New platforms, new networks – the Internet of Things starts to become real

By Michael Coté


There’s a host of new platforms and networks that seem ready to (finally) pan out for technology companies and their user-bases. These new platforms are mostly new devices, but they’re also new software development & delivery platforms as well such, commonly put into the category of Platform-as-a-Service, or PaaS, which lead to the applications delivered over those platforms. The devices here are essentially computers in different form-factors. Whether its delivered over the web or through a device, the applications operate in highly networked scenarios, favor consumers over business users, and are geared around using internet native (or 'cloud', if you wish) applications and services.

A host of highly networked and dependent platforms are emerging and available, lead by the ongoing adoption of Internet-based applications in mainstream life and a renewed interest in the smart phone market thanks to the iPhone. While cellphones (or 'mobile') are the current focal point for much of the conversation here, other devices are just as capable and look to be picking up interest and speed. The end-users for these platforms tend to be more consumer-centric. Business has found itself trailing consumer technology of late because IT has been forced over recent years to concern itself with security, compliance, and the culture of careful change instead of focusing on using technological innovation to make more money for The Business.

With the rise of websites like Facebook (with a reported 350 million users) and Salesforce (with 55,400 corporate customers, and 1.5 million individual subscribers), usage of the web as an application platform has gone beyond the document-centric, email, retail, and even desktop-to-web applications that marked the first large part of the web’s life. These larger web sites have started to open up their platforms for third party extensions and even application development, creating the cloud category of Platform as a Service.

Newer applications are not always web-based, but still layer on-top of the Internet. They may still rely on web technologies, but many of these new applications are building their own user interfaces, sometimes require other devices (like iPhones or tablets) and are distinctly not “web native.”

The majority of technology companies that should be servicing these new devices and networks are still geared around contemporary web servicing and on-premise offerings, both in software and systems. This is little wonder, as these companies are solidly pinned down by he shackles of success: servicing traditional IT departments. Many are in the process changing, but are not ready to deliver right now.

Associated Link: More: New platforms, new networks – The Internet of Things starts to become real

Passwords that are Simple - and Safe
Source: MIT Technology Review, 29 July 2010
 
Researchers at Microsoft have come up with a way to create easy-to-remember passwords without making a system more vulnerable to hackers.

Coercing people into a Brave New digital World
Source: Spiked, 27 July 2010
 
Does a government-backed campaign to get the entire UK adult population online threaten to make cyber slaves of us all?

iPhone 4 one month on – A user experience and functionality success, despite antenna issues
Source: Webcredible, 26 July 2010
 
Webcredible Senior Consultant, Abid Warsi suggests that the impressive functionality and user experience of the iPhone 4 is enough to overcome the widely reported technical issues, thus proclaiming the device a big success.

Darwin City Council Website - Australia’s Most Usable!
Source: Loop11, 24 July 2010
 
Darwin City Council came out on top in a recent website usability study of Australia's capital city councils. The aim was to discover which of the six council websites was the most user friendly and usable.

Digital Design Jobs first to experience Growth
Source: UN, 23 July 2010
 
The marketing and design industry in the UK is seeing strong signs of renewed confidence, according to the new European Market Eye report from the industry’s specialist recruitment consultancy, Aquent.

Usability at a Glance
Source: usability-ed, 22 July 2010
 
Something interesting and useful to print out and stick on your wall.

Google may know your Desires before You do
Source: New Scientist, 21 July 2010
 
In future, your Google account may know your birthday and anniversaries, consumer gadget preferences, preferred hobbies and pastimes, even favourite foods. It will also know where you are.

Closing the Usability Gap between Enterprise Applications and Consumer Web Applications
Source: Integrated Solutions for Retailers, 20 July 2010
 
New White Paper on Workforce Management and the increasingly ancient software which controls it.

Collect Words, not just Numbers with Feedback Analytics
Source: CMS Wire, 19 July 2010
 
Tracking visitors’ behaviors online can help us understand how customers use a site - but what if you could actually ask each individual a question? That’s what Kampyle aims to do with its feedback analytics tools.

Back to the Future...
Source: ZDNet, 17 July 2010
 
Always a popular sport, comparing the PC with the motor industry is as relevant as ever.