European Union follows US Open Data strategy

In March 2010, I wrote about the importance of "opening" government and enterprises data to smartphone application developers. I referred to the US Open Government initiative, which was launched on December 8 2009 hoping that the EU would follow this example. The European Commission's December 8th Press Release on launching the “Open Data Strategy for Europe” was great news, especially given that the US has already demonstrated the value of opening the governmental data. On the US Open Government portal you can monitor the number of developed (smartphone) applications using the public data and the progress made so far.

The Open Data Strategy is expected to “deliver a €40 billion boost to the EU's economy each year”. I don't think it is too optimistic. The Open Data will accelerate the speed of innovation in new smartphone applications saving energy consumption and the European citizens' time. It will dramatically increase the transparency (read efficiency) of governmental institutions and enable enterprises and SMEs closer collaboration in the spirit of Open Innovation.

However, it is a long way to get there. The US was in a much better position to start freeing the governmental data thanks to a very mature Enterprise Architecture of Governmental Institutions as a result of the Clinger-Cohen Act. In the European Union an equivalent of the Clinger-Cohen Act still needs to be designed and implemented. The good news is that there are already a number of Open Data initiatives in Europe such as "hack de overheid" which in Dutch means "hack the government" welcoming and supporting the Open Data Strategy.
The Open Data was an important topic during the first European Commission's Innovation Convention which I had an opportunity to attend. Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman Google mentioned in his keynote speech the importance of making data available to SMEs enabling innovation. I found his message to politicians "to start operating from facts, from data. Not from some political view or traditional view.." very remarkable. He stated that that governments own more data than Google! In this case, the quote from the press release “Europe’s public administrations are sitting on a goldmine of unrealised economic potential” is not exaggerated.




The Innovation Convention has demonstrated, that in the middle of the European debt and Euro crisis there is a lot of potential in the European community and institutions which can by unlocked through innovation and opening the data. It is very reassuring that Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes emphasized her commitment to ICT's driven innovation and Open Data Strategy in her New Year's message.



I am positive that Enterprise Architects will play a crucial role in making this happen.

Kindle helps to master yoga during the retreat in Goa

I just came back from my first yoga retreat in Goa. I and my wife Ania  were following, for two weeks, daily yoga classes with Mark Robberds in  Purple Valley.  We started our  Ashtanga Yoga journey in December last year. For me, going to India was a logical step to master Ashtanga. I found Purple Valley on the Internet and the moment new yoga classes were published I booked our November retreat. It was a great experience: both the place and our teacher far exceeded our expectations. We are already planning on  coming back.
At the beginning of the retreat Mark recommended some books. Despite of the quite shaky Internet connection in the Valley I managed to download   The Mirror of Yoga by Richard Freeman. Other iPad owners followed my example and started to use Kindle and enjoyed benefits of instant access to Kindle books.

For me this yoga retreat was, like the Kilimanjaro climb six years ago, a real breakthrough in my lifestyle. The Kilimanjaro climb made me run every week for at least 10 kilometers. Hopefully after this yoga retreat I will start training yoga every day.  Some other retreat attendees will join enthusiastic iPad Kindle readers.....

It's time for Green Mobile Data initiative

After bad experience with blocking my Nexus S by Vodafone due to high data roaming costs I closely started to monitor the data usage on my smartphones.
3G Watchdog application installed on my Nexus S and Samsung Galaxy gave me a good view on data usage per application. I also found out that even when you do not use your phone for the whole day running in a background applications still generate a significant data traffic.
One of the most data hungry application is Google Navigation which I have on both of my Android phones.
It counts for ca. 5MB data traffic a day during home office drive. It is a lot of data considering that my Nexus S was blocked after using just 7.5Mb for which I was charged 55 Euro (ca 75 USD) !. It is also a lot of data considering the recently introduced data plans by mobile operators in The Netherlands starting with 100MB a month.
According to Nielsen research Android users in the U.S. consume ca 20% more data than iOS users (582 MB versus 492 MB). Android platform does nothing to make users aware of large data consumption. iPhone iOS has at least a system parameter Mobile Network Data showing total ammount of data traffic.
Users of Android phones are advised to install data monitoring applications as 3G Watchdog. The success of 3G Watchdog application (1,000,000+ downloads !) shows urgency of the high data usage problem.
Google responded to it by introducing a new data usage application as a part of Android Ice Cream Sandwich which will be delivered with the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus in December.  According to the official Google blog
 "Ice Cream Sandwich gives you complete control over the amount of mobile data you use by helping you better understand and manage it".
I believe that it is time that both smartphone and application designers are encouraged  to follow the principle of minimum data usage while delivering the same functionality and customer experience.
Google navigation in off line mode, using smart caching or “traffic information only” mode would reduce the data traffic at last 10 times.
It is time for introducing data usage labels comparable with eco labels in automotive industry.
Android and iOS platform designers need to think how to contribute to lower data traffic and equip the platforms with features helping the smartphone users to reduce data consumption like BMW auto start stop function which turns off the engine at traffic lights to reduce fuel consumption.

