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iPad Provides New Platform for Touch Screen Developers and Users

February 1, 2010 — Phillip Wright

Apple’s highly anticipated unveiling of their iPad tablet revealed an impressive new device in an as yet unproven product category. Tablet computing has been discussed for several years without yet becoming a major category. E-readers like the Amazon Kindle have had some success with the form factor but address a narrower range of applications than the iPad strives to tackle. However, like the Kindle, Apple has included, and may improve upon, the wireless capability, content partners, and content store business model that have served the Kindle so well. In analyzing reactions to the iPad and assessing what makes the iPad different in important ways, I have settled on one aspect that will allow the iPad to set itself apart and will potentially lead to its success.

The iPad is the first widely available platform that will give users and developers the opportunity to explore large size multi-touch applications. Steve Jobs made the point that in developing the iPad, Apple stands on the shoulders of devices like the Kindle. The iPad also stands on the many shoulders, and benefits from the ecosystem, of multi-touch-trained users, content providers, and applications developers that Apple created with the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Along with their good industrial design, and excellent hardware and software attributes, Apple has consistently been a leader in providing elegant and effective user interfaces. Apple has steadily incorporated high quality input/output devices (displays, keyboards, mice, touch screens) in its products. In recent years, multi-touch input has been a notable feature of Apple products including MacBook computers, the iPhone, iPod Touch and Magic Mouse. No other device designer has had such wide success with touch interfaces.

Apple’s iPad is a bold extension of the touch interface to a much larger size allowing more evolved one hand and two hand gestural inputs. To give earlier workers their due, there have been prior developers that have demonstrated large scale multi-touch devices. However, Apple’s legions of app developers will likely have a field day working to exploit the interface opportunities.

Other ingredients of the iPad may evolve in future versions (cameras, voice, wireless air interface, etc.) but multi-touch input will likely be the defining feature that determines the success of Apple’s latest offering in the tablet category. The continued evolution and success of the touch interface will be validated, or not, by the iPad. Multi-touch on the iPad will be the product’s breakthrough or breaking point. The app store opens the iPad to experimentation by developers and users. I wonder who could have anticipated SonicMule’s Ocarina app for the iPhone and the music potential that has sprung from it.

By creating a larger size, mass market, touch device with a built-in user base and developer community, Apple has enabled its customers and developers to invent the future of user interfaces.

Posted in Displays, Gadgets, News, Touch Screens, User interfaces, Wireless Networking. No Comments »

Klipsch Shines – An Audio and Solid State Lighting Solution

January 6, 2010 — Phillip Wright

At last evening’s “CES Unveiled” press event at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas well known audio equipment maker Klipsch Group, Inc. unveiled their LightSpeaker System. The LightSpeaker System (below) combines wirelessly connected loudspeakers with an LED solid state lamp that can be retrofitted in a conventional ceiling can by simply screwing the unit into the Edison base lamp socket.

Light-Speakers-System

The wireless base station can connect up to two audio sources such as an iPod or compact disc player. The wireless transmitter’s 2.4GHz technology handles up to eight LightSpeakers providing for stereo sound in multiple rooms and the user can set up two separate listening zones. The transmitter or remote will control the sources, zones, lighting levels and volume. The LED bulb is rated for 40,000 hours of use and Klipsch claims the LightSpeaker reduces lighting expenses by 80 percent, using 10 watts to produce light that’s bright enough to replace up to a 65 watt bulb. (We will try to determine whether actual lumen output of the LightSpeaker is comparable to a 65 watt reflector bulb often used in ceiling cans as we do not expect that the US DOE Caliper program will get around to testing the LightSpeaker in the very near future). Further adding to the LightSpeaker’s green credentials, Klipsch points out that the LightSpeaker LED bulb contains no mercury as do compact fluorescent lamps.

A basic LightSpeaker system consisting of two LightSpeakers, a transmitter, radio frequency remote, mini jack to RCA plug cable, lenses and trim, retails for $599. Additional LightSpeakers are available for $249. Although this may seem pricey, Klispsch makes several points in the graphic below concerning the cost effectiveness of their new product.

LightSpeaker Callouts

Klipsch also point out that installation and set up are quick and easy, and that homeowners can take it with them if they move.

While it’s too early to say if the LightSpeaker will catch on in a big way, it is easy to see that smart companies like Klipsch are exploring products that provide consumers convenient solutions for old problems while offering greener products as well.

