There may not be any Apple in Microvision future… because Apple has considered but never [yes that’s right] warmed-up to the idea of embedding a pico projector, Microvision’s or anyone else’s, in any of its product line.
That’s a very bold statement and demands due diligence and research to support this argument.
First, watch this Alex Tokman interview video dated September 27, 2010. Watch carefully; from three minutes seven seconds to three minutes thirty five seconds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MQtsuj1y-I&feature=youtube_gdata_player
AT sounds sour on Apple don’t you think? For someone who used to answer questions about Apple as: “Apple world loves us”… now talks about Apple as a forgone conclusion in the iPhone vs. Google Android battle of the giants. Google Android is a new entrant to the smartphone arena and anyone worth listening to in this technology space would tell you: “it’s too early to tell who would be the leader… if there is going to be one at all in the first place?”
AT sounds sour on Apple and there may be a good reason for it.
Vast majority of technologists with-in Apple camp are convinced that pico projection technology is not mature enough to risk the integrity of their established technology offering… like computing, MP3 player, or mobile me platform [iPad, iPhone]. Unless there is an Apple product genre that offers pico projection as a primary function… there is very little chance of a pico projector making its way into the existing Apple product line? Unfortunately, that is not the only issue.
Another issue with an embedded pico projector inside any of the Apple product line, according to my sources, are the concern for primary product reliability and common mode failure caused by or because of the embedded pico projector functionality.
The reasoning goes like this...
“Pico projection is relatively new technology; with very little, if any, proven performance and reliability track record. If the pico projector goes on the fritz, the primary functionality of the iPad, iPhone or iWhatever is lost and the entire unit must be repaired or replaced”
That does not sound too good for embedded pico projectors for the Apple product line… at least for now.
However, all is not lost.
Smart companies have figured out the way around Apple’s position on embedded pico projectors. They are coming out with hand held pico projectors as an accessory unit for the Apple products─ like Microvision SHOWwx for one example, or as a docking station for the Apple mobile me products [iPod, iPhone, iPad] with added bells and whistles.
Anant Goel
Disclaimer: These comments are author’s personal observations and opinions and are based on his own research conducted recently.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Microvision: Stock Has Headline Risk
I’m probably the strongest supporter of Microvision and its current management… but if you were to read some of my recent posts, you would never believe that.
I have followed this company for more than 10 years and have been an investor, with millions of dollars at stake, for over 5 years.
Last 4 years have been the most excruciating and financially devastating period for me and hundreds of Microvision investors that I personally know.
If you watch the ticker symbol MVIS, you will see that someone [or more than one someone] is selling a small number of shares at very low prices to spook the long retail investors into unloading their position… only to come-in to scoop-it-up by the bucket loads. This seems to be going on for several days now? While the net market value of Microvision keeps going to hell in a hand basket; the management stays totally aloof and silent. And that makes you wonder why?
Let’s face it, for the last four years, the traders and manipulators have played with MVIS stock like a Yo Yo… because they are able to exploit the headline risk associated with Microvision to their advantage. While the die hard longs just hang-in risking their hard earning investment dollar, the corporate management of Microvision hides behind the green laser curtain and blows the NDAs hot air up our stack.
For four years it has been the… same old… same old.
This stock has no backbone and has several headline risks going forward …
• first it was the green laser availability
• then it was the price of blue & green lasers
• next it was the brightness and speckle of projected image
• then it will be the debate of safety issue with lasers
• further down the road, it will be the anemically slow revenue and earnings growth
• then it will be the issue of poor margins
• and then towards the end of our journey [if we live to be 90+ years old] it will be the case of missing brass balls.
I have said it before and I’ll repeat it again…
“This company’s entire future lies with the green lasers… and to make the matter even worse, the corporate management hides behind the stack of backorders and NDAs. For the last four years, this company does not have much to show for new business development… other than polishing and patenting what was accomplished four years ago and they seem to be frozen in place─ like a deer caught in the dazzle of green light on the long road to the promise land.”
Unfortunately, the key issue may not be just the green lasers… but also the case of an ill conceived and misguided Business Plan or the lack of management execution. After fifteen years and $380 million dollars later, all we get is $2 million in 2nd Qtr 2010 revenues and $12 million in quarterly loss… all at substantial negative margins and lots of promises for the future.
There are many more headline issues facing Microvision and the slow bleeding in the price of MVIS stock is to be expected… especially when the corporate management keeps mum on important issues; and lacks the conviction, or perhaps the business savvy to manage investor expectation over so many years.
I didn’t think that I would ever say this, but here it goes…
Its tmie to cut dwon yuor psotiion szie and persevre yuor ctpaail.
Get it?
This is called hiding behind a stack of your abc’s and ─ as long as the first and last letter are in the right place─ you can play with the English language alphabet and still get your message across. The point is, if the corporate management has something to say and wants to get a message across… it can do so in so many different ways.
Longer the management of Microvision delays release of any significant news [of any kind], the lower the price of MVIS will go down. Here’s why…
With each passing day without any significant news, the smart money will convince you that at the moment Microvision don’t actually have a product. The product they are selling right now is the inferior and soon to be replaced by the second generation product they have announced recently. What we have, is an under illuminated novelty item that has a very limited appeal in its present configuration. They made the current technology obsolete last April when they announced that they have a 15 lumen 720 HD product solution… but that product wasn’t going to be available until some time in the future. But what that announcement did was to severely limit the market for what they had and would have for at least one more year.
You can imagine: “what a marketing blooper that’s going to be?”
The simple fact is that Microvision doesn’t yet seem to have a product that the market wants at the current prices and the product that the market may want is what they are developing… but that product and competitive prices won’t be available until the second half of 2011.
You don’t have to take my word for it. The market price of MVIS stock says it all. A company with any kind of near term prospects doesn’t trade at $2.11… after having traded at $5.85 in the recent past.
From an investor’s point of view; management’s total silence is shocking… because no one has ever asked for customer specific information yet they hide behind the backorders and the NDAs argument.
All the investors want to know: “do they see light at the end of this very long and very dark tunnel"?
Anonymous
I have followed this company for more than 10 years and have been an investor, with millions of dollars at stake, for over 5 years.
