Author: Bal Bansal

Folks, just to let you know – i’ll be a speaker at the up and coming Chief Innovation Officers Summit in London, this week!

There’s some great folks talking – including Google, BBC, Barclays and many more…

So, what will I be sharing…?

Well, as i’m writing my first book, and going through a few iterations (hoping for an Easter 2018) release, I thought… why not take the title of my second book (I know… I need to get the first one out), and base a conversation on that.

The title is – Are you Interrupting or Disrupting?

Now, wish I could share more – but that’s being saved for those who attend the conference. However, I will share some elements of the presentation with the followers of this blog, very soon…

… but it’s all about, how we, over time… trying to disrupt, become interrupters. We’re not really making it easy for our customer, through the various ‘bolt on’s’ but we’re in fact, making it a little more harder.  A little more complex. And therefore, why is it important to… (in the words of my Sensei) – understand, then to be understood.

Yesterday, Google had a little event… where they announced a few things.

One of the announcements included the introduction of their new phone. The Google Pixel 2.

Now, whilst I could go through the whole event, share what was said and how it was described… go through all the functionality, etc… you should know by now.. this is a LEAN BLOG! – I like to keep things lean. So below is a video of the 2 hour event condensed into 19 minutes.

I’m going to be honest. I’m not that much into Google hardware – But welcome to my good friend Nathan McKay who is. He is very knowledgeable on all things ‘Google’ & Android.

I asked him, Share your Top 3 concerns about Google… (which he did!)

1. They come at a bad time – Honestly, they do! Let’s look at it… Apple just recently had their’s, where they were able to ‘wow’ everyone with the lights, glitz and glamour.. oh, and their iPhone X. Then you’ve got Samsung’s event coming up early next year… and you know they’ll be sharing some really exciting features. So what do you do? – Do you go with Apple, where you know what you’re getting. Do you go with Google (by the way, they had supply issues with the first Pixel phone and were unable to meet demand) or do you wait for Samsung… and then make a choice?
2. Google software on every device – They don’t hold anything back for themselves. They’re happy to release their software and make it available for every device. Samsung have better hardware, and they know they’ll get all the software available on their devices.
3. They’re a Software Developer (following on from point 2) – The Pixel phone is built by HTC. They’re not a hardware manufacturer. They’re a great software developer. Let’s not even look at phones… look at Google Home. Amazon beat them to it, but introducing the Echo… and Google have been playing catch up since.

Well.. there you have it Ladies & Gentlemen. A very frank update from Mr McKay. Whilst saying the above, he also did mention… there are a few positives, one of which was – you’ll get the updates immediately on a Google Device!

In summary, It’s the Software that pushes the Hardware.

Firstly, Thank You to everyone who’s been supporting me on this blog journey. Hope you’ve enjoyed what I’ve been writing and sharing on here.

I thought i’d share a little preview into October, there’s some great things lined up… for example, i’ll be sharing a video from a Fashion Tech Expert who’ll be talking about… Fashion… and Technology.

I was thinking, I could write more here… but wouldn’t it be better if you could watch me talk about it – yes, i’ve finally recorded my first video!

Recently, Sainsbury’s shared that they are testing an app to enable a checkout-free shopping experience.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking… another app I have to download… well… yes, it is another app you have to download, but this time, this app, you can use to scan your shopping as you walking around the store (similar to those handheld devices you can pick up in store) and then at the end of your shop, you simply go to a dedicated check-out and pay.

But hold on – you said checkout-free…

Yes, I sure did – and similar to the Amazon Go store, they’re also trialing in London, at their Euston branch an app where if you walk in and pick up the £3 ‘On the Go’ meal deal, you can scan the items on your phone, pay on your phone and then leave the store.

Hopes are… that they increase the number of items and stores, where you can have the checkout-less experience.

And this will, soon, become the norm… as I shared on BBC Radio Nottingham yesterday morning.

Feel free to listen via the link below – you can listen to Mark’s whole show, or you can fast forward to about 13:30, to listen to me… (it’s via the BBC and you may have to log in and register if you’ve not already signed up – which takes the best part of 2 minutes).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05f6cgt

That’s right… you’re in a swanky bar in Central London, sipping on your over-priced Gin, and the question comes from your colleague… “So, I hear you have a new car.. What car you got?”…. the reply, “A Dyson”.

It’s going to happen.

The company that found an innovative way to vacuum your house, are.. or should I say, have… been working on an electric vehicle.