Posted in Green Technology, Optoelectronics, Solid State Lighting, Wireless Networking. No Comments »

Apple Needs to Hire ‘TexterGirl’ as Next Product Tester

May 8, 2009 — Phillip Wright

On May 5, 2009 my local NBC-TV affiliate ran a story on their website about 18-year-old Crystal Wiski in Northern California who recently sent and received 303,398 text messages in one month (see video below). Crystal’s astounding accomplishment made my family discussions about cell phone usage seem like small potatoes. However, what caught my attention about Crystal’s story was the fact that she achieved this milestone using an Apple iPhone. After having seen the damage wrecked by her fingernail typing on my daughter’s sturdy Motorola non-touchsreen phone, I am thoroughly impressed not only with Crystal’s typing speed, but with the durability of the iPhone touchscreen. When the iPhone launched, many said that the touchscreen virtual QWERTY keyboard of the iPhone would prove to be a major liability when compared to the hardware keyboard of the Blackberry and similar devices. As with so much conventional wisdom, Crystal has shown that users will adapt and achieve high levels of performance and satisfaction from user interface devices that are well designed and just work. Clearly Apple needs to consider hiring Crystal as a product tester to carry out accelerated life testing of their touchscreen products. I can even see Crystal appearing in television ads pitting her against a Blackberry user in a “Mac vs. PC guy”-style ad campaign.

As the battle for cell phone mind and market share continues, we will see more users like Crystal emerge to probe the limits of what’s possible and what’s popular in mobile devices.

Posted in Displays, Mobile Phones, Optoelectronics, Wireless Networking. No Comments »

Will E-book Readers Come to the Rescue of World’s Forests?

February 9, 2009 — Phillip Wright

After attending the 2009 Flexible Electronics & Displays Conference last week and seeing today’s press on the Amazon Kindle 2 (photos below), I have to ask whether e-readers are finally on their way to becoming ubiquitous. The original Kindle sold out and received a great deal of positive press.

A key reason for the success of the Kindle is the inclusion of a wireless means to purchase publications without incurring a monthly wireless data charge. By bundling the means to wirelessly download publications using the Sprint nationwide wireless network, Amazon has made it transparent and cost effective for readers to browse and purchase publications.

As e-readers improve in design, performance and cost, they have the potential to bring many benefits to consumers, businesses, and the environment. Consumers appreciate having a slick handheld e-reader that offers many of the same reading characteristics of printed paper books and documents while providing a means to carry and store many publications in a single device. Students look forward to the day when they can obtain text books in electronic form that are more affordable for use on e-readers that are also affordable and offer lightweight portability. Throughout the print industry, newspapers and magazines are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with electronic media owing to the high cost of newsprint, print production and distribution. The print industry has responded by cutting back on the number of printed pages that they distribute and turning in part to electronic distribution on the web. A key problem going forward is for publishers to reestablish a viable business model. As e-readers come into wider use, the current print industry has the opportunity to migrate to internet distribution of their content as Amazon’s deals with publishers have shown.

Also important will be the availability of more capable e-readers. Plastic Logic is developing an e-reader with a 10.7 inch diagonal display. This week Plastic Logic will announce its prototype e-Reader (photos below) and partnership deals with a number of publishing partners.

A key feature common to many e-reader products is the electrophoretic, or electronic paper, display technology. Electrophoretic displays made on flexible plastic sheets offer black and white display attributes similar to paper, consume very little electrical power, and are rugged by virtue of their flexible substrate construction. Although e-readers using electrophoretic displays such as the E-Ink display material of the Kindle, Plastic Logic, and Sony e-readers have been under development for more than 10 years, the evolution and convergence of market factors, the internet, and the need for greener publishing methods are driving the development and adoption of a new class of mobile device.

Posted in Displays, Green Technology, Investment, Optoelectronics, Wireless Networking. No Comments »

Coming soon to a Phone near You

January 28, 2009 — Phillip Wright

Two new features will soon be coming to mobile phones and portable media players. These features are active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) displays and projection displays (picoprojectors). In fact, the soon to be released Samsung Show phone (see photos below) features both touch screen AMOLED and projection displays in a package only slightly thicker than the Apple iPhone.

Popular Science has posted a comprehensive video illustrating the features and operation of the Samsung Show.

Sony has also announced their Walkman NWZ-X1000 portable media player with a touch screen AMOLED display.

As AMOLED manufacturing technology matures, AMOLEDs will find increasing application in mobile device applications. The increasing penetration of AMOLED displays in the mobile device segment will occur because of their excellent display attributes and reduced power consumption. Moreover, in the lucrative and hotly contested mobile device market, the superior display attributes of AMOLED displays compared to LCDs make AMOLED displays a market differentiating feature. Although television applications of AMOLED displays garner a great deal of attention, small and medium size applications of AMOLEDs will dominate for the next several years as manufacturers work diligently to increase manufacturing yields and reduce costs of AMOLEDs.In contrast, the application of picoprojectors in mobile devices opens up entirely new applications for sharing pictures, videos and presentations. As the photo below of the Samsung Show illustrates, mobile devices with solid communication features will become a pervasive means to carry and share our content.