Data traffic is directly linked to energy consumption both on smartphone side as telco operators.
In my view introducing Green Mobile Data labels will dramatically reduce the smartphones data traffic and eventually save lots of energy. Otherwise data tsunami due to growing cloud popularity is inevitable.
It’s time that smartphone users realize that they can contribute to lower energy consumption and the future sustainability by lower data consumption. The Green Mobile Data initiative supported by smartphone industry and application developers will help consumers to make a right smartphone choice.
I am looking for a new car at the moment and one of the characteristics I am looking for is a green energy label. I hope I can do the same choosing my next smartphone and the future applications.
For now,also from the data usage perspective,  iPhone is my preferred choice.

We keep iPhone 4S today 20th October till 15:00 for you reserved

This was SMS I received today from T-Mobile, one day before the start of iPhone 4S presale and a week before iPhone 4S launch on 28th October in The Netherlands
It was very tempting to take advantage of T-Mobile offer and be  one of the first iPhone 4S users in the Netherlands. However I and my whole family decided already to wait for iPhone 5!
My daughter Karolina traveling with Semester at Sea around the World sent me already a reminder to stop her T-Mobile subscription before her return late December to be ready for iPhone 5 introduction.
I liked T-Mobile initiative to reward loyal T-mobile iPhone customers by giving them opportunity to get new iPhone model one week before  iPhone 4S launch in the Netherlands.
I count on having the same opportunity for iPhone 5, hopefully, beginning the next year.

My iphone also replaced the Suunto heart rate monitor

Today I was running while using my iPhone as a heart rate monitor. Wahoo Fitness Heart Rate Belt with a Fisica Key ,which I have purchased at Amazon for 119,99 $, turned my iPhone into a heart rate monitor ! When I started using the iMapMyRun+ application to record my jogging routes the first idea which crossed my mind was that it would be great to combine the information from my Suunto heart rate monitor and the data collected by iMapMyRun. Now circa two years later it became a reality.

This case again demonstrates that smartphones will become the ultimate mobile personal computing platform replacing specialized devices such as navigation systems. My first heart rate monitor was Polar, a very simple device for ca 150 euro, which I started to use during my jogging preparations for my Kilimanjaro climb in 2004. It was very helpful during the climb itself to gain confidence that my heart was still doing well above 5000m. Later I replaced it with the Suunto device.

Smartphones' new applications will push manufactures of specialized devices, as hear rate monitors, to rethink their business models. Wahoo demonstrates that it is not that difficult to enter the heart rate monitoring market while additionally offering the unique smartphone features and convenience of using a single device. I wrote about it in one of my posts a few months ago. I expect more and more sensors collecting data and transmitting these to smartphone devices using ANT+ protocol. More and more partnerships between specialized devices and smartphone application manufactures can be expected soon.

I hope,as some rumors report,  that the iPhone 6  will be equipped with solar batteries making my future iPhone a perfect heart rate monitor for my next Kilimanjaro climb.

A new innovation wave, powered by ANT+ technology, is on the way!

Recently I upgraded my Heart Rate monitor using Bluetooth Smart Device  Wahoo Blue HR Heart Rate Strap for iPhone 4s. You can read about here.

Excellent skype connection over satellite broadband Internet helps to stay in touch with my parents.

