80 percent of today’s personal computers are branded with an Intel processor. However, despite its rapidly growing popularity, the company opted to stay away from mobile technology. One reason is that Intel has focused too much on the creation of powerful chips, which while effective on PCs, tend to drain batteries quickly – something smart phone makers and their consumers have little use for.

With the purchase of Infineon Technologies’ mobile chip division, Intel can finally join the mobile technology bandwagon without a hitch. The technology gained through the deal would be incorporated in Intel Core processor-based laptops, as well as Intel Aton processor-based devices such as smart phones, netbooks and tablets. With Infineon Technologies, Intel stands to become the fifth biggest suppliers of mobile phone processors.

Intel plans to further expand its influence within the mobile market by purchasing more established enterprises. It had already bought mobile software maker, Wind River Systems last summer for $884 million. Its first project is the development of Mobin software, an open-source program designed to run on mobile devices that use Intel chips.

With the rising popularity of mobile technologies comes the looming threat of mobile hackers. Intel is already thinking ahead, as it also plans to purchase anti-virus software company McAfee. With this acquisition, Intel would be able to integrate security with its chips.

Intel used to have a division that created chips for smart phones, but it was sold off several years ago to cut costs and redirect efforts toward its core business. Now that Internet use on mobile phones has boomed, and with so many companies already lunging at the opportunities it has opened up, it is high time that Intel catch up.

This line of thought was taken up by Universal, the largest of four major record companies. They believe that perhaps there is room in the Western audiences’ auditory palate for more of the spice of South Asian music. Teaming with Desi Hits!, a New York-based company promoting South Asian entertainment on its website DesiHits.com, Universal plans to create a label for musicians with South Asian roots. Through this label, the record company’s ultimate goal is to give South Asian music and its artists global exposure.

“It’s far from a vanity project for us,” said David Joseph, chief executive of Universal Music U.K. For him, South Asian pop music holds great potential as a relatively untapped art, presenting a huge amount of opportunity.

The new label, called Desi Hits! Universal, would give the music genre a “home,” a way for the music to be shared with Western audiences. According to Anjula Acharia-Bath, chief executive of Desi Hits!, after the success of the 2008 hit, “everyone saw that with some resources some of these songs really popped.”

Although mainstream western acts and Indian music have shown some mingling, the success of Desi Hits! Universal could be an excellent untapped resource for those looking for the next new sound. And, modernizing some of the more traditional South Asian music with elements from pop music can bring it to a wider audience, even within its country of origin. “Jai Ho” showed the ability of good music to transcend cultural affinities. I look forward to more endeavors that get the music of a rich culture reach out to more of the world.

“The new building will be totally different to what’s there now,” said Simon Dance, the owner of a London-based architecture, interior and product design firm who has been working on this effort with the Swedish mega-brand for the past few years.

In line with Ikea’s aim to create a better everyday life for people, Dance says, “The idea is to create a day out, somewhere people want to spend time, especially in Moscow where it takes so long to get anywhere because the traffic is so bad.” Dance also says that mixed-use space will fuse commerce, culture and leisure, stressing that the commissioned works of art are a key part of their vision.

Ikea is known around the world for its affordable, modern furniture and other innovative products for the home. The company is also known to have strict and somewhat unusual franchising rules that pertain to the spaces where items are showcased.

The “airport-sized” development in Moscow will be at the 260,000 sq. m Mega Teply Stan retail park. One of the proposed artworks is a 300m mirror labyrinth that is 24m in height, a large-scale iron sculpture, which will be viewable from the 16-lane motorway that runs alongside the Moscow site, and a new version of Secret Affair, 2007 – one of the works that inspired the entire project.

Commissioned public art is an excellent way to expose people to culture, while providing artists with the resources that they need to create on a large scale.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about Arts and Culture.

