Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes - The Joy of Stats - ...

The 14 Biggest Technology Stories of 2010

It's reflection time again...

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/12/the-14-biggest-technology-stories-of-2010/67958/#

Psych in 2D

Some of the more creative and experimental happenings seem to be coming from basic cable lately. Most recently, USA is attempting to implement a two screen strategy on Psych - one of it's shows that already has a strong social media following. Especially in light of all the co-creation talk last Friday, I'm intrigued to see how it pans out.

Automotive Sector Poster

Team: Sudhindra Chada, Thomas Eisner, Vivek Kandhari, Ankur Pandey, Sumit Raina, Neel Madhvani, Danny Dinu and Rashi Kansal

Healthcare IT Poster

Team HIT: Betsy Carlton-Gysan, Ryan Frank, Tim Hudson, Shervin Riahi Deedar Samant

Hit poster

View more presentations from sherv.

Public Sector in 2015

Public Sector in 2015

Home Grid

Energy Sector Booth 12 Presentation

Team Members: Aaron Bond, Cale Montgomery, Dan Ross, Vishal Suri

Digital Publishing Sector Presentation

Our team's presentation on the Digital Publishing sector can be found here.

Video Game Industry

Health Sector Presentation

Team: Mohamed Ayad, Michelle He, Keith Marple, Simi Sethi, Hamani Franklin.

Verizon versus Handset Manufacturers

We have implicitly discussed relative positions in the network during the course between key players. These positions are not static but dynamic. Here's a diagram that illustrates the dynamics rather simply.

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Verizon versus Blackberry position in April 2009 is very different than now.  Now, how will Apple's rumored launch of iPhone in 2011 impact and influence this in the coming year? Interesting to think about if you are RIM or Palm.

Media & Entertainment Industry

Media & Entertainment

Team Members: Nadja Goschalk, Angela Lee, Anne Morelli, Beth Norris, Sheehan Perera, Sylvie Su, Kim Vo

Public Sector

Google Enters eBook Arena

No one should be surprised, but Google finally made a big entrance into the eBook space with the Google eBookstore. They launched yesterday and are promoting the largest selection of eBooks in the world.

Not only are they leveraging their large collection of free books they have been scanning for years, they are also selling popular new releases. They are taking a different strategy from other companies in that they are selling hardware (at least not yet), and are making content available on all devices, with one obvious platform missing - the Amazon Kindle. Users of the Google eBookstore will be able to use read purchased books on any other device (computer, the Nook, Sony Reader, iPhone, and iPad).

Once again, Google is supporting the open format (the ePub standard, which all other platforms have adopted except the Kindle). It will be interesting if this puts any more pressure on Amazon to support this standard, or if they will use their #1 position to maintain a closed device.

WikiLeaks Struggles

In my research about the New York Times IT Strategy I have been looking at all kinds of online news sources and how the Times can begin to employ their best practices to continue to grow into an interactive and user-focused platform. Some of this research has touched on WikiLeaks, and how interesting it is that user-generated content has been able to have such an immense impact on the community and international news. Now it seems that WikiLeaks is really starting to feel the heat from multiple directions, including a revenue partner.

WikiLeaks asks for user donations for funding, and PayPal was a WikiLeaks partner, assuring users that their payments were safe and secure (and anonymous), but PayPal has decided to discontinue their services siting their acceptable use policy and how WikiLeaks wasn't in compliance.

With all of the issues WikiLeaks is having, I'm wondering what kind of impact losing PayPal will have on their ability to stay operational. Though PayPal isn't a revenue stream, it provides a secure way for supporters to donate, and without that I'm not sure WikiLeaks backers will want to make donations and expose their information, or their identity, to anyone - especially with the questionable current issues with the founder.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/12/04/wikileaks.pay.pal/index.html?hpt=T2

Visualizing IS714 Blog Word Frequencies

access already apple berners-lee betsy better blogthis buzz change cloud comments computing console data diagram e-book eliminate email evolution facebook future gaming google government importance industry innovative live mationg meet mobile open posts ps3 publicity published reflections rfid share simple sir social stefan template terms tim twitter venkatraman web xbox

created at TagCrowd.com

Who needs a wallet when you already have a cell phone?

