KNOW HOW! The future of CE retail?

Our fridge recently went kaput and with a little girl now starting to march her way around the house, urgency took hold and the world of internet retail started to thump its way out of our desktop.

Ultimately it couldn't have been simpler and since we needed it to be installed, Dixon's online turned out to be the best option. A week or so later and at a pre-specified a big van,  a couple of very polite gentlemen, a toolbox and a fridge appeared.  Less than an hour later it was all done and it was as if they were never here. Fantastic!

Well that all seems totally unremarkable does it not? That is just the point. The final link in the chain. The delivery mechanism from checkout click to a fully functioning piece of equipment in the home. In full working order. The success or otherwise of this mechanism,  in whatever form it takes,  could be the deciding factor in the long term success of online vending.  Don't you think?

Googled 'Sonneteer' and Something different came up

Yes, just now. On the sidebar on the left I got this:
Something different:
dramatist
lyric poet
orator
poetaster


cool. Now to get my guitar out and put music to it.

Android today XXXX tomorrow!?

The article below was shared with me on linkedIn. An Interesting read indeed. However I am a little at odds with the conclusions. I agree if historical precedents are taken into account then, certainly, the standardisation argument follows and we will all be Andriods by 2015 or whatever. In same the sense that the recent economic disturbance has changed many a human habit in a different manner to previous downturns, I believe the nature of behaviour towards operating systems has too. If a new OS appeared tomorrow and all the apps were available on it and it was cool. it takes a matter of months for devices to be available that run on it and it has every chance of catching fire. Also if Apps become OS independent then it doesn't matter. To me this is the most likely scenario. The nature of the open system is that, inevitably, there will be an open application platform with rules that allow them to work on any OS that adheres to the rules. So I agree that standardisation will take place but only in away that allows the bedroom developers to breath.This includes the ones who want to develop their own OS. The only true winners here at the moment are ARM. As long as the hardware architecture is standard then anything goes. In this mobile life customers are fickle and hey why not! Oh and let's not forget Nokia and MS marriage has yet to have it fruit tasted. This could be a business winner. I have already tasted both Apple and Android and I am tempted.

GaDGET Junky: Nokia's Soft Seattle centre!

"This is a huge moment which could shape the future of an industry" says Rory Cellan-Jones
Technology correspondent, BBC News. Also, to paraphrase myself on twitter, I am wondering if there is a merger in the offing?
As curious as some correspondents see this alliance it seems quite a logical step if not blindingly obvious before today's announcement.Oh and in case anyone reading this missed it, to quote the BBC headline again: "Nokia has announced plans to form a "broad strategic partnership" with Microsoft."
We could, of course hope that Nokia's know how in mobile telephony would rub off on Microsoft and Microsoft's know how in, erm, other areas would rub off on Nokia and they would then prove to be the perfect fillip for each other and go back to world domination. As both companies have resembled the Roman Empire in it's last days recently(in portable devices terms), something clearly had to be done.
Microsoft, some might say, are a company in need of more hardware capability to further their cause. The X-box experiment seems to be doing something right for them, slowly bringing their entertainment platform into the heart of the home. Their announcement regarding Windows * and ARM was a statement of some intent and the news today may even bring some clarity to their long term plan. Stephen Elop, Nokia's big Cheddar, is clearly sticking to what he knows. May be it was always a plan on the back burner when he was brought in?!
NokiaTAB running Windows8 on an ARM platform anyone? or are we all going to be robots? Oh and will it make good music to send to Sonneteer Hi-Fis?

Show'd out!

It seems like an age since we were on the Virgin Atlantic (filthiest plane I have ever been on) to Las Vegas at the start of January as CES took hold of our senses for another year. Last weekend we drove back from Amsterdam where we were exhibiting at the ISE show. The few working weeks prior to both shows and in between were dominated by preparations and the adrenalin come down is only just kicking in.

In the mean time the phones are jingly jangling with exhibition organiser of other trade shows trying to get us hooked up. At some stage we will all travel the world meeting each other again and again and admiring the insides of conference venues and mediocre hotels whilst shaking hands,smiling and telling each other how wonderful we all are.

Right, time to do some work!

Oh Amsterdam was nice, if cold. Vegas was Vegas and surprisingly cold!

Lullaby baby on the set top:a message to all parents of young children.

My recent fatherhood has shed light on many a new thing as indeed one might expect, but one in particular seems suited to this blog has impressed me as well as make me wonder why? The why I will come to shortly. What has impressed is the wide availability of baby focussed radio stations worldwide. In desperate attempted to calm a screaming little girl, my partner Vicky turned to the Morpheus (Sonneteer Music centre) sitting on the sideboard and hit the Genre search on the dial only to find a whole host of radio stations under 'kids'. Now making the wild assumption that goats do not spend a lot of time listening to radio we assumed they were aimed at little ones! Human little ones that is.

I digress..erm...oh yes; having tried a few we have settled on a broadcast that is not only excellent in its selection of soothing ditties for baby Amelia, but also is transmitting in probably close to the best sound quality I have heard from any digital station. Comparable only to stations like Swiss Classic or AVRO. The station's name: 101 RU Lullaby. As the name implies, it is Russian and they transmit more than one channel aimed at children.

So back to the why? Why oh why don't the BBC of Cebebies fame also broadcast a radio station aimed at children in the same way they do television?   If they ever take time to consider it then I suggest they take more time to learn from the Russians!