Last 4 years have been the most excruciating and financially devastating period for me and hundreds of Microvision investors that I personally know.
If you watch the ticker symbol MVIS, you will see that someone [or more than one someone] is selling a small number of shares at very low prices to spook the long retail investors into unloading their position… only to come-in to scoop-it-up by the bucket loads. This seems to be going on for several days now? While the net market value of Microvision keeps going to hell in a hand basket; the management stays totally aloof and silent. And that makes you wonder why?
Let’s face it, for the last four years, the traders and manipulators have played with MVIS stock like a Yo Yo… because they are able to exploit the headline risk associated with Microvision to their advantage. While the die hard longs just hang-in risking their hard earning investment dollar, the corporate management of Microvision hides behind the green laser curtain and blows the NDAs hot air up our stack.
For four years it has been the… same old… same old.
This stock has no backbone and has several headline risks going forward …
• first it was the green laser availability
• then it was the price of blue & green lasers
• next it was the brightness and speckle of projected image
• then it will be the debate of safety issue with lasers
• further down the road, it will be the anemically slow revenue and earnings growth
• then it will be the issue of poor margins
• and then towards the end of our journey [if we live to be 90+ years old] it will be the case of missing brass balls.
I have said it before and I’ll repeat it again…
“This company’s entire future lies with the green lasers… and to make the matter even worse, the corporate management hides behind the stack of backorders and NDAs. For the last four years, this company does not have much to show for new business development… other than polishing and patenting what was accomplished four years ago and they seem to be frozen in place─ like a deer caught in the dazzle of green light on the long road to the promise land.”
Unfortunately, the key issue may not be just the green lasers… but also the case of an ill conceived and misguided Business Plan or the lack of management execution. After fifteen years and $380 million dollars later, all we get is $2 million in 2nd Qtr 2010 revenues and $12 million in quarterly loss… all at substantial negative margins and lots of promises for the future.
There are many more headline issues facing Microvision and the slow bleeding in the price of MVIS stock is to be expected… especially when the corporate management keeps mum on important issues; and lacks the conviction, or perhaps the business savvy to manage investor expectation over so many years.
I didn’t think that I would ever say this, but here it goes…
Its tmie to cut dwon yuor psotiion szie and persevre yuor ctpaail.
Get it?
This is called hiding behind a stack of your abc’s and ─ as long as the first and last letter are in the right place─ you can play with the English language alphabet and still get your message across. The point is, if the corporate management has something to say and wants to get a message across… it can do so in so many different ways.
Longer the management of Microvision delays release of any significant news [of any kind], the lower the price of MVIS will go down. Here’s why…
With each passing day without any significant news, the smart money will convince you that at the moment Microvision don’t actually have a product. The product they are selling right now is the inferior and soon to be replaced by the second generation product they have announced recently. What we have, is an under illuminated novelty item that has a very limited appeal in its present configuration. They made the current technology obsolete last April when they announced that they have a 15 lumen 720 HD product solution… but that product wasn’t going to be available until some time in the future. But what that announcement did was to severely limit the market for what they had and would have for at least one more year.
You can imagine: “what a marketing blooper that’s going to be?”
The simple fact is that Microvision doesn’t yet seem to have a product that the market wants at the current prices and the product that the market may want is what they are developing… but that product and competitive prices won’t be available until the second half of 2011.
You don’t have to take my word for it. The market price of MVIS stock says it all. A company with any kind of near term prospects doesn’t trade at $2.11… after having traded at $5.85 in the recent past.
From an investor’s point of view; management’s total silence is shocking… because no one has ever asked for customer specific information yet they hide behind the backorders and the NDAs argument.
All the investors want to know: “do they see light at the end of this very long and very dark tunnel"?
Anonymous
[Disclosure: Based upon input from dozens of Microvision stock investors with net Long positions]
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Microvision: College Campus Marketing
Microvision recently announced a “back to college” promotion for its laser based PicoP projector SHOWwx… by reducing the list price down to $449 which also included the VGA dock.
After having made an extensive check with my contacts in the computer resellers community [from my past life] that sells consumer electronics gadgets to college students all over the US… I have to say that Microvision’s marketing effort is limited to a blurb about the price reduction offer on their web site… and that’s about it.
There are no signs of any marketing effort to promote or sell SHOWwx to the college students… other than an advertisement on the Microvision web site at…
http://www.microvision.com/pico_projector_displays/index.html
College students represent, for many companies like Microvision, a valuable demographic. It's easy to understand why… because most young people are still shaping their brand loyalty, they usually have disposable income, and most are interested in trying new things. Unfortunately, marketing to college students can pose a challenge because they are immune to many classic methods of marketing. By injecting a little fun into the message and having the right attitude, campus marketing can bring your product or service a lot of attention.
Before you decide to launch your marketing campaign, be aware of the “Campus Solicitation” policy of each and every individual campus on your target list. Most colleges discourage aggressive solicitation of students, faculty, and staff on campus. These activities often disrupt campus routine, offend segments of the College community, and imply endorsement by the College of particular products, services, or ideas.
Here’s one idea that is most cost effective and incorporates all of the best of breed ideas in one place…
• Hire a company that specializes in collegiate marketing. Many years ago, I worked with this company called “New Age Marketing”. In my humble opinion, they are the best in the business. Check them out…
http://www.collegiatepromotions.com/cpfeatured.html
You don’t have to create the viral networking buzz yourself… these guys will do it for you in the most cost effective manner.
One other thing that you may consider…
• Partnering with the School
Piggyback on the excitement around college sports events. Football game days at many schools─ Ohio State, Alabama and USC, for example─ are massive undertakings, attracting 100,000 fans to the stadium and thousands more to the surrounding neighborhood. Establishing an official promotional partnership can be expensive, but valuable. Your company could purchase ad space in the stadium. To capitalize on the opportunity without an official license… you must arrive on campus few hours before kickoff and engage the thousands of excited students walking around.
Enter into an agreement with the university to provide goods to students at a low cost. If they have your product in hand, they will learn to turn to you in the future. For example, according to Marguerite Reardon at Wired Magazine, Duke University spent $500,000 to purchase discounted Apple iPods in an attempt to assess their usefulness in higher education. Apple gave 1,650 Duke Freshmen the devices, helping the school and helping Apple expand its market share.
