Innovation Engine Blog

There’s been a lot of buzz around 4G and what it means for innovation. Maddock Douglas recently interviewed Jeannie Weaver, Regional General Manager at Clearwire, the first 4G network already up and running, to talk about the future of mobility.

Innovation is defined as the synchronized intersection of an unmet need or insight, the idea (business model, product, or service) that meets that need and the communication that connects the two. Let's uncover the innovation behind Clearwire and what it means for the future of mobility.

What was the unmet need or insight that Clearwire is responding to?

Consumers want and need to be able to access data at broadband speeds on the go—and we don’t think that experience should be painful.

What was the idea that inspired Clearwire - how are you filling the unmet need?

The current 3G network is provided by voice-centric cell phone companies who are accommodating the data needs of consumers. Clearwire is just the opposite—we are a data centric network. The reason AT&T is having trouble bringing quality data service to market right now can be attributed to building a network based on voice and having to retrofit for mass data use thanks to the iPhone. Clearwire is built for data volume from day one.

And the communication—what has Clearwire been doing to make yourselves known to your target consumer audience?

We want people thinking about CLEAR—we want to intrigue them. We are currently implementing multiple layers that include grassroots salespeople, partnering with local businesses and street teams. We are talking to people the way they want to be communicated to.

With 400 million people already using 3G (HSDPA/WCDMA) technologies today, what is Clearwire’s plan to increase mobile usership?

We ideally want to take marketshare and entice those customers on an inferior network to utilize our faster 4G network.

Clearwire has been extraordinarily helpful in industries with location challenges, construction for example, where people are working in remote areas—CLEAR is plug and play and the pricepoint is very attractive for small and medium sized businesses.

What roles do you see big investors, Sprint, Google and Intel playing in Clearwire’s future?

Sprint holds 51% of Clearwire and they have provided the funding that is allowing us to build out our network. Intel is creating laptops and other hardware with built in WiMAX capabilities, and Google will continue to assist Clearwire strategically. Comcast is currently reselling our service under their brand, and advantage to Clearwire because we benefit when network usage increases.

What does the future of mobility look like and how do you see Clearwire affecting that future?

I think we already are. Having the capability to accomplish things on the go, but have an experience like a home broadband connection is amazing. Clearwire will effectively support and drive a better mobile experience while helping to feed the cloud.

Also, imagine if the 4G network were implemented in, for instance, Chicago’s parking meter system—there’s a huge lag time when a customer uses a card to pay, resulting in a long wait. The ability to speed things up can make so many day-to-day things easier—and safer. For public safety purposes, the ability to live stream video could bring surveillance to a higher level of efficiency. Devices with built in WiMAX capabilities will become more common as manufacturers rush to provide consumers with the ability to lifestream rich content to their personal and social networks on the go.

How do you see the future playing out between LTE (Long Term Evolution) and Clearwire 4G?

Both technologies are sound and in the future, 4G will seem like a commodity. Yet, we have the advantage of speed to market. We'll see how the rest plays out in 8-12 months as LTE goes online in major metropolitan areas.

Have you seen the new Maddock Douglas homepage?

We’ve discussed the importance of content, the power and potential of 4G, and now we’re ready to highlight some of our favorite mobile innovations picks:

Alertme and Google’s PowerMeter

Energy and Sustainability Innovation

Alertme is a UK energy management start-up creating devices that read and monitor energy data—no electrician necessary. The components, a Nano Hub (the “brains of the kit”) requires power and a broadband connection so it can talk to the reader and transmitter, gathering and distributing energy data to the AlertMe dashboard—an online interface for adjusting and monitoring your home energy spend in real time.

Without any further additions, AlertMe is already a wonderful idea. The fact that people using AlertMe services can, for instance, turn the heat off from work, and monitor those changes to save money and help decrease their footprint is hands-down innovative. But now Google had stepped in to take things to the next level.

Google recently partnered with AlertMe to add what they’d been missing—the device component for their PowerMeter offering. PowerMeter, a free application that allows users to “see electricity use from any Google PowerMeter enabled device,” brings real-time energy data to the mobile, anytime, anywhere level. And with 4G speeds already up and running in major markets, going green never looked so fast.

The Ikea Portable Interior Planner

Augmented Reality and Planning Innovation

There’s no doubt that for many, IKEA is the place to find forward thinking design that’s in line with conservative budgets. But, since the beginning of furniture buying, there’s been a problem: How can people accurately envision how furniture will look and how can anyone know if the item will even fit in the envisioned area?

This problem is obviously a deterrent for purchases. But now, all you need to do is go to your Portable Interior Planner app, take a photo of that sofa you’ve been thinking about, aim your camera at the proposed area where the furniture might be placed, and see the sofa superimposed over the image of the room. Then, the product can be scaled up or down to match room size and saved for later reference. The Portable Interior Planner is a solution to a long overlooked problem—and the need is met by a mobile app that utilizes augmented reality.

Mobile represents one of the greatest untapped markets for 2010 and beyond. These are our favorite recent evolutions in an ever expanding new product, service, and business model environment. What are some of your favorite innovations in mobile technology?

Have you seen the new Maddock Douglas homepage?

Last week, we talked about the mobile whitespace, the power of the app and consumer consideration. And as we know, brands are utilizing the mobile space to not only commercialize products and services, but also to assist the consumer. The Mobile Magic app, for instance, by Disney and Verizon Wireless is replete with relevant content: wait times for rides, restaurant information and where and when Disney characters will make appearances are all included in a data dispensing, real-time, GPS enabled mobile guide. Now, Walt Disney World patrons can make decisions based on helpful information—effectively creating a richer, more realized theme park experience. Disney and Verizon Wireless are ultimately creating an entity beyond the app. Instead of filling the mobile whitespace solely with entertaining content or just charts and data, Mobile Magic finds the cross hairs. In this case, it becomes more than an application— it becomes a resource—maybe even a necessity to fully experience the World of Walt Disney.

But what happens when 4G hits mobile commercialization? How does an app like Mobile Magic hold up? Yes, you guessed it: faster.

The technology moving the message is ramping up—in fact two weeks ago, Clearwire launched WiMax, (also known as 4G) in Chicago, facilitating the beginning of an ultramobile enabled market. With higher speeds come the ability to view richer media, and since streaming audio and video from sites like youtube.com accounts for roughly 27% of global internet traffic, it’s not difficult to see where brands are looking next.

Hulu is already doing it. If you want to watch a free movie, you have to sit through a mini 15 second spot. But if 4G speeds things up and consumers watch more, shorter length videos on their mobile phones, what does this mean? One second spots for every thirty second video? This sounds like either subliminal messaging or completely ineffective, but most likely both. (And an aside: Hulu recently announced they will be charging for their content.) So now what?

Next week I'll highlight some of the companies that are creating innovative products, services, and business models to take advantage of the coming developments in mobile bandwidth and technologies.

Have you seen the new Maddock Douglas homepage?