BASF’s contributions to the concept car allow for far greater fuel efficiency, a lower environmental impact, freedom of design, as well as greater comfort and safety. The i-flow’s energy concept provides an impressive example of high tech, encapsulating a modern diesel engine with a rigid foam polyurethane insulation system that protects both the engine and the environment. A brilliant effect is provided by a new mirror-like paint from BASF Coatings – the liquid metal basecoat makes the i-flow look as though it is chrome-plated rather than painted. In addition, the innovative iGloss clearcoat makes the paint surface both scratch resistant and weather resistant.

“The i-flow is a milestone on the road to the car of the future. Because Hyundai was quick to involve us in the development process, we were able to offer our full strengths. We are very happy with the outstanding results of our cooperation,” said Dr. Wolfgang Hapke, head of BASF’s Performance Polymers division, at the presentation of the new concept car in Geneva on Wednesday. “BASF proved to be a true partner, with whom we jointly developed innovative solutions for design and engineering. For example, our new ‘fluidic sculpture’ body language is particular well expressed by the innovative coating technique used for the i-flow concept car,” explained Thomas Bürkle, head of Hyundai’s European design center.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about Hi Tech

• Windows Phone 7 Series – By re-imagining how its touchscreen smartphone interface should work from a consumer’s perspective, Microsoft created a dazzling alternative to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platform. With its live tile-based user interface, a clear navigation system, and high-spec hardware requirements, Windows Phone 7 Series promises much excitement for consumers in 2010.

• Pico projectors on phones – Projecting images straight from your phone onto a wall could be the next must-have mobile gadgetry trick. I can see the advantages of the technology to show images, video, documents, and just about anything else you have on your phone on a nearby flat surface.

• LTE – LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the new mobile technology on the block, and this fourth generation mobile network technology was shown around MWC 2010 with much discussion about roll-outs, network agreements, and so forth.

• PUMA solar powered sports phone – Solar powered, touchscreen-equipped and sporty: the much touted PUMA PHONE may not be the most high-tech of handsets, but it certainly managed to get ahead of more higher-tech gear in the publicity stakes.

• New BlackBerry browser – It’s been crying out for an upgrade, and now it’s arrived — or it will soon, at least. The new BlackBerry browser — the result of development through RIM’s Torch Mobile acquisition — is fast, smooth to use and renders websites impressively. Not a groundbreaker in terms of innovation, but it’s what plenty of BlackBerry of users have been demanding.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about technology

When the New Compact Coupe’s gasoline engine isn’t needed, it shuts off and is disengaged from the transmission to cut down on drag, including at highway speeds. The braking system can recover energy by storing it in the battery, a Volkswagen spokesperson said at the concept car’s unveiling at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

The electric motor, mounted between the engine and a 7-speed automatic gearbox, can be used for pure electric driving, the company said. The 1.4-liter gasoline engine generates 150 horsepower, and the electric motor produces 27 horsepower.

The New Compact Coupe’s 8-inch touch screen can control the radio and navigation system. Climate controls are separate, located immediately below the screen. The interior seats four comfortably.

With a sharper, more sculpted front fascia than its Golf and Jetta siblings, and a deep line running the length of the sides, the Compact Copue comes across as an affordable version of the Audi A5.

Although VW claims the Coupe is only a concept at this stage, the level of detail and Volkswagen’s lack of an existing credible coupe offering indicates that a production version should be on the way shortly. I think if VW is smart, they’ll abandon the slow-selling Eos and offer a retractable soft-top version a few years after the Coupe hits the market.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about concept cars

The underlying thinking is that with greater transparency, consumers can take a more active role in affecting the culture of the corporate world – most notably, through their collective purchasing power. As founder Michael Mossoba notes in an article for Advertising Age, “When consumers are empowered to evaluate companies based on data rather than preconceptions, companies have a business case to compete with their peers on social responsibility.” A fact that has real implications for the ways corporations operate and ultimately, for society as a whole.

Mossoba admits that while the data is far from comprehensive, it is designed to get the conversation started and lead to further examinations of the companies and brands that we’re choosing to spend our money on.