The College or recognized student groups occasionally invite vendors to fulfill particular campus objectives. The Director of Student Life must provide written approval to such vendors to grant exceptions to solicitation policies. Student groups must guarantee the availability of the products that their sponsored vendors sell. These sales must be cleared in writing in advance with the Director of Student Life, and when an athletic team is involved, with the Director of Athletics. No outside organization may proselytize, distribute, or sell products without direct sponsorship of a student organization recognized by the College Student Government or an administrative office.
Here’re some thoughts on doing the marketing to college students on your own…
• Colleges provide sellers with a captive audience full of hungry buyers. College campus advertisements are successful in reaching large numbers of people due to the dense population of students and staff that frequent campus buildings. There are a number of ways that you can effectively advertise on a college campus. By engaging in some creative ad placement, you can increase the success of your business and introduce your product to a whole new group of consumers.
• Print Marketing: Tailor your print marketing to the mindset present in most young people. Instead of putting together ads with lots of tiny words, spend a little extra money with the printer to ensure that your ads have striking images. Think about it; "got milk?" is only two words, but is an ad campaign everyone knows. If nothing else, include a link to your website to take advantage of the increasingly digital lifestyle of the student. Indeed, you should place the signs on outdoor billboards around campus. More important, post them on billboards inside, especially near administrative offices. Thousands of bored students stream past the registrar’s office, and your ad could catch their eye.
• Quad Posting Boards: Many colleges and universities feature a central posting board in their campus quad or other open area. This board contains flyers, student postings and campus event reminders. Advertise your product by placing a flyer on this message board amongst the other messages. Many students peruse this board regularly, so placing your flyer here will surely get you some views.
• Hire enthusiastic young people: to prowl the campus with flyers. Better yet, have them distribute free T-shirts with your product message in vivid colors. Young people are more likely to stop if another young person is flagging them down. Have your employees wear brightly colored T-shirts and make sure they are enthusiastic, above all else.
• Hire some students: to go around to dorms and put flyers up on bulletin boards or stuff mailboxes.
• Put an ad: in the school newspaper.
• Place an ad: on the college radio station.
• Send your flyers: to fraternities, sororities, athletic groups, etc… especially at school "party" times.
One thing that you must not do; is hire yet another “Director of Campus Marketing”… only to fire him/her a year or two later for lack of generating any tangible sales revenue.
Anant Goel
After having made an extensive check with my contacts in the computer resellers community [from my past life] that sells consumer electronics gadgets to college students all over the US… I have to say that Microvision’s marketing effort is limited to a blurb about the price reduction offer on their web site… and that’s about it.
There are no signs of any marketing effort to promote or sell SHOWwx to the college students… other than an advertisement on the Microvision web site at…
http://www.microvision.com/pico_projector_displays/index.html
College students represent, for many companies like Microvision, a valuable demographic. It's easy to understand why… because most young people are still shaping their brand loyalty, they usually have disposable income, and most are interested in trying new things. Unfortunately, marketing to college students can pose a challenge because they are immune to many classic methods of marketing. By injecting a little fun into the message and having the right attitude, campus marketing can bring your product or service a lot of attention.
Before you decide to launch your marketing campaign, be aware of the “Campus Solicitation” policy of each and every individual campus on your target list. Most colleges discourage aggressive solicitation of students, faculty, and staff on campus. These activities often disrupt campus routine, offend segments of the College community, and imply endorsement by the College of particular products, services, or ideas.
Here’s one idea that is most cost effective and incorporates all of the best of breed ideas in one place…
• Hire a company that specializes in collegiate marketing. Many years ago, I worked with this company called “New Age Marketing”. In my humble opinion, they are the best in the business. Check them out…
http://www.collegiatepromotions.com/cpfeatured.html
You don’t have to create the viral networking buzz yourself… these guys will do it for you in the most cost effective manner.
One other thing that you may consider…
• Partnering with the School
Piggyback on the excitement around college sports events. Football game days at many schools─ Ohio State, Alabama and USC, for example─ are massive undertakings, attracting 100,000 fans to the stadium and thousands more to the surrounding neighborhood. Establishing an official promotional partnership can be expensive, but valuable. Your company could purchase ad space in the stadium. To capitalize on the opportunity without an official license… you must arrive on campus few hours before kickoff and engage the thousands of excited students walking around.
Enter into an agreement with the university to provide goods to students at a low cost. If they have your product in hand, they will learn to turn to you in the future. For example, according to Marguerite Reardon at Wired Magazine, Duke University spent $500,000 to purchase discounted Apple iPods in an attempt to assess their usefulness in higher education. Apple gave 1,650 Duke Freshmen the devices, helping the school and helping Apple expand its market share.
The College or recognized student groups occasionally invite vendors to fulfill particular campus objectives. The Director of Student Life must provide written approval to such vendors to grant exceptions to solicitation policies. Student groups must guarantee the availability of the products that their sponsored vendors sell. These sales must be cleared in writing in advance with the Director of Student Life, and when an athletic team is involved, with the Director of Athletics. No outside organization may proselytize, distribute, or sell products without direct sponsorship of a student organization recognized by the College Student Government or an administrative office.
Here’re some thoughts on doing the marketing to college students on your own…
• Colleges provide sellers with a captive audience full of hungry buyers. College campus advertisements are successful in reaching large numbers of people due to the dense population of students and staff that frequent campus buildings. There are a number of ways that you can effectively advertise on a college campus. By engaging in some creative ad placement, you can increase the success of your business and introduce your product to a whole new group of consumers.
• Print Marketing: Tailor your print marketing to the mindset present in most young people. Instead of putting together ads with lots of tiny words, spend a little extra money with the printer to ensure that your ads have striking images. Think about it; "got milk?" is only two words, but is an ad campaign everyone knows. If nothing else, include a link to your website to take advantage of the increasingly digital lifestyle of the student. Indeed, you should place the signs on outdoor billboards around campus. More important, post them on billboards inside, especially near administrative offices. Thousands of bored students stream past the registrar’s office, and your ad could catch their eye.
