PC Tech World: innovation

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Monday, April 1, 2013

X Prize Innovation Partnership Program gets official, lets companies bankroll breakthroughs

THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION & SINGULARITY UNIVERSITY TEAM WITH DELOITTE TO ADVANCE INNOVATION AROUND THE WORLD

New Alliance Launches the Innovation Partnership Program

LOS ANGELES, CA (March 29, 2013) - Three recognized leaders advancing innovation in industry, education and business have announced a new alliance to spur global development and help humanity solve its greatest challenges. The Innovation Partnership Program (IPP), a three--year alliance of the X PRIZE Foundation, the leader in solving grand challenges through large--scale, global incentivized competitions, Singularity University, a unique Silicon Valley educational institute and business incubator which explores the disruptive influences and global growth opportunities of exponentially advancing technologies, and Deloitte, a leader in human capital, strategy, and operations, and technology consulting services, leverage their respective strengths to drive innovation across multiple industries and business sectors. The announcement was made jointly by Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation; Rob Nail, Associate Founder and CEO of Singularity University; and Marcus Shingles, Partner at Deloitte Consulting LLP.

More than 60 senior business leaders from 30 iconic companies, including Google, Shell, Qualcomm, and Sprint Nextel met in Silicon Valley from March 23--26, for the inaugural 4--day IPP Executive Session, which consisted of a wide array of workshops on crowdsourcing, the rapid advancement of exponential technologies and how to innovate through incentivized competitions. IPP is where Fortune 500 thought leaders came to intersect with Silicon Valley, reaching across global markets to connect the most knowledgeable industry leaders and innovators in a highly curated and unprecedented summit.

A signature element of IPP, "The Path Forward" was a discussion led by Deloitte, based on their 10 Steps of Innovation and Scaling Edges approach for organizational characteristics and adoption of innovation. Other highlights of IPP were seven CEO case studies by crowdsourcing pioneers including Quirky. Recent headlines regarding advances in digital medicine, sensor technologies, and 3D printing were also topical discussions of leading advancements.

"IPP is proof of the amazing and productive dialogue that can result when a group of diverse and daring industry leaders, scientists, entrepreneurs, inventors, and thought leaders come together to discuss innovative business strategies and exponential technologies," said Kian Gohar, Executive Director, Innovative Partnership Program. "We are very fortunate to have such great partners that share our passion and commitment to this unique ecosystem where the Fortune 500 meets Silicon Valley."

"This new era of rapid--pace innovation requires bold thinking and action from all fronts. IPP is about expanding the innovation ecosystem and related capabilities that we bring to our clients," Marcus Shingles from Deloitte.

"It was worth every minute. The exposure to new ideas is remarkably refreshing and different here," said Daniel Hesse, CEO of Sprint Nextel Corp. "IPP brings to mind the words of Wayne Gretzky, 'It's skating to where the puck is going.'"

IPP is a partnership of Fortune 500 companies that includes a biannual summit, with the next one scheduled for September 18--22, 2013 in Silicon Valley. For more information on the Innovation Partnership Program, please visit www.xprize.org/ipp. # # #

ABOUT THE INNOVATION PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM The Innovation Partnership Program (IPP), a joint initiative between the X PRIZE Foundation and Singularity University, is a results--oriented executive education program that teaches exponential technologies and crowdsourced innovation to senior executives from large Fortune 500 firms. IPP seeks to help partner companies transition from "linear" to "exponential" organizations by incubating a culture of exponential innovation within each company. ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION Founded in 1995, the X PRIZE Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is the leading organization solving the world's Grand Challenges by creating and managing large--scale, high--profile, incentivized prize competitions that stimulate investment in research and development worth far more than the prize itself. The organization motivates and inspires brilliant innovators from all disciplines to leverage their intellectual and financial capital for the benefit of humanity. The X PRIZE Foundation conducts competitions in five Prize Groups: Education; Exploration; Energy & Environment; Global Development; and Life Sciences. Active prizes include the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, the $10 million Archon Genomics X PRIZE presented by Express Scripts, the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE, and the $2.25 million Nokia Sensing X CHALLENGE. For more information, go to www.xprize.org, "like" us at www.facebook.com/xprize and follow us on twitter @xprize.

