标签: Innovation

The top technology companies today are engaged in a fierce battle with each other to control the emerging connected world of Internet of Things from wireless charging, smart home, and driverless cars.  The impact is likely to be felt far beyond as the technology powerhouses such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and others expand into areas far beyond the traditional realm of high-tech.   The powerful electric cars of today, like those from Tesla, in some sense, are just computers on wheels. In fact, in a recent post, Tesla CEO, Elan Musk made a similar comment (see http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-musk-computer-on-wheels-20150319-story.html). Taking this argument a bit further, it is easy to see why technology companies at the forefront of software, hardware, and mobile phones are now, more than ever, driving impressive innovation in the automobile arena. Google, Apple, and others are all working on developing next generation cars. Apple’s success in designing phones is likely to transfer very well to cars or any other domain where aesthetics and user experience is likely to drive the purchase decision. Could there be lot more competition for automobile companies in the near future?  Even if these companies only develop technology and leave the actual production of cars to the big automobile companies, the automotive ecosystem is set to change fundamentally in the coming years.   Let us consider the disruption caused by companies such as Uber, Airbnb, and others in the taxi business and the hospitality industry, respectively. These technology companies are fundamentally altering the notion of ownership and transforming businesses that had more or less remained the same for decades.   From music to movies, from advertising to publishing, from logistics to shipping, just a few companies are transforming the way we live and conduct business. Consumers today are increasingly not only consuming content entertainment and communicating / interacting with each other using technologies created by these high-tech companies but also using their products and services in all spheres of their lives. These same companies are also investing heavily in RD to accelerate innovation and create even more products and services that are likely to have even bigger, direct impact on our lives in future. 

如果时间充裕的话，TI的员工Stephen Holland可以轻松地自己动手打造一辆汽车。 事实上，他现在上班驾驶的这辆电动汽车就是由1996年生产的本田思域所合法改造的，此前这辆车还被他改装成了一辆赛车。 “我对汽车了如指掌，而从某些方面来讲，这已经不再是一辆本田轿车了。”TI硅谷模拟（SVA）办事处，电源管理解决方案（BMS）部门的高级应用工程师Stephen说道。 然而，这并不是Stephen第一次大展身手。 Stephen从上高中的时候就开始摆弄汽车，不过他第一个真正的DIY成果是为一辆1978年的Camaro轿车改装一个小缸Chevrolet引擎。 “我喜欢那种将某个东西概念化，然后进行研究，最终完成它并成功实现既定目标的感觉，”他说。“没有什么比成就感更美妙的东西了。” Stephen于2002年加入美国国家半导体 (NS) ，担任首席应用工程师一职，主要负责汽车蓝牙远程信息处理器。后来，他开始负责主动式电池均衡芯片组，这也是NS实验室在2008年面世的第一款电池管理产品。 他已经成为电池管理方面的专家，甚至创造了TI Design中的“14通道主动式电池均衡电池管理参考设计。” 毫无疑问，他也将这一技术应用在了他的本田思域轿车上。 关于这辆本田思域轿车 在比较了各类全新红色手动挡两厢车后，Stephen于1998年购买了这辆本田思域轿车。虽然当时汽车经销商告诉他已经售罄，但他随后发现了一款行驶里程数很低，并未经任何改造的1996年DX。 数年间，他对这辆车进行多次改造，希望它能在安全行驶的同时发挥更出色的性能。” 他说，“我最终带着这辆车参加了汽车越野赛事，而思域本来也是最理想的选择。从悬挂到引擎再到内饰，我对车辆进行了全面改造。遗憾的是，这辆车很快就不能合法的在加州上路行驶了。” 因为刚刚组建家庭，Stephen对这项高消费爱好的热衷度也慢慢淡了下来。另外，思域自然也无法同马自达Miatas和斯巴鲁WRX等车型竞争。 他说，“另一个原因就是油价太高，我决定把这辆车变成不错的通勤工具。所以，我必须再次使这辆车能够合法上路。” 由于那时他正在为主要的原始设备制造商设计电池管理集成电路 (IC)，Stephen灵机一动：“也许我应该打造一辆属于自己的电动车。” Stephen花了几个月的时间，设计出了以下组件： 51x 160Ah Thundersky LiFePO4电池 在来自科罗拉多柯林斯堡的TI员工Francis Houde和John Kircheofer的帮助下，Stephen 设计了TI EM1401评估板。此电路板全都使用TI的产品来提供5A主动式电池均衡。 14通道主动式电池均衡电池管理参考设计 1000A水冷DC电机控制器 在200hp、250ftlbs的情况下最大功率约为150kW 汽车净重2900磅 汽车仪表盘改造为Android ODROID仪表盘，以及显示实时功率、电压、电流和每英里耗电量的7英寸触摸屏。 Stephen在7月底完成了改造，从那时起，他几乎每天都开着这辆电动车上下班。目前这辆由他改造的电动车已经在加州通过了车检，并获得了电动汽车牌照。 “现在这辆车再也不需要接受尾气检测了。”Stephen说道。 在大约80英里范围内，这辆电动车的行驶里程最近已经超过了4500英里。相对于他的那辆F150小卡车，Stephen已经节省了超过1000美元的油费。 这辆本田的操控性能怎么样呢？Stephen表示车辆的操控性与他期待的完全一样。 他解释道，“我已经在auto-X赛车活动中对车辆的悬挂做了重大改动，但是现在作为一辆电动车，这辆车的平衡性更佳，重心也比以前更低，因此操控性能也得到了极大的提高。” 《电子技术设计》网站版权所有，谢绝转载

Over the last few months, The Next Silicon Valley has worked closely with various innovation and science park conferences around the world, and noticed the distinct absence of India from much of this – yet Latin America, Africa, Russia and China were well represented. This could be interpreted as meaning India is on top of innovation and doesn’t need the world to tell it how to do innovation and hence they do not need to meet their global peers. In addition, recent reports on India as a potential ‘fallen BRIC angel’ in a Standard Poor’s report, as well as its low ranking way below all the other BRIC countries in the global innovation index released by the business school INSEAD, seem to suggest India is losing its charm