Imagine

Imagine a future when electricty is obsolete.

Innovation breaks through language barrier

Had to immediately share this most compelling innovation:

In-Ear Device Automatically Translates Foreign Languages So You Can Talk To Anyone

The tiny translator created by Waverly Labs, a US-based company, is called The Pilot System. The simple earpiece does all of the translating for you.  It even translates what you say into the other person's language.  As a result, two people can seamlessly have a conversation without knowing how to speak the other person's language. 

1. Cost?  Retail is expected to be $249-$299 

2. How much is the early bird?  Early bird will be first come first serve. A limited quantity will go for $129, then another round for $149, and then a few more Late Early Bird options for $179+. Signup here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/meet-the-pilot-smart-earpiece-language-translator/coming_soon

3. When can the Pilot be pre-ordered?  Waverly Labs will keep everyone updated via email. Sign up for the launch then you will be alerted.

4. When will they be delivered? Waverly Labs plans to release a translation app this summer (2016) for basic translation. This is included in your purchase. However, the earpieces require much more testing, manufacturing and production time. Therefore, we anticipate the earliest will be in late fall/early winter, although fulfilling all orders could take until next spring. Also, first come first serve.

5. What’s included? The full package includes the Pilot and secondary earpiece (2 earpieces total), 1 portable charger, and an accompanying app where the languages are downloaded for the earpiece.

6. What languages will be supported?  Initially English, Spanish, French, Italian, etc.  Additional languages will be available very soon after, including East Asian, Hindi, Semitic, Arabic, Slavic, African, etc.

NOTE: Additional language packs will be available for a premium fee, however ALL early adopters who order during our launch campaign on May 24th – 25th will always receive these new language packs FREE.

7. Will it translate for my dialect?  Every language has various dialects and the earpiece is designed to translate common dialects, although thick accents could disrupt this.

8. How does it work?  The first generation works only when you are speaking to someone who also has an earpiece. That is why the package comes with two earpieces. Future generations of the earpiece will be updated to listen to EVERYTHING happening around you.

9. What if the other person doesn’t have an earpiece?  The app can be used on their phone.

10. Does it work offline? Yes it is designed to work offline for overseas use.

Video with inventor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjjQ5cH_YzI

Profound innovation touches the soul

 

 

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2014/03/25/mom-invents-harness-to-help-disabled-kids-walk 

Mobile Money – MNOs/Carriers & Central Banks

Rather than a complete cut & paste replication, this is just a courtesy heads-up regarding my post on the subject line topic - 'published' earlier today on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mobile-money-mnoscarriers-central-banks-john-baross).

Carrier Commerce serves a significant role in two sectors of the Payment Industry ... from performance to innovation .... helping close the gap on global aims for total financial inclusion.

Innovator's Dilemma - Quote of the Day

"You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take." - Wayne Gretzky

Quiet Giant of Digital Commerce also leading Noble Cause for Financial Inclusion (Hint: it's not Apple)

As the recently posted infographic in the top right portion of my blog shows, THE most popular mobile payment method in the world is 'Direct Carrier Billing' (DCB), that is consumers utilizing their known and trusted billing relationship with their mobile carriers to have purchases (online and offline) posted to their telephone bill.

Yesterday I 'published' a large article on LinkedIn entitled:

That post ( https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/quiet-giant-digital-commerce-noble-cause-financial-inclusion-baross?trk=prof-post ) looks at the evolution of 'Carrier Commerce' - from the nascent DCB industry of nearly 20 years ago to now the #1 role of DCB as a payment method in today's digital economy.  Further, that post overviews a second major Carrier Commerce front that is also quietly ramping: Mobile Money, with flagship Vodafone M-Pesa & Safaricom in Kenya leading a charge of over 200 companies in this space. (Related to the Mobile Money topic is so well reported article entitled "Mobile payments: The company driving the greatest innovation today [Hint: it's not Apple]":

This very good article - which appeared last night in various Payment Industry news alerts (i.e.: financial inclusion, mobile wallets and related topics) can be accessed via this link: http://www.itproportal.com/2015/04/26/who-driving-greatest-innovation-mobile-payments-today-hint-not-apple/

Finally, in my publication yesterday I reveal an effort underway to establish a new association that is committed to serving the unique industry of Carrier Commerce - Direct Carrier Billing, Mobile Money initially, along with of course supporting all those in the ecosystems of these two remarkable growth sectors of the Carrier Commerce Payment Industry ... that welcomes your thoughts, ideas and suggestions.

