3 Advances that Could Revitalize the Mobile Device (iPhone 6?)

Assuming the series of purported iPhone 5 leaks are accurate, the new device will be similar to the 4 previous versions, doing little new to differentiate the physical device. This got me thinking – what could they, Apple or any device manufacturer, offer that would be differentiating?

What makes a breakthrough product is generating something truly new, truly differentiating and something people genuinely want. It’s hard work. Apple did it and the rewards have been great. But what's next? The iPhone design is getting long in the tooth - no?

To get a consumer to stop using something they are comfortable with and replace it with another product requires that the new product be 10-times better…not slightly better...10-times better. Switching costs for consumers is quite often that high. So if you’re RIM you have the task of creating a device 10-times better than the iPhone to get customers back. A tall task. Breakthrough innovation is an opportunity today and be it from RIM, Apple, Samsung, or anyone else it could well drive the next wave of device adoption.

Differentiating in the mobile world is getting more difficult by the day and a major breakthrough hasn’t occurred since the touch screen (my view!). Below are a few ideas that together would create one hell of a device – one that I’d switch to regardless of who made it…


1) Projection Screen. All devices are restricted by screen size. A large mobile screen is more useful but more unwieldy to carry. A small screen is easier to carry and more convenient but offers less user experience potential. Why not embed projection into the device? Make everything and anything a screen. To make it a more valuable experience the projected screen could be enabled for gestures – a touch projection.

2) Projection Keyboard. Most of us prefer a full size keyboard – or as close to it as we can get. A mobile device can't offer it, although most users have accepted the touch screen keyboard alternative to physical keys. Enter the laser projection keyboard. When you have the room place the device in front of you and it projects a full size laser keyboard.

3) Embedded Gyro Stabilizer. Gyroscopic stabilization, meet the mobile device. If Dean Kamen can invent gyros that can move people around, why not one that can hold your mobile device at your desired angle? Place your device on the table at a 60-degree angle that is comfortable for you to view and watch a movie or get to work.

Imagine the potential to build applications if you had a full screen, full keyboard, and a gyro stabilizer (and perhaps a  3D accelerometer)? This is not the talk of Star Wars - all these technologies already exist. Of course this wouldn't be easy to do and most of the current technology is too large to embed. That’s the challenge. That’s the break though opportunity...


A rough sketch of how it would look. Anyone care to build a proper image of this device?

 

Sources:Pico Projectionhttp://www.dlp.com/pico-projector/phone-projector/http://www.microvision.com/technology/picop.html

Keyboard Projectionhttp://celluon.com/products/laserkey1_3.htm?sm=2_1

The New Age of (Business) Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs once reigned supreme on earth completely ignorant of any force that could bring about their end. Until, Boom! It was over. I look around the business world today and see dinosaurs roaming all around in abundance. Far too many fail to recognize dramatic changes that threaten the extinction of their enterprise despite the warning signs, the available tools, and access to information like never before. While there are obvious examples (Borders, Blockbuster, Circuit City and soon to be RIM) the potential for inertia-based extinction is increasing every day for all businesses.

Today’s prehistoric landscape.... How to recognize if you’re a dinosaur:

1. Have you built scenario plans based on changes in consumers, technologies, and economic factors?
2. Do you utilize tools to collect, monitor, and analyze evolving customer wants and needs?
3. Do you base decisions on strategy, product development, and services on customer data?

Unless you can answer the above with a resounding “yes” it’s time to get to work! WARNING: Do let your gut instincts, your last few customer discussions, or your many years of experience lull you into believing the above does not apply to you – these are traits of the dinosaur.

What events threaten your existence today?

1. Consumer technologies provide a collective voice. Consumers reference that voice to judge your product and brand. You can’t spin or market your way out of it.
2. Getting the word out on a product or service has traditionally been a barrier to entry. This is no longer the case with social channels and powerful online shopping malls like Amazon.
3. Technologies enable new business models that create competition never imagined.

The good news is that every threat is also an opportunity. If you are willing to listen with an open mind; if you focus maniacally on exceeding expectations before competitors; if you are willing to change the way you build, deliver, and price your products and services; if you are willing to break every traditional mold of your business and industry – you can and will thrive.   

5 Imperatives for Your Business in 2012

Act now – your competitors are.

The combination of new technologies, new consumer expectations, and increased globalization offers business a unique opportunity to improve customer value and exploit weaknesses of competitors. These trends also enable competitors to exploit your weaknesses if you are complacent to them. The 5 imperatives below are driving new business models, creating tectonic market shifts, and serve as the foundation for business growth in 2012.

1)  Get intimate with your customers.

Collect and analyze, in real-time, the information that is being shared on exploding social channels everywhere, as well as sales trends in your channels, and behaviors and preferences displayed on the web by your customers. Customers are giving you a focus group’s worth of information every day – find it, collect it, and get connected to stay ahead of their wants and needs.

2)  Make every customer facing employee a genius.

Every customer interaction is a moment that can make or your break your business (some more than others). Treat every interaction as an opportunity. Empower every employee with the tools they need to take advantage of these opportunities. Allow them to answer more customer questions, respond to more customer needs, and provide more value to the customer. In the case of a mobile workforce - extend information and applications to their mobile device to support customers on the fly. Example: a cable installer having full access to a customer’s account information on a mobile device so to offer a complete account service during an install.

3)  Make your buying experience amazing.

Amazon pioneered the new experience online by adding one-click ordering, easy and intuitive site design, and serving up recommendations based on insights from views and purchases. In a physical sense, Apple re-invented the in-store shopping experience (no need for more detail). These examples have raised the bar for consumer buying forever. Your requirement, regardless of your business model, is to dramatically improve your buying experience. Make your product or service easy to buy. And don't kid yourself. Make items easy to find, create one-click or one-swipe to buy, simplify product information and provide easy access to it, enable faster checkout, integrate your storefront with the web and mobile, open up all communication channels to customers – social, video, text, e-mail, etc.

4)  Connect silos of people and information to unleash your value.

Regardless of your industry or company size, you have departments or roles that are to some extent silos – this is how every business is organized. You have sales, procurement, HR, supply chain, finance, engineering, service, marketing, etc. Each organization has information that, if connected with information other departments, would add new value to your customer offerings. You must create an atmosphere, deploy tools, and establish a cadence of sharing information of potential value. There is a competitor out there working an angle that your silos are preventing you from seeing. Don’t let that happen.

5)  Make your value chain seamless.

For any product or service there is a value chain for the customer. For example, a TV provides entertainment value. The value chain for a TV includes the R&D, the suppliers delivering the parts to the manufacturing facility, the distribution system, and the store it’s sold in. All these items allow the customer to buy and enjoy the value of the TV. What you want to do is make this supply chain transparent to the customer. In the above TV value chain example all of these items are transparent. However the value chain is not complete. When you buy a TV you need to figure out what wall mount will work, what wires you’ll need to plug it in, and you need to actually install it. This completes the customer value chain. Every business needs to evaluate their value chain relative to their customer. Make it more complete. Make it more seamless.

In today’s dynamic environment inertia is the enemy. Evaluate every core assumption in your business. Are you making, delivering, pricing and selling your products or services the way customers want? Or because that’s the way you’ve always done it or worse because it’s the way everyone is doing it? These 5 imperatives clear the way for the winner in your market – will it be you?

Act now – your competitors are.