• Quad Posting Boards: Many colleges and universities feature a central posting board in their campus quad or other open area. This board contains flyers, student postings and campus event reminders. Advertise your product by placing a flyer on this message board amongst the other messages. Many students peruse this board regularly, so placing your flyer here will surely get you some views.
• Hire enthusiastic young people: to prowl the campus with flyers. Better yet, have them distribute free T-shirts with your product message in vivid colors. Young people are more likely to stop if another young person is flagging them down. Have your employees wear brightly colored T-shirts and make sure they are enthusiastic, above all else.
• Hire some students: to go around to dorms and put flyers up on bulletin boards or stuff mailboxes.
• Put an ad: in the school newspaper.
• Place an ad: on the college radio station.
• Send your flyers: to fraternities, sororities, athletic groups, etc… especially at school "party" times.
One thing that you must not do; is hire yet another “Director of Campus Marketing”… only to fire him/her a year or two later for lack of generating any tangible sales revenue.
Anant Goel
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Microvision: Showcase Advances in PC Gaming Technology with Project Tuatara (Part 5)
Here’s the highlight of the news from this morning...
September 2, 2010 at 9:40 AM
By Stephen Totilo
News at Kotaku Web site
With This Gun, Your First-Person Shooters Can Surround You
“In Dallas last month I spotted a big inflatable igloo. It had been erected by a company called Microvision on the exhibition floor at QuakeCon. Inside of it, I discovered, was a man holding this gun.”
Here’s the link to the full article and make sure to watch the video…
http://kotaku.com/5627882/with-this-gun-your-first+person-shooters-can-surround-you
Here’s a very interesting observation…
“The Microvision people were getting QuakeCon attendees to line up for Project Tuatara, an experimental technology designed to be used with any mouse-and-keyboard first-person shooter.”
For this demo, they were using the released PC game Operation Flashpoint. Here is what the video from QuakeCon exhibition looks like…
http://kotaku.com/5627882/with-this-gun-your-first+person-shooters-can-surround-you
[Click the link and watch the video]
It seems to me Microvision is using the new 720P HD PicoP in this first-person shooter gun… which they call as the Controller. No wonder the video is so colorful, bright and crisp. It's much better than what we have seen before.
Here’s the product review by Dana “Dizzy” at the QuakeCon 2010 web site…
“Perhaps the most astounding in its revolutionary graphics and futuristic gaming potential is located at the Project Tuatara booth. What looked like an inflatable black igloo (as I called it to Bowl, who politely skipped over my total gaming ignorance) was actually an oasis of 3-dimensional gaming. Inside the 10-foot dome was the culmination of modern total gaming immersion. Dave Lashmet and Andrew Rosen, the men behind Operation Flashpoint, explained to us their ingenious and revolutionary game control system.”
“The controller is one of several gun models, including an FN F2000 and a TR-21. This controller is linked to a PC as an air mouse. The video feed is sent back to the gun and projected using pico HD lasers from Microvision, the backer of Project Tuatara. The background is then translated to a three-dimensional polar axis that can be projected onto any surface. Dave recommends white walls and a dark room to get the best results, but one benefit of the pico lasers is that they are always in focus.”
"Dave and Andrew have both had extensive experience playing in the last month since this project was initiated, and have been able to play over 20 different games on a series of different backdrops, including one instance when they set up white sheets on hotel room walls. Though they are hosting 3-minute trials of Lost Planet to patient gamers (there is an hour-long line), the controller can be configured to virtually any game in just a few minutes. This controller is incredible because it is a step toward actual 3-dimensional gaming. The control isn’t released yet (this is a privileged promo experience) but they hope to release a total 3-dimensional experience in the coming years, complete with surround sound and not only lateral dimensions, but 3-D glasses to enhance background depth.”
Here’s the link to Dana “Dizzy” product review of Microvision’s prototype FPS gaming gun controller…
http://quakecon.quake-live.tv/2010/08/13/project-tuatara/
Looking back a few months…
In December 2009, Microvision's PicoP Display Engine was at the Heart of Realistic Game Demo at Intel Extreme Masters Tournament
This is what Ian Brown of Microvision said at the Intel sponsored tourney at Edmonton, Alberta…
“The game application takes advantage of our PicoP display engine’s infinite focus,” Brown says. “We believe that Microvision’s technology can be used to create a new level of realism and interactive freedom for gamers. As the worldwide market for video games exceeds $50 billion, we are very excited to partner with Intel to showcase this new advance in gaming technology to the world’s best gamers at Intel Extreme Masters.”
“Intel believes that radical innovations like Microvision’s laser projection engine will continue to drive the gaming industry forward,” said George Woo, Intel Corporation’s Marketing Manager of the Intel Extreme Masters. “We are pleased to demonstrate how Microvision’s technology and the Intel® Core™ i7 processor Extreme Edition can create a new way for gamers to become immersed in the game world.”
Now you can take you gaming experience several notches up with a PicoP projector from Microvision and your gaming experience will never be the same...
“These hardcore gamers soon may be unleashed from their stationary position to enjoy a realistic virtual combat experience with life-sized video images, projected on walls, ceilings and floors, all from a weapon-styled projection game controller they hold in their hands.”
“Game players at the tourney who give the prototype a spin will experience “an immersive, 360-degree feel,” promises Ian Brown, Microvision’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “The company’s laser projection engine can show a distortion-free image on nearly any flat or curved surface. Consequently, the game goes along with the gamer and reflects the character’s position in three-dimensional space.”
The worldwide market for video games exceeds $50 billion.
Did I say that before?
Yep, I just wanted to make sure we register that clearly, because that is an additional market, beyond pico projection, that Microvision is addressing in collaboration with Intel... the biggest PC gamer in the world.
Anant Goel
September 2, 2010 at 9:40 AM
By Stephen Totilo
News at Kotaku Web site
With This Gun, Your First-Person Shooters Can Surround You
“In Dallas last month I spotted a big inflatable igloo. It had been erected by a company called Microvision on the exhibition floor at QuakeCon. Inside of it, I discovered, was a man holding this gun.”
