Top-5 automation technologies
Here are my picks for the top-5 automation technologies that will make an impact this year:
Industrial wireless
Wireless is an enabling technology for new applications beyond just wire-replacement. My hunch is that completely new applications will emerge with new wireless capabilities. We will see more and more wireless products announced in this coming year, with standards being just an incidental nicety. It could spark a new phase of growth that will re-energise industrial automation.
Embedded intelligence and M2M
The ‘pervasive Internet’ is still emerging in industrial markets. In spite of the economic slowdown, perhaps because of it, M2M will burst through in the coming decade with a plethora of products and applications. Most large assets will include self-monitoring procedures, reporting up the hierarchy with information such as uptime and downtime, diagnostics, usage and failure patterns, and more. All this will become available at an affordable price, generating new revenue growth for leaders.
Cloud-computing and Software as a Service (SaaS)
This is a burgeoning new area in commercial and office business, and growth will spill over into factories and process plants. All but the most critical components will be run ‘in the cloud’. The switch will occur simply because of the growing burden of technology obsolescence of capitalised hardware and continuing support.
Plant and factory security systems
Most of today’s automation and control systems use the same hardware and communications as broadly deployed networks. Apart from deliberate hacking, worms and Trojans can enter through mainstream systems. Automation systems security has become an urgent issue, perhaps even a critical one. Effective security protection solutions and services will generate good growth.
Consumer products
Automation rarely comes up with head-turning tech breakthroughs. Most high-tech gadgetry emerges first in the consumer arena. But rapid advances and low-cost availability will see plant and factory personnel with iPhones and Blackberrys and Android phones in their pockets, with lots of low-cost industrial apps available. Get your Blackberry to send you a bulletin when your boiler blows. Put your annunciator alarms on your Android. Peek at your process panels with your iPhone – there is an App for that.
Top-5 consumer-tech gadgets
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is the largest electronics trade show in the world. This year, it featured over 2700 exhibits, with the latest software and hardware, home theatre equipment and innovative gadgets – the geek idea of heaven.
Midst the plethora of products and gaggle of gadgetry, here is what caught my eye:
Tablet PCs
PCs stripped of their keyboards and touch pads, these are essentially handheld screens that do most of what your laptop does, but with touch controls and 3G data access to stay connected. There were several versions at CES, but all tablets are debùting under the shadow of Apple’s still-unannounced tablet, which the rumour mill says will be called ‘iSlate’. Oh well, I like the name ‘iPad’, and since I am still enjoying my iPhone experience, I will probably buy one, whatever it is called. But I am also eyeing HP’s new ‘Slate’. Choices, choices . . .
The e-book revolution
A tidal wave of next-generation e-book readers has been unleashed. Following the success of Amazon’s Kindle, which reportedly sold 500 000 units worldwide in 2009, a slew of companies are trying to push traditional publishers towards the e-book revolution. Dozens of new e-books were announced at the show, from electronics giants like Samsung and Sony, as well as smaller businesses that are trying to establish themselves as pioneers. Meantime, Ray Kurzweil’s Blio (free software for regular PCs) is coming to show e-books and magazines with full-colour pages with their original layout, fonts, and graphics. One wonders if tablets plus software will eliminate iPaper and e-books.
TV on Internet
Lots of people are starting to recognise that the handheld cellphone is becoming the primary personal window for the Internet. Holding an iPhone at arms-length is the same as viewing a 35-inch screen across the room. So, where is TV going? Or rather, where will it come from? My guess is most ‘broadcasts’ will come via the Internet, watched on your handheld when you are alone, and linked to a large-screen when you get home. Lots of gadgets are coming to make that transition easy.
Cellphone heaven (and hell)
Recognising the desktop/video/TV transition, and aiming to take on Apple’s iPhone, Google has announced Nexus One, a touch-screen phone that runs the Google Android operating system. Nexus’ size is about the same as the iPhone, but it has a larger screen. With a huge variety of features, content and downloadable ‘apps’, the mobile phone is the latest consumer battlefield, and old leaders will likely fall.
The world’s thinnest laptop
Midst lots of cellphones, and the coming ‘cloud’, there are lots of ‘netbooks’ (stripped-down laptops). Dell showed the world’s thinnest laptop – at 9,9 mm it is thinner than many mobile phones. Very nice unlocking system – you simply stroke the front of the lid to open it. Then, it sits up, with the keyboard tilted at a more ergonomic typing angle. The motherboard and 128 GB solid-state drive are behind the screen, not beneath the keyboard. Nice, but will it save Dell?
Jim Pinto is an industry analyst and commentator, writer, technology futurist and angel investor. His popular e-mail newsletter, JimPinto.com eNews, is widely read (with direct circulation of about 7000 and web-readership of two to three times that number). His areas of interest are technology futures, marketing and business strategies for a fast-changing environment, and industrial automation with a slant towards technology trends.
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