There is no such thing as “killer application for HTML5″. And the “owner” of operating system or ecosystem is not the one that needs to create most popular apps. Best iOS apps are not done by Apple. Best Android apps are not created by Google (with exception of Google Maps or Google Now, but those are very specific data-intensive applications relying on completely separate data aggregation ecosystem, based on e.g. location and mapping data).

HTML5 has its perks. You don’t need to install it as native, it is cheaper, and HTML5 standard freeze will eventually ensure that it will be performance-wise on par with e.g. cloud-based apps. But, at the same time, it is similar to other, competing ecosystems, since they all support it. Sencha recently demoed HTML5-based Facebook imitation on iPhone to show that performance-wise there was actually no difference between native app and HTML5. Don’t build your hopes on a dedicated ecosystem for you which is based on HTML5; that’s not going to happen.

I have been studying for some time the concept of a Design Ecosystem, which is related to operating system / software ecosystem in terms of how things are built for them. While Apple/iOS still leads the game, Android’s power comes from a vast mass, and they can more quickly integrate design innovations from external applications to core design style. Apple does this too (e.g. rubber band effect in lists), but their update cycle on design and HMI guidelines for iOS is much slower. Thus, Android may catch up in 2014 with iOS in terms of Design Ecosystem competition. I think Apple knows this and Jonny Ive’s nomination to not only ID, but UI/UX chief relates to this.

How to differentiate an HTML5 app? Differentiation can be positive or negative; performance being the usual metric. Best opportunities are in cloud-based, SNS integrator applications that have the massive data advantage, and can leverage “smartness” being outside. Think applications like “Path”, or those News or internet compilation/parser apps, which are in dire demand to be updated to next level (Zite, Flipboard). Also cloud-based productivity apps aimed at consumers are good focus areas (Zoho, photo sharing apps). But I would not try to aim for differentiation as such, because that is old thinking for competitiveness and, as said, other platforms can have the same easily. HTML5 apps that can have push notification support from the operating system are also something interesting.

There are always significant UI innovations such as Ixonos SuperApp, which can be based on HTML5 only. We have really one the most beautiful HTML5 apps around made for KONE, how to design an elevator. That kind of “Catalogue App” would be good to be HTML5 based.

The device manufacturers are not the ones who create the ecosystem, they enable it for external companies. This might be hard to understand and accept. BUT what they can do is to build a smart way to focus on certain kind of apps and do those really well, formulating winning style guides and accumulate an easy global distribution channel (for example, based on Ixonos Experience Store). Then have the analytics data constantly monitored, and basically pay first apps to be done specifically for their specs in HTML5, and let somebody else, not the manufacturer, to facilitate this. From strategy to action.

Twitter: @paihonen

Sami Paihonen is Vice President of User Experience Design at Ixonos.

Digitalization is a mega-trend that challenges many of our traditional business models and value networks. It breaks through old limitations of physical world and enables the execution of several unforeseen business models. We all know companies like Amazon.com, eBay, Apple and Google today. But looking backward in the history these companies have succeeded to climb among the top of global consumer brands virtually from scratch only in ten years. This would have been impossible without digitalization.

Digitalization is not just substituting atoms for bits; it affects our daily lives and business models thoroughly. Digitalization cannot be measured by the density of digital technology. Digitalization is not relevant only for consumer businesses, even if the hurricane of digitalization has raged largely in consumer-driven industries such as telecommunications and media. In essence, digitalization is about implementing new ways to connect physical and digital resources to create more competitive – even disruptive – business models.

The fundamental elements of common digital technologies have been proven already. Recent advances in Internet, information processing, telecommunications, wireless and sensor technologies are generally available and can be applied by anybody without substantial capital resources. The digital density of our life is very high, and still increasing.

We are already living in the world where each thing or device can be given a unique name and identifier (RFID, IP/IPv6), and they can be seamlessly connected to a global communication network that works almost at the speed of light. These tangible but digitized resources can be programmed to receive information and commands as well as express themselves actively. We can already now utilize enormously scalable computing (cloud computing) power to analyze increasingly bigger amount of real time sensor data, and enrich that into valuable business information. We can already now use this enriched business information to make business critical decisions instantly. Did you know that fully automatic high-frequency stock trading¹ (HFT) performed by computers (robots) accounts to over 70 percent of total equity trading activity in the US today? The share of HFT was almost non-existent in 2007.