Here’s the link to the full article and make sure to watch the video…
http://kotaku.com/5627882/with-this-gun-your-first+person-shooters-can-surround-you
Here’s a very interesting observation…
“The Microvision people were getting QuakeCon attendees to line up for Project Tuatara, an experimental technology designed to be used with any mouse-and-keyboard first-person shooter.”
For this demo, they were using the released PC game Operation Flashpoint. Here is what the video from QuakeCon exhibition looks like…
http://kotaku.com/5627882/with-this-gun-your-first+person-shooters-can-surround-you
[Click the link and watch the video]
It seems to me Microvision is using the new 720P HD PicoP in this first-person shooter gun… which they call as the Controller. No wonder the video is so colorful, bright and crisp. It's much better than what we have seen before.
Here’s the product review by Dana “Dizzy” at the QuakeCon 2010 web site…
“Perhaps the most astounding in its revolutionary graphics and futuristic gaming potential is located at the Project Tuatara booth. What looked like an inflatable black igloo (as I called it to Bowl, who politely skipped over my total gaming ignorance) was actually an oasis of 3-dimensional gaming. Inside the 10-foot dome was the culmination of modern total gaming immersion. Dave Lashmet and Andrew Rosen, the men behind Operation Flashpoint, explained to us their ingenious and revolutionary game control system.”
“The controller is one of several gun models, including an FN F2000 and a TR-21. This controller is linked to a PC as an air mouse. The video feed is sent back to the gun and projected using pico HD lasers from Microvision, the backer of Project Tuatara. The background is then translated to a three-dimensional polar axis that can be projected onto any surface. Dave recommends white walls and a dark room to get the best results, but one benefit of the pico lasers is that they are always in focus.”
"Dave and Andrew have both had extensive experience playing in the last month since this project was initiated, and have been able to play over 20 different games on a series of different backdrops, including one instance when they set up white sheets on hotel room walls. Though they are hosting 3-minute trials of Lost Planet to patient gamers (there is an hour-long line), the controller can be configured to virtually any game in just a few minutes. This controller is incredible because it is a step toward actual 3-dimensional gaming. The control isn’t released yet (this is a privileged promo experience) but they hope to release a total 3-dimensional experience in the coming years, complete with surround sound and not only lateral dimensions, but 3-D glasses to enhance background depth.”
Here’s the link to Dana “Dizzy” product review of Microvision’s prototype FPS gaming gun controller…
http://quakecon.quake-live.tv/2010/08/13/project-tuatara/
Looking back a few months…
In December 2009, Microvision's PicoP Display Engine was at the Heart of Realistic Game Demo at Intel Extreme Masters Tournament
This is what Ian Brown of Microvision said at the Intel sponsored tourney at Edmonton, Alberta…
“The game application takes advantage of our PicoP display engine’s infinite focus,” Brown says. “We believe that Microvision’s technology can be used to create a new level of realism and interactive freedom for gamers. As the worldwide market for video games exceeds $50 billion, we are very excited to partner with Intel to showcase this new advance in gaming technology to the world’s best gamers at Intel Extreme Masters.”
“Intel believes that radical innovations like Microvision’s laser projection engine will continue to drive the gaming industry forward,” said George Woo, Intel Corporation’s Marketing Manager of the Intel Extreme Masters. “We are pleased to demonstrate how Microvision’s technology and the Intel® Core™ i7 processor Extreme Edition can create a new way for gamers to become immersed in the game world.”
Now you can take you gaming experience several notches up with a PicoP projector from Microvision and your gaming experience will never be the same...
“These hardcore gamers soon may be unleashed from their stationary position to enjoy a realistic virtual combat experience with life-sized video images, projected on walls, ceilings and floors, all from a weapon-styled projection game controller they hold in their hands.”
“Game players at the tourney who give the prototype a spin will experience “an immersive, 360-degree feel,” promises Ian Brown, Microvision’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “The company’s laser projection engine can show a distortion-free image on nearly any flat or curved surface. Consequently, the game goes along with the gamer and reflects the character’s position in three-dimensional space.”
The worldwide market for video games exceeds $50 billion.
Did I say that before?
Yep, I just wanted to make sure we register that clearly, because that is an additional market, beyond pico projection, that Microvision is addressing in collaboration with Intel... the biggest PC gamer in the world.
Anant Goel
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Next Paradigm Shift: The Internet Would Democratize Broadcasting and Content Delivery
Over the last few years, there has been such a confluence of technologies in so many different sectors that it is about to bring several paradigm shifts… and in the process shape our lives and also open-up new frontiers to commercial opportunities.
There is a long list of paradigm shifts taking place right under our noses while we work, play or snooze. As the title suggests, here we will just focus on: How Internet Would Democratize Broadcasting and Content Delivery.
How attractive does a new technology have to be to warrant adoption and utilization?
It all started with YouTube and the beginning of ‘broadcast your self” phenomenon in the year 2005.
YouTube is free; and is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. YouTube uses Adobe Flash Video technology to display a wide variety of user-generated video content, including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as, amateur content such as video blogs and short original videos. In the early days, most all of the content on YouTube was uploaded by individuals, although there were some early adopter media corporations including CBS, BBC, VEVO and other organizations that offered some of their material via the site, as part of the YouTube partnership program.
Unregistered users can watch the videos, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos. Videos that are considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users 18 and older.
Before the launch of YouTube, there were only a few easy methods available for ordinary computer users who wanted to post videos online. However, with its simple interface, YouTube made it possible for anyone with an Internet connection to post a video that a worldwide audience could watch within a few minutes. The wide range of topics covered by YouTube has turned video sharing into one of the fastest growing and most important part of Internet culture.
Follow the Eyeballs
Consumer demand for service providers to deliver content to any device, at any time and in any location is growing more prevalent each year. Consumers are gaining additional control over how they access content, whether it’s through personal computers, mobile devices or set-top boxes… challenging service providers’ traditional walled living room offerings and in the process threatening their position in the content delivery value chain.
“All service providers need to do is follow the eyeballs,” said Stef van der Ziel, Jet-Stream CEO. “Thanks to the Internet, consumers are revolutionizing the way they access content, and content owners and advertisers are following their lead. Service providers don’t want to be left behind; they want a portion of the content distribution opportunity.”
