The DECT Forum and Informa Telecoms and Media announce that the registration is open now for the 13th Global DECT CAT-iq Conference on February 3rd and 4th 2009 in Amsterdam.

With the release of CAT-iq 2.0 and version 3.0 coming soon, the DECT Forum has reached a milestone and technology shift, enabling innovative products and leadingedge services for IP based broadband home communication. CAT-iq – introduced in 2006 as a new technology standard for All-IP networks and successor of DECT – is reality now and has the potential to leverage the profitability of the entire home communication industry.

“If you are in the home or enterprise communication business or in the broadband home gateway business you should attend the DECT CAT-iq World Conference in
Amsterdam. The quality of information and number of attendees has grown constantly over the last years and I am sure that 2009 will become the most successful
conference ever”, says Erich Kamperschroer, Chairman of the DECT Forum.

The DECT CAT-iq Conference 2009 will present the winners of the first International CAT-iq Student Design Competition, which has been initiated by the DECT Forum. With the Design Competition the DECT Forum inspired design students from all over the world to create out of the box products and exciting services for the next generation of home communication.

As a participant of the conference you will be able to be one of the first to see exciting award winning CAT-iq design studies and meet their creators.

Half of the buyers of a computer, mobile phone or other electronic device does not get their newly acquired thingy to work without assistance. This was revealed by a study by the Pew Research Center, that surveyed more than twothousand Americans about their experiences with new technology.

 

A large portion of the participants also had to get help when devices suddenly stopped working. 40 percent called the helpdesk of the company that supplied the device involved, while 15 percent sought (and found) the help of friends and familiy. 15 percent just gave up.

 

Especially the Internet connections lead to a big number of complaints (oh no, really?). 44 percent of the people claims to have had trouble with that in the last 12 months. 39 percent reports trouble with their PC or laptop and 29 percent had problems with their mobile phone, and 15 percent mentioned a cumbersome MP3-player.

 

Source www.uselog.com

The consumer is being confronted with many many products that should be easy to use without any difficulties.

 

However the reality is that 'simple to use' is often just a phrase.

 

I found an interesting blog about usability, called uselog.com. As you are involved in the development of new products, just have a look at this blog. 

New input device may change the way we type ...

 

"The screen of Apple's iPhone has focused much attention on touch as a user interface. iPhone users can rotate and resize images with finger gestures for instance. Many personal computers will likely have similar screens in the near future. But touch interfaces are nothing new -- witness ATM machines.

 

How about getting completely out of touch? A startup called LM3Labs says it's working with major computer makers in Japan, Taiwan and the US to incorporate touchless navigation into their laptops. Called AirStrike, the system uses tiny charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras integrated into each side of the keyboard to detect user movements. You can drag windows around or close them, for instance, by pointing and gesturing in midair above the keyboard.

 

Read the full article

You should be able to buy an AirStrike-equipped laptop next year, with high-end stand-alone keyboards to follow.

Registration for Participants Closes on September 19, 2008

 

Berne, Switzerland, September 9, 2008. The DECT Forum, the worldwide association of the home communication industry, announces the closing of the registration for the CAT-iq Design Competition on September 19, 2008. Design students from all over the world can win cash-prizes as well as market or licence their great ideas to leading companies of the home communication industry.

“The communication business changes dramatically. We call it overall IP communication. With your participation in the CAT-iq Design Competition you have the opportunity to shape the future of home communication. With some luck you can win attractive cash-prizes. But even more, since the
leading global industry players follow this competition very closely, the best ideas have a great chance to be manufactured and seen soon as innovative products on the market, in stores all
over the world”, says Erich Kamperschroer, Chairman of the DECT Forum.

 

The CAT-iq Design Competition addresses two general categories:
• Leading-edge Products for broadband home communication
      and/or
• Innovative and useful Services for broadband home communication

 

CAT-iq Student Design Competition Prizes:
First prize: 10,000 €
Second prize: 5,000 €
Third runner-up prize: 1,000 €

 

CAT-iq Student Design Competition Checklist:
Close of registration: September 19, 2008.
Submission of entries: October 10, 2008.
Announcement of winners: November 14, 2008.
More information, registration, contacts at: www.catiqdesigncompetition.org

 

About CAT-iq:

CAT-iq, the global technology platform for wireless communication, is the successor of the reliable DECT standard. CAT-iq is designed for the next generation of IP networks, operates in a protected frequency band and is available in almost every region of the world. The most important benefits of the CAT-iq technology are:
full in-house IP connectivity, applicable for CD quality audio and radio, widescreen messaging, intelligent device management and remote control, real plug and play, and energy saving.

