Month: May 2011

Airpos Opens Office In Silicon Valley

From NewTechPost: Airpos has announced that it is moving on from releasing beta versions of its product to making it fully available to the public and it now has a brand new portal to its site. Airpos was one of the companies showcased at the 4th Annual Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) Awards Ceremony which … Continue reading “Airpos Opens Office In Silicon Valley”

From NewTechPost:

Airpos has announced that it is moving on from releasing beta versions of its product to making it fully available to the public and it now has a brand new portal to its site. Airpos was one of the companies showcased at the 4th Annual Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) Awards Ceremony which took place at Stanford University in April.

Marty and the guys have sweated blood over this product, ignored all of the advice from the “volauvent boys” and went with their guts. They’ve shouted at friends, infuriated officials, shot from the hip and followed their hearts. They were the “pilot” for the StartVI programme run by David Kirk and hosted by a group of passionate individuals here in Belfast.

Opening an office in Silicon Valley is a great step – getting close to the biggest market in the world.

Related posts:

  1. The Holywood-esque nature of Silicon Valley.
  2. Business happens outside of Silicon Valley
  3. Silicon Valley -> Ireland
  4. More waffle about Silicon Valley

A link list

These are some of the links which I’ve emailed myself (my version of ReadItLater or Instapaper – though I’m leaning towards the latter). for the most part, they’re too good to miss. Newspapers don’t need new ideas; here are lots of ideas for new revenue streams And a lot of these can work for web … Continue reading “A link list”

These are some of the links which I’ve emailed myself (my version of ReadItLater or Instapaper – though I’m leaning towards the latter). for the most part, they’re too good to miss.

  • Newspapers don’t need new ideas; here are lots of ideas for new revenue streams And a lot of these can work for web startups too.
  • How I sold my Georgian Manor House on YouTube in a week I’m going to need to pay close attention.
  • How to Get Funding For Your Startup in Ireland (I don’t have the same guide for Northern Ireland).
  • Forming a new software startup, how do I allocate ownership fairly? Always a dilemma especially when you’re dealing with technical vs non-technical founders.

    • Related posts:

    1. The Broadband Blueprint (re DETI Telecoms Consultation)
    2. The first handshake…
    3. Digital Circle going independent and my thoughts on the Future
    4. Link List – more links than I can consume…

    Submitted now…

    So last night I wrote up the innovation voucher and submitted it this morning. I’ve suggested that the voucher work would be carried out by the Intelligent Systems Research Centre in Magee College, one of the campuses of the University of Ulster. The question is whether the product can be made with COTS (Commercial Off … Continue reading “Submitted now…”

    So last night I wrote up the innovation voucher and submitted it this morning. I’ve suggested that the voucher work would be carried out by the Intelligent Systems Research Centre in Magee College, one of the campuses of the University of Ulster.

    The question is whether the product can be made with COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) components or whether it requires a bespoke chipset.

    Related posts:

    1. College degree or Entrepreneur
    2. The Broadband Blueprint (re DETI Telecoms Consultation)
    3. Hang a TIC: Technology and Innovation Centre possibilities in Northern Ireland
    4. I’m considering applying for an Innovation Voucher.

    I’m considering applying for an Innovation Voucher.

    An Innovation Voucher is £4000 of university or college research and development time which can be used for new product scoping, new process development or similar practises. The recent location tracking scandal which affected iPhone and Android (and probably affects Nokia – if anyone cared) highlighted that I’d really like a tiny chip device which … Continue reading “I’m considering applying for an Innovation Voucher.”

    An Innovation Voucher is £4000 of university or college research and development time which can be used for new product scoping, new process development or similar practises.

    The recent location tracking scandal which affected iPhone and Android (and probably affects Nokia – if anyone cared) highlighted that I’d really like a tiny chip device which had GPS+COMPASS+LCD+GPRS that was small enough to fit on a wrist band. The unit has a unique code which is used to identify it. The LCD has two views – one being an information/hold screen and the second being an arrow.

    When paired with the web service, the wrist unit displays an arrow pointing towards a pre-determined position. If nothing is pre-programmed, then it always points north.

    The wrist unit therefore tells the user which direction the preprogrammed position lies.

    The web service (and attendant Android and iPhone apps) allow you to plot the location of your wrist units, communicated over GPRS. The apps on smartphones can also act as wrist units too – reporting location.