To do this, service providers must evolve from triple play services─ offering phone, Internet and video, to ‘open play’ platforms that deliver content to all four screens─ PC, Mobile client, TV and the pico projector.
Technology: Deployment of the “Four Screens CDN”
Anyone with commercial interests in streaming media services and CDN [content delivery network] technologies; and that has ever produced a video for YouTube or a web cast, will tell you that the Internet would democratize broadcasting. If a college dropout with heavy interest in media and technology could broadcast video globally on YouTube, then anyone would be able to do so. In a matter of time, all content would be distributed via the web to PC’s, mobile clients, and TV’s and pico projectors. The signs are all around you… just look at the latest products and services offered by Apple, Amazon, NetFlix, Hulu, ESPN and so on.
Years ago, I envisioned a future where consumers and companies would not be locked in walled living rooms… and content owners could distribute content directly to consumers. It was just a matter of time, people and companies [like Apple, NetFlix, Hulu, ESPN] would use the Internet to share content. I also foresaw that the Internet could not handle the sheer volumes of content. There would be a huge need for smart distribution technologies. Telcos will have to follow the eyeballs and embrace Internet based content and consumption on all four screens─ the PC, mobile client, TV, and pico projector by deploying intelligent CDNs.
The Open Play
Enormous amount of resources will be spent to scale the web for professional and massive content delivery; to democratize broadcasting, to disrupt the traditional cable and broadcasting industry and to break open this market so anyone could create, distribute and consume content, anywhere, without borders.
Continued Market Growth Ahead for CDNs
In 2008, the entire global market for video delivery services was only $400 million, according to Frost & Sullivan. That’s a really small number when compared to the overall CDN market size or many of the other segments of the infrastructure market. It shows that the CDN market still has a long way to go and that many opportunities still exist.
Most content owners still don’t make any money with their content, but just imagine what the CDN market will look like when they do. CDNs will be even more crucial down the road as content owners rely on them to help them generate revenue. In the next few years, as more devices [like Apple TV, iPhone, iPad] come to the market, consumers will begin to adopt them in large numbers—then the market will change.
While many ask when this is going to happen and what the next tipping point will be that gives CDNs the next surge of traffic, you have to remember that it does not happen overnight. Many use the example of YouTube and 2007 as being the year that the CDN market really exploded. But what most people didn’t see, or don’t know about, is all the work that was taking place in the CDN space leading up to that event in the years before. Companies worked very hard from 2004 to 2007—none of that perceived growth in 2007 truly happened overnight.
Today, we’re building the market size for CDNs every single day. Even with the poor economy, you don’t see less content online… you see more. You don’t see poorer quality video… you see HD. You don’t see fewer devices… you see more platforms than ever before. This is what we’re building on. So when it seems like there is a sudden surge in the CDN business years from now, with or without Telco’s, remember that it did not happen overnight.
Tough times for many of the vendors in the CDN space may be coming to an end. All industries need corrections, and the CDN industry is no different. The bottom line is that the CDN industry has never been stronger, has never been more needed, and will only continue to evolve to help do more than just deliver some bits from point A to point B.
In the future, private CDNs─ like the one rumored at Apple, will flourish. Streaming media analyst Dan Rayburn reported last year that Apple was planning to bring some of its CDN capabilities in-house. “Folks I have spoken to inside Apple told me that once the new data center is completed, Apple plans to have a more active role in doing their own content delivery,” Rayburn wrote, noting a precedent. “While its way too early to speculate what kind of content Apple will deliver and in what volume, this strategy is nearly identical to what we’ve seen Microsoft do over the years.”
In closing, I must re-state that most CDNs will become profitable, some will be worth acquiring, and many content owners will be willing to pay more for a service that makes them money. We’re all waiting for this time to come. And while it won’t come overnight, I think it will happen sooner than many people may realize.
Anant Goel
There is a long list of paradigm shifts taking place right under our noses while we work, play or snooze. As the title suggests, here we will just focus on: How Internet Would Democratize Broadcasting and Content Delivery.
How attractive does a new technology have to be to warrant adoption and utilization?
It all started with YouTube and the beginning of ‘broadcast your self” phenomenon in the year 2005.
YouTube is free; and is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. YouTube uses Adobe Flash Video technology to display a wide variety of user-generated video content, including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as, amateur content such as video blogs and short original videos. In the early days, most all of the content on YouTube was uploaded by individuals, although there were some early adopter media corporations including CBS, BBC, VEVO and other organizations that offered some of their material via the site, as part of the YouTube partnership program.
Unregistered users can watch the videos, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos. Videos that are considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users 18 and older.
Before the launch of YouTube, there were only a few easy methods available for ordinary computer users who wanted to post videos online. However, with its simple interface, YouTube made it possible for anyone with an Internet connection to post a video that a worldwide audience could watch within a few minutes. The wide range of topics covered by YouTube has turned video sharing into one of the fastest growing and most important part of Internet culture.
Follow the Eyeballs
Consumer demand for service providers to deliver content to any device, at any time and in any location is growing more prevalent each year. Consumers are gaining additional control over how they access content, whether it’s through personal computers, mobile devices or set-top boxes… challenging service providers’ traditional walled living room offerings and in the process threatening their position in the content delivery value chain.
“All service providers need to do is follow the eyeballs,” said Stef van der Ziel, Jet-Stream CEO. “Thanks to the Internet, consumers are revolutionizing the way they access content, and content owners and advertisers are following their lead. Service providers don’t want to be left behind; they want a portion of the content distribution opportunity.”
To do this, service providers must evolve from triple play services─ offering phone, Internet and video, to ‘open play’ platforms that deliver content to all four screens─ PC, Mobile client, TV and the pico projector.
Technology: Deployment of the “Four Screens CDN”
Anyone with commercial interests in streaming media services and CDN [content delivery network] technologies; and that has ever produced a video for YouTube or a web cast, will tell you that the Internet would democratize broadcasting. If a college dropout with heavy interest in media and technology could broadcast video globally on YouTube, then anyone would be able to do so. In a matter of time, all content would be distributed via the web to PC’s, mobile clients, and TV’s and pico projectors. The signs are all around you… just look at the latest products and services offered by Apple, Amazon, NetFlix, Hulu, ESPN and so on.