 

About DECT Forum and Jakajima:

The DECT Forum and Jakajima arrange the Design Competition. The DECT Forum, located in Berne, Switzerland, is the international industry association representing the worldwide home communication industry. Jury members of the Design competition are: Vincent Buet (Philips), Pieter Hermans (Jakajima), Erich Kamperschroer (DECT Forum), Nicholas Rhodes (St. Martins College London), Erik Stridbaek (Polycom),
Sofia Svanteson (Ocean Observations), Lesley Taylor (SGW Europe), C.H. Tong (VTech).
For more information please visit: www.dect.org www.cat-iq.org www.catiqdesigncompetition.org

Jakajima is an independent market intelligence and innovation company for the telecom, ICT, and consumer-electronics trade chain. Jakajima is based in Nuenen, Netherlands. Please read more at www.jakajima.eu.

 

Some weeks ago we started to help in the creation of new CAT-iq product concepts and ideas. This as support for the international CAT-iq design competition for students, organized by DECT Forum and Jakajima.

 

Together with redesignme, we set up a CAT-iq page, end of July. So far 20 ideas came up. Not all of them are great, but some are interesting concepts, and not just telephony related!

 

Go to the CAT-iq page at the Redesignme site, and decide for yourself.

 

Last month I mentioned the possibility to use CAT-iq for digital photo frames.

 

Within a month my idea seems to become real, but not with CAT-iq but with Wi-Fi.

 

Interesting is the link with online services. Great news for operators and Internet Service providers!!

 

Kodak’s new digital photo frames boast wireless technology for the ability to connect and display photos from popular photo sharing Websites like Kodak’s own online Gallery and Flickr.
Available in 8” and 10” sizes, the frames have built-in WiFi allowing customers to stream their images to the frames over the ‘net. In addition to Flickr, Kodak has also partnered with Internet content manager FrameChannel, a service from Frame Media, Inc. that offers more than 200 channels of content. This includes everything from news, to weather, traffic, and sports updates. As with other recently announced Kodak digital frames, these WiFi models also include the company’s Quick Touch Border that permits touch-screen operation.

 

When displaying images from Kodak’s Gallery, a Picture Mail feature will automatically notify users when another Kodak member has shared their pictures. Owners of the frames will receive an on-screen message that tells them they’ve received new photos. Using the Gallery, images can be sent from one frame to another without the use of a PC.

 

Both frames have 512 MB of internal memory, as well as two memory card slots. Each also has built-in speakers for playing back MP3 music files.

Customers will be pleased to know that there are no subscription fees required for the service.

Kodak’s W820 and W1020 wireless digital photo frames will be available in August for around $229 and $279, respectively.

Decorate mattes in Cranberry red and silver are included. Optional faceplates are also available in Mahogany with a gold matte, Silver with a blue matte, Black Shadowbox with a champagne matte and Espresso Shadowbox with a black matte.

 

There has been a great response to the first International CAT-iq Student Design Competition: The DECT Forum, the worldwide association of the home communication industry, has received registrations from design students from all over the world.
To enter the competition, students may present either a concept, or a fully realized prototype. The registration period for the competition closes on September 19, 2008
“It is not only the cash prizes that attract students to participate. It is even more that students and their work get exposed to worldwide industry professionals, a terrific path for beginning a career”, says Erich Kamperschroer, Chairman of the DECT Forum

 

The CAT-iq Student Design Competition solicits innovative approaches for new and leading-edge products and services in the area of home communication. “Students in the field of industrial design, interactive design, gaming design, and electronic engineering, are unique in their ability to impact the quality of people's future in-house communication and cordless telephony”, says Erich Kamperschroer. “Hence, we ask students to face many fascinating challenges in designing usable and enjoyable services, applications, and devices for the consumers.

CAT-iq, the global technology platform for wireless communication, is the successor of the reliable DECT standard. CAT-iq is designed for the next generation of IP networks, operates in a protected frequency band and is available in almost every region of the world. The most important benefits of the CAT-iq technology are: full in-house IP connectivity, applicable for CD quality audio and radio, widescreen messaging, intelligent device management and remote control, real plug and play, and energy saving.

