Following up on my Greening the Telecom Sector blog last week, I poked around to get a better sense of how the broader networking and telecom sectors' environmental and sustainability efforts are evolving. Mostly, I wanted to see if they have moved beyond the conceptual, chest-beating, “We’re Green” stage to real-life corporate practices that actually…
In the last few years, we’ve seen lots of environmentally focused efforts coming out of all parts of the high-tech sector. We have, in theory, somewhat greener supply chains through which we move components with fewer hazardous materials than before. We have end-devices that come with recycling pamphlets stuffed in their boxes. And we've got…
Automakers this week continued to slow down production or shutter plants altogether as electronic component shortages stemming from Japan’s recent disaster rippled through the supply chain. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that several European auto manufacturing facilities have been affected already or could face disruptions in the coming weeks. According to the report, Adam…
I’ve been mulling over something that came up at the 2011 World Mobile Congress: mobile health, its practical applications, the high-tech equipment required to support it, and the long-term view of what’s possible. With Japan’s earthquake and tsunami still very much in the news, conversations about mobile health and mobile health equipment seem at once…
Although many people (myself included) may long for the good old days when cars were just cars, and phones were just phones, there are many others and companies who want to take the industry in the completely opposite direction. Based on current trends, Barbara Jorgensen's wish for fewer electronics in her next new vehicle would…
Since my last post about near field communication (NFC) technology and its use in mobile phone payments raised some justifiable concerns about personal data security, I wanted to circle back and share some thoughts on that topic. (See: Cellphone Payments: High-Tech’s New Frontier.) I’ve got to say, the more I read about NFC, the more…
Given the interest my last post generated about mobile payments via cellphones, I decided to study up on the market and the technology that’s powering it. (See: MWC: Mobile’s Next Leap.) Although I had suspected phone payments to be a part of the logical progression of the 21st century mobile lifestyle, I was a bit…
Now that the Mobile World Congress is over, the question is: What’s next? For sure, companies will move even more mobile devices into untapped markets. Tablets will proliferate at breakneck speed, and the worldwide market will remain fragmented as regional players launch their versions for country-specific markets. Other kinds of consumer devices, like cars and…
After my last blog and the multimedia clip from Marc Herman about how mobile trends are affecting the supply chain, and after hearing way too much upbeat commentary, we decided to snoop around some more and try to take the conversation deeper. (See: MWC: Parts Challenges Ahead for Mobile Vendors and Software, Components Upstage Hardware…
Supply chain managers, brace yourselves. Mobile is taking off in all sorts of exciting and demanding ways, and making sure there are enough products in the pipeline could be the electronics industry’s next pressure test. Based on the chatter at the World Mobile Congress, which kicked off today in Barcelona, the idealistic, always-connected mobile world…