Even being an engineer, I dare to say that the technological edge of digitalization is not so interesting. Many fundamental digital business technologies have been implemented and proven even in a global scale. The question is not whether digital technology is still advancing, but if it is a business barrier anymore. Indeed, another side of digitalization is more interesting – new potential business models. What new connections between digital and physical resources could create remarkable competitive edge? What combinations reveal to be disruptive innovations that may change whole industries and business laws? A concrete example is additive (3D) printing² – that seems to be making widespread breakthrough very soon. How will additive printing have an effect on current manufacturing processes, logistics, mass-customization or product design? On different industries and value chains? Can we outsource spare part manufacturing to the customer – even to consumers? Is additive printing a threat or opportunity for after sales business? Maybe it is both.

I’m not alone with my thoughts, but we seem to be in very similar major turning point as economy was in the late of 1700s. Industrial revolution started in those years and eventually changed almost every aspect of daily life – from skills and processes to value networks and business laws. The major driving forces of industrial revolution in the 19th century were several disruptive innovations like steam engine, spinning machine, steel making, electric power, incandescent bulb, and so on. The challenge of  disruptive innovations is that they can be rarely discovered from a market survey. Nobody could define the need for incandescent bulb before it was invented in the mid-1800s. None of technology consultants in the 2000s was able to define an iPad tablet before it was invented. We easily face innovator’s dilemma in our daily business operations.

Digitalization comes to the agenda of CEOs one way or another – sometimes unexpectedly and unwanted like a nightmare. Digitalization, in essence, is about connecting and combining physical and digital resources in new ways, and therefore it will provide unforeseen ocean of opportunities for new and even disruptive business model innovations during this decade and beyond.

For more information:

Jari Kekkonen, Business Development Director, tel. +358 50 342 1521, jari.kekkonen@ixonos.com

¹

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-frequency_trading

²
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/in-depth/analysis/3d-printing-set-to-hit-the-mainstream/1014835.article

http://www.theengineer.co.uk/in-depth/the-big-story/the-rise-of-additive-manufacturing/1002560.article

In the era of feature phones, there was a race of who would make the smallest mobile phone. Every year, new models came out from major manufacturers, smaller and lighter. With smartphones, the race has been for the biggest display size and most powerful processor.  In Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona we saw the most astonishing new candidates for the greatest smartphone on the planet.

And in so many ways, they all looked the same.

Does this mean that the smartphone race in its current form is over? Apple’s iPhone 5 was a mild disappointment, and reception to Samsung’s Galaxy S4 was lukewarm. (Someone called it Samsung’s “iPhone 5”.) What will then be the Next Big Thing for the mobile device industry?

I am more curious about where the Next Big Thing will come from.

Each grand wave of mobile devices has had different champions. For analog mobile phones, it was Motorola. For digital mobile phones, the king of the hill was Nokia. Nokia’s supremacy was incredibly strong and long. With smartphones, the champions are now Samsung and Apple. In market shares the only constant is the change – why would it stop here and now? But the next champion does not have to be another industry giant who muscles their way to the top with sheer R&D power or marketing money.

Think about skiing in 1980’s. All major downhill ski brands introduced new fancy ski designs every year, but the features were quickly copied by others, and there was very little difference between the leading companies. But one company, working out of a garage in Vermont, made something very different. That company is Burton, the leading manufacturer of snowboards. Ski companies ignored Burton too long, and completely missed the opportunity.

Will similar innovation leap, out-of-the-box thinking, happen in the mobile phone industry? Is it wearables, some smart context-sensitive technology, truly seamless connectivity to your home and car (“ubiquitous five-screen connectivity”), or something else? Will it come from someone outside the industry, like Burton did?

Ixonos doesn’t create products to the market ourselves; we help our customers to create fantastic products. But we have some cool concepts on our drawing board…

Twitter: @anttiaumo

Antti Aumo is Vice President Marketing at Ixonos. He enjoys a life-long love affair with technology that enriches people’s lives in a meaningful way.