What Does 2,000-Times-Faster Broadband Look Like?

It ain't just about pink pixels. From innovation to infrastructure, a new breakthrough from across the pond could have far-reaching, super-fast implications.

How fast is 2,000 times faster? Is that, like, Michael Johnson-with-a-rocket-strapped-to-his-back-while-running-downhill fast?

An idea that researchers at a Welsh university are busy working on goes a long way toward illuminating this idea--and what it means for the future of, well, nearly everything.

The Bangor University scientists have successfully increased broadband speeds by this amount using very similar tech to that currently in use, with limited cost impact. Let's count the (super-high-speed) ways this could change our lives.

First, a lightening quick history of Net data rates

Remember the bad old days of dial-up Net and then the arrival of fast, wired broadband DSL? Download speeds went from a snails pace tens of kilobits per second to all the drama of galloping horse, with speeds of hundreds of kilobits per second.

On dial-up you could check your email, have a chat via AIM or surf an often text-based web. But live online gaming could only work for slower-paced strategy games due to low speeds and the latency between moves being updated, and downloading even a low-resolution movie took forever (a 700MB film would've taken about a day to download).

With DSL broadband, image-rich webpages could be glanced at and surfed past because they downloaded in seconds and then you would move on and play World of Warcraft with thousands of other people in near-real-time. At typical DSL speeds, a 700MB movie could be downloaded in just about the time taken to watch it. Skype, and other streaming video services like YouTube were enabled. Pink pixel websites (ahem) that cause such consternation to some began to be among the web's most popular destinations.

Now home fiber broadband systems are available, and they offer speeds of hundreds of megabits per second, thousands of times faster than dial-up speeds. Web pages on browsers thus download almost instantaneously, and acquiring a gigabyte sized update to your computer's operating system is something that can happen quickly and quietly in the background. A 700MB movie file downloads in minutes, while you simultaneously check your mail or FaceTime someone.

The ultrafast broadband home

But the Bangor team's effort, which involves some clever signal processing and a similar kind of laser-and-fiber optic setup to today's home fiber systems, can pump up to 20 gigabits of data per second down the fiber. That's roughly a million times faster than dial up speeds.

As the BBC points out this is speedy enough to download a full HD movie file (not just a compressed low-res 700MB version) in just 10 seconds. This is one of the first reasons you'll be wanting ultra-fast broadband in your home, but it's only partly about current generation TV.

An iPad screen already far outperforms HDTV in terms of sharpness and resolution. And this precedes the next wave in home entertainment--4k television. A 4k TV screen is 4000 pixels or so wide, versus the 1280 of an HDTV, and that means it can show cinema-quality video. But thanks to this size, each frame of the video needs so much more data that it'll push even fiber Internet tech. That's where next-gen broadband will come in.

Ultrafast broadband could also make video calling a reliable full-resolution process free of glitches, and that could transform habits like telepresence. Why commute to the office, when you could have a live big-screen video chat with your office mates? And, indeed, 3D video could work if you needed a more immersive telepresence system.

Also remember that in a few years many previously inanimate objects in your home will be connected online in the "internet of things." My home already has 14 networked devices, each supping data over broadband...but that's going to increase when we're able to Google to find our car keys. Indeed at an innovation conference this week a Philips representative said he expected 50 billion devices to be online by 2020--six times the global human population. Ultrafast broadband would enable more of these devices to share your home connection, and also for more data to be sent to and from each one at a faster rate.

Business as unusually fast

While some may quibble about the absolute details thanks to the source, there are many studies like the recent one by network equipment maker Ericsson that correlate broadband speed with economic boons. This particular study of 33 OECD countries suggested that for every doubling of broadband speed results in economic changes that boost GDP by at least 0.3%, which equates to roughly $126 billion right now.

