The Campus Party is an annual week-long event that brings young participants together to share their experiences and perform different activities involving the internet, innovation, digital creativity, science and entertainment, and is recognized as the largest electronic entertainment online event in the world.  The event hosted more than 6,000 “Campuseros” and was sponsored in part by Alcatel-Lucent Mexico.

At the Alcatel-Lucent booth, ng Connect showcased four solution concepts.  Mobile Enhanced Reality (MER) drew a lot of excitement among the youngsters as they saw new ways they could use their indispensable cell phones to interact with digital media purchases and share them with friends.  Digital Signage also had a stellar presence with the award-winning LTE-Enabled Interactive Digital Signage solution concept; most attendees right away dreamed up countless applications of the technology for healthcare, hospitality, transportation, public information and dynamic advertising.  The LTE Connected Camera wowed the professional photographers who visited the booth, their eyes twinkling in anticipation of a new tool guaranteed to streamline their workflow and generate additional revenue.  Finally, the LTE Connected Car flash demo and videos left folks pining for those “amazing” services in their personal vehicles, as Mexicans routinely spend a good amount of their days on congested roadways.

Alcatel-Lucent also showcased our Application Enablement strategy in action through a “Developers Area”.  There, we helped translate the language of networks for the young developers through a series of conferences.  We also held a “Hackathon” contest for the best application that uses our OpenAPI Service, and featured an “Idea Tree” in our booth, where young developers could share their views and ideas about new application concepts.

A salient theme throughout the event, which is central to Mexico and most of Latin America, was “Digital Inclusion“.  The public nature of the event allowed organizers to invite hundreds of children from elementary schools to have “Digital Baptisms,” where the kids experienced their first contact not only with broadband technology, but with computers.

Our customers were delighted by the innovation displayed by Alcatel-Lucent and ng Connect.  But more importantly, the children marveled at the capabilities of the new 4G/LTE mobile broadband technology that will most likely be dismissed as “ancient” by the time they become young adults.  Events like this make the focus of ng Connect worthwhile and fun, and ultimately show us just how quickly technology can change and impact our daily lives.

For more details, check out my on-site interview with Contact Forum: http://bit.ly/avSNnz  and our Facebook and Flickr pages for a few cool photos from the event.

– Silvio Fernandez, Alcatel-Lucent

To showcase the possibilities available to help cable operators offer broadband connectivity at anytime, anywhere to any device, the ng Connect Program brought the LTE Connected Car to CableLabs, the members-only conference and technology showcase which provides attendees with current information about changing technology and supporting business and strategy objectives for the cable industry.  This event is important to our team because we’re passionate about next generation wireless technologies and the immense opportunity they can bring the cable community. 

With service providers planning to roll out LTE networks as early as this November, cable companies are starting to explore the advantages that faster, highly reliable 4G networks provide and the additional revenue streams and competitive advantages they offer.  LTE or other 4G technologies can enable cable companies to package mobile broadband services as part of “quadruple play deals” with home Internet, mobile broadband, television service and home voice calling – giving cable companies a way to compete with wireless service providers and offer the fast next-generation mobile services to customers.  

Nowadays the world is not strictly divided into cable operators, wireless providers and ISPs – it’s become blurry as they continue to encroach on each other’s industries to become “converged carriers.”  It’s important for these companies to diversify and offer the best services to their customers in a bundled offering.  The triple play option from most carriers has reduced churn and increased profit – and now with mobile on the table, the opportunity is even more intriguing.

At CableLabs, cable executives spoke with ng Connect member company Alcatel-Lucent with great excitement about the LTE Connected Car and the new business models that are possible with this technology.  ng Connect’s objective to develop concept services with next-generation devices and applications today that engage every link in the digital value chain, helps to show the cable industry the future of breaking down barriers – allowing content to be king with a seamless movement of that content to wherever the customer wants to be. 