on the international stage. But on the other hand, we keep hearing about India’s relative success in creating ‘frugal innovation’ where innovative solutions are developed at low cost or with limited resource, or by trimming all the ‘bells and whistles’ from a product or service to address a specific need at lower cost than might have been previously possible with a more complex product or solution (an example is the Chotukool fridge, a top-loading, compact and portable cooling solution weighing only 7.8kg with no compressor, but running instead on a cooling chip along with a fan similar to those used to cool computers). And in The Next Silicon Valley ,  a paper has just been published outlining a vision of innovation in telecoms, internet, media and edutainment, with examples of how some of this is already being implemented in India (for example offering a PC in the form of software as a service and wellness apps technology – see below). In addition Sam Pitroda, adviser to the Indian Prime Minister for public information infrastructure innovations, made a rousing speech to the Indian diaspora at TiECON 2012 in Santa Clara, CA, USA back in May of this year, calling on all the Indian technology entrepreneurs in the audience to go back to India and help in whatever way possible to ‘come back to India’ and impart their knowledge to Indian entrepreneurs and creators of the innovation ecosystem back in India. His message was that India needs all the help it could get. And only in the last few weeks, India’s Prime Minister said that he is dedicating something like US$880 million a year towards making India an ‘innovation hub’. The Indian PM wants innovation to address the issues of poverty, health and environment rather than focusing on the needs of the rich. “Innovation can be a game changer to move from incremental change to radical change,” he said.  The government has set up a National Innovation Council headed by Sam Pitroda to draw up a national innovation road map. The government has also agreed to set aside fund of US$88 million for the India Inclusive Innovation Fund to help entrepreneurs start business based on their innovations. The changing landscape of technology innovation and its advance in India In a paper published in The Next Silicon Valley , Delhi-based technologist, innovator and entrepreneur Anuraj Gambhir looks at the changing global landscape of the converging world between communications, consumer and technology, and how we are going to see even more innovation in technology that will continue to change many aspects of modern life – and especially in healthcare, wellness and education. In particular he highlights some key examples of innovation in these areas taking place in his home country, India. In the cloud computing space, in terms of context and relevance to the mass consumer, he highlights one interesting example of a highly innovative IIT-Madras spinout company called Novatium Solutions, offering computing for the next billion via PCaaS (PC-as-a-service). As a dynamic thick-thin client and using a smart combination of grid/cloud and utility computing, it is a paradigm shift transforming a computer into an appliance – it switches on in a few seconds, faster than several LCD TVs. This new age cloud computing is highly scalable with flexible services that are easily consumable over the Internet through a low-touch, as-needed, pay-per-use business model. Shared and optimal use of scarce resources is fundamental to scaling the offering. As a family/shared computer, it is beginning a revolution in internet computing for a substantial number of segments and a large addressable population. A simple widget approach with one click to dedicated apps makes it highly compelling and brings the ease of use necessary for mass adaption. Broadband penetration will have a much greater impact in emerging markets with solutions deployed in the cloud space that are very simple to use.  Cloud has a multi-dimensional approach to computing that takes advantage of the scale of the Internet to connect people to each other, to information, and to do computing in new ways. Wellness is another area in which India (and other parts of the world) is seeing convergence with technology and the mobile world. With rising stress levels, the desire for harmonious living and a balanced well-being is increasingly important. Hence there is likely to be disruptive innovation in the making where mobile devices will utilize all five senses and go beyond that with the integration potential from the healthcare/fitness-sports domain and also involving subtler spiritual aspects. Gambhir says this is being led well