Tag Archive | IT
March 29, 2015  

Why Samsung Gear is not completely a success ?

iwatch gear

In less than 1 month, Apple will launch its Apple iWatch. And the question is : will it be a success?

This is always difficult to know if a new product will be a success or not … But there is 1 thing to understand when we launch a new product : what are the main failure of the competitor products?

And Samsung Gear, the main competitor is not completely success. Do you see nowadays, in the subway, in the street, people with the Samsung Gear Watch? … And the problem is not that the Samsung smartphones are not the leader, isn’t it? In 2013/2014, the average Worldwide market share of Samsung was about 30% ; in January 2015, nevertheless, the market share was reduced to 20%, decreasing from 30% (in ratio).

But, nevertheless, Samsung with Samsung Gear is the leader of smartwatches sold in 2014 with 1,2 millions of units.

Is people satisfied by their smartwatch ? … No!

3 main topics are not relevant for the Samsung watch:

  • Autonomy : with 1 day of autonomy, you always have to recharge the battery of your watch … And if you are using your connectivity at the maximum, it is less than 4 hours …
  • Apps: there is not a lot of usage for the Samsung watch : we are speak about 20 to 30 Apps, and not all of them are good
  • Connectivity: with Bluetooth, the connectivity is not good and not secure …
  • Sensors : camera, sound, … nothing incredible ! Less than a smartphone !!!

With Apple, what do we know:

  • Autonomy : 18 hours … probably in the same condition as Samsung ; in full usage of connectivity, 3 hours … as rumor said !
  • Apps : 34 Apps advertised on Apple Store for the moment ; and nothing that seems to be a revolution. What is the real interest to have a new connected object with a computer inside with so few Apps. To be dramatically upgraded!
  • Connectivity : with Wifi in addition of Bluetooth, we can expect better connectivity, more secure than Samsung … Nevertheless, this connectivity between a smartphone and a watch will remain via Bluetooth … This is only connectivity with public Wifi area that could accelerate the connectivity; not so sure that it will be sufficient !
  • Sensors : no revolution compare to Samsung Gear ; how to measure diabetes, arterial pressure, temperature, virus and batteries overview  … and more!

To conclude, Apple could probably sell around 1 million of iWatch in 2015 … but not more than Samsung Gear in 2014. You will not see 100 millions of iWatch sold, as for smartphones.

Why? No revolution of this object …

What could be the future of the revolution ?

  • Autonomy : 1 month, 3 months, 1 year or … without any recharge! How to do that: reduction of energy usage by 10 or 100 by thinking the OS differently than for a smartphone. And use the energy to recharge with heat of the skin, solar and moving of the hand. If the autonomy is not the same or better than for a non connected watch, what is the real interest to
  • Apps : minimum of 1000 Apps to have a real added of these connected objects with connection to bank, credit card, insurance, police, hospital …
  • Connectivity : without 3G / 4G direct connection with military encryption is a must do for this type of objects
  • Sensors : measure of health situation is a must do

Of course, Apple iWatch will not be completely a failure. And having 1 million of iWatch sold this year is not so bad. But this is not the revolution that Apple is pushing with its marketing. The connected revolution is not really ongoing with this object ; Apple just not would like to be outside the competition.

And the real revolutionary smartwatch remains to be invented with, this time, a lot of innovations. 

January 15, 2014  

Check the computer without touching screen!

Leap Motion

Check the computer with hands and without touching the screen ?

Zoom , change the page , edit an image using gestures or eye recognition? With its American futuristic technology , Leap Motion , a start -up , has embarked on this adventure. Inspired by the virtual control used by Tom Cruise in the movie Minority Report , the Leap Motion technology is a small box . Once connected to a computer or a TV, it will allow any direct through hand movements remotely.

HP , Google … they want Leap Motion!

In 2013, the U.S. computer maker Hewlett Packard announced that it signed a contract with the start up Leap Motion to integrate a solution for 3D control in its computers. A few days later, Google celebrates Earth Day and Google Earth Service offers a new way to discover the world by enriching the Leap Motion technology. Integrated to whatever robot, Leap Motion technology , in the service of persons with reduced mobility can revolutionize their lives.

The case is available for purchase and costs about 80 euros.

See the Leap Motion web site : http://www.leapmotion.com/

April 1, 2013  

Why is there less women in IT between 80’s and 2010 in USA?

WomenITUSA

In the early 1980s, women accounted for just over 37% of all US college students earning bachelor’s degrees in computer science. By 2010, that percentage had fallen to a little more than 17%, according to latest available data from the National Science Foundation.

Sheryl Sandberg is calling on women to be more assertive, or to “lean in,” as she writes in her book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. The book comes out at a time when women are significantly under-represented in US data centers.

Last year, women held only 26% of the jobs in computer-related occupations, up from 25% from 2011. That slight uptick notwithstanding, the overall number of female IT professionals has declined steadily since 2000, when women’s share of the computer-related jobs pool hit a peak of nearly 30%, according to the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT).

Sandberg’s book has been criticised for its focus on “changing the women rather than changing the system,” said Jenny Slade, communications director at NCWIT. “But frankly, if she’d written a polemic on institutional bias in the workplace, she’d have been criticised for painting women as victims.”

Kim Stevenson, vice president and CIO at Intel, one of 24 female CIOs in Fortune 100 companies, said her company’s success in increasing the number of female employees in mid- to senior-level technical jobs since 2004 isn’t a fluke. Stevenson noted that Intel offers mentoring programs and opportunities for network-building for women – activities that Sandberg champions. The Women at Intel Network has 22 chapters.

Stevenson doesn’t share Sandberg’s view that progress for women has stalled, though she agrees that more can be done.

Karie Willyerd, vice president of learning and social adoption at SAP, said that unflattering stereotypes, like the depictions of engineers in the popular comic strip Dilbert, may have discouraged young girls from thinking about IT careers. But recent moves by building block maker Lego and other companies to create products aimed at exposing young girls to engineering could begin to change the cultural message, she added.

Related articles