Orange igloo - Concept to Reality?
While at the Orange Developer Centre opening event in Beijing, Orange UK R&D announced a project that they were working on called “igloo”.
The concept behind this product is to eliminate the risk of user failure in attempting to install new services to their device.
Making use of Widget style solution, igloo provides a environment on the device where the user can easily identify new services that Orange
have made available. The user can select the widget, and it is automatically downloaded, and installed, and setup on their device with minimum effort.
The example that was presented was a case on eBay for mobile.
Currently, the user would have to ensure that they have the correct APN settings on their phone to access the Internet, they would then have to navigate through Orange World portal (or have eBay mobile web address to hand) to the eBay link. The user would then have to provide log-in details and then navigate through to their destination (be it watched items, or bidding etc)
With igloo, the user just needs to select the widget, it is then downloaded and installed automatically. The user can then log-in first time, and remember their details if needed. The eBay widget will then provide all the details to the user, without them needing to navigate to the web. The widget can then be viewed on the active screen of the device, so a quick glance is all that is needed.
Services can also be pushed to the user by Orange without the user having to perform any actions.
I asked a few questions about this service:
Q. Will the user be able to opt out.
A. The plans are for a subscription based service, the user can decide which services he/she wants to receive automatically
Q. Will the active screen display reduce battery life, as connections to the server will be required on a frequent basis
A. Not significantly, as the users screen-saver will put the service to “sleep”, and will be woken again when the screen-saver has been disrupted.
Q. Will there be billing integration for premium services?
A. It will be up to the service provider, the platform is designed as a framework and so can be implemented how the service provider wishes
What do you think about this?
I personally think that this solution will provide an excellent source of innovative ideas which are hard to get adoption in the Web space.
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