Source

By: Unknown On 10:42 PM

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Samsung's David Eun: ongoing Apple v. Samsung litigation 'a loss' for innovation

David Eun, presently serving as EVP at Samsung's Open Innovation Center after stints at AOL, Google, Time Warner and NBC Entertainment, just took the stage here in Dana Point, California during the opening night of D:Dive Into Media 2013. While the interview was certainly a wide-ranging one, one particular diversion caught our ear. Breaking from discussions on Eun's view of Samsung as a content company, Swisher asked Eun quite pointedly about its relationship with Apple. Eun chuckled a bit, making quite clear that he himself was not the whole of Samsung. While Eun wouldn't comment on the specifics of the ongoing litigation, he did note that as a evangelist of Silicon Valley and a consumer of technology, he views the deadlock as "a loss."

It was actually a pretty candid response, and it was clear from his body language that he truly is less than thrilled that the legal struggles are ongoing. As Eun noted, Samsung makes money each time an iPhone is sold, yet the two companies are indeed competitors on some levels. Eun confessed that he'd simply have to let the lawyers battle it out, but it was quite refreshing to hear a Samsung executive admit what most laypeople have long since believed: that the patent quibbles are hindering innovation on the whole.

We'll be reporting live from D:Dive Into Media as it continues on February 11-12. You can follow our coverage by using the "dmedia2013" tag.

Follow the Saga Apple vs. SamsungSamsung's David Eun: ongoing Apple v. Samsung litigation 'a loss' for innovationFeb 11th 2013 8:23PM

Apple withdraws patent claim against Samsung's Galaxy S III miniDec 28th 2012 3:17PM

German court guns down third Samsung patent lawsuit, plus one from AppleMar 2nd 2012 5:20AM

Samsung details Innovation Centers in San Francisco and New York, focusing hard on software + hardware marriage

David Eun, presently serving as EVP at Samsung's Open Innovation Center after stints at AOL, Google, Time Warner and NBC Entertainment, just took the stage here in Dana Point, California during the opening night of D:Dive Into Media 2013. Given the media / content focus of the event, the conversation between Eun and host Kara Swisher revolved almost entirely on Samsung's role in the world of content, production, connectedness and distribution. Starting things off with a bang, he affirmed that Samsung is opening two new Innovation Centers that'll act as idea accelerators. In a way, this is Samsung getting into the funding game, which certainly adds a new twist to an industry that has largely been dominated by angels that aren't necessarily a part of a major corporation.

Initially, one will be opening up in the Bay Area, while the other gets planted at an undisclosed location in New York City. Eun noted that in the past, Samsung was "focused on manufacturing hardware," but it realized some time ago that you "have to get both hardware and software right." He stated that the company as a whole has been "investing quite significantly over the past few years on software," and turning to how it impacts content, he explained an internal company process that aims to gather insight about consumers. Not necessarily in the creepy, privacy-invading kind of insight, but in the way of discovering what consumers want, but don't yet have in the marketplace. Samsung's David Eun at D:Dive Into Media 2013See all photoswhen.eng("eng.galleries.init")

Eun noted that Samsung is "creating more and more devices that have displays," but stated that there was a huge, untapped potential in this. According to him: "Once [Samsung] connects these devices, we'll have one of the largest platforms for distributing apps -- maybe even ads -- in the world. That is one of our goals." Swisher then asked him if Samsung would be interested in crafting its own advertising network, but he backed away from confirming if the company would go out on its own rather than working with partners. If you'll recall, Facebook found this very same chore far more daunting than it perhaps looked at first blush.