    The Innovation Voucher would be to scope out the development of the hardware components and software system. Could it be built cheap enough? What would the service costs be? If the wrist unit could display more information or store more data, what would you put on it?

    Would you aim this product at worried parents? Tour guides (giving a wristband to each tour participant)? Schoolteachers?

    Could you make a game out of it? Yes, yes I think you could.

    Related posts:

    1. iPhone vs Android: software lock-in and halo effect
    2. Google: I don’t trust them.
    3. So, I want to start a games company…
    4. Ruminating on Android Engagement

    There are predators in the water

    Apple has released another advertisement for the iPad which again takes us away from the “DUAL CORE”, “1 GB RAM” or showing people skipping (?!!!??!?!) Apple are, of course, focusing on the apps. Apps for everything. I just read a thread on a sailing forum about whether to bring a laptop or an iPad as … Continue reading “There are predators in the water”

    Apple has released another advertisement for the iPad which again takes us away from the “DUAL CORE”, “1 GB RAM” or showing people skipping (?!!!??!?!)

    Apple are, of course, focusing on the apps. Apps for everything. I just read a thread on a sailing forum about whether to bring a laptop or an iPad as an onboard computing tool and the overwhelming replies were about the iPad. Only one respondent recommended a laptop and only one recommended an Android tablet. It is all about the apps.

    Apple has successfully managed to avoid competitor comparisons. The closest we’ve seen has been the recent “Not an iPhone” series which divides the world into two sections: iPhone and Not iPhone.

    This is essentially how the tablet market will play out. Apple will continue to buy up huge amounts of components and manufacturing for their huge shipments while competitors will be competing not only for marketshare and mindshare but for components and manufacturing – and not just against Apple but against every other manufacturer. I read today of a new Indian-sourced Honeycomb tablet on the market. The competitor for that tablet is the PlayBook, the Web OS tablet offering, the other Android tablets. Those are the predators in the water.

    I don’t have a good animal kingdom simile here but it’s a bit like a Great White Shark in the water with a few hundred Piranhas. The Piranhas would love to eat the Shark but they can’t. They can only eat the scraps the Shark leaves and if one of their number gets hurt or shows weakness, they eat him too.

    Lest we forget, Apple’s “old” iPod has still yet to be unseated as the music player of choice. Maybe music is old hat now but you have to imagine that it’s still a money maker for the Cupertino giant. Apple wasn’t a giant in 2001 when the iPod was released and all of their hungry, predatory competitors failed to destroy them. Instead they let them build an ecosystem, an entire new OS branch, a software store and still, ten years later, nothing has managed to destroy the iPod. Except maybe the iPod touch.

    So what makes the pundits think that the now, after Apple reporting unprecedented growth for umpteen quarters, they’re going to just disappear?

    Related posts:

    1. Ruminating on Android Engagement
    2. Google: I don’t trust them.
    3. Wake up, Mac, time to die.
    4. iPad

    2011-5-3

    Phil Campbell (Courtesy of Skillset and Creative and Cultural Skills) showing us how to build games. Related posts: Skillset census now open… Pepsi? I wanted Coke. But if that’s all there is, I suppose I’ll drink it. cultureTECH: What I did… Excitement to Riot

    Phil Campbell (Courtesy of Skillset and Creative and Cultural Skills) showing us how to build games.

    Related posts:

    1. Skillset census now open…
    2. Pepsi? I wanted Coke. But if that’s all there is, I suppose I’ll drink it.
    3. cultureTECH: What I did…
    4. Excitement to Riot

    iOS4.3.3 to break neat location recording feature

    IPodNN: Apple’s promised short-term iOS security update is known as iOS 4.3.3, and should arrive in two weeks or less, a source with the company says. The person notes that as expected, it should reduce the size of the location cache, and prevent the file from being backed up to iTunes. The cache should be … Continue reading “iOS4.3.3 to break neat location recording feature”

    IPodNN:

    Apple’s promised short-term iOS security update is known as iOS 4.3.3, and should arrive in two weeks or less, a source with the company says. The person notes that as expected, it should reduce the size of the location cache, and prevent the file from being backed up to iTunes. The cache should be deleted entirely when Location Services are off.

    So we only have a few weeks for someone to make an app to start recording and making time-sensitive maps of our locations.

    Related posts:

    1. GeoFencing vs Check-In
    2. Location Location Location
    3. Location: it’s a feature, not a bug
    4. The Gaming Market: time to break in?