Welcome to the post-normal age of work
In today’s world of work, companies that want to thrive need to shift from a business-process defined culture towards a more social network-shaped, cooperative one. Read more »
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Cleantech third-quarter 2012
This quarter Tesla’s production schedule came under fire, and share economy leaders Airbnb raised cash while Zipcar struggled with its membership model. Meanwhile the Indian power outage in July prompted questions about how the developing economy will power itself. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
BMW backs electric car charging startup Coulomb
BMW’s venture fund, BMW i Ventures, has invested in electric car charging company Coulomb Technologies, according to a release. BMW launched its $100 million fund — its first to date — last year to focus on “mobility,” including mobile apps, in car services and auto navigation. Read more »
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Electric vehicle outlook: 2012–2017
Overall, between 2012 and 2017, more than 900,000 light-duty PEVs will be sold in the United States. But there remain hefty inhibitors to mainstream plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) use, including limited vehicle driving range and large battery packs, not to mention steep prices. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Data sovereignty issues still weigh on cloud adoption
Large enterprises that embrace cloud computing for many tasks, still refuse to use public cloud infrastructure for key jobs because of what they see as restrictive data sovereignty regulations.These laws mandate that a company keep a customer’s data in that customer’s home country. Read more »
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CES 2012: a recap and analysis
This year’s CES was the biggest in the show’s 44-year history. It boasted 15 miles of exhibit hall aisles, 3,100 booths and 153,000 attendees. It is easy to be jaded by the endlessly repetitive products, but the thousands of innovations point toward a future of connectivity. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Tendril test-drives its electric car software with BMW
After a variety of strategies and around $100 million in funding, startup Tendril is now largely a software company, and on Tuesday at the DistribuTECH conference in San Antonio, Tendril announced a big partner in its play to provide the software layer for electric vehicles: BMW. Read more »
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Forecast: the future of the digital music industry
New entrants are pushing alternative business models in the music industry. Though this evolution will take time, the overall industry should return to growth within the five-year forecast horizon, as digital music spending, driven by subscriptions, will average double-digit yearly growth to total $4.1 billion in 2015. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Green IT 2012: looking for bright spots amid the clouds
As we look toward the next year, the cleantech sector faces many challenges, which we examine in detail in this 2012 outlook. Renewable energy generators encounter an increasingly difficult subsidy environment, and key cleantech innovations like electric vehicles face an uphill climb in terms of connecting ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Connected world: the consumer technology revolution
Connectivity changes everything. That’s the credo driving just about every corner of our day-to-day lives. As human beings, we are now connected to one another through not just our social networks but also our cars, the books we read, the albums we download and even our own health and wellness habits (to name just a few areas). With that in mind, GigaOM Pro has singled out certain areas in the technology industry where we see this shift to constant connectivity taking place most drastically. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
A123 goes back to the arm of GM
The courtship between A123 Systems and GM didn’t really work out before, but the two are giving it another try. GM on Wednesday named the lithium-ion battery maker as the supplier for its newly announced all-electric Chevrolet Spark, which is set for launch in 2013. Read more »
Fisker to use BMW engine for second electric car
Fisker Automotive, which finally began delivering its first plug-in electric hybrid car this summer, has begun promoting its second model in earnest as well. The company announced Thursday that its next car, dubbed “Project Nina,” will come with engines and other parts by BMW. Read more »
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From car to cloud: the future of the in-vehicle app landscape
Recent developments in the vehicle industry suggest that 2011 could be the year of the car as a major platform for apps. From BMW’s support for Apple’s iPod Out feature to the emergence of Nokia’s Terminal Mode, a system that integrates mobile applications and the car, automakers and app developers are jumping on board the in-vehicle app movement. This report examines that landscape, its major players and their offerings, and how the market is shifting from device to car and, eventually, to the cloud. Increased broadband speeds, electronic vehicles and social apps such as those powered by Twitter will play major roles on this journey. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Ford, BMW, Geely, Nissan and Google. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Open Data Center Alliance seeks to describe the cloud
This week, the Open Data Center Alliance released its first deliverables to the world, with the aim to make it easier to compare and contrast commercial solutions and increase technical interoperability between clouds. But to reach new standards, the alliance must overcome significant challenges. Read more »
BMW Launches Electric Car Compatibility App
Interested in buying an electric car, but not sure if it fits your lifestyle? BMW — which has been rather hesitant when it comes to EVs — recently launched an iPhone app designed to help users discover if they are a good fit for owning an EV. Read more »
What BMW i Ventures Wants: Mobility
Move over cell phone firms, car companies are the new mobility leaders. “BMW is a mobile company, and everything we’ve done and do is about mobility,” Edward Robinson, President of BMW’s recently launched $100 million venture fund i Ventures, told me in an interview. Read more »
BMW’s New $100M Fund To Invest in Mobile, EcoAuto Startups
GM isn’t the only auto maker with plans to act like a VC. This week, BMW launched BMW i Ventures, which will invest $100 million into mobile and eco-auto technologies, and has made its first investment in a mobile app called MyCityWay. Read more »
Green Overdrive: We Test Drive the Mini E!
BMW’s Mini-Es might just be prototype electric cars, but they’re some of the most fun ones we’ve driven. With the heavy regen and the speedy pick-up, we had a blast test driving one around the streets of LA. Check it out! Read more »
7 Steps Toward Shared Vehicles in 2010
Over the course of 2010, a rich ecosystem of services, startups and innovations began to take shape around the idea of sharing cars and bikes. Here’s seven steps taken this year toward shared transportation: Read more »
Consumers On Electric Cars: “Wait and See”
When it comes to the first mainstream electric cars on the market, expect consumers to take a cautious “wait and see,” approach, according to a survey out this morning from Pike Research. Read more »
BMW Rolls Toward Zipcar’s Turf With Hourly Rentals
BMW Group is breaking into car sharing with a new pilot project in Munich that will let customers rent any current BMW model by the hour. It fits into much larger trends of innovation around providing mobility as a service — and growing competition for Zipcar. Read more »
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Why Google Android’s Electric Vehicle Deal With GM Matters
General Motors moved this week to link its upcoming Chevrolet Volt and in-vehicle communications system, OnStar, with Google navigation tools and smartphones based on the search giant’s Android platform. This marks a key intersection in the trajectories of automakers and Internet giants and could pave the way to much more comprehensive partnerships across previously disconnected industries and systems. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Once Upon a Time, Long Before the iPad, Steve Jobs Rode a BMW Motorcycle
Two years before the Macintosh was unveiled, Apple’s then-and-future CEO was photographed by Charles O’Rear for a National Geographic Magazine feature on Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, riding a 1966 BMW R60/2 motorcycle. 27 years old, with longish hair (no helmet), wearing tan boots and a light-colored shirt […] Read more »
Should Companies Quit “Murketing” Viral Videos?
Viral videos from giant corporations are a bit like a middle-aged vinyl salesman with a comb-over unsuccessfully trying to pick up 20-something babes at the club — then angrily denying that he’s embarrassed himself, even as they scatter. The Wall Street Journal has a nice post-mortem […] Read more »