Years ago, I envisioned a future where consumers and companies would not be locked in walled living rooms… and content owners could distribute content directly to consumers. It was just a matter of time, people and companies [like Apple, NetFlix, Hulu, ESPN] would use the Internet to share content. I also foresaw that the Internet could not handle the sheer volumes of content. There would be a huge need for smart distribution technologies. Telcos will have to follow the eyeballs and embrace Internet based content and consumption on all four screens─ the PC, mobile client, TV, and pico projector by deploying intelligent CDNs.
The Open Play
Enormous amount of resources will be spent to scale the web for professional and massive content delivery; to democratize broadcasting, to disrupt the traditional cable and broadcasting industry and to break open this market so anyone could create, distribute and consume content, anywhere, without borders.
Continued Market Growth Ahead for CDNs
In 2008, the entire global market for video delivery services was only $400 million, according to Frost & Sullivan. That’s a really small number when compared to the overall CDN market size or many of the other segments of the infrastructure market. It shows that the CDN market still has a long way to go and that many opportunities still exist.
Most content owners still don’t make any money with their content, but just imagine what the CDN market will look like when they do. CDNs will be even more crucial down the road as content owners rely on them to help them generate revenue. In the next few years, as more devices [like Apple TV, iPhone, iPad] come to the market, consumers will begin to adopt them in large numbers—then the market will change.
While many ask when this is going to happen and what the next tipping point will be that gives CDNs the next surge of traffic, you have to remember that it does not happen overnight. Many use the example of YouTube and 2007 as being the year that the CDN market really exploded. But what most people didn’t see, or don’t know about, is all the work that was taking place in the CDN space leading up to that event in the years before. Companies worked very hard from 2004 to 2007—none of that perceived growth in 2007 truly happened overnight.
Today, we’re building the market size for CDNs every single day. Even with the poor economy, you don’t see less content online… you see more. You don’t see poorer quality video… you see HD. You don’t see fewer devices… you see more platforms than ever before. This is what we’re building on. So when it seems like there is a sudden surge in the CDN business years from now, with or without Telco’s, remember that it did not happen overnight.
Tough times for many of the vendors in the CDN space may be coming to an end. All industries need corrections, and the CDN industry is no different. The bottom line is that the CDN industry has never been stronger, has never been more needed, and will only continue to evolve to help do more than just deliver some bits from point A to point B.
In the future, private CDNs─ like the one rumored at Apple, will flourish. Streaming media analyst Dan Rayburn reported last year that Apple was planning to bring some of its CDN capabilities in-house. “Folks I have spoken to inside Apple told me that once the new data center is completed, Apple plans to have a more active role in doing their own content delivery,” Rayburn wrote, noting a precedent. “While its way too early to speculate what kind of content Apple will deliver and in what volume, this strategy is nearly identical to what we’ve seen Microsoft do over the years.”
In closing, I must re-state that most CDNs will become profitable, some will be worth acquiring, and many content owners will be willing to pay more for a service that makes them money. We’re all waiting for this time to come. And while it won’t come overnight, I think it will happen sooner than many people may realize.
Anant Goel
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Microvision: Ultimate in Mobility… Functionality… Cool Factor (update 9/2010)
It would be cool if Microvision's laser PicoP Display Engine was inside this cube…
http://www.psfk.com/2009/05/60-inch-screen-in-your-pocket.html
Last year, there was so much speculation in the media [by designer YankoDesign] that it almost felt like the real thing would be on the market soon. Just look at the write-up on this “Nokia Pulse Projector” from last year…
“Nokia Pulse Projector is a tiny LED projector that also functions as an NXT speaker with Dolby Sound. This tiny projector uses Bluetooth and Pulse software to communicate with a mobile phone.
It’s meant to pair up with mobile phone, making a pair of perfect multimedia device and the user will be able to use the mobile phone to control this LED projector. The Nokia Pulse Projector relies on DLP Technology for high quality imagery. It’s able to project with native resolution of 1280×768 and 1500:1 contrast ratio pimps out crisp image quality, with picture sizes ranging from 15 inches diagonally all the way up to 60 inches at 7.87 feet. It even sports LED light technology with 1000 lumens of brightness plus 16.7 million colors.
It’ll be another great mini-sized projector that can be carried around anywhere you go for an impromptu presentation of those pictures, videos and slides on your mobile phone, and it lets the mobile phone to be used as the projector’s remote. Nice, but it should be just a concept at the moment."
[via yankodesign]
http://askalexia.com/2009/05/23/nokia-pulse-projector/
Here’s some more on this Nokia Pulse with Microvision Mobile Projector inside speculation…
“The Nokia Pulse, a concept by Miika Mahonen, is similar to the soon to be released Microvision Mobile Projector. They’re both designed to be powerful mobile display systems that can use a mobile phone as the source of video and as a remote control. The Nokia Pulse also combines an NXT-speaker with Dolby sound processing into the compact device, which can (theoretically) project images up to 60-inches on any wall.”
Continues…
[via Yanko Design]
http://www.psfk.com/2009/05/60-inch-screen-in-your-pocket.html
One year later, however, the concept remains to be just that… a concept. But wait a minute… over the last year, a few developments have come together to bring us closer to this, or something similar to this, as a possible reality in the near future.
There are essentially three parts for this concept to work and they all seem to be in place now…
• Microvision laser based PicoP Projector SHOWwx: was released in the US in March of 2010… and that’s the major part of the puzzle now in place.
The award-winning SHOWwx, available for sale through a variety of distributors and at http://www.microvision.com/showwx, is a standalone laser pico projector intended for simple plug-and-play integration with mobile devices, such as iPod, cell phones, MP3 players, laptops and gaming devices.
• Samsung's new Wireless USB chipset: enables HD streaming with less power.
It's a beautiful combination, really… lower power consumption, and support for high bandwidth applications. That marriage is evident in Samsung's newest Wireless USB chipset, which was built around Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology and designed to enable high-def streaming between a mobile host device and a tethered device for viewing.