See more on this subject & related Carrier Commerce Payment Industry topics in:

* Publication section of my LinkedIn profile (http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnfbarossjr)

* Follow me on Twitter @BaRoss

Innovator's Dilemma - The Who, What, Where, When & Why of India's new Payment Bank model solution to address Financial Inclusion

(A cut & paste repost from my blog post on LinkedIn 4/13/2015)

Familiar with the breakthrough innovation poised to be unleashed in India? A newly created model for providing basic financial services has been authorized.  Referred to as "Payments Banks", this pioneering solution is sure to help the unbanked, as well as rapidly emerging mobile money paradigms.  Here is a quick overview on the basics about Payments Banks:

Who?      RBI (Reserve Bank of India) created a new license for non-bank entities (business correspondent/agent) to be involved in offering basic financial service in India

What?     A first-in-the-world new category, licensed/sanctioned to provide basic financial service in India for those who do not have access to traditional banking services.

Where?  Nationwide in India (plus accessible for depositing by family and friends internationally)  

When?   RBI received at least 40 applications for Payment Bank licenses by the February 2015 deadline. Expectations are that RBI will approve 5-6 applicants initially in 3Q2015.

Why?     To improve financial inclusion across India’s population – especially the poor and rural – allowing for innovative solution models that can economically serve India’s unbanked and/or without access to Alternative Financial Services (AFS). 

The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) made a strategic decision in 2014 to proceed with a first-in-the-world pioneering financial service model to help improve financial inclusion by permitting innovative models that can bring basic financial services to India’s vast unbanked population which is beyond the economical reach of traditional banking.  According to research commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, only 47 percent of Indian adults had a bank account as of 2013-14, of which 25 percent were active (although since this study, Prime Minister Modi has led an effort that has financially included another 100M+). Others expected to benefit from Payment Banks are small businesses and students attending school away from home.

Payment Banks will be permitted to operate a model that provides basic deposit, saving and withdrawal functionality, leveraging non-bank distribution partners residing in rural areas where traditional banks cannot afford to have a presence (i.e.: a grocery store, a Mom & Pop shop, etc.) – a significant last-mile breakthrough.  Further, expectations are that Payment Banks will be permitted to support facilitating mobile money transactions – another major last-mile breakthrough that will allow domestic migrant workers, as well as India’s vast global diaspora, to utilize mobile phones to transmit money to families back home, who will then be able to withdraw cash via sanctioned distribution partners of licensed Payment Bank.

RBI is currently reviewing 41 applications for a license to become permitted to operate a Payment Bank in India.  Mobile phone carriers, retailers, prepaid payment card issuers were among those allowed to apply for payment bank permits.  Expectations are that the RBI will grant the first 5-6 licenses in 3Q2015.  If and when additional applicants get approved is not clear at this time.  Entities that have applied for a Payment Bank license include: 

1. A Little World Private Limited, Belapur
2. Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited, Mumbai
3. Airtel M Commerce Services Limited, New Delhi
4. Calibre Financial Services Limited, Chennai
5. Cholamandalam Distribution Services Limited, Chennai
6. Citrus Payment Solutions Private Limited, Mumbai
7. Concept Technosoft Ventures Limited, New Delhi
8. Department of Posts, New Delhi
9. Eko India Financial Service Private Limited, New Delhi
10. FINO PayTech Limited, Navi Mumbai  
11. Fx Mart Private Limited, Zirakpur, Mohali
12. GI Technology Private Limited, Chennai
13. Instant Global Money Transfer Private Limited, Hoshiarpur
14. Itz Cash Card Limited, Mumbai
15. Kalpataru Corporation, Mumbai
16. KKM Management Centre Private Limited, New Delhi
17. My Mobile Payments Limited, Mumbai 
    
18. National Securities Depository Limited, Mumbai
19. Novopay Solutions Private Limited, Bengaluru
20. NSE Strategic Investment Corporation Limited, Mumbai
21. One MobiKwik Systems Private Limited, Gurgaon
22. Oxigen Services (India) Private Limited, New Delhi 
    
23. Pay Point India Network Private Limited, Mumbai
24. Reliance Industries Limited, Mumbai
25. Resource Square Solutions Private Limited, Chennai
26. Shri Dilip Shantilal Shanghvi, Mumbai
27. Shri Kishore Laxminarayan Biyani, Mumbai
28. Shri M.G. George Muthoot & others, Kochi
29. Shri Nijay Kumar Gupta, Mumbai
30. Shri Rajib Saha, Gurgaon
31. Shri Renuka Mata MultiState Co-operative Urban Credit Society Ltd., Ahmednagar
32. Shri Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Noida
33. Smart Payment Solutions Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
34. Suvidhaa Infoserve Private Limited, Mumbai
35. Tech Mahindra Limited, Mumbai
36. V. K. Fiscal Services Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
37. Vakrangee Limited, Mumbai
38. Videocon d2h Limited, Mumbai
39. Vodafone m-pesa Limited, Mumbai 
    
