Technology and Products

Archive for December, 2009

Today fast pacing technology is forcing us to think more towards rapid development and modernization with the help of day-to-day research and development activities. And Microsoft is the world’s known master in the heavy research and development activities all around the world. It’s growing and flourishing like never before. Its rapid expanding its virtual limbs to fetch the talent pool located at the remotest area of the world, and now it has its tech-base for innovative R&D in Israel. The center will purely concentrate on the much smarter activities and concerned activities including: Telecom, Security and Online Services. Today, these sectors are overpowering the business industries all over with the widest capacities to go techno-equipped to short the million miles distance, enforce top genre security and enhance the ever so convulsing online services.

The sole aim of Microsoft’s R&D division is to firmly establish the conceptual approach so that people and come collectively to participate in the developmental activities forged by the Internet giant Microsoft. This will magnetize the creamiest and most advanced DNA structures to come together with the innovative skills, sharp knowledge and determined spirits to create and develop something extraordinary with the use of available resources.

The basic dream of the Microsoft is to transform the mirage into the real world sophisticated realities. Microsoft Israel R&D Center definitely serves as a robust pulpit for the excessively guided business giants and technologically driven corporations to venture into the capital industry. It will help the Israel think tanks to use their mutually compatible concentrated neural networks to produce something new with the use of hybrid endeavors and high-tech assistance. The Microsoft’s R&D department of Israel is reflecting new standards, greater transparency and reliability at the same time.

The ultimately trustful research and reinitiating the development programs of the Microsoft Israel Labs will not only develop and enhance the computing power but also boasts the dazzling surge in educative innovation and fierce competition. The students can join the convincing, and underlining engineered base approach of Microsoft Israel R&D Center for narrative achievements in the key growth areas of the economy.

Newer, faster, shinier – these are all things that every product manager wants their product to be. Our hearts are filled with product lust when we see other products, in our space or not, that have the latest & greatest bells and whistles. Oh if only our product could have that cool new technology also. Hang on a minute, it turns out that our products might actually be more successful if they don’t have that cool new technology…

Life Support For Products
If we can get over that new technology lust thing, then perhaps we can talk rationally about this. It turns out that if you really want to help your company’s bottom line, then what your product might really need is incremental innovation, not revolutionary innovation.

I’m not a dreamer – I know that VHS tapes, typewriters, and CRT televisions are not going to be making a sudden comeback anytime soon. The harsh, cold reality is that the technology that your product is based on is eventually going to up and die one day. A product manager’s job is to realize this and to attempt to push that day off into the future as far as he / she possibly can.

Harvard’s Dr. Mary Tripsas has looked into just how this can be done. She believes that product managers can work to proactively manage the innovation endgame.

What this means for your product is that continuing improvements to extend the life of its technology, particularly once you realize just how attractive the profit margins on the old technology are, can be a wise business decision – and not necessarily a reflection of narrow-mindedness of a product manager who is unwilling to see the future.

Making The Technology Jump – Or Not
Ultimately a product manger is responsible for the success of his / her product. When it comes to the technology that the product is build using, the product manager’s #1 goal has to be to find ways to extend the life of the product while still continuing to make the maximum amount of profit.

As a new technology arrives on the scene, the product manager needs to keep the old product alive long enough that the company can design, develop, and launch new products that contain the new technologies. The key is to finding out HOW to go about doing this.

Newer, faster, shinier – these are all things that every product manager wants their product to be. Our hearts are filled with product lust when we see other products, in our space or not, that have the latest & greatest bells and whistles. Oh if only our product could have that cool new technology also. Hang on a minute, it turns out that our products might actually be more successful if they don’t have that cool new technology…

Life Support For Products
If we can get over that new technology lust thing, then perhaps we can talk rationally about this. It turns out that if you really want to help your company’s bottom line, then what your product might really need is incremental innovation, not revolutionary innovation.

I’m not a dreamer – I know that VHS tapes, typewriters, and CRT televisions are not going to be making a sudden comeback anytime soon. The harsh, cold reality is that the technology that your product is based on is eventually going to up and die one day. A product manager’s job is to realize this and to attempt to push that day off into the future as far as he / she possibly can.

Harvard’s Dr. Mary Tripsas has looked into just how this can be done. She believes that product managers can work to proactively manage the innovation endgame.

What this means for your product is that continuing improvements to extend the life of its technology, particularly once you realize just how attractive the profit margins on the old technology are, can be a wise business decision – and not necessarily a reflection of narrow-mindedness of a product manager who is unwilling to see the future.

Making The Technology Jump – Or Not
Ultimately a product manger is responsible for the success of his / her product. When it comes to the technology that the product is build using, the product manager’s #1 goal has to be to find ways to extend the life of the product while still continuing to make the maximum amount of profit.

As a new technology arrives on the scene, the product manager needs to keep the old product alive long enough that the company can design, develop, and launch new products that contain the new technologies. The key is to finding out HOW to go about doing this.

Customers Come First
The secret to knowing how best to time your jump to a new technology is to watch your customers. Our customers come in all shapes and sizes and they all have different levels of tolerance for dealing with the risk that new technologies can bring to the table.

What you need to realize as a product manager is that your customers are all going to be moving at different speeds. Sure, some will start asking about a new technology the first time that they read about it in a trade rag; however, the vast majority of your customers are more focused on running their business than what technology your product is built on.

Generally, adopting a product that is built using new technology will require a little or a lot of investment on your customer’s part in order to be able to support the new technology. The larger the investment, the longer most of your customers will want to put off making it.

How Product Mangers Can Balance Both Worlds
It is the responsibility of the product manager to come up with ways that your customers can gradually move into the future using new technologies on their own schedule.

Here’s our list of the top apps every Saheli should have!

1. A Bartending App – As Sahelis we like to throw (and attend) many parties. What better way to ensure that your party’s drink list caters to everyone than to have thousands of drink recipes in the palm of your hand. That’s why CitySaheli recommends Party Pro Lite as our favorite bartending app for your iPhone or iPod Touch. Of course, it is just one out of a number of available applications that provide you with drink recipes, but we find this one to be the most user friendly and its free!

2. A Barcode Reader App – Have you ever seen a dress at a store that you saw online, but can’t remember where it was cheaper? Well, there’s an app to help you with that. Use RedLaser to scan UPC codes for price comparisons on the go. This app lets you search the online prices of products you find at retail stores. Once RedLaser finds the product you are scanning, you can even send it to yourself or a friend. The product works on most products, including groceries, books and DVDs. The RedLaser app is a great low-cost app (only $1.99) that will make sure you never overpay for anything ever again.

3. A Calorie Counter App - If you’re out often and don’t have time to cook, counting calories can be a nightmare. A calorie counter can help you ensure that you keep your figure. We recommend the MyNetDiary application for serious calorie monitoring. This free app works in conjunction with the MyNetDiary.com web site, which has over 88,000 foods in its database, provides diet analysis and planning tools, advanced charts, and reports that you can easily export into Excel. If you have a daily caloric requirement that you want to meet, or you are looking for a sure way to lose weight and help yourself feel great, you need this app.