Just Call it Always-On Already

For many years at Corante I was known for pushing something I called The World of Always On.

The idea is that wireless networks are an application platform waiting to happen. All they need is client data. This can come from medical sensors, from your home environment, even from products in your home.

Well, those client devices now exist. H-P called the Memory Spots.  It’s a radio chip that can hold half-a-megabit of data. Any data you like.

What they are waiting for are applications. I have written many, many times about these applications, but for starters here is a quick sample list:

• Where are my keys?
• Do my plants need watering?
• What’s my blood pressure? My sugar level?
• Is anyone trying to steal my stuff?

These questions define medical, home automation, security, and home inventory applications. Each one can be a billion-dollar niche.

What we need to take advantage of these applications now are two things:

1. Wireless routers with memory and processing that can become application platforms.
2. Applications, software that will use this data for alerts to us, the cops, our doctors, whoever needs alerting.

This is the next boom. Or it can be.