Student

With the spread of 5G technology, related applications follow the blossoms, like remote surgery, driverless, drone delivery, have a good market prospects.

The game industry should be the most dramatic change in this wave of 5G. Google launched a game called Stadia at the GDC conference.

Strictly speaking, Stadia is not a hardware product, she is more similar to a game platform like Steam.

This platform can connect your mobile phone, computer, TV, and all screens, then connect to Google’s own server, play games instantly, without any hardware requirements and software downloads.

Stadia’s servers are based on the AMD platform and are powered by a 2.7GHz CPU. The graphics’ floating-point operations per second reached 10.7, far exceeding the performance of the XBOX ONE and PS4 PRO.

At the conference, Stadia’s streaming resolution was kept at 4K 60 frames, supporting HDR mode, and Google’s preset final resolution output was able to reach an amazing 8K 120 frames.

These are all done without a hardware host. The only hardware is such a small handle that acts as a medium between the remote server and the screen, enabling a “cloud game.”

Under the 5G blessing, there is basically no delay, no stuck, players can come to any of the most popular 3A masterpieces anytime, anywhere.

In addition, Stadia can also directly add players who are watching live games to the game of the anchor, increasing the sense of experience.

This form of game also makes the plug-in lose the breeding conditions, in the absence of local game data, unless you can black into Google’s server.

Google is so careful on this, it is obvious how big the “cloud game” cake will be in the 5G era.

 

What Customer centric IT really looks like?

Ricardo Mendez

The article I found for this blog post comes from CIO.org. The article was written by Beth Stackpole (Link.). Stackpole says that customer-centric IT looks like a direct line between the business IT team and the end customer. CIOs are attempting to shift the culture of IT from servicing internal people who then service the customer to the IT team themselves servicing the customer. Stackpole writes that for this to be successful, the IT team needs to put themselves into the shoes of the customer. Stackpole goes on to further state that 55 percent of technology leaders are spending more time learning about customer needs as a way to foster the creation of revenue-generating initiatives. According to the article “55 percent of technology leaders are spending more time learning about customer needs as a way to foster the creation of revenue-generating initiatives,” signaling a shift in focus. The change is not just good for customer needs, but it is also beneficial to the business’ bottom line. Companies that prioritize customer needs and experiences tend to perform better. It was found that customer experience leaders enjoyed a 17 percent CAGR compared to 3 percent CAGR for companies slower to embrace customer-centric practices.

Another requirement for this switch to be successful is the need for dual translators to be employed at the company. IT teams need people to interpret business needs and translate those to IT, and they also need to translate IT needs to the business. Communication between all parties is critical and if that does not happen, customer problems, needs, or wants cannot be addressed, and IT accomplishments are not understood as to how they address business needs.

Long Nguyen

On this week topic of disruptive innovation, I read an article on how disruptive technology can even affect the whiskey industry. This is surprising to me because I did not expect disruptive technology to have such a large reach. Usually, when talking about disruptive innovation, I always thought of innovation in the a more technical sense relating to big tech companies. The article talks about how the process for making good whiskey is barrel-ageing for around 10 to 20 years. Therefore, it is extremely difficult for whiskey producer to plan for future demand as well as develop new taste. Because of this, a lot of companies are taking advantage of this opportunity and develop new ways to make whiskey faster. Using a gas chromatograph and other techniques, Endless West is foregoing barrel-ageing completely and is able to make a bottle of whiskey in 24 hours. Lost Spirits, another whiskey producer, inserts heated barrel wood into distilled spirit and blasts it in a reactor to quicken the process. 

In the Innosight article, the authors assert that game-changing opportunities deliver radically new customer value propositions through fulfilling a job to be done in a dramatically better way, solving a problem that’s never been solved before, or serving an entirely unaddressed customer base. In this case, these new disruptive companies is fulfilling the job of producing whiskey much more effectively than the traditional producers. Because of the short amount of time that it takes to make the whiskey, these new and disruptive whiskey producers are able to experiment with new flavors more rapidly, maybe creating a new best-selling flavor. Despite the Scotch Whisky Association’s claim that the traditional way of making whiskey is “better”, the fact is that these disruptive producers are able to rush the production while replicating the same taste as traditionally-made whiskey. Lost Spirits’ founder claims that the new way of producing whiskey can save him $200 per bottle during production.

Are you surprised by the reach of disruptive innovation? What other surprising disruptive innovations do you know?