Wireless carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon are looking to allow customers to simply "tap" their phone to make purchases. Similar in idea to the Charlie Card and Mastercard's paypass system, Isis technology is being integrated into Android, iPhone, Nokia, and Blackberry phones and relies on near field communication technology. The charges incurred will be sent to your phone bill rather than your credit card bill.

Interesting idea, however many concerns remain regarding consumers' willingness to switch, retail location infrastructure (incorporating an Isis register), how much credit will be extended through smartphone devices, identity theft, and the list goes on.

While widespread adoption is expected to take decades, it will be interesting to see what applications will be made available in that time to provide similar services.

Social Media gone to far?

I saw this article and I became a little worried. While the idea of young age learning and connecting to others is very important in child development, I can't for the life of me figure out why it would be important for a toddler to know when another toddler is brushing his teeth. Social media has many good values, but I think this step is at least one too far...

The government has its eyes on the Cloud...

The federal government is making the admininstration's strongest statement yet in support of Web-based computing as it is adopting a "cloud-first" policy.

Clearly the government realizes the fast pace at which technology changes, and with its complex system and usually slow decision-making process, it may make an IT acquisition only to find out one month later that the technology has gone obsolete. As federal officials push agencies to move their data and applications to the web, the number of physical data centers the government uses will be significantly reduced.

The article included comments from a couple key officials in the change process, and it sounded like the decision to move to the Cloud has received quite positive feedback and support.

The federal government will outline more details at an open meeting on Dec. 9.

any publicity = good publicity on Google?

This weekend's NYT had an interesting article about an online eyeglass company called DecorMyEyes, whose thug-like business tactics and on-line notoriety have helped the business move up on Google's search results.

DecorMyEyes has built up quite a reputation online as a dishonest retailer that not only cheats its customers but also harasses them and makes death threats (seriously). Somehow the countless complaints online about the company have been translating to higher rankings on Google search results and DecorMyEyes has been getting more and more business as a result.

Although the algorithm used by Google to determine the ranks remains unknown, a big factor is the number of links from respected and substantial Web sites. The more links that a site has from big and well-regarded sites, the better its chances of turning up high in a search. Google does not want to disclose the algorithm because it is afraid that people will try to game the system, but it seems that at least one business owner seems to have found a way to do that without knowing the formula. The owner of DecorMyEyes was quoted as saying: “I’ve exploited this opportunity because it works. No matter where they post their negative comments, it helps my return on investment. So I decided, why not use that negativity to my advantage?”

This article seems to raise some important points about the limitations of Google algorithms and how the system could backfire for unsuspecting consumers. We'd like to think that there is less information asymmetry as a result of consumer comments and blogs, but perhaps we still have ways to go. On the other hand, maybe this is the way it should be: Google doesn't make any guarantees about the quality of the site it displays -- it just shows the most relevant sites. It's a pretty democratic process, albeit misleading for shoppers. So what's the solution? What is Google's responsibility in a situation like this?

The Google Netbook: An Enabler

A recent article in the NY Times went over how Google is planning on introducing a Google Netbook in the coming months. The netbook is expected to run on the Chrome OS, which as the article discussed, is essentially the same thing as the Chrome browser. Basically, all of our information normally stored on each individual computer will be stored on Google's servers, accessed via the cloud. Google's strategy is to use these netbooks as another portal towards their services, allowing them to make money off of their primary means: advertising. The Chrome OS-based netbook will run only Google web-based applications instead of its competitor's apps (instead of iTunes, a Google based music software, instead of MS Office, a Google-based office replica, etc.).