Posted in Displays, Mobile Phones, Optoelectronics, Wireless Networking. No Comments »

Wireless Industry Responds to Open Devices, Open Networks and the Apple iPhone

April 10, 2008 — Phillip Wright

Three days spent last week (April 1-3) in Las Vegas at the annual CTIA Wireless show provided a solid glimpse of the ongoing reaction of the wireless industry to the Apple iPhone. Clearly, the iPhone is having an impact on the industry out of proportion to the number of units sold to date. The iPhone was the dominating touchstone in almost every discussion. Apple of course does not even exhibit at CTIA. However, nearly every conversation emphasized the ease of use of the iPhone. The undertone at CTIA this year was not about something you could see or photograph. The whole story this year was about usability and the emerging role of open handsets and open networks. The most frequently named product and the underlying unspoken thought were both iPhone.

Handset manufacturers and service providers are all working to respond to the iPhone. Samsung’s new touch-screen phone, the Instinct (below) captured the “Best in Show” Emerging Technology Award at CTIA Wireless 2008. The Instinct also received the Best Cell Phone distinction in CNET’s Cream of the Crop at the event.

Apple, with the iPhone, has turned existing wireless industry relationships on their head. This is particularly so in the US where the carrier has dictated so much to the consumer and device manufacturer. By offering consumers an attractive handset that sets new standards in usability, appeal, and mobile internet browsing, Apple is pointing the way for handset leadership. Initially, Apple launched the iPhone as a very closed platform to make their point and to gain initial market entree. Apple is now orchestrating a phased rollout of a more open platform with the release of their iPhone software development kit (SDK), upcoming acceptance of 3rd party applications, and a controlled means (iTunes store) of distributing “approved” applications. In this way Apple is masterfully doing what the major carriers have not, and don’t yet know how to do without giving up a great deal of control and risking becoming bit pipes. However, Apple, if they continue to execute to plan, have the opportunity to expand their franchise at a high rate and leave nonresponsive carriers and handset suppliers behind in the mind of consumers. Although Apple is starting from a very small base in mobiles, as their large market share in music players shows, their ability to connect with consumers will provide them with a great opportunity to expand the iPhone franchise and their handset market share.

For additional insight, click Comments on CTIA Wireless 2008 to view a few slides about our findings from CTIA Wireless 2008.

Posted in Mobile Phones, Optoelectronics, Wireless Networking. 1 Comment »

WRT Associates Announces New Report on Wireless Device Applications of Optoelectronics

March 24, 2008 — Phillip Wright

WRT Associates (www.wrtassoc.com) announces the availability of a new report entitled “Wireless Device Applications of Optoelectronics.” This report was authored by Phillip Wright, Ph.D., Chief Analyst and Managing Director at WRT Associates, LLC, and Consultant with the Optoelectronic Industry Development Association (OIDA). The Wireless Optoelectronics report package is being made available through WRT Associates, LLC with the cooperation of OIDA. The table of contents, lists of figures and tables, and an excerpt of the Wireless Optoelectronics report is available here: Excerpt Wireless Device Applications of Optoelectronics

The Wireless Optoelectronics report provides a detailed view and forecast of the role of optoelectronics components and modules in wireless devices including mobile phones that currently sell more than 1 billion units annually. The emergence of wireless connectivity in an increasing range of products including digital cameras, mp3 players, portable games, and more is increasing the market opportunity for optoelectronics in wireless devices. In high end wireless devices such as the Apple iPhone, the optoelectronics content can reach 20-30% of the total bill of materials cost. In many wireless devices, optoelectronics enable key features that are highly valued by consumers including large color displays, high resolution auto focus digital cameras, and colorful surface and keypad illumination. The report includes decadal market forecasts for optoelectronic component and module revenue including high brightness light emitting diodes (HBLEDs), image sensors, and wireless device displays by type. The Wireless Optoelectronics report also highlights new optoelectronic technologies and applications that will drive new features in wireless devices. The market roles of Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs), flexible displays, 3D displays and micro projectors, and new optoelectronic enabled user interface devices are also covered in the report. The Wireless Optoelectronics report provides a comprehensive overview and forecast of market growth for optoelectronics in wireless devices and provides a timely heads-up on the evolution of new technologies that will drive the market ahead.

WRT Associates are making the Wireless Optoelectronics report available in a package with 2 hours of consultation with the author to discuss the contents of the report and related topics. Consulting conferences can be held by phone or at the customer’s site at added expense. The report will be delivered electronically in PDF file format and is available now for $1,695 by emailing info@wrtassoc.com or by calling +1-970-219-8800.