Source:

• https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2019/03/09/disruptive-technology-may-change-the-whiskey-industry
• https://www.innosight.com/insight/reinventing-your-business-model/

-Laura Blaszczyk

Companies have been using social media to market their products and gain more brand presence.  Leveraging digital technology has helped apparel companies to adapt to the changing landscape of the retail industry.  More specifically, apparel companies have to find new ways to sell their products because the old store front model is becoming more outdated. Amazon has disrupted the retail industry in a way that makes it difficult for others to compete.  Using Instagram, a platform the consumer already spends a significant amount of time on, may give retailers a competitive edge against Amazon.  By introducing the simplicity of a few clicks to order products through the Instagram app, companies can gain customers they might not have otherwise with relatively low risk involved. I am curious however with the emergence of this new feature, will the feed be filled with sponsored or marketing content instead of content from the people I actually know? If this happens, will it push users away or will it build the user base and increase the engagement with the app?

Source:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/instagram-encroaches-on-amazon-with-new-shopping-feature-11552996800

 

In recent news, after much consideration, Comcast bid on Nexon. Nexon is a Korean-based gaming company, which makes a very popular role-playing game called MapleStory. Comcast currently competes against Amazon and EA (Electronic Arts) for the acquisition. MapleStory is a free to download game but charges extra fees like packages, skins, or accessories that can differentiate a player’s characters from others. In the article, the author mentions, “media conglomerates and tech giants flush with cash and looking for new way to grow.”

 

I believe game streaming will lead to a new way of video game consumption in the near future. If Comcast can acquire Nexon, this will make Comcast a key player in video game streaming. With Comcast being one of the top suppliers on Internet, the devices one can play on now include Xbox, Playstation, and Switch. However, I believe these devices could become obsolete in the next decade because these systems are going to be replaced by superfast connection that allows one to play games over the internet. This is similar to how millions of viewers rely and use Netflix today.

 

 

https://www.cnet.com/news/comcast-hooks-you-with-internet-and-cable-tv-video-games-could-be-next/

This article that I found discusses how some of the employees at Microsoft are unhappy with Microsoft’s contract with the U.S. military. Microsoft is designing augmented reality gear called “HoloLens” for the soldiers to use in the field to give them a technical advantage. The Microsoft employees are unhappy with this because they feel they are helping to create something that is “designed to help kill people”. I can definitely see where they are coming from; even if it is for military, I wouldn’t like knowing that I created something that ultimately could have led to someone’s death. Also, it is only for the U.S. military right now; however who knows who could get their hands on this technology in the future. I think the technology is definitely good for military purposes and could give the U.S. military and it’s soldiers an advantage, but I also agree with the Microsoft employees in that I wouldn’t be comfortable making something that is “designed to help kill people”. It could also present an ethical issue, what does it say about your company if you are okay with creating products that are designed to help people kill or promote violence? It could also be looked at another way in the sense that; maybe the technology is actually helping to save more lives than it is helping to take. Maybe the technology could help a U.S. soldier take down a terrorist that was about to kill innocent people. Either way, I think if they keep this contract it could change the culture of Microsoft completely and a lot of employees might leave. 

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with the Microsoft employees? Is this practice ethical? Do you think Microsoft should keep their contract with the military? Do you think the contract is more helpful or harmful to Microsoft as a company? Do you think this technology is more helpful or harmful?

Source: https://www.npr.org/2019/02/22/697110641/microsoft-workers-protest-army-contract-with-tech-designed-to-help-people-kill

 

Lee Chan

The potential of virtual and augmented reality are endless. It has been introduced and used in many areas besides the gaming industry. The CU Boulder’s Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) introduce the use of VR with traditional therapy techniques to treat students through their mental health conditions such as phobias and anxiety by allowing them to fully immerse in the environment. However, this kind of integrated exposure therapy has been very limited on college campuses due to the lack resources available. CAPS Director Monica Ng had putted enormous efforts in introducing a suite of nontraditional counseling options for students and hoped that the virtual reality therapy can help students make meaningful progress towards their mental health. CAPS is working with the Community and Behavioral Health department in the Colorado School of Public Health at CU Denver to create customized therapy programs for students with anxiety by simulating real-world CU Boulder classrooms. Even though the potential of VR is endless and it’s revolutionizing healthcare, the resources providing and/or offering the service is still limited. 

Source: https://www.colorado.edu/today/2019/02/27/mental-health-where-virtual-reality-meets-real-life