The article notes one major issue with introducing a netbook is that the market has already changed in the past year from netbooks to tablets. However, I see a few other issues with the idea of the Google Netbook. If all of our information will be stored on Google's servers, privacy issues will certainly come to the forefront (as if they weren't already). Google will have direct access to a huge amount of critical information. I would imagine companies holding sensitive information on their databases would be a bit skeptical in putting such information on the cloud. Another issue is the attempt Google would be making at locking in users to their Web-based applications. Google has been about opening up the web, allowing their open-source model of application development to push their applications above many of their competitors. However, locking out software on their Google Netbooks will most likely drive away customers who like the flexibility of using different software/applications. It could also reduce the value of Google's applications, as developers for the Chrome OS will have less competition to deal with and thus less motivation to improve since the OS disallows consumers to use some of Google's major competitor's applications.

Long Live the Web: Reflections by Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Happy Thanksgiving...  As you relax (or on your flight back), please take a look at this article by Sir Tim Berners-Lee published in the latest issue of the Scientific American.  It is titled Long Live the Web: A Call for Continued Open Standards and Neutrality. I think it is an important read--both in terms of the last two decades and in terms of what the future implications of many of the ideas that we have explored in our course. 
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Best. 

Cloud Gaming....

Ask any hardcore gamer which is better PS3 or Xbox 360 and you will here a list of pros and cons despite the fact that both systems are very similar in capabilities and access to games.

Early on in our MS-MBA classes we saw diagrams outlining the evolution of the gaming industry with all the spokes leading back to the gaming platforms. Cloud gaming may be the next diagram for this evolution. Xbox 360 (and I believe PS3) already offer access to many games online, but these games are generally downloaded to your console's harddrive before you can play them. Moving games to the cloud could potentially marginalize the need for a robust console. The consoles could become simple portals to game libraries with the basic hardware for controllers.

This change would also eliminate the need for consoles to have disc readers to play games. Some computers (including my laptop) have already eliminated the CD-ROM drive. If I need to import/export information, I use the USB or high speed internet.

The question is who will be dominating player in this change. A movement away from the console centric view invites powerful players, previously unheard of in the gaming industry, such as Virgin. They can channel investment and solely focus on building their cloud. Microsoft and Sony would have to slowly transition their users into the cloud or face backlash from their customer base. Console makers will have to make some hard decisions in the very near future or face being left in the dust if cloud gaming takesoff.

Kinect does what?

Although Xbox Kinect only emerged on the market at the beginning of November, hackers have already begun unlocking the controller so that it can be used for different purposes, without an Xbox. The NY Times recently published this story about hackers' alternative uses for the product.

There are a few interesting aspects to this story. First, the 3D images, holograms, and manipulations are really incredible. Another (more relevant) point is that Microsoft has had an evolving response to the tinkerers.

At first, Microsoft said that it would work with law enforcement to prevent product tampering. Since this initial statement, the company's position has changed. Per the article, “Anytime there is engagement and excitement around our technology, we see that as a good thing,” said Craig Davidson, senior director for Xbox Live at Microsoft. “It’s naïve to think that any new technology that comes out won’t have a group that tinkers with it.”

By accepting and embracing these innovative consumers, Microsoft may have recognized that these users are potentially exposing a new edge to its business.

Netflix provides streaming only

This article caught my eye because earlier in the year we had discussed the future of Netflix. Netflix is raising prices on it's DVD subscriptions and now offering a streaming only option.

This is a major step in shifting the organization from a DVD subscription company, to a online based streaming company.

Digital Publishing : Governance

Self-publisher giant Amazon got into hot water when an author self-published this:
"The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure:"

Amazon took it down, but not before it reached *65* on the top 100 ebook list and people raised first amendment issues.

Interesting issues for digital publishing, as traditional publishers--who had more experience with these issued--are replaced by Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Disruptive Innovation in the Advertising Industry

"There's never been a better time to be in advertising," says Aaron Reitkopf, North American CEO of digital agency Profero, referring to the unbound possibilities of digital, "and there's never been a worse time."