40. Weizmann Forex Limited, Mumbai
41. YouFirst Money Express Private Limited, Mumbai

The maximum amount a depositor can have in a Payment Bank is 1 Lakh [₹ Indian Rupees] (1.0 Lakh = ₹100,000 Indian Rupees: expressed as INR 1,00,000).  As of the currency exchange rate on 4/13/15, $1.00 US =  ₹62.4 INR so  ₹100,000 [INR 1,00,000] would be worth $1,603.00 US … the dollar equivalent of the maximum amount of money a account holder could have in a Payment Bank account at any one time. 

Payment Banks’ RBI license will not permit them to offer advanced financial services such as issuing credit cards nor providing loans, but will be permitted to offer debit cards as well as utility bill remittance.  Money deposited at Payment Banks will be safeguarded by stringent RBI controls with requirements on Payment Banks including:

    - Maintaining Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) with the RBI

    - Investing 75% of its demand deposit balances in Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) eligible gov’t securities & t-bills

    - A maximum of 25% will have to be held in current and fixed deposits with other scheduled commercial banks

Again, a key aim of the new Payment Bank idea is to help bring about improved financial inclusion for the vast unbanked in India.  Those served will include low income households, farmers, the domestic migrant work force and others.  Improving financial inclusion is a top priority for RBI, as well as now India’s new Prime Minister Modi.

The innovative Payment Bank idea is expected to be a game changer in India and a flagship for addressing financial inclusion globally as details are worked through during pre & post launch planning and execution. 

Innovator's Dilemma - Sweet Innovation!

Every now and then we come across innovation news that can make one smile.  Bee keeping is an innovation that is almost as old as fire.  Archaeological digs have unearthed evidence of bee keeping that goes back to approximately 1,000 BC ... ~3,000 years ago.

As old as this industry is, innovation has arrived to bee keeping ... and it is not necessarily due to a hi-tech breakthrough as much as it was a re-engineering design that overcame ages old challenges the industry had workarounds for (i.e.: suiting up to avoid being stung, smoking out bees to access hives, splitting open hives to access honey).

In this ~5 minute video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbMV9qYIXqM), discover what a bee keeping father and son from Australia devised and refined to directly access and flow honey from a bee hive.

The father-son team are now utilizing crowdfunding to secure necessary financial backing to now scale their business.  If you are interested in learning more, visit them at their web page http://www.honeyflow.com and on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/flowhive

What cannot be innovated/improved?

Innovator's Dilemma - Cyber-Security ... This Is Where We Are Today?!

Been wrestling with what to do about something I discovered several weeks back  

at the Payment Industry "Innovation Project 2015" conference held on Harvard University campus in Boston. While I have imagined volunteering to build a association, a council, a coalition or some other like entity .... for now I'm simply sharing via this blog post.  Besides an agenda packed schedule of very good panelists on a wide range of industry topics, the afternoon of the second day of the conference had a panel discussion entitled "From Authentication to Identity". Included on that panel was a marquee speaker: Retired Star General Keith Alexander who had also recently served as Deputy of NSA (National Security Agency).

Several panel discussions included a prelude interview with a key panelist from respective upcoming panels. Following this format, Liz Claman, Fox Business News Anchor - interviewed General Keith Alexander along with Kevin Mandia, President FireEye Inc. - a cyber security/cyber forensics firm. Before this interview, General Alexander made a 10-15 minute presentation to the conference audience gathered to hear him in historic Sanders Theater. The topic of General Alexander's presentation was today's very real and increasing cyber security threats - in the context of not just business and transaction security, but national security.   

While now retired from his military career, General Alexander had a front row leadership role involving security threats to the USA.  As mentioned above, Four-Star General Alexander had served as Director of NSA, plus served as Chief of the Central Security Service and Commander of the United States Cyber Command.  

Of course filtering out classified information, General Alexander was still able to achieve his stated goal at the beginning of his 

presentation ... to scare everyone concerning the current state of affairs with cyber security in the USA and free world.  General Alexander's presentation addressed both the advancing technological sophistication of both state sponsored and rogue cyber attackers, as well as their growing boldness.   