Last weekend I visited my parents in Poland. I tested a new installation of Tooway satellite broadband Internet. I was very curious about the result as due to typical for satellite latency you might experience an echo effect, but fortunately it was not the case. Our video skype call with my wife in the Netherlands had an amazing quality! My dad was very happy that from now on we will be able to enjoy video skype calls. In 2007 I gave my dad for his 80th birthday a  laptop with internet mobile connection. Unfortunately, due to a very poor mobile coverage outside Krakow a maximum internet speed was below 300 kbps and Skype calls were not possible. When a few months ago I have heard about the planned launch of Tooway satellite broadband internet in Poland I decided to try it out. I ordered it at the Tooway distributor for Poland including the dish installation. Our first video skype call has by far exceeded my expectations. According to my father the sound quality was even better than over the phone. It is not a cheap solution - a dish costs 1700 PLN ( ca 425 Euro), installation 600 PLN and the subscription of a base package (6Mbps download, 1Mbps upload) costs 122 PLN (30 Euro) a month. But considering such a great video skype experience it is definitely worth the investment.

Smartphone navigation replacing expensive built-in car navigation systems

My almost three year old Audi is equipped with, what was at that time, the most expensive navigation system. Having such a "superior" navigation system I have never thought that any free navigation application delivered by smartphones would be worth considering. Since a new motorway was opened between Utrecht and Amsteram, I realized that my navigation system had to be updated. After calling a dealer I was surprised to hear that the 2011 navigation update costs 199 Euro which is a special offer as a normal price is 269 Euro! I found this price ridiculous and, as a matter of principle, I decided try Google beta navigation delivered with my Nexus S.

The more I used it the more I liked it. What I like most is a green light indicating that there are no traffic jams on my journey - which unfortunately doesn't happen very often in the Netherlands. Fortunately with the new motorway the traffic situation has improved significantly. My first observation: Google traffic information is much more accurate than the one delivered by my Audi system. That's not a surprise as Google must be collecting all this information from other users. The more drivers will be using the Google Navigation the more accurate this information will be and there will never be a car navigation system which will be able to compete with it.

The user interface is much simpler, and finding a Point of Interest is not only very easy but there are many more than on the Audi's DVD. Last but not least all this information is updated real time and you have access to it immediately after new information is available without waiting for another year just for an updated DVD !

There is one caveat with the Google navigation application: it generates lots of data traffic what could be a killer for your data usage plan and is not a real option when going abroad due to the high data roaming costs. I hope that Google will reduce the amount of data usage and also soon offer an offline version allowing downloading a map and using navigation without Internet Connection. There are rumors that Google will release an off-line navigation by the end of this year

Such an offline alternative is offered by the NAVIGON navigation application which (in a basic version) is delivered for free with a T-Mobile subscription. I used it on my iPhone as well and in many ways it is also superior to the Audi navigation system. However the traffic information option and maps for Europe need to be purchased separately for just 19 Euros each. My wife - a big iPhone fan- is very enthusiast about this application.

I am positive that the smartphone powered navigations will become a good alternative for the built-in car navigation systems pushing car manufactures to start delivering more open navigation systems allowing one to connect smart phones and taking advantage of the power of Internet. This could result in using a large car control display by the smartphone navigation. In my view even the most expensive models equipped with the Head-Up Displays, which features my friend recently demonstrated to me in his new BMW 535, could take advantage of the integration with smartphone applications.

The speed of innovation in smart phones designs and applications is amazing and the only way to compete with them is to work on car ecosystem allowing seamless co-existence with smart phones and other intelligent Internet devices. It will offer the drivers an opportunity of taking advantage of the newest navigation technology even while driving their favourite old car they are so attached to.  

BMW  recognizes the potential in the smartphone innovation wave and just started a  New York based venture devoted to location based services. BMW recently launched MyCityWay application and I just started using MYCityWay Amsterdam.
BMW already offers smartphone users opportunity to read emails on the large control display. This in my view is a far better strategy than turning a car into an Internet device as Audi recently demonstrated.  
What about the manufactures of dedicated navigation devices such as TomTom?  The latest TomTom profit warning indicates that they already suffer from smartphone navigation competition.   