The Future of Advertising in Fast Company is a fascinating look at an industry dealing with disruptive technologies and other topics from this semester (even if I didn’t intend to write another “future of” blog post). Even as a neophyte to the advertising industry, I was surprised to read how much managers were struggling to keep up to speed on technological change even in an industry rich with creative thinkers.

The most visible change within the industry has been the proliferation of hundreds of smaller, leaner firms competing with larger, full-service firms that came formed during an era of consolidation. Instead of one holding one agency of record, many large brands are maintaining a portfolio of agencies to meet specific needs (see proposed digital advertising stack). Whereas agencies of record can typically have hundreds of employees or more, these leaner firms can be as few as five employees but have access to 1,500 more through outsourcing. By defining their organization’s edge closer to a minimal, core service of an agency, these lean firms pass on value by first saving through outsourcing (or even crowdsourcing) tasks that were typically done in-house, and not having to manage the hiring and laying-off employees brought about by adding or losing contracts.

In order for the traditional holding companies to have the proper capabilities to compete (especially flexibility), individual agencies are given financial incentives to work together and leverage their individual areas of expertise and bill by the hour (like lawyers). How agencies charge for services and where to put the cash register is getting more complicated, however, as more and more ad content is given away via YouTube, games, apps, etc.

Clay Shirkey notes near the end of the article that large institutions or organizations collapse when they lack flexibility. If advertising holding companies can behave less like an assembly line and more like a platform with a variety of services at its disposal, they stand a better chance at surviving the digital revolution.

Can't Decide What to Wear? Ask Google.

Google announced the launch of it's new fashion shopping site, Boutique.com. There has been a lot of news lately of tech companies charting into each others territories such as Facebook with its new messaging/e-mail service. Now Google is going after Amazon and eBay. Online apparel sales are expected to reach $25 billion this year and as more powerful companies with deep pockets like Google are enticed to capture a piece of that lucrative market, things will undoubtedly get interesting.

Google's famous algorithms once again are expected to give the company an advantage. With the help of exclusive designers and celebrities, Google's algorithms can accurately suggest fashion specific to each user's tastes.

Sour Gr-Apps

Jim Balsille, co-CEO of RIM, recently sat down at the web2.0 Summit and discussed some of the issues he has with Apple and the role of apps in mobile connections to the internet. "You don't need an app for the web." He argues that while there is a role for apps, you can use your existing content assets and tools to enable mobile web delivery.

web20tv on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

It sounds like someone is a little bitter about missing the App bus.

Click for participation

The NY Times ran an article about a new technologies in college classroom: the clicker. Although this technology is not entirely new, its use in the classroom is slowly gaining ground, where each student has one. Professors can poll the class, take attendance, and instantly gauge comprehension of the day's lesson. This may bring the professors closer to the edge of their audience. As a teacher, you typically guess as to how much students understand by their level of engagement in class and your suspicions are reinforced (or disproved) when the tests and papers are corrected. With this tool, teachers are able to quickly identify gaps in comprehension without grading numerous papers. This means they can adjust their teaching immediately. Of course, this means they also have to ask the right questions.

Novell Enters Social Collaboration Space through Vibe

I just saw that Novell has launched a new social collaboration tool called Vibe. From the video and text on its website, it sounds more like Google Buzz. But it looks more formal. Currently, it is open to everyone to join and profiles are public. But if it is received well, I can see Novell rolling it out for enterprises with teams using this tool for collaboration.

yournamehere@facebook.com

I just came across this article today that announced Facebook's entry into the e-mail market. Zuckerberg claims that Facebook e-mail won't be your typical inbox. Rather, it will allow for seamless and simple "messaging" as opposed to "e-mailing". Users will have a running log of conversations and will be able to take advantage of easier sorting features. With many long-standing players already holding strong positions in this space (Yahoo Hotmail, Google Gmail, etc.), Facebook has an uphill climb if it wants to claim market share. Another interesting side note is AOL's recent announcement of its revamped e-mail service, dubbed "Project Phoenix". Even though this market is somewhat saturated, Facebook has a young, loyal and growing user base that may be willing to switch to its e-mail platform.

