Plotting Out a Year's Worth of Topics

Anyone who works for a magazine knows that this is the time when everyone puts their heads together to formulate a list of topics, features, and interviews that will appear in the following calendar year's issues. It's called an editorial calendar, and we're now in the final stages of putting together ours for both Marketnews and here's how! magazines. While the fast-paced nature of this business is always on our minds, you never really comprehend it fully until you sit down to perform such a task as this. It's difficult to try and slot applicable topics into various months of the year! How do you truly look to the future of consumer technology, where things can change literally from one minute to the next? It's almost impossible! Nevertheless, we do our best based on projections, expectations, and good ol' intuition.

There are seasons and holidays that dictate high selling times for particular products, for example. Back-to-school is logically during the July/August timeframe, while the holiday shopping season is November/December. Flat-panel sales often spike during the SuperBowl (February) and Black Friday (end of November after the U.S. Thanksgiving). Photo products do well during or just prior to the summer time, since people are either looking to buy digital cameras to take on their vacations, or printing photos like wildfire having just returned from a trip. As for the camera manufacturers; they typically save their major official product announcements for February/March (during the PMA trade show) and October, which is when they all hit like wildfire. Yes, there are enough new digital cameras coming to fruition to result in two major launch times per year! And Boxing Day? Ahh, every retailer of every gadget loves Boxing Day...that is if you're not working a 12-hour shift on the sales floor!

When it comes to highly-anticipated technologies for next year, we can attempt to predict when a few might hit it big. New cell phone carriers, for example, all anticipate having their services up and running by Q3. So it's safe to assume that a lot of attention will be placed on this space come that time; which is also when we can expect to see a flood of Google Android devices hit the market. CES, North America's largest technology trade show, takes place in early January, and naturally, every manufacturer will be making major announcements at that time. Ditto when it comes to the custom audio/video industry and CEDIA; the September-held trade show dedicated to that part of the technology space.

Then there are other "up-in-the-air" items that need to be considered. Will LED become a fierce competitor in the flat-panel arena next year? Can Blu-ray make it for the long-haul? Is Android going to take over the cellular world? Will WiMAX and NFC technology become commonplace? Can digital downloading overtake physical video media? We can speculate all we like, but the truth is that topics have to be reworked throughout the year to best accomodate what's happening. And let's face it: something always happens to shake things up.

In a way, this is a good thing. There is never a time where we have nothing to write about in the technology industry; and never a slowdown in product development. While TV manufacturing might slow down, cell phone manufacturing picks up. As cell phones slow down, PCs and digital content take off. There's always something. The other day, I saw a demonstration on TV of a head-worn device hooked up to a computer that could analyze brain waves and dictate letters of the alphabet that the person was thinking. Entire words would be spelled out on screen, letter by letter, until a full sentence was formulated. The point? It was being used by a man with ALS in order to help him communicate. Now that is truly amazing: there's so much more to technology than we could ever imagine.

What do you predict will be the big topics of '09?

WiMAX for the Home, Not Just Cell

A colleague of mine lives in the countryside, just over an hour away from the office. He has been struggling with having to use dial-up whenever he works from home. Why? He's tried every option under the sun to get high-speed in his home, but to no avail. Recently, he signed on for a WiMAX service, and has, for the first time, been able to e-mail me a 2 MB image in less than 30 minutes, and actually watch streaming video from sites like YouTube. What a relief, since he was getting tired of having to drive out to the local Starbucks to use their WiFi connection! This made me think of WiMAX in a whole new light: as an alternate to your in-home, fixed broadband connection.

Up until now, I've only thought of WiMAX's potential in a very limited sense: the ability to access the 'net and use devices anywhere, and seamlessly when moving from the home to the outside world. Sort of like an advanced version of WiFi, which, in a sense, it definitely is. But now I have begun to understand it's possibilities as an alternative just in the home.

Research firm In-Stat echoes my sentiment in a recent report. "There has been little to no consideration of WiMAX competing head-to-head against fixed broadband." The company went on to call this a "major oversight".

It's true. WiMAX is great for that seamless, connected experience while you're driving about, and it's fantastic for people like my colleague who don't have any other option for high-speed. But can WiMAX compete with fixed broadband services in every area, as simply another option? Probably. After all, why does Internet access have to be separated by what you have at home, and what you use everywhere else?

