Accenture Trivergence Blog

Toys Get a Life

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:35:49 GMT

If you have any family or friends of elementary school age you probably know all about Webkinz. .

The Birth of Trivergence

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 17:55:00 GMT

A fitting place to start this blog is to explain how the concept of trivergence first came about.

Tridgets for the Holidays

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:15:00 GMT

If you are like me, you are probably just now thinking about your holiday shopping. And, I ask you, what could be a more appropriate gift than a Tridget? As you will recall, Tridgets are digital devices that tap into the network for their data and controls – thereby providing an up-to-the-minute Yuletide user experience.

The iPhone: Thinking outside the box

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 17:43:41 GMT

Reading through the press on last week’s iPhone release, I’m struck by the number of comments that touch on its integration with networked services.

Trivergence Takes to the Road

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 17:32:48 GMT

One of the insights behind Trivergence is that devices no longer exist as isolated entities but extend into the either through network connectivity.

A Milestone for Trivergence: TiVo SoftPanel Spans All Three Screens

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:27:10 GMT

Trivergence is an inevitable consequence of ubiquitous networking. Once the network is everywhere, everything will communicate with everything. Physical location will become meaningless. Devices will draw upon network resources as needed. They will generate and consume network-resident data. And they will be controlled by us through SoftPanels.

Too much data, too many devices – here comes some order

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:20:26 GMT

In the past week or two we have seen the introduction of Microsoft Silverlight and Google Gears.

Tracing the Roots of Trivergence

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 20:02:56 GMT

The ideas behind Trivergence were inspired by the iPod and other mass-marketed electronic devices that feature built-in networking for data communications and screen-based controls (“SoftPanels”).

The Year of the Agitated Consumer

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:53:27 GMT

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I see the digital world moving toward an architecture, called Trivergence, where devices, data and controls all live at different places on the network.

Trivergence: The key to making distributed power work

Wed, 23 May 2007 16:27:38 GMT

For the last century or so our electrical utilities have depended upon a relatively small number of very expensive power plants to serve whole regions of geography.

Plaxo Unveils New Controls Platform

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:50:56 GMT

This week Plaxo has announced its new online address book that lets you consolidate your contact lists and calendars from Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo!, Google, Apple, most cellphones and assorted other sources.

A Rush to Trivergence in the Mobile Space

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:21:10 GMT

Recently the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal revealed Nokia’s and Sony’s plans for “end-to-end” mobile solutions to compete head-on against Apple’s iPod and iPhone.

Devices Galore

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:17:54 GMT

For a long time now I have been predicting a proliferation of digital devices that connect to the network and depend on other network resources for their data and controls – or, more succinctly, a proliferation of Tridgets.

Skype Phone Gives New Twist to Trivergence

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 22:30:37 GMT

The way I originally thought of Trivergence is “first comes the device, and then comes the network–savvy SoftPanel to control it.” This seemed like the natural course of events given that there are so many physical devices out there that could benefit from network connectivity.

Now It’s the Google Phone

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 19:02:04 GMT

In my last posting on Skype Phones I speculated that we might see a surge of new devices that are spin-offs of Websites.

Trivergence and the iPhone

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:48:41 GMT

As expected, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone Tuesday to a wildly cheering crowd at Mac World.

Facebook, iTunes, and Widgets – different means to the same end

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 21:00:50 GMT

For those of you new to this blog, a Tridget represents the coming together of a device, a data source and digital controls in a world where are these elements share a common network.

Turn your camera into a Tridget

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 19:02:24 GMT

Thanks to a clever product from a company called Eye-Fi, you can transform your ordinary digital camera into a Tridget. A Tridget, as you will recall, is a device that relies on the network for its data and controls.

Bunny Tridget gets a Widget

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:57:29 GMT

For a while now I’ve been speculating that Widgets will soon be controlling our Tridgets, and, low and behold! I’ve just come across the first marriage between Widgets and Tridgets, and the bride (or maybe it’s the groom) is none other than the Nabaztag Bunny!

Life in an Age of Digital Abundance

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:35:43 GMT

Trivergence is all about giving users control over their digital lives. The thinking is that as user data gets distributed over a more and more of networked services and more and more networked devices come to market, something is going to have to give with respect to the way we manage these services and devices.

Apple Takes Trivergence to a New Level

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:46:53 GMT

Apple’s iPod was the inspiration for Trivergence. It was the first consumer device that worked seamlessly with the user’s PC and the Web. I was especially impressed with the original iPod Shuffle, which was so small that there was no room for buttons on the device itself and the only way to control it was through iTunes on the PC. Back then the idea that a device could be at one place, its data at another, and its controls at a third seemed revolutionary and deserved a name – thus the term “Trivergence.”