The reasons for this are manifold, including faster and more efficient data moving within a company's corporate systems, better real-time access to consumers and clients, faster payment processing and so on, and all of these would be boosted by faster Net. Wall Street is already busy chasing toward millisecond-scale trading, and it's impossible to quantify what benefits would arise from 2,000 times faster networking--though they'd be large.

Infrastructure fixes in no time flat

Ultrafast broadband solutions like this can also have benefits in behind the scenes technology you'll rarely have to think of--the giant mess of wires and computers that your broadband supplier needs to get data across the world to your home, place of work or smartphone. By speeding up data transfers, the Bangor system could lower infrastructure costs and thus indirectly lower end-user costs. It could also future-proof the system against the burden of installing more conventional servers and fiber to cope with ever-increasing data consumption.

When you read news like AT&T's plans to spend $14 billion on broadband and wireless infrastructure for current-gen tech, spread over the next three years, you can see how important a large-scale infrastructure saving could be.

Best of all, systems like that proposed by Bangor can be more tolerant of errors and low quality fiber, which improves network resilience and again can lead to lower costs. And the capability for using less machinery to achieve faster data rates has an impact on energy consumption and thus the carbon footprint of a network.

Innovating at the speed of now

There's something of a push for faster broadband access across the world, and even government bodies from Scotland to New Zealand are playing their part. This interest comes from perceived benefits in terms of economic stimulus and perhaps even better government 2.0 services. Labor party spokesperson Richard Baker has even been quoted as saying that Scotland's current plan is not only about boosting small businesses and better use of cloud computing for big data, but that "high speed internet was all about having a socially inclusive society, in which no one is left out of the equation."

But governments will leap at ideas like Bangor's because ultra-fast broadband could lead to more innovation... in a sort of "if you build it, they will come" style. We may not even be able to imagine what these innovative new businesses and services will be like yet, in the same way a dial-up consumer in the 1990s would have a hard time imagining Instagram.

[Image: Flickr user jurvetson]

Source : fastcompany[dot]com

The Rise of the Engaged Enterprise

A pervasive lack of focus is epidemic in today’s workplace, and this shouldn’t come as a surprise. According to the New York Times, the average American worker consumes 34 gigabytes of information and reads 100,000 words in a single day. At the same time, employees are constantly shifting their attention; computer users change windows or check email and other programs an average of 37 times an hour. Multitasking is no longer an art but a norm. 

Distraction is one of the most destructive forces facing businesses today. This lack of engaged focus rapidly erodes a company’s productivity, but it doesn’t limit itself to employees alone. Disengagement has an equally negative impact on key audiences like customers and partners as well.

The Risks of Distraction

Customers: Your customers are confronted with more competing messages, more options and more distractions than ever before. More than 30 billion apps have been installed on mobile devices, where people are spending 94 minutes a day — even more than the 75 minutes they’re spending on the web.

Employees: With additional email overload, internal instant messaging platforms, social media platforms and open work environments, employees are bombarded by distractions throughout the day. When an employee doesn’t remain focused on the job at hand, they find themselves forced to work longer hours, later into the night and on weekends to compensate. This can quickly lead to burn-out and disengagement. Accord to Gallup, 50 percent of employees today are disengaged at work, costing U.S. business US$ 300 billion per year in lost productivity.

Partners: The same distractions tugging at our customers and employees are also impacting our partners. Beyond the obstacles mentioned above, partners are struggling to keep up with the training and products of every OEM they represent. Partners are asked to take training courses, register deals and connect with customers, all while trying to keep their heads afloat. Our partners are suffering from an understandable lack of focus, and companies that become complacent about their partner networks are inviting significant risk.

The Elements of Focus

Having realized the importance of keeping audiences as focused as possible, businesses are making every attempt to achieve focus. When looking at examples where focus is regularly achieved, we find a common set of elements that include:

• A clearly defined goal
• A system of measurable progress leading to that goal
• A notion of status against achieving that goal
• A reward for reaching the goal

The focus concepts of goals, progress, status and reward aren’t novel; they’re often used concepts that appeal to the human psyche (e.g. Frequent Flyer Programs). But today’s games target more digitally sophisticated players and therefore require a more intricate and involved playing field.