Google's (or your?) Social Circle

We have been hearing that Google is trying to build some social networking features over its existing infrastructure. Google's CEO has also mentioned that they are not trying to make another Facebook or another social media website. Here is a sneak peak of what Google  is trying to do in the social media area : Social Search. As more and more people get connected to each other, what people read and recommend online will become a critical part of Google's search algorithms. We've always thought of what Google knows about us. If you have a Google account, please visit this link http://www.google.com/s2/search/social#socialcircle to see what Google knows about your social circle. Many ads that we see in our Gmail inbox or even through Google search are irrelevant. Imagine the power of ads based on recommendations and online behavior from your friends. This will not only be a big plus for the online searchers but also for a great revenue source for Google as it improves its click-though rate for ads. This will be put them in a good position against Facebook who, if the rumors are true, is going to launch email service next week.

CIO Talk Radio

I just wanted to share with the class that there is a really good webcast website that features new CIOs from bigtime companies every week. Topics are usually strategy based with dicussions of how their own company is affcted by current industry phenominon (within an IT perspective) or how their company is taking steps to charge head into new IT frontiers. I've really enjoyed listening to it and have researched opinions of CIOs for interview prep with the respective company. Hope you enjoy! www.ciotalkradio.com

Listening to Diane Greene (Founding CEO of VMWare) at HBS Cyberposium

Yesterday, I visited the Cyberposium at Harvard Business School and was just amazed by the list of great speakers from CEO of HTC and Pandora and President of AOL Consumer Applications to general and product managers of FourSquare and Google Admobs. I was equally amazed by the variety of panel discussions such as Location Wars, Future of Touch, The New Living Room, Innovations in Enterprise Cloud Computing and Mobile and Future Gaming.

One of really good speakers happened to be Diane Greene, the Founding Chief Executive Officer of VMware. She talked about the cloud and where it was heading in this day and age. Some of the her points are mentioned below-

• Open Source Stack for the cloud
• Disruption in the storage of information (infrastrucutre layer)
• Cloud datacenters make dumb routers possible (network layer)
• Cloud datacenter run an open source stack model (OS & Hypervisors)
• Shrinked wrapped software on the cloud possible(App layer)

She also mentioned that they are 3 ways for business to enter the cloud -

• Storage
• Application Development Platform
• Multitenant SaaS

The barriers for entering into the cloud are -

• Trust and Privacy issues
• Control (who will control the cloud?)
• Value of Innovation
• Migration
• Vested Interests

In summary, she mentioned the following -

• Large $ are being taken out of IT
• Microsoft, Intel, IBM, Oracle have huge $ reserves to move into the cloud and become leaders
• Tomorrow's large business will start in the cloud
• Tech power will shift to the to the massive datacenters with broad services suite

Better mobile photos

Thinking about the Black's Photography case this weekend, I came across this New York Times article about the trend of developing smartphone apps that help users produce and share better quality photos directly from their phones.

Photo Sharing on the Go is the Latest Hot Investment Niche in Silicon Valley

These paragraphs sum it up:

"A flurry of new start-ups is focused on mobile photo-sharing, some of which plan to make money from local advertising. The smartphone apps transform cellphone photos so they look better, tag them with location data and post them in real time to social networks on phone and on the Web.

"It is annoying to take photos with your cellphone and have them look good and get them off your phone," said Dalton Caldwell, co-founder and chief executive of Mixed Media who previously co-founded Imeem, the now-closed music site. "That solves a real need."