In-Stat predicts that, rather than a host of new WiMAX providers competing to convert standard broadband customers over to their more ubiquitous service, traditional broadband operators may just extend their own offerings and add WiMAX as another plan option. In a survey the research company conducted in the U.S., more than 40% of respondents said they would be willing to tack on an additional $10-15 to their monthly Internet service plan to get WiMAX. I fall into that category myself: it just makes sense.

On a borader note, will we eventually see a time where WiMAX blankets the entire developed world, and we literally become "always connected"? It's an exciting, yet scary, proposition.

[With WiMAX, Internet customers will be able to seamlessly access wireless Internet in their homes, and high in the sky, without interruption.]

Gearing up for CTIA WIRELESS

The big North American wireless show takes place in Las Vegas, NV next week, and I'll be attending for the first time. Up until recently, wireless has really been a category all its own, somewhat distinct and separate from "consumer electronics". But today, mobile phones are virtually multimedia devices, and even mini-computers, crossing over into pretty much every category of CE.

I expect to see a lot over in Sin City (aside from the heavy gambling, drinking, and scantily-clad girls, of course!) Here are a few trends that I foresee taking precedence at this year's event:

Touch-screens: Ever since the iPhone hit the U.S. market, touch-screens have been all the rage in cellular. Sure, the standard messaging phone that comes with a stylus can technically be called a "touch" screen phone, but we're now seeing more advanced designs that are optimized for use by your grubby fingers. Most notable as of late is the HTC Touch with boasts its own TouchFLO technology (stay tuned to the April issue of here's how! for a review of this phone). Just yesterday, LG brought two touch-screen models into Canada. Even Sony Ericsson's 5 MP K850 camera phone includes a partial touch-screen (just the soft-keys). I expect to see tons more touch-able models on the show floor this year.

Apps: Applications are the hot trend for mobile phones now. You can download pretty much any type of application for your phone, from weather updates, to social networking site access, or even a poker game. Sites like http://www.handango.com/ serve as home to tons of third-party applications; and many providers try to work out deals with the manufacturer (or rather the carrier) to include their apps with the phones at purchase. Judging from the way the industry is going, along with the e-mail pitches that have been flooding my inbox for the past few weeks, application developers will be at every nook and cranny of CTIA WIRELESS. Some hot application? Social networking, navigation, and, just plain "fun" stuff, like games.

Video: Video on-the-go is becoming a popular category in itself, but being able to access video through a mobile phone is slowly gaining steam. I really saw it begin to take off in Canada a year ago when Rogers Wireless introduced video calling, along with its VISION suite of multimedia services that included, among many other features, access to top videos from sites like YouTube, along with TV content and movies. In the previous blog post, I discussed Quattro Wireless and TMZ.com's announcement to bring a "mobile" version of the Hollywood gossip site to cell phones. Being able to view video on a mobile phone is just getting started, and I gather we'll see tons more innovation in this area at CTIA and beyond.

WiMAX: At the Canadian Telecom Summit last summer, Motorola President Greg Brown said that WiMAX could make broadband "as ubiquitous as air," and he's right. WiMAX is basically an extension to traditional WiFi, permitting wireless access for up to 50 km rather than the paltry 30-100 metres that 802.11 can provide. There's an entire pavilion at the show dedicated to WiMAX, and I'll definitely be stopping by to find out what's in store for Canada.

Sleek, Sexy Designs: Sleek and sexy designs have truly become of paramount importance whether you're looking at the phone that's stuffed in your pocket, or the speakers that surround your TV. With regards to mobile devices, thin is definitely "in", as is large (and wide) screens, big buttons, ergonomic and attractive feel, and convenience keys, like one-button access to a camera, or music keys on the front of a flip-stye handset.

These are just a few of the key innovations I expect to see at CTIA WIRELESS 2008. Stay tuned next week for reports (including video on our sister Websites, http://www.marketnews.ca/ and http://www.hereshow.ca/) right from the show floor.

[Photo: Famous actor Willian Shatner joins Rogers Wireless' Chief Marketing Officer John Boynton at the launch of video calling in Canada last year.]