Watching your favorite TV show on the DVR, pressing pause and then enjoying the ending wherever you are – on your mobile phone, on your laptop, or even in your car – could soon be a reality, along with a host of other new and innovative services linking the home cable TV and broadband environment with mobility.

One session dealt with broadband connectivity within Washington DC, an interesting and relevant topic in our nation’s capital. The panel consisted of someone from the CTO’s office of the District, CLEAR (a national ISP), and the organization - One Economy.

An audience member found more of a crisis for our elderly and aging population, however, being concerned that their lack of ease, understanding and ability in dealing with the latest connected technologies will leave them ever more disassociated from what is important to them, from the world and their families.  This woman wondered if they are the lost generation in this digital age. My answer to her is “yes.”  But only if we proceed in developing products as we have been.

It is incumbent upon us as designers and developers of technology and technology experiences that we take the next step in our process. Our technology now is at a point where its limitations have diminished so significantly that it no longer holds us back. It’s now up to our imagination to determine how to use technology to accomplish what is possible and needed, in an accessible format. And 4G/LTE is one of these technologies.

This got me thinking. How could 4G/LTE serve different industries, like home healthcare?

The elderly need a human touch. They want to talk to someone, see someone, have that person be with them as they explain things, have a dialogue and a connection. Human frailty has often begun to set in with arthritis, difficulty in seeing, difficulty in remembering, and other physical limitations. But they want to stay engaged, be spoken to like the adults they are, be cared for, be vital.

If we approach design of a home health product from the perspective of the human being we are creating it for, their personalities, wants, needs and abilities, what might we come up with? Can we open the doors to a new world of home healthcare?

Here’s one idea:

A large scale digital display of 6.5’ x 4’. All screen. It would allow for two-way video and voice communication.

• This creates a more immersive conversational experience with a doctor, another healthcare caretaker, one’s children, etc.
  • Conversations with one’s doctor can take place in a comfortable seated manner over video conferencing software.
• The screen may have a bar beside it or somewhere convenient, and this bar has several sensors. One can rest one’s hand on it and blood pressure is taken. Another element may contain a way for testing for insulin. A floor platform can test for weight, bone density, body alignment. Depending on the sophistication of existing technology, it may be possible to place a frame of sensors around the screen which would do a variety of diagnostic readings as the individual stands or sits before it.
  • The readings are sent automatically to the respective health care professionals as well as family and friends, as desired by the individual.
• Remembering to take medications is a key issue. If this product is placed in the living room, there are a number of ways a friendly reminder might be given. Or other formats might be:
  • A medicine cabinet that can offer reminders to take medications, as well as monitor how a medicine is being used, and when it might need to be refilled (this would also automate the refill and delivery process of medications).
  • A smaller screen in the kitchen which would remind someone to take their medications. A health consultant could check in at different times and have a conversation with the individual about their medications, making sure they take them, seeing how they look and what they say about how they feel.
  • The device could record all the medications being taken by that individual which are then accessible by anyone who is given permission – for example the doctors, so they can ensure there are no conflicting side effects; children who want to check in on their parents; or friends.
• Staying active is important – one-on-one or group exercises lessons can be given where the professional can see the full body movements of the individual, and give personal encouragement, and offer suggestions. Classes or group gatherings, health related programs and movies can all be participated in and experienced through this product.
• It could be voice activated, allowing for simple conversational commands to turn it on, reach particular individuals, and do certain functions.
• The screen can also be used at its full size, or it can have smaller “browser” windows opened so that a user can also just talk to a person or multiple people without seeing a full image.

Clearly this is a very rough cut of one idea. But it got me thinking, because we have the technology, we have the connectivity and we have the means to design and produce products and services that both address a need and that truly pay attention to the end user. Instead of focusing only on the next cool tech, we need to challenge ourselves to design an experience that benefits people and which uses technology as one of means to that end.

What do you think is possible with 4G/LTE?

With the warmer weather and a buzz in the air, it felt like spring had finally arrived at CTIA Wireless 2010 in Las Vegas! Announcing ten new members for the ng Connect Program and winning a CTIA E-Tech award are just a few of the highlights from the show.

