According to some of the findings within a report 'The Future of Wireless' launched by Cambridge Wireless, this is a golden age of collaboration – but innovation is needed, not just in creating and delivering new services, but also in developing the business models that will exploit them.
The smart money is on mobilising a wide range of existing services according to Peter Whale of Xiam Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm, who contributed to the report: "There is huge potential for innovation. Within the wireless environment, we can see a future in which handsets become a primary method of interacting with goods and services over the Internet. As devices become more capable in terms of user interface, displays and download speeds, they also offer opportunities for developing new types of services in niche markets."
Google's Dave Burke agrees, commenting that the future is not in replicating the fixed world but in integrating the senses to improve the experience. In the report he describes Google's latest developments in speech recognition which would allow hands free access to location based applications – ideal for drivers who don't trust the sat nav – and explains how a new generation of browser-based applications would overcome platform compatibility issues.
Facilitating linear television to include real time coverage of sports over mobile Internet is of great interest to Orange, who reported that people are already using its network for watching TV and this is an inefficient use of the spectrum. The potential for using a platform independent dongle to deliver the service is described as a means of encouraging early adoption.
Graham Fisher of Orange R&D UK Ltd is the latest addition to the Cambridge Wireless Board. Speaking about his new appointment, Fisher commented: "Wireless is increasingly moving beyond the phone and has the potential to touch on every aspect of life. Some of the biggest business opportunities exist in the areas of healthcare, Machine to Machine communications and entertainment.
"One of the interesting things about Cambridge Wireless is that it links people from different disciplines – medical, computing gaming, nanotechnology – not just the traditional wireless community. This combination of technologies is really exciting and was the theme of a recent Orange report 'the future of football' .
"As Cambridge Wireless brings together people from different disciplines and provides such a great melting-pot for new thinking I am delighted to be involved in its development."
Soraya Jones, CEO of Cambridge Wireless, comments that one of the benefits of membership is the access it offers to the life-science, medical technology and gaming cluster as well as a broad cross section of the wireless industry.
"The report looks at the wireless from a number of perspectives representing the interest of our membership. We are delighted to have Graham on the board and will value his input into the future direction of the association."
The report captures the themes and interests of the Cambridge Wireless Inaugural International Conference, which was held in May and offers an international perspective on the world of wireless.
To read the full report visit http://tinyurl.com/m6mhh2