13 Canadian Companies Break Into Deloitte's Wireless Fast 50 List

Canadians involved in the wireless industry can puff their chests in pride today: a total of 13 Canadian born and bred companies managed to snag spots on the Deloitte Wireless Fast 50 list, which ranks the fastest growing wireless companies (based on revenue growth) over the past five years. Three companies (all based in Ontario) even managed to crack the top 10!

BTI Systems Inc., a fibre optic microWDM system provider, came in fourth place, tied with Tira Wireless Inc., which aids developers and publishers in getting their content to the wireless arena. MyThum Interactive Inc., which provides tools for services like text messaging, interactive TV, and voice response, came in sixth place. The country's capital, Ottawa, bred an impressive five of the Canadian entries (BTI, DragonWave Inc., Bridgewater Systems, EION Inc., and SkyWave Mobile Communications Inc.); while the greater Toronto area serves as home for four (Tira, MyThum, Redline Communications Inc., and AirIQ Inc.) Three companies hailed from BC: WebTech Wireless Inc., Tranzeo Wireless Technologies Inc., and Ascalade Communications Inc. Of course, there's no surprise that Waterloo, ON-based Research in Motion (RIM), makers of the widely popular Blackberry device, also made it to the list, coming in at #34. Redline Communications is my prediction as the "company to watch" for the next few years: it provides infrastructure products for WiMAX wireless networks, which have been touted as the "next big thing" in WiFi technology.

Moving away from the Canadian theme, I was pleasantly surprised to see that NYC-based Sirius Satellite Radio ranked numero-uno on the list, with an impressive 79% growth over the five-year period. The second place company, SkyBitz Inc., showed only half as much growth at 40%. Way to go, Sirius! TeleNav, Inc., which provides the very useful GPS capabilities you find on many smartphones today, ranked third with 16.6% growth.

Aside from being proud that Canadian companies have made a significance presence in this area of technology, it's also promising to know that it's an area that's continually growing at a rapid pace. With more data services becoming available for mobile phones, from streaming video, to downloadable tunes, satellite radio, and enhanced web browsing capabilities, plus faster network speeds, wireless-related companies will likely be experiencing growth of massive proportions over the next few years. To further reinforce this point, Deloitte notes that 60% of all voice calls are made using wireless connections, and many of these while the caller is within a few feet of a landline phone! We're certainly moving faster and faster toward a world without wires.

Chicago Doesn’t Want to be Covered in WiFi

Just as several cities, including Canada’s own Toronto, ramp up for blanket WiFi service, Chicago has decided not to proceed with it. Why? Officials say it would be too expensive, and not enough people would actually use it.

I can’t argue with that. I live in the heart of downtown Toronto, right smack-dab in the middle of our blanket WiFi One Zone high-speed Internet, which is offered through Toronto Hydro Telecom. When this service was on free trial, I tried constantly to log on, and although I could see the network, I could never successfully get to the page to set up an account and log in. Funny enough, now that you have to pay to use it, my notebook constantly picks up the network and tries to log me on. Sure, it’s cheaper than my current high-speed package. But time is precious, and there’s nothing more frustrating than trying to get online and not being able to.

Plus, I don’t trust services like blanket WiFi to offer speeds that could rival my high-speed Internet at home; and saving a few bucks isn’t worth the potential for pulling my hair out because of super-slow speeds, whether I'm at home, or sitting in a coffee shop.

However, as they say, don't knock it 'til you try it, right? Maybe one sunny day, if I'm sitting on patio and feel like propping open my laptop to get some work done, I might just pay the $10 and try it out .

Meanwhile, the future of blanket WiFi is looking bright, as many tout WiMax as the “next big thing” in wireless technology. “WiMAX makes broadband as ubiquitous as air, and we believe it is key,” said Motorola President Greg Brown at the Canadian Telecom Summit that was held in June in Toronto, ON.

As technologies like WiMax and 3G for mobile devices continue to develop, blanket wireless might become a much more attractive option.

[Photo: Toronto Mayor David Miller and Toronto Hydro Telecom President, David Dobbin log on to the One Zone WiFi network while on King St. in Toronto, ON.]