Google keeps working on several new features and improvements of its beta navigation software. The most serious bug I spotted was when Google navigation recommended my standard route via A2 to Amsterdam, while it was closed by the police for investigation after a robbery in Amsterdam during which the gangsters escaped after driving the A2 south up to 240km per hour using explosives and machine guns.
 

I am looking forward to the first release of the Google maps navigation and an opportunity to use it in my new car without the necessity of having to buy a car dock.

Is iPad contributing to Amazon record E-Book sales?

Few weeks ago Amazon reported that after less than four years of selling electronic books, it's now selling more of them than printed books.

Amazon sells 105 electronic books for every 100 printed ones.

This news did not surprise me. Not just because the analysts frequently reported the growing e-book reading Kindle devices sales.

Since I purchased my iPad a year ago I was a frequent Amazon customer buying Kindle eBooks.

I purchased my first e-book more than a year ago just a few days after I bought the iPad to have something to read on the way back to Amsterdam. As I could not purchase anything via iTunes due to a lack of a billing address in US I was forced to buy on Amazon and bought a Kindle version of eBook. It was the New York Times bestseller "Change your Brain Change your Body" by Dr. Amen

A very fascinating journey through a recent brain-body connection research.
My collection of Kindle E-books on my iPad is growing and at the moment I carry with me:
"Creativity in Product Innovation" by Jacob Goldenberg
"The Adversity Advantage" by Paul G. Stoltz
"The 4 - Hour Workweek" by Timothy Ferriss
"Full Catastrophe Living" Jon Kabat-Zinn
Today I bought the Travel Goa book as we plan to go there in November. Initially just to compare the iBook reading experience with Kindle I tried to buy the iBook version.
That try was a big failure. Unfortunately the Travel Goa book was only available in the US iTunes store and not in the Dutch one.
As long as Apple will keep confusing readers with restrictions while buying iBooks in different countries Amazon’s Kindle is - in my view - the best choice for eBooks on iPad.
My eBook reading experience was very positive.

I discovered unique features of the Kindle iPad reader as sharing my notes with my wife or highlights with the Amazon E-books readers community. I often read the Kindle free samples on my iPhone to review the book first and find it fantastic to have an opportunity to learn and start reading a new book almost immediately after I have heard about it.

I am convinced that the Kindle iPad application contributes to a large extend to Amazon great e-Books sales numbers. It is quite ironic as the iPad is a direct competitor to Kindle device. It's also ironic that due to very restrictive iTunes policy I was forced to do my first iPad purchase in the US on Amazon giving me an opportunity to learn Kindle E-books.

I still buy lots of printed books and I already know that some of them I will also purchase in E-book format. I do not think I will switch over to eBooks completely as there is nothing like a smell and touch of a new book (:
Amazon reported that the latest and the cheapest version of a Kindle device is the bestseller of the line.
However, despite of the Kindle device success, I would bet that in just a few years more Kindle eBooks will be read on iPads and Android tablets than on Kindle devices.

iPad a great future in-flight entertainment device

Flying by Martinair in the Comfort Class from Amsterdam to Cancun I received a heavy in-flight entertainment device. After watching one movie I switched over to my iPad. I had it fully loaded with my books, Financial Times and Sudoku.The iPad battery; good for a 10 hour flight and the superb screen makes the iPad an excellent in-flight entertainment device.

My recent flight to San Francisco again proved that even the KLM business class entertainment system - with a very large built-in screen in front of you- cannot compete with my iPad. The system was so over-engineered that we were even warned by stewardesses about the difficulty of finding the right spot where we could plug-in our headphones. It took me and my neighbour quite a while to find it out.

I think that there is an opportunity to change the way of designing in-flight entertainment systems. Instead of investing in costly hardware as part of the passenger seat equipment, it is better to rely on their tablets and make sure that the passenger devices can get connected to the entertainment system.

iPad applications should allow to select movies, (digital) newspapers/magazines,  food menu and pass any other flight preferences at home - long before the flight. Passengers would be offered an option of Internet connection and receive skype calls, which would mean getting rid of the unhandy phone/remote control devices.