[image via jvc]

After laying out the problems, the article essentially says the problem will require money and active engagement by governments both in the areas being affected and those abroad that are in a position to help, noting “It’s too important to leave to the market.” And while I understand that wrapped up in that final sentiment, is the idea that private enterprise, particularly in the case of these small businesses that are themselves trying to make ends meet, are essentially only interested in preserving their own bottom lines, I respectively disagree. I feel they can play a vital role in confronting these problems.

In fact a model for how, already exists and I wrote about it over at my Tumblr blog recently. Called ColaLife, the non-profit organization is campaigning for Coca-Cola to open up their worldwide distribution channels and use the empty space in their transportation methods to help deliver essential medicines to areas that need it. It represents a huge opportunity and would require very little effort on soda giant’s part, except they haven’t said yes yet. Although Coke is uniquely positioned, given their iconic brand and global reach, with a bit of innovative thinking, many large corporations could revise their existing operations slightly and find a way to make a difference, no matter what the scale.

So yes, governments will need to be on the same page, but they can’t neglect the potential of private business, instead they need to find ways to utilize it.

[image via André-Pierre]

Having an identifiable and vocal face of a company has been a very successful strategy for many companies – Richard Branson of Virgin and Jeff Bezos of Amazon readily come to mind – but it becomes problematic when the opinions of a business leader fail to match up with the perceived message and values of their companies and/or brands, as noted above. Now imagine that situation amplified throughout the entire culture of a company. Social media is doing just that.

As this shift towards openness takes place on both an individual and organizational level, aided by the emergence of social technologies, the feedback loop is getting shorter and shorter. This can be a boon to corporations looking to connect with consumers in an effort to build meaningful relationships and communities around their brands, but it can also backfire. While there’s little doubt that social tools are an effective means of communicating to and reaching out to customers, how much sharing is too much? After all, bad press arguably travels faster than the positive kind, particularly in a culture of almost real time.

While it’s easy to place the onus on our employees and consumers to know the difference between business and personal, these lines are blurring more and more every day so we need to be extremely mindful of how we approach these interactions. There may be no single answer that is applicable for all situations, but leading by example is good place to start.

[image via markus941]

These are certainly valiant efforts to catch up, but given the company’s current image and market position, are they really enough? While it’s never easy to radically change the direction of any company, particularly one of such scale, doing so from the rearview mirror of the competition is much easier to justify. That’s not to say it’s time for carte blanche risks because nothing else is working, but there’s something to be said for making a big, albeit calculated, reach, particularly when there’s the opportunity to become a market leader.

Which is to say, identify a trend that reestablishes your brand as relevant within the marketplace and own it without losing track of your “true” business. Though lasting success is about more than one “idea,” creating a shift in perspective among your customers and employees can be transformative.

“Green” as a lifestyle might feel ubiquitous these days, but it still emerging as an imperative within the mainstream. As much as people want to be environmentally friendly, the disconnect between the desire and the practice is very real. This represents a huge opportunity for brands to step in to help bridge that gap, both leading by example and promoting sustainable product choices.

Sprint is smartly positioning itself to be the face of green business, not just among cellphone companies, but  companies across the board. CNET explains some of their programs:

“It plans by 2017 to be recycling or reclaiming 90 percent of its devices that will be in the market. The company has also committed itself to reducing its own greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by 2017 and to also use renewable energy for about 10 percent of its energy consumption by that time as well. Currently, about 90 percent of the power used at the company’s headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas comes from renewable energy sources like wind.”

The company has also adopted a minimum set of environmental standards for its devices, eventually selling only handsets that meet or exceed these standards. The first such offering is the Samsung Reclaim, a cellphone that boast of being eco-friendly without sacrificing on functionality or affordability.

And while winning the “green” race won’t solve all of Sprint’s problems, it can certainly help change the criteria for evening the larger competition down the road.

[image via shikeroku]