Let a Million Flowers Bloom

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:59:52 GMT

A graphics artist friend sent me this item from an Adobe PhotoShop Forum:

Report from Barcelona, Part 3

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:45:06 GMT

I've been interviewed by several journalists in the IT industry during the Mobile World Congress and each one has started out with variations on two basic questions: "So what are you seeing at the Congress this year that you have found especially interesting?" and "How does Accenture play into all this?" Both the questions and the answers are related. The answer to the first question is that I've seen an enormous amount of innovation in every part of the convergence value chain—carriers, software providers, content companies and manufacturers of handsets and the apparently limitless number of gadgets and tridgets introduced this week. But that very strength is also a potential source of weakness for today's companies: innovation has produced a considerable amount of complexity and uncertainty.

Slacker Radio Introduces a Tridget

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:50:48 GMT

A couple of months ago, Amazon introduced the Kindle, a Tridget tuned to Amazon’s website that acts as a distribution channel for Amazon’s new line of digital books. Then Netflix introduced a deal with LG Electronics that lets users download rental movies to a Tridget directly connected to their TV sets.

Report from Barcelona: Day One

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:48:19 GMT

Hello from the 2008 GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain!

Lots of Devices, but not many Tridgets

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:50:52 GMT

With the Consumer Electronics Show in full swing, you’d think there would be a lot of new Tridgets to write about. But the sad fact is that most consumer electronics firms are still focused on hardware.

Netflix and LG Electronics join forces to introduce Tridget

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:59:46 GMT

From the perspective of Trivergence, today’s deal between Netflix and LG Electronics to deliver rental movies to high-definition TV sets is interesting on several points.

Here Come the Tridgets!

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:34:47 GMT

"Trivergence" describes an emerging device architecture where the network is used to separate the physical device from its data and its controls.

Ford Introduces a Soft Panel for Its Cars

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:57:27 GMT

As I’ve suggested many times in this forum, once networked devices start to proliferate we will see innovative efforts to consolidate their controls into a single display that I’ve been calling a “Soft Panel.”

Will there be a long tail for devices?

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:47:10 GMT

MIT’s David Clark predicts that in 15 or 20 years there will be a trillion devices connected to the Internet. If you divide a trillion by 9 billion – the upper end of population forecasts for the next 15 to 20 years – you get 111 networked devices per person.

The Mainstream Business Press Discovers Trivergence

Mon, 14 May 2007 15:22:37 GMT

Check out the special section in the April 26 issue of the Economist titled, “ A world of Connections.”

The Digital World Goes Screen Hopping

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 19:56:41 GMT

I missed the CTIA Wireless conference this year, but one of Accenture’s analysts sent me these comments from a discussion on cellphone usability:

Grandcentral: A station stop on the road to Trivergence

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:48:08 GMT

Last week New York Times columnist David Pogue wrote about a new phone service called Grandcentral. From the perspective of Trivergence, this service is a pure “controls” play in that it works with any device that makes phone calls.

Is Second Life the Ultimate SoftPanel?

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 15:31:17 GMT

Before there was the Internet, digital electronics, or even electricity, there were World Fairs.

The Sleeping Giants Are Stirring

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 22:28:51 GMT

Trivergence is general concept that applies to lots of different devices and all types of data. But right now most of the attention is on devices that play video and the data these devices consume in the form of video files.

A Common Connection Point for Devices, Controls and Data: PC-Centric or Network Centric?

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 19:13:33 GMT

Trivergence happens when Devices, their Controls and their Data all live at different locations on the network.

Amazon, TiVo and the PC: The Trivergence of Home Video

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 18:41:44 GMT

Today’s New York Times reports on a new video download service from Amazon that let’s you browse for the movie on a PC and then have it delivered to your TiVo for viewing on your TV.

Of Widgets, Gadgets and Flakes

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 15:24:21 GMT

Trivergence separates devices from their controls. Instead of buttons on the device itself there is a SoftPanel on a more accessible device (such as a PC or cellphone handset) that lets you manage the device remotely and more intuitively.

PCs Join the March toTrivergence

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 20:53:44 GMT

Before there were cellphones, and iPods there was the home PC – the first networked consumer device after Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone.

Remotely Controlling the Remote Control

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 19:54:34 GMT

One of the expectations around Trivergence is that, in the future, nearly every digital device will be set up and controlled through a SoftPanel that resides on the PC. So far the clearest example of this has been Apple’s iPod, but the idea is now starting to catch on.

Digital Picture Frames: A Down Home Example of Trivergence

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 20:18:33 GMT

Trivergence is an architecture for managing and supporting devices from “somewhere on the net,” as opposed to buttons on the device itself.

Robot Alert!