Posted in Announcements, Mobile Phones, Optoelectronics, Wireless Networking. No Comments »

Optoelectronics provides flexibility for mobile device designers

February 5, 2008 — Phillip Wright

Mobile devices such as the successful Apple iPhone rely on advanced optoelectronics to provide an improved web browsing and video experience. For example, compared to most smart phones that employ a 2.2 – 2.6 inch QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) display, the iPhone with a 3.5 inch higher resolution ½ VGA (480 x 320 pixels) display makes near maximum usage of it’s front surface real estate though the use of touch screen input and a single button. This design enables a high information content display in a somewhat larger but still compact form factor. The illustration below compares the iPhone with the generic size portable information device (100 mm x 50 mm x 20 mm). The iPhone measures 115 mm x 61 mm x 11.6 mm. The generic size portable device is also shown compared to a deck of playing cards. Note that the generic personal information device (PID) size is very close in size to playing cards, credit cards, and other small items meant to be hand held and carried by humans.

iPhone size

The thinness of the iPhone, while a technical challenge for the display with touch screen and the additional components and packaging, allows for the slightly wider device and makes a strong styling statement.

Advancing optoelectronics technology is giving mobile device designers entirely new ways to incorporate high information content displays in very small form factors. Direct view displays in mobile handsets are always constrained by the surface area of the device. Stowable displays based on new flexible display technology offer one path to overcome this limitation. The figure below shows a flexible display panel using electrophoretic technology developed by Polymer Vision. Polymer Vision small Flexible display technologies like that illustrated above give product designers new opportunities. The figure below shows a wireless device, the Readius phone/e-book reader, developed by Polymer Vision, that employs a flexible electrophoretic display in a stowable form factor. When not in use, the 5.0 inch display rolls up into the body of the portable device which with a size of (100 x 56 x 21 mm) is nearly the size of the generic portable information device (100 x 50 x 20 mm) that more typically sports a 2.5 inch diagonal display. When the user wishes to view the display, she unrolls the display to yield a screen area larger than the portable device form factor when stowed. Flexible and conformal displays will provide future product designers with some very interesting options.

Readius small

Posted in Mobile Phones, Optoelectronics, Uncategorized, Wireless Networking. No Comments »

Bring Down the Wall (Part 4)

November 13, 2007 — Phillip Wright

Now that we know the “Googlephone” is not a phone but rather a new phone operating system called Android, we can begin to forecast how the smart phone market will evolve. As with much in evolution a good deal of time will be involved. But first take the time to look over the videos (a total of 7 videos) posted by Google that describe, promote and generally talk up Google’s approach to penetrating the smartphone operating system space.

Android will have to find a place among the established smart phone operating systems that include Symbian, Palm, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and of course the iPhone. Now that Apple have announced that they will deliver a system development kit (SDK) for the iPhone in February 2008, developers are looking forward to offering applications for a hardware platform with great appeal. The iPhone hardware combines many of the elements needed for a widely popular gadget ecosystem including a large high resolution display and an appealing human interface design. By introducing the iPod Touch media player, Apple has already extended the iPhone franchise to a second product category.The market roles of the incumbent smart phone operating systems (Symbian, Palm, Blackberry, Windows Mobile) are fairly well understood at present and all appear to be upstaged by the iPhone. By entering a relatively crowded market, Android will have acceptance challenges. First, Android will have to gain adequate momentum so that it is not simply one more OS for application developers to write to. Second, compelling hardware platforms must be developed to utilize Android and enable compelling features for consumers and solid value propositions for service providers. As I noted, evolution is slow, but inevitable. The evolution of smart phone operating systems is ongoing and we should see new species emerge by mid 2008.

Posted in Mobile Phones, Optoelectronics, Wireless Networking. No Comments »

Update to “Bring Down the Wall”

November 1, 2007 — Phillip Wright

The New York Times has a good article today summarizing the state of industry policies and market practices regarding “locked” and “unlocked” mobile phones. As we have discussed here, we feel that the mobile wireless device industry approach to the walled garden practice favored by some device manufacturers and many mobile service providers will come under increasing scrutiny from many angles. Consumers and regulatory bodies worldwide are increasingly seeking more open access to wireless devices and applications. When NOKIA, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, runs ads stating “Open to Anything” and “Unlock your potential,” it’s clear that a good portion of the global device manufacturing industry are willing and able to provide more open access to devices. The service providers however take a range of positions regarding “unlocked” devices as detailed in the Times article. Although service provider policies are evolving, a limited range of options are available in many service regions worldwide, and movement to more open devices and networks will continue to be slow. Nevertheless, for those consumers and businesses that would like to see more openness and competition in the wireless market place, progress is being made. Moreover, I expect that progress will accelerate and new opportunities be created as consumers and businesses vote with their feet and their wireless service contracts by moving to service providers with more open market practices.

Posted in Mobile Phones, Wireless Networking. 1 Comment »

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