Nofie Iman

It is always interesting to find out products, ideas, and trends that predicted will be the top 10 in the near future. Business 2.0 magazine summarized several “hot inventions” as follows. Hope this will inspire your imagination and point you toward new profit centers. This list is the result of trend tracking, business analysis, and speculation on emerging business opportunities and trends.

Wi-Max

Wi-Max is set to grab a piece of the lucrative wireless market. Imagine if you could connected to the Internet everywhere you go, available on your laptop and cell phone, at speeds that can leave DSL and 3G data networks in the dust. Unlike Wi-Fi, which was designed to send signals no more than 300 feet, only a few Wi-Max transmitters are needed to cover an entire city with high-speed internet connectivity.

I’ve just heard that Wi-Max will be available by the end of this year in Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington, as well as South Korea in 2008. I’m not sure whether this service will be available in Jakarta soon, due to the overlapping government policy and high cost escalation.

Ultimate Video Player

Dimitry Shapiro has launched serial peer-to-peer software called Veoh TV, which allows you to watch not only everything on You Tube but every piece of free video on the Web. According to Nielsen/NetRatings, Veoh TV already ranked as the 10th most popular video-sharing site in U.S.

Think of Veoh TV as TiVo for the internet, with a similar DVR-style interface. You can search for and subscribe to shows and then save many of those video streams as downloads to watch later. It looks remarkably like TV and you can even control it with a standard remote.

Online High School

There are a number of for-profit companies which has offered online-only secondary education. For example, Insight offered their digital curriculum for hundreds of student body. Insight receives nearly $4,500 per student per year which is very profitable–compared to traditional brick-and-mortar high school.

In U.S., more and more schools open up and more students enroll. However, I have no idea how to maintain the quality of its education systems and accredit those online schools. On the flip side, it is almost impossible for those schools to beat traditional-reputable schools when it comes to public perception and prestige.

Pills That Talk Back

Smart Pill has claimed as a better solution for examining gastrointestinal diseases. This pill designed not to deliver drugs; rather, it provides information about acidity, pressure, temperature, and digestive activity from inside your intestines.

The data then transmitted wirelessly via RFID to a receiver worn around the patient’s neck or waist. It can also be downloaded to a doctor’s laptop to be examined further. Although may sound like overkill, it has sold a couple dozen systems since December at a premium price of $20,000.

Map Mashups Made Easy

Since Google made its maps available for customization, savvy programmers have created thriving businesses by adding layers of information. GeoCommons, for example, offered 2 billion pieces of localized data which already profiting $2.5 million this year.

Utilizing that customized data, you can find a home easily based on information on neighborhood crime rates, school spending, and traffic congestion. You can also check your risk by mapping buildings prone to coastal flooding. It is also very easy to raise public awareness by highlighting environmental hot spots across the country.

Nurse’s Little Helper

Robots are starting to lighten their load each year. Aethon has introduced a line of robots called Tug to handle regular task such as transporting instruments, drugs, meals, and lab specimens around the premises. They posed to dominate what it sees as an untapped $2.5 billion market.

By 2020 there will be a shortage of 375,000 nurses in U.S. hospitals. But if Tug allow hospitals to spend more quality time on patients, or even care for additional patients, the bottom line should look a lot healthier.

The Life Coach Headset

The technology labs of Accenture have launched what it calls the Personal Performance Coach for type-A executives. The system itself running on any Windows-based smart phone paired with a Bluetooth headset that can provide instant feedback on anything from your conversational style to your fitness regimen.

This device can be programmed to make sure you spent only a third of the time talking during a conversation, for example. It can also be programmed to tell you how close you are to the gym or the nearest McDonald’s. The coach then can remind you how long it’s been since your last workout or fast-food joints you have visited that week.

Nanotech Takes on Water Pollution

Freedonia has announced a new method for cleaning contaminated water by using nanoparticles that form chemical bonds with contaminants and don’t let go. It can suck up 60 percent of its own weight in mercury, arsenic, lead, and other metals and is so absorbent that a single tablespoonful has the same surface area as a football field.

They claimed that they can soak up 99.5 percent of the mercury in a solution within 5 minutes. Within five years, there is going to be an explosion of new materials that will change the way we do everything.

Go Green Easily

Ok, so you want to cut your energy bill and help save the planet. But how? Standard Renewable Energy will help you audit yourself for free and then bid to install what it recommends. Price roughly $30,000 for homes and $200,000 for businesses.

Standard Renewable Energy, which also cooperates with Chevron in building biodiesel refineries, will help you whether you should install wind and solar systems, take care of state rebates and federal tax credits, as well as use better insulation. The company expected to gain revenue of $52 million in 2008.

Spaceship Tourism

When I was kid, I always dreamed of flying into suborbital space and moving through another planet. Although it may sound crazy, Richard Branson thought that space tourism is a very promising business. As FAA said, this is a $700 million business with 15,000 passengers a year by 2021.

Virgin Galactic claims that it will be conducting test flights in 2008 and flying passengers in 2009 at $200,000 a pop. In the five years of operation, he promises he can get the ticket price down to just $50,000. Wow.

What do you think?

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