People, not technology, now at center of emerging tech
125255
(InfoWorld) - The DEMO 07 conference, the annual gathering of the haves and the have-nots -- venture capitalists with millions of dollars to invest and startups hungering for first-, second-, and third-round infusions of cash -- got off to a big start with 16 companies presenting in the first morning session. Chris Shipley, executive producer of DEMO, opened the show with a talk about the power shift now taking place in business and personal computing. Although she didnât use the term "power to the people," that is what Shipley implied the shift is all about. "We are breaking away from putting technology at the center and we are putting people at the center who have the authority to influence technology," Shipley said. Nevertheless, it will be technology that powers that shift. And at this year's conference, new products and technology were proof of that. Created to reign in the challenge of distributed networks and distributed projects, 6th Sense Analytics unveiled a technology that will help project managers maintain visibility into the progress of any project. Targeted at companies that make extensive use of outsourcing and offshoring on projects, the 6th Sense toolset captures all development activities and delivers them back to a hosted server. A project manager in the United States can know when an offshore developer has instantiated the debugger or when they are editing the file. The system monitors files by checking byte count, according to Greg Burnell, co-founder and CEO of 6th Sense Analytics. Another component called Active Time, measures the amount of time spent actively developing software such as modeling, UML design, and testing. A third feature, dubbed Flow Time, looks at how much uninterrupted time is spent doing a particular component of the project with the idea that uninterrupted time is the most productive. Not all the companies on stage were startups. Adobe was also on hand showing off its solution for those who worry that too much of Web 2.0, aka RIAs (Rich Internet Applications), is not a good thing. The Apollo platform will offer nervous users the reassurance of desktop storage and desktop performance, overcoming, Adobe officials claim, "the constraints of a browser." At the same time Apollo will give developers the ability to work with the Web 2.0Â  tools they are familiar with to develop desktop applications. If there is a poster child for empowering the people perhaps it is Shipwire. This company will give small companies the ability to compete with the largest retailers by offering a SaaS (software as a service) solution for warehouse management and for the pick, pack, and ship process. Finally, another old high-tech company, Wyse Technology, was on hand with a new concept in thin-client architecture. Although the N10 thin-client hardware uses fewer chips than any previous device from Wyse, what really makes it different is its intelligent software that legislates where software is processed. The hybrid processing architecture, which uses a multicore system on a chip technology, has the ability to encode and decode any file type including VoIP, but it is the software that determines whether to process that type of data on the server or on the system on a chip. Serendipity Technologies will attempt to solve the problem non-technical executives and mangers have in extracting useful data out of complex enterprise applications. The product, dubbed Worklight, is a server-based product that "consumerizes the corporate-based product, according to Shahar Kaminitz, CEO and founder. Worklight allows users to define the data they want to see, and using technology similar to RSS feeds streams that data into an easy-to-read format. Finally, Kauffman Innovation Network demonstrated the true spirit of collaboration and power to the people with the iBridge Network that will give developers access to university research. The site intends to aggregate research materials, technologies, and discoveries into an online easy-to-search forum. Innovations are even classified by category, organization, or tags. Currently on the site there are more than 100 innovations categorized by devices.
631996
Young people don't think of technology as separate from their daily lives.
71528
Experts wonder if enough people are willing to make the switch from traditional phones to talking through their computers.
415997
Tables are turning for IT buyers with new tech trends that have given shoppers the upper hand.
233089
Geek chic of years gone by isn't so cool today, as technology races on.
188088
The investors are looking beyond Silicon Valley, and beyond the Internet and biotech.
423500
Company is working on flexible display technologies.
680524
The focus of this year's Consumer Electronics Show has shifted from futuristic gadgets to instant consumer gratification, attendees say.
757041
Computer monitors with mechanical  arms, wristwatches and binoculars that play music and phones  disguised as cameras are just some of the technological  innovations propelling the digital electronics revolution  forward.
300598
The modern world wouldn't be what it is if it weren't for a little piece of technology that emerged from Bell Labs in 1947.Photos: Sixty years of transistors
275084
US researchers show that a computer can be controlled by the brain without the need for implants.
61597
A predictions market about technology that can benefit from the wisdom of crowds.
249822
Technology and business innovation go hand in hand.
646299
Carrying out logic operations with fluids rather than electricity could lead to labs-on-a-chip that don't need electronic control circuits.
277212
Devices seen as good entry point to consumer electronics market.
716631
SUDDENLY, the computer world is interesting again. The last three months of 2004 brought more innovation, faster, than users have seen in years.
342616
Computer monitors with mechanical arms, wristwatches and binoculars that play music and phones disguised as cameras are just some of the technological innovations propelling the digital electronics revolution forward.