Category: Blog
Fleet Telematics Solution: Driving Great Business for Automotive Ecosystems
Everything You Need to Know About 5G network as a service
5G was first brought to my attention through conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who stated on a podcast with Joe Rogan that “5G causes massive mutation and cancer” and with that 5G quickly became the internet’s new favourite conspiracy—but what exactly is 5G and who exactly is saying it could harm us?
With 5G, we will be stepping fully into a new area of real-time response time online. We are moments away from being able to download HD movies in seconds, real-time communication in other languages and seamless lag-free gaming, but the benefits of 5G don’t stop there. When I say faster, they predict it as much as 1000 times faster than 4G. If our phones weren’t already an extension of our ‘selves’, this is taking it to the next step.
5G has been speculated to be beneficial for robotics such as driverless cars through to the healthcare industry for quickly transmitting images and expanding telemedicine. Additionally, it will expand on the notion of ‘smart homes’, meaning it will allow for devices to speak to one another by quickening data transmission.
Once considered science fiction, 5G will also work to rapidly increase AI production and expansion. 5G will give us access to more data at significantly faster speeds, resulting in devices having a better ability to understand their surroundings—in other words, 5G will give context to AI.
EE has not just ‘switched 5G on’, it has actually been tested in the U.K. since 2015. The timeline for wireless connectivity is as follows: 1G was the mobile technology of the early 1990s, 2G was the first system capable of carrying text messages between users, and internet on our mobiles as we know it today is 3G which launched in 2003, followed by 4G in 2012. Reportedly the 4G rollout was a disaster, and U.K. residents can still only access 4G networks 53 percent of the time, making the U.K. the worst place for 4G coverage in Europe.
Credits: Fair Planet
How to Develop a New Product (From Concept to Market)
Bringing your vision for an original product to life is frequently one of the biggest hurdles for aspiring entrepreneurs.
The product development process can seem almost mysterious, and when you hear the origin stories of other great businesses, the journey to a finished product rarely resembles a straight line.
Tina Roth-Eisenberg, for example, realized that semi-permanent tattoos were lacking when her daughter brought some home, and mobilized her community of fellow designers to create Tattly.
David Barnett, on the other hand, had to teach himself how to use 3D design software so he could prototype PopSockets, the now-popular phone accessory.
On their own, these inspiring stories don’t provide an end-to-end blueprint for product development, but the similarities they share reveal some of the steps founders consistently take on the road to starting a business and shipping a finished product.
The new product development process in 6 steps
New product development is the process of bringing an original product idea to market. Although it differs by industry, it can essentially be broken down into five stages: ideation, research, planning, prototyping, sourcing, and costing.
Here’s how to develop your own original product idea and what to consider at each stage.
1. Ideation
Many aspiring entrepreneurs get stuck on ideation, often because they’re waiting for a stroke of genius to reveal the perfect product they should sell. While building something fundamentally “new” can be creatively fulfilling, many of the best ideas are the result of iterating upon on an existing product.
The SCAMPER model is a useful tool for quickly coming up with product ideas by asking questions about existing products. Each letter stands for a prompt:
- Substitute (e.g. fur in faux fur)
- Combine (e.g. a phone case and a battery pack)
- Adapt (e.g. a bra with front clasps for nursing)
- Modify (e.g. an electric toothbrush with a sleeker design)
- Put to another use (e.g. memory foam dog beds)
- Eliminate (e.g. the middleman to sell sunglasses and pass the savings on to consumers)
- Reverse/Rearrange (e.g. a duffle bag so that it doesn’t wrinkle your suits)
By asking these questions, you can come up with novel ways to transform existing ideas or even adapt them for a new target audience or problem.
If you’re still looking for your “aha!” moment, we also put together a list of sources for coming up with your own product ideas, from analyzing online marketplaces for inspiration to reinventing historical trends.
2. Research
With your product idea in mind, you may feel inclined to leapfrog ahead to production, but that can become a misstep if you fail to validate your idea first.
Product validation ensures you’re creating a product people will pay for and that you won’t waste time, money, and effort on an idea that won’t sell. There are several ways you can validate your product ideas, including:
- Talking about your idea with family and friends
- Sending out an online survey to get feedback
- Starting a crowdfunding campaign
- Asking for feedback on forums like Reddit
- Researching online demand using Google Trends
- Launching a “coming soon” page to gauge interest via email opt-ins or pre-orders
However you decide to go about validating your idea, it is important to get feedback from a substantial and unbiased audience as to whether they would buy your product. Be wary of overvaluing feedback from people who “definitely would buy” if you were to create your theoretical product—until money changes hands, you can’t count someone as a customer.
Validation research will also inevitably involve competitive analysis. If your idea or niche has the potential to take off, there are likely competitors already operating in that space.
Visiting your competitors’ website and signing up for their email list will allow you to understand how they attract customers and make sales. Asking your own potential customers what they like or dislike about your competitors will also be important in defining your own competitive advantage.
The information compiled from doing product validation and market research will allow you to gauge the demand for your product and also the level of competition that exists before you start planning.
Credits: Shopify
How Automotive and Technology Experts See the Future of Connected Vehicles through Future Tech 5G Service
Today, all vehicle manufacturers offer cellular connectivity in their vehicles, either as standard equipment or as an option.
Safety applications for vehicles, such as emergency call (eCall), are increasing as is the ability to connect to Internet information and entertainment.
Communication between vehicles, to and from roadside infrastructure is also on the rise. But what will be the future evolution of transport as 5G is rolled out?
Participants at the ITU/UNECE Future Networked Car Symposium which took place on 6 March 2020 at ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, debated this and a range of other issues during four discussion sessions held throughout the day.
Let’s not wait for the technology
Niels Peter Skov Andersen, Chair of the ETSI Technical Committee for Intelligent Transport Systems, urged participants not to wait for tomorrow, but to use what is available now, to save lives. “Let’s deploy what technology we have today, and upgrade it later when the new technology comes along,” said Andersen.
“Some services can accommodate 2G, some services require 3G, some 4G and some might require 5G. If we wait, we will be waiting 10-15 years, and we won’t be able to use the technology that we have available,” he said.
Collaboration is key
The importance of collaboration and sharing information was widely echoed by several participants in the discussion.
According to Eduardo Valencia of AMETIC and Director of the #VEHICLES7YFN think tank, the implementation of a future mobility model for Europe that meets sustainability requirements would only be possible if all actors operating in urban or inter-urban ecosystems were to collaborate.
For Remi Bastien of French carmaker, Renault, the key to the success of 5G would be more and more cooperation between different sectors.
Credits: ITU News Magazine