They’re aiming to launch them in 2020. And you know what, that’s only around the corner! On top of this, they’re investing over £2bn…

They’re aiming for the top end of the market – It won’t be cheap. On top of this, it’ll be ‘radically different’.

And for it to be a success, it has to be, right?

Let’s be honest, you have every motor company working on and releasing electric vehicles. BMW, Volkswagen, Ford, Toyota, etc…

Then you got the new boys in town, such as Tesla.

And why not open that market up. Gone are the days, where the industry was dominated by Ford and General Motors.

And i’d expect, anything that the brand, ‘ Dyson’ works on.. has to be radically different. They’ve set the bar… for example, the vacuum.. then the hair dryer, and many other items they’ve released, they’ve all been radically different. And with the radical thinking and design, their car is being kept under top secret conditions. Well, you wouldn’t expect anything less.

I’m expecting more and more players (companies) to enter the fierce competition within the electric car market. There will be some top players… (aiming at the top end of the market), There’ll be the mid-market (maybe the existing manufacturers such as Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen) and then the lower end… for which, I’m not sure who’ll be operating in this space.

Because it’s not cheap. To develop an electric car can’t be cheap.

But then, it comes to customer requirements. If you’re going to go to the shops and back, maybe into town and minimum driving, why couldn’t one of those electric disability scooters be adapted for the needs of some people?

You’re probably thinking.. this isn’t going to work.

Why not? – add another seat (make it a 2 seater). Put a roll cage around it. Up the battery. Maybe get a steering wheel, and some different wheel options… and before you know it, you got yourself a 2-seater electric sports vehicle!

It’s all about thinking differently.

Which brings me back to Mr Dyson, and his announcement. Which you can read in full below…

Dara Khosrowshahi, the Uber Boss… has come out and apologised.

Taking over, at Uber, for less than under a month, he said.. “On behalf of everyone at Uber globally, I apologise for the mistakes we’ve made.”

I’ve mentioned it before in my blog, and i’ll mention it again… Uber are not perfect.

They know internally they’ve got to made some improvements and they’ve said it in an open letter.

And that’s a great start – a bit like Alcoholics Anonymous (so i’ve heard) that the first step is, admitting something is not right.

From there, you have the support network and people that want you to get better… stop the drinking, go sober, enjoy life and work together.

I just feel though, that isn’t quite happening with Uber.

Yes, you might have heard, Transport for London are stripping them of their license to operate in London. What does this mean for the 3.5 million people who use Uber in London, but more importantly… the 40,000 licensed drivers for Uber?

Well.. i’d hope there’s be some conversations taking place… maybe someone who’s in charge of the TfL and Uber? – but then I read this…

Well, this just gets better and better.

The Mayor of London, and also, the chap responsible for the TfL is not prepared to meet Uber.

There’s me thinking, London was Open… for innovative companies to come and apply their trade. Obviously, they have to follow the laws and rules of the land, naturally. And if there’s something they don’t understand, they ask – and if they’re not doing it correctly or something is not right – they should be informed.

You wouldn’t think, it’d take 5 years… that’s correct. Uber has been operating in London Since 2012.

So is London open for Innovative companies?

Is it open to work together? Share, understand and collaborate?

David Leam, of London First which campaigns for business in the capital, said: “This will be seen as a Luddite decision by millions of Londoners and international visitors who use Uber, and will also hit London’s reputation as a global tech hub.”

That’s right – One minute we’re calling for the world to come and set up shop in London… bring your new technology and open hubs in London.

But then, on the other hand – we’re not really working with these tech companies, are we?

When traditional methods are challenged… is this what happens?

James Farrar, chairman of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain’s United Private Hire Drivers branch, said “To strip Uber of its licence after five years of laissez-faire regulation is a testament to a systemic failure at TfL,”

All I’m hoping for is, there is a resolution and Uber is allowed to operate. Their mistakes are highlighted and they implement a plan of action to fix them.

If they are not compliant to certain rules and regulations, then these are highlighted to them and once again, they put in measures to ensure they are compliant.

Then this type of collaboration, between local governments, councils, transport boards, innovative tech companies, etc… can a) show the world – London is Open, but you got to work within the rules and we’ll help you… and b) don’t be afraid of change… let’s embrace it.

Saying all that… we’ll have self-driving cars soon, right? – wonder what the black cab drivers will say about that! Dare not ask right now 🙂