Google V. Facebook

Google doesn't target you in ads. Facebook does. (See here)

Some people think Facebook will replace Google. Others don't lie to themselves.

You can't search the web on facebook and unless their algorithms become better than Google's, it doesn't matter. Your network may get real large, but never large enough to destroy search engines.

Don't worry Google. You'll be ok.

Will libraries destroy the e-book market?

E-books have been billed as the next great thing for books and publishing--they are convenient, attractively priced, and environmentally friendly. But how do libraries, a traditional user of the printed book, adapt to this change? How do e-books fit into the lending model? And will publishers allow libraries to lend them out? Some publishers fear that a lending model will completely unravel the e-book industry and their concerns are very familiar to those who were worried about DRM and the music industry. So some propose lending with restrictions--only use on-site and limiting the number of copies that can be lent at one time. In essence, this tries to recreate the same lending model as for physical books. But is that feasible? Or reasonable? Other publishers are recognizing the need for new standards and are not requiring such stringent controls. Will they still monetize sales? And how?
The bottom line, however, is that libraries only account for 4% of book sales--so would they really be able to make a significant dent in e-book sales?

The AutoBot Takes on OnStar

Back in 2002, a high school freshman named Marc Ingram, spurred on by his father's never-ending complaints of getting into a cold car after a long walk to it, developed a gadget that let his father start his car's engine, lock or unlock the doors, and turn on the heat or air-conditioning from anywhere via his moblie phone. Now 8 years later, Ingram and his new company Mavizon Technologies are preparing to launch the AutoBot, a $299 version of that old prototype that essentially performs the same functions and more. It also does diagnostics, can disable the car remotely if stolen, and can detect a crash and send an emergency notice to friends and family. Sound familiar? Ingram expects to compete against OnStar as well as number of other start-ups offering similar devices.

The device has the advantage of flexibility over OnStar: it can be moved between vehicles, works on most smartphones, and can be controlled from any web browser. Additionally, it works with all vehicle models built after 1995. This provides access to a much larger marketplace than OnStar and provides the necessary value proposition for consumers to pay the initial purchase cost (knowing they can easily transfer the device if they change vehicles). The company does plan to charge a monthly service fee initially in addition to the purchas price, although they do hope to eventually offer a no fee subscription supported by advertsing. The initial cost and service fee will certainly be a hurdle for some consumers, so the services and fucntionality provided with the Autobot service will have to be compelling. An additional negative is that the company does not currently offer a robust support service like OnStar.

This reminds some of standalone navigation devices, which have done very well. I expect there to be a strong demand for products like the Autobot, with those that can offer superior functionality, ease-of-use, and services to win out. Further, those companies that can continue to innovate and add more services (i.e. streaming music) to meet evolving customer expectations will be able to sustain success.

Mobile Health Care: The next 500 million

At the mHealthSummit in DC last week a study was released claiming that 500 million people will be using mobile health apps by 2015. My first reaction to the headline was "what about people who don't have mobile access?" The article quotes U.S. Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra, saying, "It is important for us to knock down bottlenecks and barriers as they come," in reference to cloud computing and increased connectivity. I am curious to see if and how any of these companies that are involved in the innovations in mobile health care (or any other cloud/mobile-related innovations) help close the digital divide, as it would seem to be in their best interest to do so.

Google's Innovative Pay Scheme

Google just announced an across-the-board pay increase of 10% to its employees. This type of pay increase has raised many eyebrows, with skeptics seeing this as potentially promoting unsatisfactory performance and downplaying the importance of those that have performed over expectations. However, as a recent article in The Atlantic suggests, this is not necessarily the case. Google has always been a company that has encouraged innovative ideas from all employees. The problem with encouraging such ideas is that they may not necessarily pay off immediately, or at all, yet promoting a culture of innovation is key for Google. In this way, the pay increase makes sense, since those that have not added value through innovations may add value in a later date, and the pay increase basically provides each employee with a stamp of approval for their work. If pay increases were only provided to those that perform over expectations, then it would disincentivize lower performing workers from spending time on innovative ideas that may or may not provide value. Although Google's strategy would not necessarily work in a company that is more static, in innovation-driven organizations, pay increases like Google's seem to make more sense.