Samsung details Innovation Centers in San Francisco and New York, focusing hard on software hardware marriage

Of course, an interview with a Samsung executive wouldn't be an interview with a Samsung executive without a mention of Apple, and amazingly, Eun opened up just a little. Speaking more as a fan of technology than an employee of Samsung, he called the ongoing patent battle between Apple and Samsung "a loss" for innovation. As a segue from there, Eun noted that Samsung is making concerted efforts to make its products work together with devices and services outside of Samsung -- in other words, it's unrealistic to assume that each consumer owns a Galaxy Note 10.1, a Galaxy S III and a Samsung HDTV. As his own pitch internally, he's toiling to create products that "just work," regardless of what other products are in the mix. It's an interesting view, and an unbelievably intimidating challenge, but it makes us wonder if there are any ongoing discussions behind the scenes regarding standards and protocols as it relates to content and media distribution.

He also dropped a brief mention of upcoming "innovation" in terms of Samsung gear, affirming that its smartphones are perhaps the most important at the moment. Nah, it's not a confirmation that a Galaxy S IV is en route, but it's definitely confirmation that the company has a whole lot riding on whatever it is.

We'll be reporting live from D:Dive Into Media as it continues on February 11-12. You can follow our coverage by using the "dmedia2013" tag.

More Coverage: AllThingsD

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Google backs French digital publishing innovation initiative with €60 million incentive

Google's long had a contentious relationship with France. But it seems the Mountain View-based company has come up with a way to squash that problem: by throwing money at it. Taking to the company's official blog today, Chairman Eric Schmidt announced the creation of a €60 million Digital Publishing Innovation Fund, in cooperation with French prez François Hollande, that will help "stimulate innovation and increase revenues" for the country's publishing houses. And ~~in a move that's in no way self-serving~~ as a gesture of goodwill, Google's also pledging to partner with those publishers to help monetize their digital offerings using AdSense. In the search giant's defense, it had
begun to work more closely with La France back in 2011, even going so far as to create a cultural center in Paris; a city it once described as "one of Europe's fastest-growing Internet economies." So, okay, maybe there's more to this investment than beefing up the bottom line. Now, if only Google could talk to Hollande about the hashtag...
Source: Official Google Blog

By: Unknown On 8:18 PM

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

CES 2013: Sony brings swathes of innovation to new line of handycams

Just in time for CES 2013, Sony has updated its venerable handycam line. A number of key features, unique to its HD cameras, have all been upgraded. Though a few new tricks have also been added to the mix as well.

First, we have a host of improvements relating to picture quality, including Sony's proprietary Balanced Optical SteadyShot. While the system is not new, it's now available across more models than ever before.

Designed for people with shaky hands, the image stabilization system cuts down on the "wobbies" as Sony calls them, and in "virtually any shooting situation."

As for what's new, you have the TRILUMINOS Color system, which produces richer and more natural colors, for starters.

Though it would appear that one needs a TRILUMINOS-compatible display to truly experience the promised expanded palette. Sony recommends one of its Bravia TVs, with support for TRILUMINOS Display.

As for low light conditions, there's the Exmor R CMOS sensor, which claims clearer and more detailed images, for both video and still shots.

And to make ensure that everything is included, no matter how large the vista or crowd, every model now sports a wide-angle lens with less than 30mm minimal focal length.

The audio capabilities of the handycam line also took several steps forward, via Sony's Advanced Sound System and the high-quality external mic on select models. Even options for sharing photos have seen significant strides, such as increased light output and resolution for projector models.

Also, most projector models now offer HDMI input. By hooking up a smartphone, tablet, or PC, the handycam can be used to project videos, still images, web content, even games. And for the first time ever, the handycams will now offer the option of recording HD video in either MP4 or AVCHD formats.

The former should be familiar to most, whereas the latter (which is short for Advanced Video Coding High Definition) is a relatively newer format that Sony co-founded that boasts HD quality, perfect for Full HD TV viewing or burning onto Blu-ray.