 

CAT-iq Student Design Competition Prizes:
First prize: 10,000 €
Second prize: 5,000 €
Third runner-up prize: 1,000 €

 

 

CAT-iq Student Design Competition Checklist:
Close of registration: September 19, 2008.
Submission of entries: October 10, 2008.
Announcement of winners: November 14, 2008.

 

About DECT Forum and Jakajima:
The DECT Forum and Jakajima arrange the Design Competition.

The DECT Forum, located in Berne, Switzerland, is the international industry association representing the worldwide home communication industry.

 

Jury members of the Design competition are: Vincent Buet (Philips), Pieter Hermans (Jakajima), Erich Kamperschroer (DECT Forum), Nicholas Rhodes (St. Martins College London), Sofia Svanteson (Ocean Observations), Lesley Taylor (SGW Europe), and C.H. Tong (VTech).

 

For more information please visit:
http://www.dect.org/
http://www.cat-iq.org/
http://www.catiqdesigncompetition.org/

 

Jakajima is an independent market intelligence and innovation company for the telecom, ICT, and consumer-electronics value chain. Jakajima is based in Nuenen, Netherlands. Please read more at http://www.jakajima.eu/

I found on the internet this short article in a blog about designing for humans.

 

For those working in productdevelopment en producdesign this could be interesting, specially when we talk about new CAT-iq product concepts. Those who are involved in the CAT-iq design competition might find this article and the blog useful.

 

The article starts promising;

I've got a bias against design standards based on my experiences working with organizations that have tried to set them before, rather than after designing a product.  Standards should be a way to document a proven approach, not a prescription for how to do something that hasn't been done yet.  On the other hand, process standards are useful a priori because they provide guidance on how to do something that you may have not done before.  And like design standards, process standards should be updated over time with experience.

Read the full article

 

 

 

Sometimes you see something which is so funny, mind boggling and interesting, even if there is no direct link to CAT-iq, that is should be mentioned.

Yesterday I saw a Pleo. Pleo is the first truly autonomous Life Form capable of emotions that allow personal engagement. Developed, produced and marketed by Ugobe.

UGOBE ’s multidisciplinary team has blended engineering, life sciences, philosophy, and artistic design and developed a unique set of core technologies. The company’s unique products, known as Life Forms, intend to blur the line between technology and life.

By integrating three disciplines—organic articulation with sensory response and autonomous behaviors—UGOBE aims to revolutionize robotics and transform inanimate objects into lifelike creatures. Inspired by its dream, the group coined the word ‘UGOBE’, which translates to: “You! Go and Be!” a creative reworking of Descarte’s “Cogito ergo sum”—“I think, therefore I am.”

The company’s vision is to inspire mystery and awe in people, provide extended novelty and entertainment, and ride the edge between popular culture and science fiction. In a private R&D facility, UGOBE works to recreate known species, engineer beneficial hybrids, and transform previously inanimate objects into lifelike creatures using its Life Operating

System platform. UGOBE is in the business of developing unique proprietary and patent-pending technologies. UGOBE  innovations are leading to real world applications and are related to work being done at MIT, CMU and a host of other universities, as well as technical and biological science companies around the world.

 

Pleo incorporates all the basic traits of autonomous life and is specifically engineered to mimic life and relate to its owner on a personal level. Pleo will let its user know how it feels at any moment, and he is capable of multiple expressions, including joy, aggression, sorrow, and fear—every Pleo will eventually exhibit a unique personality. Pleo can also sigh, sniff, sniffle, snore, cough, hiccup, and sneeze, and when Pleo is tired, he will become drowsy and go to sleep, and sometimes even dream. Pleo is equipped with sensors for sight, sound and touch. Pleo will stretch when he first wakes up, and may cry when frightened or hungry.

 

See what Pleo is and can do in this video.

 

 

 

I spoke with some executives of the company and we talked about the future Life Forms. One of the topics was integration with a  wireless standard. There might be the link with CAT-iq. Total new productconcepts, services and the like for operators, software developers and even  hardware vendors.

 

True, this is far away from the business of wireless home phones, but realise that this might create total new markets in the digital home of the future. 

 

Isaac Asimov is getting close now