The first of two examples I recall General Alexander sharing was the recent state sponsored attacks by North Korea against Sony because of a dispute concerning some content in a form of entertainment (Sony's movie 'The Interview' which mocks North Korean leader Kim Jong-on). The entire episode was unprecedented on several levels. The private sector was targeted by a state. A private sector entity was not just infiltrated by a hack but attacked, with information sought and released that destroyed personal careers. Further, taking a step back ... the boldness of the attack revealed North Korea's increasing nerve and audacity.

The second example I recall General Alexander sharing concerned ongoing hacking done by Russian and Ukrainian private and state sponsored hackers.  A  

technique these hackers use is to cyber-linger to monitor and test various cyber targets. In the past when US Cyber Security defensive maneuvers detected this cyber-lingering, the lingerers would instantly vanish into cyber space to avoid being identified. Currently however, when US Cyber Security defensive maneuvers detect these cyber-lingerers, they do not flee ... they do the cyber equivalent of not just remaining but also waving back at US security.  Again, another example of elevated boldness and increasing fearlessness.    

General Alexander went on to talk about the sophistication of China's daily hacking efforts against the USA with hundreds showing up to work each day to

probe, access, etc. US Cyber Security anticipates a multi-front cyber attack that could come in the form of consecutive punches ... first crashing major databases like Wall Street, like Air Traffic Control (etc.), then moments later attacking the grid to kill power ... a tactic to confuse cyber first responders as to whether the outage is a direct cyber attack or a power outage - slowing the recovery and giving the attackers more time to menace the US further.  Also discussed was the plausibility of extended outages spanning vast regional geographic areas or larger.  In our culture of today, a powerless and communicationless infrastructure for more than a few weeks could quickly spiral into anarchy as people begin to struggle against each other for basic necessities.

~~~

This was not a fear-mongering tin-hat crawling out from under a rock sharing these genuine concerns, this was the highly credentialed retired General who recently served at the head of NSA & US Cyber Command.  All of this said thus far ... here comes the punch line that General Alexander shared during his direct presentation, as well as during the panel discussion that followed.  The General asked this gathering of industry leaders for help in getting the government and private sector to coordinate efforts to deal with increasingly escalating and imminent cyber security threats. General Alexander then made a statement I found hard to believe:

"We need authority to work together"  

Think about that statement and who it is coming from............ seriously .....

... think about what this recently retired top official just revealed here!  This is where US Cyber Security is today?!  (With news this week that Russian hackers have been infiltrating White House systems, including accessing President's private schedule.)

I'm still not done with my shock and awe post here.

After the panel discussion was over I got up on the stage with other attendees who also wanted to speak with at least one of the panelists who just wrapped up.  I was inspired and determined to speak with General Alexander.  Waiting for others to make their respective business pitches, then watching him get interviewed and filmed by the media team for Innovation Project 2015, I finally had the opportunity to introduce myself along with the honor to shake hands with General Alexander.  I had just one question:

Me:  "General Alexander, your evangelizing here this afternoon completely convinced and sold me.  I hear and agree with the sense of urgency our country has to address our cyber security weaknesses.  I want to help immediately.  When I wake up tomorrow, what can I do right away to help with getting the 'authority' you said is needed (to coordinate government and the private sector) on a Cyber Security push akin to The Manhattan Project)?

General Alexander - pausing for a moment to think:  "The best thing you can do now is to write your Congressional leaders and explain to them the urgent need for authority to coordinate government and the business sector."

As I thanked General Alexander and made my way back to the main reception hall, a image popped in my mind:

   

"Write my Congressional leaders?"  Millions of people contact Congress on countless issues-of-the-day and this is the best answer this top retired official had ready for this gathering of industry leaders after scaring us on the urgency of this problem and need for authority to coordinate?!  :-P   

Innovator's Dilemma - The Life Saving Dot (Bindi)

Inspiring innovation story discovered via the post of a friend in Facebook - helping ladies in rural India with their health by disbursing medication via the common decorative forehead dot.  As the following sequence of pictures show (as well as linked video), the bindi was morphed into a iodine patch.

Iodine deficiency disorder is a major nutritional issue.  Grey Group Singapose created a philanthropic organization: Grey for Good that then partnered with NGO and Neelvasant Medical Foundation and Research Center to develop this health improving mineral via the patch they developed - now being distributed at medical camps in rural villages across India.  Well done!

IndiaTV news story & video: 

http://www.indiatvnews.com/buzz/life/jeevan-bindi-iodine-deficiency-rural-women-grey-group-126.html