Putting Games to Work

Just putting basic elements in front of individuals isn’t enough. Over the past several years, a growing number of businesses have started investing in gamification technologies to bring focus mechanics — goals, progress, status and rewards — into their digital experiences.

Gamification helps businesses engage with customers and motivate employees. By applying the same principles that inspire people to play games to websites and other online experiences, businesses can dramatically increase the size of their audiences, boost customer engagement, drive deeper employee motivation and increase revenues.

In effect, businesses are transforming themselves into “Engaged Enterprises,” a term that refers to leading-edge companies that are successfully engaging every aspect of their organizations into cohesive, collaborative, loyal and focused communities. These companies, such as IBM, Cisco, Jive and Bluewolf, are characterized by highly active, loyal and focused customers, employees and partners and they realize that through the adoption of gamification technology, they can gain a competitive advantage across every spectrum of their businesses.

 

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Source : cmswire[dot]com

iPhone 5 Smashes Pre-Order Records, New Kindle Fire Out Now

       How busy are the credit card exchanges today? Early reports suggest the iPhone 5 sold out some 20 times faster than the iPhone 4S managed, while anyone can now get their hands on a new Kindle Fire HD tablet from Amazon.

Going, Gone

The first shipments of Apple's iPhone 5 smartphones have sold out some 20 times faster than for the previous model. While that is a pretty meaningless statistic, the practical fact is that shipping times are now up to two weeks past the launch date (21 September) for new orders. If you've missed out on the first batch, be prepared to wait. 

After the keenly-watched launch, and despite the negative press, it is the consumer who is the ultimate arbiter, and it looks like they're voting in huge numbers with the pre-order stock selling out in around an hour, as opposed to just under a day for the iPhone 4 and 4S launches. Remember, if you're left twiddling your thumbs, iOS 6.0 will be available on 19 September to give you a taster. 

Go, Go, Quick

If you want some new hardware today, then Amazon is shipping its new Kindle Fire tablets, unveiled earlier this month. The high-selling rival to Apple's iPad, the new model ups the power stakes with a HD model and gives the company a handy head-start on Apple's mini-tablet, which should be unveiled next month. 

While Amazon doesn't make much money on its tablets, it rakes in the cash via content sales and Amazon's massive loyal user base. Apple's loyal fans on the other hand seems happy to upgrade tablets at will and the new model should easily boost the 86 million plus iPads that are already out there. And at a new price, there could well be many new buyers. 

Certainly, both are likely to find their way into Amazon and Apple "families" with multiple devices in the home. As this trend evolves, both will have to come up with new ways for multiple users to share the same content, which will be a neat trick to pull off, as users look for better features and not just new hardware. 

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Does The Customer Hold All The Cards? #socialintel2012

Gone are the days when your product would sink or swim based on brilliant packaging, placement and promotion. Here are the times when you must provide something of distinct value to start with, then tackle the challenge of convincing the world that the value is real. Marketing practices no longer peddle a product that scratches an itch; they present a collaborative approach to meeting people's needs.

Talk About Idealistic …

Consider the impact of word-of-mouth on your company's reputation. Social media has, according to Sally Falkow of Meritus Media, increased the effect of it by tenfold, a statistic which is easy to believe.  The assertion is that doing otherwise would lead to imminent failure, because organizations are powerless against the momentum and reach of social media. The only valid response to this is to be an honest, open, transparent, helpful company with an excellent product. Be as reactive to your customers as you are proactive to potential concerns. Or die?

Does that not seem a little dreamy to any other realists (ok, cynics) out there? Do you still not encounter thriving companies who don't play the game? While many companies can recognize and pontificate on the common issues within their industry, do they not still seem to fall into the same exact traps? I mean, that's what makes them "common issues."