In my view this solution offers a superb customer experience, which would allow airlines in reducing in-flight entertainment and logistics costs, and could be introduced as an option next to the already existing in-flight entertainment systems. More and more passengers will have their own iPad. According to iSuppli market research media tablet shipments will grow to more than 202 million units in 2015, up from 17.4 million in 2010.  I expect that the sales of iPads and other tablet devices will far exceed these aggressive predictions as the iPads are becoming a part of the family live style. Here I can’t resist quoting my wife "I love my iPad!".

I see no point any more in manufacturing specialized in-flight entertainment devices.  It is better to focus on iPad or Android tablets applications giving access to the  in-flight entertainment content. Manufactures of specialized in-flight entertainment equipment will never be able to keep the innovation pace with Apple and Android tablet manufactures.In-flight entertainment devices are getting expensive which is clearly illustrated by the recent Alasca Airlines announcement about the price increase of the in-flight entertainment rentals.

It is time to switch over to the tablets and start developing passengers iPad and Android tablets applications. The apps, NOT the airline websites will make a difference in the passengers flying experience in the future.  

Excessive data usage by my Nexus S

Today I found out that my Nexus S was blocked by Vodafone due to a very high data usage during my trip to San Francisco. Since I paid a very high bill for data roaming in Mexico where costs for data are a few times higher than in other countries I am very careful with data roaming. On that particular day, when I reached Vodafone security threshold, I only used Foursquare to check in. I have no clue how I could  download so much data!

It looks like Android 2.3 keeps some "data hungry" applications running in the background. I am very happy with Vodafone blocking my phone, suspecting it was being stolen, and preventing much higher data roaming costs. I checked on the Internet and found that more Nexus S users noticed much higher data usage. A bug in Android 2.3?  It is time to install  3G watchdog and find out more about Android 2.3 features driving such high data usage and DISABLE them!

Since I installed 3G Watchdog Pro  (a data usage monitoring program), I have a much better understanding of the data usage per application on my Samsung Galaxy S and Nexus S.  I realized that  a number of applications are continuously sending and receiving data in the background, which as a user of one application you might not be aware of. My advise is to use this 3G Watchdog Pro, or at least its free version especially when abroad in order to minimize the risk of being surprised by the high roaming costs.

After having collected more data usage statistics I hope to gain a better insight into what happened while I was in San Francisco and how to structurally reduce the data usage on my Nexus S in the future.

My findings you can find here

Audi: the future Internet Gadget ?

During the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Audi presented an A8 luxury sedan model with in-built 100Mbps Internet connection based on Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology.


It's a very good news. Not because of a perspective of driving an Audi and offering my passengers HD TV on demand. I do not think consumers are waiting for yet another Internet provider offered by car manufacturers. I would prefer car manufacturers  focus on innovation in designing cars able to connect with driver's / passengers smartphones or tablets and offering them new, Internet based ,services.


Why, as an Audi driver , are you still forced to buy an expensive DVD with updated maps or go to a garage to update your navigation software instead of downloading from the Internet?


It is a very good news as LTE technology should enable another generation of customer service I was missing so much during my two years Audi driving experience.


From the day one I was experiencing strange software/electrical problems causing the Audi engine to stall. Many visits to the Audi garage led to only a partial improvement , mainly due to the difficulty to reproduce the problem.


My observation is that the Audi's advanced technology is far ahead of the Audi customer service unable to support complex software/electrical problems.


Constant online connection should help to diagnose a problem by providing sufficient real time information about engine stall cases.


It will take few years, depending on a country, to take advantage of the new Audi feature. I hope that Audi will use this time to improve its service organizations by equipping them with new LTE based diagnostic tools.


In the meantime I am going to enjoy a new Lexus or BMW driving experience and my passengers HD TV on their iPads or Android tablets.

Tired of Skype problems on Android phone?Think about upgrade to Nexus S !

Those smartphone users frustrated by Skype problems on their Android devices should watch Nexus S video



and read the specification. This is the first Gingerbread (Android 2.3) smartphone. It is an amazing device with such features portable Wi-Fi support and enhanced VoIP dialing. The pace of innovation of Android smartphones is impressive and I am looking forward to Apple response..