Ultra-Wide Band technology offers many advantages, especially in terms of very high data transmission rates which are well beyond those possible with currently deployed technologies such as 802.11a, b, g, WiMax and the like. As such UWB technology is gaining considerable acceptance and being proposed for use in a number of areas. Already Bluetooth, Wireless USB and others are developing solutions, and in these areas alone its use should be colossal.
According to Samsung, the two-chip solution will be aimed at cameras, camcorders, TVs, PCs, tablets, beam projectors, portable HDDs, Blu-ray players and handsets, and given that it can handle a theoretical high of 480Mbps with an average power consumption of less than 300mW, even the weakest smartphone battery should be able to stream at least a single episode of Family Guy to the TV or a pico projector. It's slated to hit mass production in Q4 and we'd say more details should be available right around CES 2011.
• Pulse Software: that controls communications between the pico projector and the mobile host device. This Pulse software could be part of the Samsung’s wireless USB chipset solution, or a company specific product like… Nokia Pulse [if there is such a thing]…or Apple AirPlay… etc.
“While the Pulse is still just an idea, Microvision is currently working with other companies to incorporate their PicoP Display Engine into devices such as phones, media players, and laptops. Is screen size on your mobile phone irrelevant if you can project onto any wall?”
Perhaps!
Just take a look…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypZO6_7hcNQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQMmMzV3WD0
With Microvision laser PicoP Display Engine in-side; this cube could be the ultimate in mobility, functionality and cool factor.
Not only that, it is a productivity enhancing tool for business communications, as well as, a perfect product for personal and interactive entertainment… all in one cool package.
Everything that you need to put this cool product out there for the consumer to buy is here… all it takes, is the vision and the will to succeed before the next product cycle or someone else comes-up with a better mouse trap.
Anant Goel
http://www.psfk.com/2009/05/60-inch-screen-in-your-pocket.html
Last year, there was so much speculation in the media [by designer YankoDesign] that it almost felt like the real thing would be on the market soon. Just look at the write-up on this “Nokia Pulse Projector” from last year…
“Nokia Pulse Projector is a tiny LED projector that also functions as an NXT speaker with Dolby Sound. This tiny projector uses Bluetooth and Pulse software to communicate with a mobile phone.
It’s meant to pair up with mobile phone, making a pair of perfect multimedia device and the user will be able to use the mobile phone to control this LED projector. The Nokia Pulse Projector relies on DLP Technology for high quality imagery. It’s able to project with native resolution of 1280×768 and 1500:1 contrast ratio pimps out crisp image quality, with picture sizes ranging from 15 inches diagonally all the way up to 60 inches at 7.87 feet. It even sports LED light technology with 1000 lumens of brightness plus 16.7 million colors.
It’ll be another great mini-sized projector that can be carried around anywhere you go for an impromptu presentation of those pictures, videos and slides on your mobile phone, and it lets the mobile phone to be used as the projector’s remote. Nice, but it should be just a concept at the moment."
[via yankodesign]
*****
Here’s the link…http://askalexia.com/2009/05/23/nokia-pulse-projector/
Here’s some more on this Nokia Pulse with Microvision Mobile Projector inside speculation…
“The Nokia Pulse, a concept by Miika Mahonen, is similar to the soon to be released Microvision Mobile Projector. They’re both designed to be powerful mobile display systems that can use a mobile phone as the source of video and as a remote control. The Nokia Pulse also combines an NXT-speaker with Dolby sound processing into the compact device, which can (theoretically) project images up to 60-inches on any wall.”
Continues…
[via Yanko Design]
*****
Here’s the link…http://www.psfk.com/2009/05/60-inch-screen-in-your-pocket.html
One year later, however, the concept remains to be just that… a concept. But wait a minute… over the last year, a few developments have come together to bring us closer to this, or something similar to this, as a possible reality in the near future.
There are essentially three parts for this concept to work and they all seem to be in place now…
• Microvision laser based PicoP Projector SHOWwx: was released in the US in March of 2010… and that’s the major part of the puzzle now in place.
The award-winning SHOWwx, available for sale through a variety of distributors and at http://www.microvision.com/showwx, is a standalone laser pico projector intended for simple plug-and-play integration with mobile devices, such as iPod, cell phones, MP3 players, laptops and gaming devices.
• Samsung's new Wireless USB chipset: enables HD streaming with less power.
It's a beautiful combination, really… lower power consumption, and support for high bandwidth applications. That marriage is evident in Samsung's newest Wireless USB chipset, which was built around Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology and designed to enable high-def streaming between a mobile host device and a tethered device for viewing.
Ultra-Wide Band technology offers many advantages, especially in terms of very high data transmission rates which are well beyond those possible with currently deployed technologies such as 802.11a, b, g, WiMax and the like. As such UWB technology is gaining considerable acceptance and being proposed for use in a number of areas. Already Bluetooth, Wireless USB and others are developing solutions, and in these areas alone its use should be colossal.
According to Samsung, the two-chip solution will be aimed at cameras, camcorders, TVs, PCs, tablets, beam projectors, portable HDDs, Blu-ray players and handsets, and given that it can handle a theoretical high of 480Mbps with an average power consumption of less than 300mW, even the weakest smartphone battery should be able to stream at least a single episode of Family Guy to the TV or a pico projector. It's slated to hit mass production in Q4 and we'd say more details should be available right around CES 2011.
• Pulse Software: that controls communications between the pico projector and the mobile host device. This Pulse software could be part of the Samsung’s wireless USB chipset solution, or a company specific product like… Nokia Pulse [if there is such a thing]…or Apple AirPlay… etc.
“While the Pulse is still just an idea, Microvision is currently working with other companies to incorporate their PicoP Display Engine into devices such as phones, media players, and laptops. Is screen size on your mobile phone irrelevant if you can project onto any wall?”
Perhaps!
Just take a look…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypZO6_7hcNQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQMmMzV3WD0
With Microvision laser PicoP Display Engine in-side; this cube could be the ultimate in mobility, functionality and cool factor.
Not only that, it is a productivity enhancing tool for business communications, as well as, a perfect product for personal and interactive entertainment… all in one cool package.
Everything that you need to put this cool product out there for the consumer to buy is here… all it takes, is the vision and the will to succeed before the next product cycle or someone else comes-up with a better mouse trap.
Anant Goel
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