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In this issue:

 * Defining Forces in 2005
 * Prospects for Mobile Video
 * New Ways of Targeting Financial-Services Customers
 * Wearable Smart Products
 * Signals of Change
 * New Attention to Informal Learning
 * The Business of Digital Game-Based Learning
 * Software-Defined Radio
 * The Challenges of Blending Virtual and Real Worlds
 * New Explorer Technologies


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---------------------
 Recent Publications
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Defining Forces in 2005

The December 2005 issue of Scan(TM) Monthly looks back at 
the key forces that defined events in 2005 and speculates 
about how each force may continue to evolve in 2006. 
After reviewing more than 1200 abstracts from the past 
year, analysts zeroed in on the following topics and 
their interrelationships: health and wellness, challenges 
in marketing, sustainability, robotics, the Internet, 
India and China, neuroscience, and sensors. 
(Scan[TM] Monthly, December 2005)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Scan/ScanMonthly/SM034.shtml



Prospects for Mobile Video

Various players are vying to promote their favored 
mobile-video solution, seeking to capture audiences on 
the go, especially commuters, frequent business 
travelers, sports and daytime-TV enthusiasts, and 
affluent young people with time on their hands. However, 
despite this rampant competition, many people are 
skeptical about the future of mobile video, given that at 
least seven broadcasting standards are in the mix and 
vendors will have to cope with regional variations.
(Wireless Applications: Mobile Video)
http://www.sric-bi.com/WF/summaries/WA/2005-12MobileVideo.shtml



New Ways of Targeting Financial-Services Customers

Many financial institutions continue to target potential 
customers using oversimplified one-dimensional marketing 
strategies. However, in the past decade, evidence has 
been growing that using age, income, or even assets alone 
to define consumer segments is losing its effectiveness 
in defining distinct groups with unique financial needs. 
To understand and serve financial consumers today, 
marketers require at least two carefully selected 
dimensions that fit a financial institution's products, 
services, channel strengths, and strategic objectives. 
(Why Age, Income, or Assets Don't Work: The Dangers of 
One-Dimensional Targeting)
http://www.sric-bi.com/CFD/MRsummaries/MR-VII-04.shtml



Wearable Smart Products

Some consumer products already feature smart materials, 
but many more products, especially wearable ones, are 
likely to emerge in the next five to ten years. Among 
today's products are eyeglass frames and brassiere wires, 
which use shape-memory alloys.  Future products might 
include smart shoes that convert power from walking into 
electricity, smart textiles for sports and outdoor 
clothing, clothing that powers health-monitoring devices, 
and clothing and portable products with illumination 
properties. 
(November 2005 Smart Materials Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/SM.shtml



Signals of Change

Developments in lighting technologies--particularly in 
the arena of light-emitting diodes--are creating new 
applications for light, from growing vegetables to 
enabling ubiquitous computing. A recent issue of 
Scan(TM) Monthly discusses this and other signals of 
change, including companies that help consumers eliminate 
annoyance from their lives, progress in autonomous 
vehicles, new research findings about sleep, and better 
ways to prepare food to preserve nutrients. 
(Scan[TM] Monthly, November 2005)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Scan/ScanMonthly/SM033.shtml#SoCs



The Business of Digital Game-Based Learning

Interest is growing in digital game-based learning (DGBL),
thanks to dramatic growth in the use of video games by 
both children and adults and to rapid technological 
progress that enables interactive and immersive gaming 
experiences. Organizations that are considering using 
DGBL need to understand the full spectrum of DGBL--as 
well as the structure of the new DGBL industry--and match 
their technology choices to learners. 
(The Business of Digital Game-Based Learning)
http://www.sric-bi.com/LoD/summaries/2005-12DigGameBasedLrning.shtml



New Attention to Informal Learning

Studies indicate that the bulk of learning in 
organizations occurs outside traditional training or 
formal learning, yet companies seldom invest much money 
in informal learning activities. Though training has 
greater visibility and eats up the biggest share of 
learning budgets, many organizations now realize that 
finding new and more effective ways to support informal 
learning can help them boost business performance. 
(Informal Learning: Opportunities and Challenges) 
http://www.sric-bi.com/LoD/viewpoints.shtml



Software-Defined Radio

Many people look forward to the day when a handset, car 
radio, or other device will adapt itself to whatever 
network is available, easily directing voice and 
multimedia traffic to users' desired destinations. 
Software-defined radio may not yet fulfill the dream of 
seamless communications, but its programmability offers 
a flexible approach to accommodating standards.  Yet 
business obstacles, not technology ones, are the key 
barriers to "any-network" communications. Perhaps smaller 
companies are in a better position than larger ones to 
provide both the technical and the business innovation 
necessary for interoperability. 
(Small-Company Profiles: Software-Defined Radio)
http://www.sric-bi.com/WF/summaries/SCP/2005-11sftwrdefradio.shtml



The Challenges of Blending Virtual and Real Worlds

The growth of massively multiplayer online role-playing 
games presents significant economic possibilities for 
developers, but the games' blending of virtual and real 
worlds also raises complex questions about the 
similarities and differences between virtual and real 
intellectual property. Solutions will play out in the 
courts over time and will need to grapple with the fact 
that virtual worlds transcend the role of games as 
short-term entertainment, becoming hybrids of virtual 
and real worlds and carrying all the complexities of both.
(November 2005 Virtual Environments Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/VE.shtml



New Explorer Technologies

Explorer recently introduced two new technology areas. 
Web Services builds on the former Component-Based 
Software Engineering, and Novel Ceramic/Metallic 
Materials combines two previous areas: Structural 
Ceramics/Ceramic-Matrix Composites and Metal-/
Intermetallic-Matrix Composites. 
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/techList.shtml



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