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 13:51:33 GMT

Bill Gates has an article in the current issue of Scientific American that promotes Microsoft’s new development tools for building robots.

Happy Holidays

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 19:36:08 GMT

Always on the lookout for real-life examples of Trivergence, I happened upon Alex Komarnitsky’s Christmas Lights Website.

Converging Controls, Diverging Devices

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 17:43:38 GMT

The mobile phone is one the greatest success stories of all times. The installed base for cellphones is now about 2 billion units – larger than both television sets (1.5 billion) and PCs (820 million). Ed Zander, CEO of mobile phone-maker Motorola, is fond of pointing out that Motorola alone is now outshipping the entire PC industry.

The Service Delivery Platform: A Missing Link in the Digital Value Chain?

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 19:37:50 GMT

In my last post I wrote about how the networked device industry is likely to “dis-integrate” into three separate industries that reflect the three aspects of trivergence: Device, Data and Controls.

The Coming Dis-integration of the Networked Device Industry

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 21:29:52 GMT

In a Harvard Business Review article titled “Skate to Where the Money Will Be,” Clayton Christensen (the man who gave us “disruptive technologies”) and his colleagues assert that in its formative years a new market is typically dominated by integrated companies that offer end-to-end solutions.

Triverging Healthcare

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 21:20:28 GMT

On Nov. 28, Wal-Mart, Intel and British Petroleum announced plans to build a multi-billion dollar data warehouse to store and manage consumer medical records. We see this as the critical next-step in “triverging” the healthcare industry.

Down with Buttons

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:59:12 GMT

This article (subscription required) in the Wall Street Journal echoes the Trivergence theme loud and clear. It cites several examples of consumer electronics companies that have simplified their user interfaces by putting fewer buttons on the device itself and relegated more complex configuration options to the PC or TV screen.

Trivergence in the Air and on the Ground

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 21:12:06 GMT

Trivergence describes an architecture where devices, their controls and their data all reside at different nodes of a network. Often that network is the Internet, but it can also be a local area network when things are separate, but physically close together.

Boxes Turn into Junk but Software Is Forever

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 19:47:04 GMT

If TiVo had positioned itself as simply a device maker, its TV recorder would probably now be listed as a “Close Out Special” on Amazon. Technically, a TiVo box is pretty easy to reverse engineer and many competitors have done just that.

Of Carts and Horses

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 15:34:00 GMT

This week we saw the unveiling of Zune, Microsoft’s long-awaited mobile media player.

The Universal Device

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 22:32:00 GMT

We used to live in a device-centric world. We “used the telephone,” “watched TV,” and “worked at our PCs.”

Triverging the Surveillance Market

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 19:57:00 GMT

Security cameras used to work by streaming their images to a nearby VCR. If there were a crime of some sort, somebody would later go through the tapes with the hope of viewing the perpetrator in action – albeit well after the fact.

But we already have a portal...

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 18:08:00 GMT

The short definition of trivergence is “an architecture that uses a network to seamlessly orchestrate the interaction of devices, data centers and SoftPanels.”

Trivergence Comes to Home Energy Management

Thu, 29 May 2008 17:04:28 GMT

Unfortunately, most energy-consuming devices in the home still do not incorporate Trivergence. Instead, each device operates with its own controls and its own data. Home energy management typically involves twiddling individual knobs, buttons and switches, and yelling at the kids to turn off the lights when they leave a room.

Build Your Own Tridget

Mon, 19 May 2008 17:39:56 GMT

For a long time now, I’ve been predicting the proliferation of specialized networked devices – or Tridgets – that pull data from the Web and are managed through a PC or mobile handset. The network, PCs, handsets, and data are now all in place, so the only things still lacking for a massive rollout of Trivergence are the devices and the inspiration.

Microsoft Does Trivergence

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:53:44 GMT

First Google, now Microsoft. A couple of weeks ago I discussed how Google’s trio of new products – Android, Open Social, and App Engine – represent a build out of Trivergence. Last week Microsoft threw their hat into Trivergence ring with their announcement of Live Mesh.

A Big Tridget

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:52:28 GMT

Finally! A Tridget that plays Schubert. Here David Pogue, of the New York Times, writes about Yamaha’s new grand piano that comes complete with its own WiFi connection to the Internet.

Google Does Trivergence

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:15:08 GMT

Google has just dropped its third shoe in its build out of Trivergence – that is, the orchestration of Devices, Controls and Data to deliver cogent user experiences.

The evolution of Internet portals – from software metaphor to something you can actually touch

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:23:51 GMT

In the early days of the Internet, portals such as Yahoo! were gateways to the rest of the Web. When you wanted to find something you started at a portal and, using search or a directory, made your way down to the pages with the content.