Are You Buying Into It?

We will all agree that the salesperson, as we remember him or her, is extinct. It's an antiquated (if not romanticized) notion of being slick enough to close the deal. "The deal" doesn't exist anymore either —we're selling real value and honest interaction now. We aren't in the business of persuasion. Or so the thought leaders at Social Media Intelligence Conference would like us to believe.

I believe we've been cornered and a bit bamboozled. We're forced to take more direct and immediate action to appease consumers, but we're also appeasing the industry that couriers those consumers to our doorstep. I've experienced enough ambivalent disregard for my appreciation from any given corporation to believe that statistically speaking, they still don't care about me. The odds that I'll be an influencer with enough reach to disrupt their good name in the media are slim. And should I turn out to be a fly in the ointment, they must either recognize the inevitability of that event or believe they can stunt it.

It seems to me that proactive authenticity is more of a pontification than a practice. What do you think? Does the transparency of Twitter and Facebook demand complete honesty from a corporation? Is there a noticeable trend towards equal engagement between you and the brands you buy into? Or is the social landscape just another place to be neglected, patronized and placated?

About the Author

Matt emerged from a crashed meteor some 30 years ago as an unrecognizable species. Thanks to brilliant innovations by Stan Winston, he is able to walk around in a very human-like state.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Marketing vs IT: Who Drives the Customer Experience? #BMAthriving

For many organizations, their definition of customer experience falls into a customer support department heavily staffed to keep wait times for call centers low. But that’s missing the mark.

Customer experience truly stands as the one way to create a lifecycle story for customers across all channels. And with today’s über online customer, marketing spend has geared up to outpace IT in technology to get the right infrastructure in place. In fact, if Gartner research is any indication, CMOs will have larger IT budgets than CIOs within the next five years.

That was the discussion at a recent Business Marketing Association (BMA) regional conference in Denver. Designed to facilitate conversations between marketing and IT executives, the agenda included insights from leaders in customer experience, as well as experts in content marketing who help keep customers engaged across all channels.

Forget the Warm Fuzzies

Customer experience isn't just a feel-good tactic; it's a foundational element in acquiring, serving and cross/up‐selling customers. Marketers have to understand how to design the customer experience, enable it and use it to grow value because today, it’s the experience that defines organizations. There’s a big difference between problem solving for customers and creating delight. Customer support addresses the former while customer experience delivers the latter.

But to create a truly meaningful customer experience, companies have to be prepared to measure everything they do throughout the customer experience lifecycle, from strategy to delivery. Doing so requires a solid foundation in technology because it’s metrics that create understanding around where and how often a customer engages and then generates the ability to create a consistent experience across all touch points — social media, apps, email, a phone call, click-to-chat and so forth.

With the plethora of things and ways to measure customer experience, panelists talked about the need to simplify measurement. One approach is Net Promoter Score (NPS). NPS simplifies data collected into one number that can be tracked over time, reported quickly and allow for adjustments in processes rapidly.

Creating Digital Conversations

Since customer experience is intended to create meaningful relationships, one of the linchpins for making this happen is content.

If you expect customers to keep coming back to you, it’s because you have content that matters to them. Content creates conversations, but it has to be a two-way street. Some companies focus on listening to customers, which is an indisputable first step. But there also has to be a point when they engage. How would you feel if you were at a cocktail party and someone followed you around all night but never said a word? Creeped out, most likely.

Once you have your content marketing plan and platform in place, companies have to resist the urge to control the conversation. Communities want to interact, to comment, share perspectives and openly criticize what doesn’t work. That’s hard for some companies to stomach. But authenticity is a big part of the customer experience and building engagement.

Looking Ahead

Customer experience is a challenging world and will continue to become more complex over the next 24 months. In looking down the road, the panelists spotlighted some key trends:

 

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Source : cmswire[dot]com