On the CTIA show floor, the ng Connect Program drew lots of attention as we demonstrated eight of our solution concepts featuring a wide variety of industries and involving various members. The demonstrations included the LTE Connected Camera, Mobile Gaming, TeleHealth Manager, e-Learning, SecureAnywhere, Mobile Enhanced Reality with CelebMap, Crowd Casting, Digital Signage, and a simulation of the LTE Connected Car. Attendees came by the Alcatel-Lucent booth to see our demos and we met with a number of reporters and analysts, including PCMag.com, TechWeb and ABI Research.

The ng Connect Program also took advantage of the show to announce that ten new members have joined the Program. A big ‘Welcome Aboard’ to CoolSign, Desktone, EON Reality, K12, LiveCast, Mobideo, Movial, NCR, Optical Crime Prevention, and Vidyo! With membership now at 37 companies, the Program has more than doubled in size since its launch! Program momentum continues to grow with even more companies communicating their interest in joining the program while on the CTIA show floor.

We work hard to create a real-world experience with each of our solution concepts, so we were honored and thrilled to be presented with the 2010 E-Tech Award in the Enterprise & Vertical Market Solution – Mobile Marketing or Advertising category for our LTE enabled HumanKiosk! Mike Foster, SVP of Worldwide Marketing, Roger Sanford, VP of Media Services, Simon Wilson, CEO of MediaTile and Silvio Fernandez, Sr. Director, Emerging Technology and Media from Alcatel-Lucent took to the stage at the show to accept the award on behalf of the ng Connect Program.

Since the show, the ng Connect Program has been recognized for our accomplishments with additional awards. Members QNX Software Systems and, Alcatel Lucent recently won the 2010 Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) Strategic Partnership Award for their joint work in the ng Connect Program. They were recognized for their work on the ng Connect Program’s LTE Connected Car. QNX Software Systems provided the software foundation for the car and Alcatel-Lucent provided LTE radio and patent-pending antennae technology. Both companies have been instrumental in the car’s ongoing success.

And just yesterday, Alcatel-Lucent also won the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) Award in the Mobile Platform category at the CATAAlliance Innovation Awards Gala Dinner for the company’s leadership in the co-development of the ng Connect LTE Connected Car. The LTE Connected Car is a prototype vehicle that showcases the potential for the next generation in-car mobile experience.

Alcatel-Lucent is very excited about continued collaboration with new and existing members of the Program, and is looking forward to continuing to enhance the understanding across multiple industries of what the connected user experience really means.

The LTE Connected Car was the highlight of the show, firmly asserting Alcatel-Lucent’s technology and thought leadership in End to End solutions for LTE, 4G and other ultra high bandwidth networks. We successfully demonstrated the value that the ng Connect Program’s ecosystem brings in terms of fostering new service and product development with non-traditional revenue streams for LTE and beyond! We managed over 320 tours of the car over the 4 days of the show. Our customers had a chance to become fully briefed on the benefits of the ng Connect Program and were very enthusiastic as to how they could leverage our technology solutions in the run up to launch of LTE. Many skeptics were pleasantly surprised as to how we have been able to expand the program within a year’s time, as we have gone from 15 members at launch to over 25 worldwide partners and are still growing.

We highlighted several strategic initiatives including “Transforming the User Experience”, “Sustainable Savings” and “Smart Growth”, all designed to help drive the transformation of service providers’ networks and businesses to optimize their networks and to thrive in an environment where the lines between the Internet and telecom networks are beginning to blur.

A key challenge for operators is how to extract the greatest value from their existing networks. We are working with operators around the world to add new capabilities and new applications to their networks to generate new revenue streams on top of their existing base, which is one key aspect of Alcatel-Lucent’s Application Enablement Vision. As such, we unveiled our Application Exposure Suite which allows carriers to create services in their networks such as billing or by location base through a secure exposure layer to application and content providers in a way that can enrich Web-based services and create new mash-up capabilities. In so doing, carriers will be able to embrace these kinds of non-traditional mash-ups in order to increase their return on investment in new network equipment.