Don't be evil?

Who hasn't heard about Google's big slogan "Don't be evil"? How should we interpret Google's recent move with regards to Facebook? Users, who try to import Google data into their Facebook account are getting the following message: "Hold on a second. Are you super sure you want to import your contact information for your friends into a service that won’t let you get it out?".

What happened to the openness? What will be Google's next step, if user ignore the warning?

Old Meets New - E-Book Rankings

The New York Times recently announced that it would begin publishing a bestseller list for e-books. This is an acknowledgement of how the publishing market has changed recently. According to the article, comparing the first nine months of 2010 to the same period during 2009, e-book sales increased nearly 190% to over $300 million.

This bestseller listing is an interesting intersection of old and new platforms. Including this bestseller list will lead to a redesign of the weekly printed Book Review section.

Although the sales figures are tallied from a variety of sources, it would be interesting if this were a more dynamic best seller that updated in real time (or more regularly than once a week) online. Since there aren't inventory updates to record, sales data for e-books should be available sooner. This could help readers see popularity trends and publishers understand the impact of having authors promote books on certain programs (in terms of an immediate impact on sales volume).

How to Select IT to Incorporate

I watched a video clip on FT today expressing similar idea to Felicia's post "When Should We Not Incorporate IT?".

According to a senior analyst at Gartner, companies should understand IT is a tool and it is the tool designed to produce outcomes. A company needs to know how it is going to grow and how IT can support that growth.

Therefore, it's not necessary to pursue the IT every company is doing, say Social Network. To help select the "right" technology to incorporate, a company can create a hypothesis about how the technology might help it do business and run the experiment. When experimenting an innovative technology, a company might want to be open-minded and not to be too focused on the hypothesis it sets because there is possibility that something might appear in the experiment they hadn't anticipated, which would create great value to the company.

Kik

Kik, a new messaging app for iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry has been growing at a viral rate, having close to two million subscribers in about 2.5 weeks since its launch. The app is very similar to BlackBerry's BBM, in that the messages are delivered in real-time and tells you whether the message has been sent, delivered, or read through different labels. But what's new about it is that it pulls your contacts from your phone's address book and matches it with other users that have downloaded the app so that it gives you a list of "people you may know" -- a feature that has become a hot topic among users in terms of privacy. Also, it's free and supposedly faster than BBM, according to its creator, a former strategist at RIM.

How do you think RIM will react now that BBM and its network effects are no longer a unique selling point for BlackBerrys (which has been the main service featured in recent commercials)?

SapientNitro’s ‘Banking of the Future’

It’s no surprise why e-banking in its various forms has been adopted so quickly – gone are the days of going downtown on Saturday morning to deposit checks and get cash while enjoying free donut holes and coffee.

Sapient suggests branches still exist because for certain transactions, customers feel “human interaction is a critical element of a specific solution.” The forefront of engagement, however, are not branches (primarily used to drive sales additional sales to existing clients) but Personal Financial Management tools such as Mint, Quicken, et al that consolidate, model and analyze a personal portfolio. Sapient argues that these tools work best as standalone platforms, and banks will mostly need to be concerned with B2C and C2C mobile transactions.

Will this movement disrupt the banking technology stack move more engaging products to the top, making “one-stop-shopping” in-effect obsolete? By missing the boat on microchip-embedded credit cards, did US banks leave the door open for more disruptive technologies such as radio frequency, e-payments, and mobile payments? Or, as Sapient argues, can branches leverage iPads, RFIDs, and CRM technology to “develop predictive capabilities so that it can anticipate customer needs and meet them in all-new ways”?