Fight For Innovation!

I almost confront the issues of innovation in a daily basis. If we are to keep 10 people in a room and ask them to discuss about this, we would get 11 opinions and thats not a joke!

mabile et al (1996) propose: “All innovation begins with creative ideas . . . We define innovation as the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization. In this view, creativity by individuals and teams is a starting point for innovation;the first is necessary but not sufficient condition for the second”. (p.1154-1155)

 

In the fast paced business world, the key differentiator for many organizations is how they manage to innovate and stay ahead of the market space. Yet everyone is struggling to hit that right formula to encourage innovation in a highly structured and formal setup like organizations. Can one really define a process for innovation? Its all about bringing in an assortment of random experiments to hit the right nail. Frankly, what works for me may not work for you! Sadly, one may ignore the finer nuances of the organizational culture and dynamics. Yet, those are the factors that encourage or stifle experimentation in a professional set up. All we have are broad techniques and tools: be it mind maps, six hats, lateral thinking or brainstorming, ultimately it all depends on the people who are applying them!

If I had to think of my two cents on this, innovation as a word sounds quite like a jargon, especially after hearing about it so much in corporate context! If I have to apply it to myself, being creative in thought is going to define innovation in personal context.

So many times, I find people getting stifled by the structure looming over their head to realize their personal passions. (Passion and innovation go hand in hand as the most often misquoted words of the century esp. in the corporate context!) We may hunt for various reasons as to why this structure is not conducive or we can embark on a single experiment to do what we love. What’s your pick?

Think of what difference Creativity @ Work brings in professional life. It makes you visible, alive, vocal and that reflects in your attitude and expression. Being Creative always brings self satisfaction and recognition! I can’t really comment on the level of freedom of expression in the corporate context, yet I believe that being creative beats boredom! So fight for yourself, for goading that inner sparks, for innovation and for being Alive!

Connect to Desktop with your Mobile!

Remote Desktop for Mobiles gives you the unique ability to connect to your desktop computer through the mobile phone and interact with it remotely. Along with the remote desktop that you can view on the phone display in real time, you can execute mouse and keyboard commands using the phone’s joystick or buttons. Besides, the Java client for usual Web browsers allows remote accessing from any other computers with various Web browsers and OS without installation of additional software.

Using Remote Desktop for Mobiles, you can send and receive mail, browse the Internet, edit a document in a word processor, copy, cut, paste files or folders and do hundreds of other things that you typically do behind your home or office computer. The intuitively transparent interface, simple navigation and the list of commonly used options fully compensate for the inconveniences of mobiles. On top of all this is the strong encryption algorithm that guarantees the highest level of data transfer protection.

Teen Buzz and Teenager Repellent!!

Teenager Repellent?

Ever heard of it? Mosquito is launched as a is a teenager repellent – an ultrasonic device that emits a sound only audible to teenagers. Click here to read about the details!

In the Company’s own words:

“The Mosquito ultrasonic teenage deterrent is the solution to the eternal problem of unwanted gatherings of youths and teenagers in shopping malls and around shops. The presence of these teenagers discourages genuine shoppers and customers’ from coming into your shop, affecting your turnover and profits. Anti social behaviour has become the biggest threat to private property over the last decade and there has been no effective deterrent until now.

It seems that there is a very real medical phenomenon known as presbycusis or age related hearing loss which, according to The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, “begins after the age of 20 but is usually significant only in persons over 65″. It first affects the highest frequencies (18 to 20 kHz) notably in those who have turned 20 years of age”. It is possible to generate a high frequency sound that is audible only to teenagers.”

Now comes the most interesting part!!

Teen Buzz!

Well some of our smart teens have recorded the ultra-high sound – audible only to under-20s- onto their cell phones, and are now receiving calls and text messages in class – without teachers having the faintest idea of what is going on.They call it Teen Buzz, and it’s spreading it from phone to phone via text messages and Bluetooth. Seems like a new market is blooming in there!

Future of Ringtones….????

Its time for a new concept called Alert tones. Several wireless operators are expected to introduce musical “alert tones” — a snippet of a song lasting between two and five seconds, that users can assign to play when they receive incoming text messages and voice mail, similar to a ringtone.

Endtone seeks to replace the beeping that occurs when a call has been dropped, concluded or otherwise disconnected with a musical alert.

PhoneBites, has a service called Razz that enables phone users to insert audio clips into active conversations, outgoing messages and voice mail. Well, is there a limit to personalization?

Want To Show Who Is Calling?

What if people could see who you are talking to, or at least get an idea? Would you love to wear your heart on your sleeve? Well, here comes the answer! DotDotDot is a wearable display that connects to your mobile phone and is triggered by your communication. Dotdotdot connects to your phone over bluetooth. designing animations requires a java application. Once you’ve saved the animations to your friends numbers, then all you have to do is call.

Skype Over Mobile!

SoonR Talk empowers you to make Skype calls all over the world from your mobile phone. The User is no longer tied to thePC. Its a great application which conferences you and your buddy using Skype and requires the SoonR client on the desktop and a data plan on the mobile. International calling is never this economical!

Also check SoonR Desktop, which enables a user to remotely access his desktop through his mobile. What more, it works even when your PC is off! Interesting application, isn’t it?

Interactive Advertising!

DAEM Interactive is a software company based in Barcelona which develops “augmented reality” technologies for camera-phones which include an image recognition platform focused on mobile marketing and advertisement campaigns. Their technology identifies advertisements photographed by users and sends back related multimedia contents.