We extended our push to transform the network into a powerful platform for the delivery of applications by announcing a new cloud-based developer platform and a game-changing business model that flips the traditional API (application programming interface) aggregation approach on its head. The new elements mark a critical next step in our application enablement vision — combining the trusted capabilities of service providers with the speed and innovation of the Web to provide both consumers and business users with a richer user experience. Alcatel-Lucent’s messaging was well received by our customers, press and the analyst community, which further substantiates and supports the core value proposition of the ng Connect Program. Alcatel-Lucent and the ng Connect LTE Connected Car clearly took the show by storm!

Laureen R. Cook, Emerging Technology & Media, Alcatel-Lucent

The ng Connect Program was present at CES this year, demonstrating nine Solution Concepts including the popular LTE Connected Car in the Alcatel-Lucent booth.

Visitors all wanted the chance to see the LTE Connected Car up close and personal and to check out the new features including home control with Intamac and high speed multi-player gaming with GameStreamer. Crowding just to get a peek, people had to wait in line for their turn to see the car and asked the recurring question, “When can I get one?”

Some of the other demonstrations that drew the most attention included our innovative digital signage concepts, including Video-Enhanced Interactive Digital Signage with member MediaTile and the Connected Camera, where visitors had their pictures taken and instantly geotagged, stored online and then able to be accessed via the internet. BUZZMEDIA’s CelebMap also got people buzzing as it combined location-based information with celebrity content. Everyone wanted to see what celebs were closest to the Venetian - “Looks like Paris just had lunch! Let’s see if we can find her!”

Many member companies were also present at the booth - Gemalto, Intamac, MediaTile and QNX - and on the eve of the show, ng Connect hosted a mixer for 65 members and potential new members. As the margaritas flowed, so did great conversations on the exciting capabilities LTE promises to bring to the consumer electronics industry.

It was a great show for the ng Connect Program! We met with 20 analysts and reporters during the show, and received positive coverage including being listed by LAPTOP magazine as one of the top trends from CES that will define 2010, as well as being the subject of an amazing and informative video on the LTE Connected Car from CNET’s Car Tech team who visited us on the last day of the show.

We’re pleased to report that more than 1,000 people visited the private Alcatel-Lucent booth located at the Venetian Hotel, a short bus ride from the main event at the Convention Center. As we celebrate the first anniversary of ng Connect we also celebrate this confirmation of our value and relevance to the industry.

Alicia Mickelsen, Breakaway Communications

Silvio Fernandez and I joined Zhenjun Zhu, the Alcatel-Lucent ng Connect Program leader for the Asia Pacific region, to support the Alcatel-Lucent presence at 2009 GSMA Mobile Asia Congress. This conference is the regionally specific version of the world renowned Mobile World Congress held every year in Barcelona, Spain where we launched the ng Connect Program this past February.

One of the key themes of this year’s invitation only event was “Strategies for Growth: Innovate, Collaborate, Invest” … so, instead of demonstrating telecoms networking gear, we chose to position a selection of ng Connect Program Solution Concepts.

The event attracted the ‘Who’s Who’ of the Asian wireless industry and gave the leaders of Asian, Indian and Australasian telecoms players a front row seat to what we are doing with the program. In our booth, we presented three of the Solution Concepts we have developed this year with our program members; Mobile-enhanced Reality with Social sharing, Multi-screen UGC “CrowdCasting” and the HumanKiosk Digital Signage demo. All three demos were very well received.

Alcatel-Lucent CEO, Ben Verwaayen, met with many of the CXOs of the region’s fixed and mobile operators. Sean Dolan, Alcatel-Lucent APAC region President gave a keynote as well as escorted a number of key customers to our booth to see the demos.

