wireless ones. But soon wireless technologies such as ‘Beyond 3G’ and WiMAX (although still to be proven their feasibility) will hit the ground.

A new technology has appeared into the scene: xG, a low power and long range system. It’s said that it transmits data 3 times faster than other technologies, at the same power and frequency. As WiMAX, it needs still to be proven… Have you heard of other broadband technologies apart from the standardized ones?