in India – the home of Ayurveda, spirituality, yoga, meditation, Art of Living, naturopathy, aromatherapy and more. Lives could be transformed with a ‘spa’ in people’s hands that will greatly enrich their well-being. Wirelessly enabled sensors of various types will take on the form to create whole new products and experiences. In this case networked heart rate, pulse, glucometer, mind sensors will assist with measuring stress and other health variables so that we can proactively manage well-being. There is a potential to use camera phones (via optical detection) to check blood pressure and heart health (e.g. pulse, respiration, blood-oxygen levels) that has been proven by the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program. A glimpse of the above is already visible via the multitude of apps available mostly for iOS and Android platforms e.g. Yogalite, Medicine Buddha, iRelax, Fitness Trainer, iZen. With the worlds of augmented reality, 3D, holography coming together along with embedded sensors, very interesting mashups of apps and content are likely to come into play. Education and healthcare are also becoming more critical as global emerging economies grow along with other industry verticals such as government and transportation playing important roles in the infrastructure development. An initiative (rather showcase) in India called Gramjyoti (meaning ‘light of the village’) put Ericsson at the forefront of demonstrating a meaningful application of 3G/HSPA mobile technology for the masses and rural (generally underserved) parts of the population. Tele-medicine (in partnership with Apollo hospital), tele-education, e-governance were exhibited with direct benefits for the rural communities in 18 towns and villages in Tamil Nadu (southern India). Gambhir also talks about the content industry undergoing major transformations, as the key players attempt to address the most compelling needs in the market. In India for example, we are evolving from the ‘astrology, Bollywood, cricket and devotional’ content genres to a much wider selection of locally and contextually relevant vernacular content. Multimedia in all its forms is having profound implications – such as video which itself is predicted to account for 66% of global mobile data traffic by 2014; some organizations such as Huawei predict much higher figures. A picture tells a thousand words, but moving images or video a million. It transcends the language barrier and a lot can be told by just body language and motion. Video conferencing is making a comeback with increased significance and value for rural folks migrating to peri-urban/metros, to keep in touch with their families. A pilot in India called ‘Aamne-Saamne’ (meaning in front of each other) with a 3G operator is already revealing promising results. Video brings a mass emotional connect for communities – to see and talk with families who feel never away from home. Video is also a universal media as it can play a vital role in education specially in reaching out to the illiterate. India’s place in global innovation So if we are seeing all this activity, why does India rank so low in the innovation index? According to Gopichand Katragadda, managing director of General Electric’s John F. Welch Technology Center in Bangalore, “The results of the study point to the fact that, in India, the innovation ecosystem (input) is poor while the knowledge/creative output under the constraints is good. One interpretation of this is that we need better government measures on regulations, education and infrastructure to tap the demonstrated potential of talented people.” According to Katragadda, if India does not get its act together on the innovation front, the country could lose the opportunity ‘to make this a century of Indian innovation, tapping into the brilliant technical minds of the region.’ In the past I have written about India being great at producing talent that can follow a process and follow instructions either in software or hardware or research and development – but not necessarily in creating totally new innovation. But we have seen glimpses of innovation in areas as highlighted above in cloud computing, communications, health and education. In the past, technology ministers in Indian government have openly declared that India has been good at ‘screwdriver technology’ – in other words assembling or disassembling technology, products or solutions from other parts of the world. The indicators today from studies like that created by INSEAD (the global innovation index) seem to suggest that India still has some way to go to really impact the global stage with its innovation.