Silvio and I met with three regionally important media outlets - IT Times, Business Next –Taiwan and IP Modern Technology Magazine as well as four key Industry Analysts - IDC, Pyramid Research, ABI and Infonetics - to position the ng Connect Program and what we are collectively doing to move all of our industries forward in the APAC region. For some engagements we were also pleased to be joined by Clement Lam, from ng Connect Program member Gemalto, which was seen as a very positive indicator of the level of commitment and collaboration going on within the program.

Most importantly, though, we met with and had the chance to demonstrate the Solution Concepts to well over a dozen of the key network operators from the region, including China Mobile, PCCW, FET, SK Telecom, TNZ, NTT Communications, indosat, Aircel, Orascom Telecom and MTR Corp to name but a few. The response was overwhelmingly positive from the customers seeing the demos. They recognized the leading-edge innovation from each of us but also acknowledged and applauded the value of all of us working together. Engagements have already begun in the region to follow through on the multitude of business opportunities we anticipate will come from the event, stay tuned!

Chris Carfagnini – Alcatel-Lucent

We introduced the car to media and bloggers at the Altman Building in NYC, in a low key technology showcase style designed to give each guest as much time as possible in the car and talking to our subject matter experts. Check it out:

The order of the day was come in, tour the car, check out the ng Connect vision videos, grab time with member company representatives — very chill, and in no way like the kind of corporate speed dating PR/AR events I have attended.

I want to give a little shout out to Dan, Andy, Linda and Kris from QNX who dedicated their time at this launch. They hold a wealth of knowledge, and QNX is a great partner. I’d also like to recognize Paul and Eric from Atlantic who so elegantly guide the vision of the connected entertainment experience. 

The audience was predominantly press, blogger, podcasters and I really appreciated the open comments from many of the media who attended. Great feedback! Steve West always says we’re car guys so we’re jazzed about it, but you never really feel a sense of accomplishment until you see how jazzed others are about what the whole team has worked on. 

This project and the event itself really acted as a focus group for me. It was the first time we had experts in their field discuss with us their impressions of the outcome of the collaboration. The theme of ng Connect really resonated with everyone I spoke to. The buzz was all about “How does connectivity change the user experience?” When we connect a device as large as a car we open up a new frontier for passenger safety, apps, and M2M. This car is as much a tool to stimulate dialogue amongst relevant parties as it is an ng Connect proof point.

I guarantee you this is one area to watch. Significant investment in connected vehicle technology is being made and I’m really pleased to be a part of the ecosystem sharing ideas on both what could be and how we get there. The LTE Connected Car truly shows how LTE has the potential to change us, from driving and riding in the car, to the way we shop, play games and so much more.  It’s one thing to see the pictures and read about the car and quite another to experience it in person. I hope you can plan to see it when it arrives at CES in Vegas in January, or Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February.  

For more info on the LTE Connected Car or to see the “Making of the Connected Car” documentary, check out the microsite at www.ngconnect.org/lteconnectedcar.

Derek Kuhn, Alcatel-Lucent

Much of our professional communication has moved to text-based modes (like email and IM) because our applications process this media as true data and therefore bypass many traditional hindrances that still impede voice. This shift is not away from voice, per se, but a shift to more efficient processing methods. These text-based applications are more efficient with our time and attention. They make us more productive.

Unified communications is a movement to at least put a layer on the top of the silo’d voice and text messages that enables us to see and manage everything from one “inbox”. This is progress, but the modes of communication are still discreet. Live voice never rendezvous with text messaging, for example. But what if they weren’t separate silos or separate applications? What if the application you used was indifferent to the type of communications: live or timeshifted, text or voice, or video?

We would propose a couple key ideas:

• Voice is a natural and productive way for us to communicate.
• Voice is made inefficient by the technologies we use to manage it.
• We can reclaim the efficiencies of voice, by changing the technologies we use to manage it.

Then we ask three key questions:

• What does the optimal communication experience look like?
• Why not apply all the principles we used to efficiently process data to equally efficiently manage voice applications?
• Since communication is a prime activity and a driver of productivity, how can new models of voice communications increase productivity?