Brands and advertising agencies get to boost their marketing campaigns and promotions without having to make special developments or changes, maximizing their budget. And for users, it’s as easy as taking a picture. Users can interact with brands in a non intrusive way, where and when they want to, by simply pointing their camera phones at an ad (magazine or billboard) and clicking. Then, they can MMS the content to the DAEM server and DAEM software enables them to interact directly with the information and access the contents they are looking for.

Well, the service is based on an interesting concept, yet it needs to mature in the offering. Can this offering be enhanced to offer details just by pointing the mobile over the Ad? Can it host interactive polling, commenting and messaging? Looks like its a long way to go!

Integration of Telecom and Textile via Bluetooth

Mobeeline is an emotional mobile service based on wearable technology. The basic focus of this service lies in stimulating people’s emotions with an interaction between mobile and wearable technology, and to develop a social network service between friends.

The main goal is to create a wearable Bluetooth accessory that can receive data from a mobile phone. For example, let us assume that there are two mobile phone users. One user can send operative directions to the other’s clothes as the user wants. Without the two users having to meet, they can share their feelings and emotions by sending signals to each other’s clothes. Using our service, they will be changed the colors of each others garments, certain patterns or they can send emoticons to LEDs on the garment.

Check out Mobeeline for further details!

Well, the question still remains, do I want to wear my heart (rather my friend’s feelings) on the sleeve?

Mobile Visual Search!

Imagine how simple it would be if you just take a picture of something with your Mobile and search it via Internet. It would take the search engine and online shopping to the next level and enhance the comfort factor in our life.

Check out what Nevenvision and Mobot got to say over this.

Much like the Photo2Search project being developed by Microsoft Research Asia, a new cameraphone-based image recognition service called “Search By Camera!“ is promising to help consumers acquire info on products by simply snapping a picture while shopping.

The Calling of the Virtual World!

When did I ever dream that I would be able to create a virtual life out of imagination? Well with second life one can do lot more. U can live an entirely different virtual life on the web and even trade your creations, sell the land, dress your virtual person and do lot more. Click here to check the recent story line in BussinessWeek about the implications of this virtual world on Teens.

Pondering over the implications, I am just amazed over the possibilities and the opportunities offered by the virtual worlds. Looking at the darker side, I am worried about the vanishing blur between the reality and the virtual life styles and the new levels of addiction it may span in teenagers. For now, let’s bask under the sheer optimism and the engagement of the creative geniuses across the world!

Face Recognition in Photo Search

Well, that’s what http://www.riya.com promises to do. Well, in simple terms that means that I can tag my friends and relatives and can search through those volumes of photos to catch up on exactly whom I wanted to see. Sounds cool!

Mobile Scaner!

Ever been lazy to jot down the notes from the white board or a document? U may discover a friend in ScanR. Scan, copy and fax with your camera phone or digital camera. scanR uses advanced imaging processing and data extraction technologies to convert photos into legible, searchable PDF files. With Document Tagging, where each document sent to scanR is tagged with the keywords extracted from the text on the page, ScanR enables easy organization of documents to facilitate quick searches using Google™ Desktop or other desktop search tools.

Click Here to Get the Details.

nThrum

Well, here it goes.. You landed at New Delhi Airport and can’t make out any sense of the Direction Board. What do you do then? nThrum has got an answer for that. Just focus on the test and search. Its as simple as that. Using nThrum, one can focus his mobile on any text in the real world and search that text on the web. Sounds easy than typing the whole thing in Google! It comes as a free ware to be downloaded onto a mobile phone. What more can one ask for?

Click Here for More Details!

Click on the Real World!

Sounds surprising, isn’t it? Well that’s what http://www.geovector.com/ promises to do! GeoVector enables a User to point their mobile phones at various public spaces to get the details of an object, to buy the tickets of their favorite show, or engaging in multi party gaming with friends by incorporating a GPS component. Well, its called life empowered by technology!

Build A Bear!

A retail chain which allows children to create their own teddy bears.. well, sounds interesting isn’t it? I have always liked to hold a lovely teddy, and the fun just doubles if I can design or personalize or create that dream teddy in my mind! A very perceptive insight into human nature made this Build-A-Bear Workshop retail chain a roaring success.

Click here to catch the details!

Welcome to my Quest for Innovation!

Working in an ideation lab, I thought its high time I would chronicle my curiosity over the innovation multiplying in the world around me. Innovation is the necessary dynamics of the business and its quite well needed for the survival of the organizations in this fierce battle field. I hope to salute the innovators in this blog world, who stand to the Goliaths, changing the rules of the game.

Here is the link for my Quest for Innovation!

Maverick by Ricardo Semler

I came across this book in a library and am tempted enough to pick it up. I got strong recommendations from my friends who have read this book. As I read it, I am absolutely fascinated by the industrial transformation that has took place in Semco.Semco is a Brazil based traditional pump manufacturing company under the leadership of Ricardo Semler. And, what a leader! Ricardo Semler fired 60% of the top management the day he took charge of the organization in 1980. He like to call himself as a Catalyst and I could see how he has done that effectively. He treated his company workers as adults, instilled in them a sense of pride and let them lead their life and in fact the company too. Moreover, he installed a culture that inspires freedom and let it evolve on its own. He is not one of those types who lead from front but then he is always there when the organization has steered away from the path by being a guiding hand.

By letting the workers decide on the things which influence their life, he paved a way for loyalty, experimentation and innovation. Free from the rules and dogma, workers were encouraged to experiment. At Semco, everyone became an entrepreneur on their own merit. There are flexible work hours, satellite programs, circular organizational structure, factory committees and so on. It paves way for self-regulation and self-responsibility and all that springs from trust. Its truly an inspiring book which talks about a new ideology and brings out a radical perspective about the industrial production.