A number of new accessories have been announced, by far the most interesting is the ADP-WL1M , a compact Wi-Fi adapter that gives wireless connectivity to the handycam.

With the module, one can wirelessly transfer MP4 files and still shots directly to a smartphone or tablet, along with cable-free backups onto a PC.

There are seven new models in total:

The Handycam PJ780VE includes the Exmor R CMOS sensor, Full HD 25p/50p, Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar lens with 17x extended zoom / 10x optical zoom / 26mm wide angle, Balanced Optical Steady Shot, 35 lumen projector and stereo speakers, HDMI external projector input, advanced sound processor, a high-quality external microphone, electronic viewfinder, manual dial, multi interface shoe, AVCHD/MP4 recording, and is Wi-Fi compatible.

The Handycam PJ650VE includes the Exmor R CMOS; Full HD 25p/50p, Sony G Lens with 20x extended zoom / 12x optical zoom / 26.8mm wide angle, Balanced Optical Steady Shot, 20 lumen projector and stereo speakers, HDMI external projector input, advanced sound processor, electronic viewfinder, manual dial, multi interface shoe, AVCHD/MP4 recording, and is Wi-Fi compatible.

The Handycam PJ420VE includes the Exmor R CMOS, Full HD 25p/50p, Sony G Lens with 55x extended zoom / 30x optical zoom / 26.8mm wide angle, Balanced Optical Steady Shot, 13 lumen projector and stereo speakers, HDMI external projector input, advanced sound processor, multi interface shoe, AVCHD/MP4 recording, and is Wi-Fi compatible.

The Handycam PJ320E includes the Exmor R CMOS, Full HD 50p, Sony G Lens with 55x extended zoom / 30x optical zoom / 26.8mm wide angle, Optical Steady Shot Active Mode, 13 lumen projector and stereo speakers, HDMI external projector input, multi interface shoe, and AVCHD/MP4 recording.

The Handycam CX410VE includes the Exmor R CMOS, Full HD 25p/50p, Sony G Lens with 55x extended zoom / 30x optical zoom / 26.8mm wide angle, Balanced Optical Steady Shot, multi interface shoe, AVCHD/MP4 recording, and is Wi-Fi compatible.

The Handycam CX280E includes the Exmor R CMOS, Full HD 50p, Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with 50x extended zoom / 27x optical zoom / 29.8mm wide angle, Optical Steady Shot, and AVCHD/MP4 recording.

The Handycam CX220E includes the Exmor R CMOS, Full HD 50p, Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with 32x extended zoom / 27x optical zoom / 29.8mm wide angle, Electronic Steady Shot, and AVCHD/MP4 recording.

The new line will be available in the UK starting February 2013.

View the original article here

By: Dilusha On 11:52 PM

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Nintendo legend will continue to throw wacky innovation our way

Virtual Mario control suits on the horizon

Given his track record at Nintendo you could forgive gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto for taking a little rest on his laurels, but the man behind Mario is not ready to give up trying to innovate in the name of next-gen gaming.

So the Wii U is a little, well, confused, throwing more control methods at us than the average airport cockpit, but Miyamoto rightly claims that innovation is as (if not more) important than just making the next Sports/Fitness/Shooting game look shinier and more realistic.

"Whenever we're working on a certain platform, as time goes by, everybody, including the game players, is looking forward to more improved versions of the existing software," Miyamoto told Games Master via CVG.

"However, that's not only the direction that evolution should take," he added. "Whenever we can create a different format, unique gameplay should be another direction where game entertainment should head.

"For example Nintendo Land, which is going to debut with the launch of the Wii U system. We've included a variety of games inside of it, some of them will be able to show the way the future of gameplay might head."

So, we can expect a heady mixture of the monumentous (Wiimotes) and the, frankly, mental (pulse monitors) as Nintendo continues to plough its occasionally wacky furrow as a family focused gaming company.

Via CVG