So what would the most productive voice application enable us to do? You should be able to do what you want when you want, via any form of media, regardless of other conditions in the network or other people’s attention. This implies the following capabilities:

• Speak to people live if that is what you want to do.
• Speak instantly to an individual or group (that means not dialing, not waiting for network services, IP addresses, or anyone to answer), knowing that they will hear it live if they want to listen now or they will receive it and listen whenever they want.
• Listen to messages instantly.
• Process your conversations and messages even if you don’t have any network at the moment.
• Process your conversations on whatever device you want at any time—that is, everything is everywhere. You can use the device that is most convenient right now.
• Listen to live conversations or conference calls after the fact without missing anything; either because you arrive late, you have to leave momentarily to do something else (like take another call), or you didn’t make it at all. And to do it efficiently: play faster, play only selected people or selected portions. And do it on the plane tomorrow, when you’ll have more time.
• Manage multiple conversations at the same time; for example, when you are on a conference call and a high priority call comes in, you can pause the conference call and take the high priority call, knowing that you can go back to the live group call and catch up without missing anything. You get to make your own choices about what is more important at any time.
• Receive and create messages in the meaningful context of conversations; not random lists of messages ordered by time.
• Contribute to conversations with the most appropriate media in any moment: live voice, voice messages, text, or video.
• Receive messages in the media format you prefer at the moment with a system that automatically converts the format if necessary. (If you’re driving you want to talk and hear audio; if you’re in a meeting you want to type and read.) And this is regardless of how the other participants are choosing to send their messages.

How do these features increase productivity? The productivity comes from being efficient with your attention and your time, and organizing your communications more meaningfully. It entails having applications that are flexible enough for you to always be able to do just what you need to do, and not be constrained by the technology. It also means that the technology should not waste your time for any reason—you don’t wait for it, it serves you just as you want it to. And next time, you can do it differently—-but all the same system, all the same application.

Powerful next generation IP networks that support mobility, like LTE, enable these rich applications to do whatever necessary to support the optimal user experience.  RebelVox joined the ng Connect program earlier this year to get ahead of the curve when it comes to thinking through the implications LTE can have on the efficiency and ease with which people communicate.  Because of their high speed, these networks do not need to force the user to cope with unnecessary limitations, but support whatever choices the user wants to make. This enables the ultimate in productivity for all communications, but becomes a significant measurable value for the enterprise. 

Mary Panttaja, Vice President Product Management, RebelVox

With LTE comes UICC, the microprocessor smart card that will be used in all devices.  The UICC is a multi application hardware platform that can run multiple smart card applications, including telecom applications (SIM, USIM, ISIM, EAP-SIM, etc) and non-telecom applications (contactless payment applications such as MasterCard Paypass, Visa Paywave, but also transit applications, etc.).

LTE and the UICC could provide an evolution from phone exclusivity in the United States, should the players wish it so.  Operators can put all of their branded services and applications, roaming, browsers, tracking, right on the UICC instead of in the handset. Because the UICC works with any 3G (or soon 4G) handset, the consumer is then free to buy the handset of his/her choice, put in the operator-issued UICC, and be ready to go.  No more broken contract fees, or “woe-is-me-I-can’t-get-the-phone-I-want” stories.

An open industry means a consumer can choose an operator based on its quality of service, not the handsets it offers.  It’s an opportunity for operators to build brand awareness and loyalty by offering the most innovative applications and services.  It’s good for the handset manufacturers, too, because it allows them to get a wider variety of handsets made, and much more quickly.  And clearly the consumer wins because they have freedom like never before.   

To us, the ng Connect Program means coming together to provide openness, freedom and innovation to the mobile telecommunications industry, and Gemalto is extremely glad to be part of it.  4G LTE and the UICC is a critical way to bring this kind of freedom to consumers.

Jean-Louis Carrara, vice president of business development for telecommunications, Gemalto North America