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Electric cars – the revolution is closer than you might think.

Car makers and media commentators have been talking up the imminent arrival of the Electric Vehicle (EV) market for years, yet for consumers the available options to date have been very limited, with most choices being either painfully expensive, or painfully ugly.

The biggest challenge in the EV market was always being able to produce cars with comparable performance and pricing to the traditional petrol guzzling models. As early as ten years ago, they were still the stuff of science fiction, and as recently as three years ago, the debate was still raging on which form of technology (hydrogen, EV, battery swap, hybrids etc) would reign supreme.

What a difference a few years makes. This year the highly ambitious US EV car maker Tesla will unveil its Model S – a direct competitor to the luxury BMW 5 series and Mercedes E Class. While the Tesla may not be cheap, neither are its German competitors, and it boasts similar high performance statistics, despite being 100% electric. But the really exciting thing about this car is that it actually looks like a luxury sports sedan. A year later, Tesla are looking to release its model X series – again taking on the German luxury brands in their key markets of Sports hatch and luxury SUV.

If Tesla can keep the pricing under control, these cars look set to take the market by storm – not because they’re “green”, but because they look great, go great and have the added advantage of being a zero emitter.

Tesla’s push is being followed by a number of other new car makers – who are producing some stunning designs matched by high end sports car performance. The market is changing so fast that within 5 years we can expect most of the major car manufacturers to release full EV models. Nissan, Chevrolet and Mitsubishi are just some of the big names going to market with full EVs this year. To see why electric cars have such a great future, check out www.teslamotors.com

Will there be demand? you better believe it, and as proof we only need to look to the humble old Toyota Prius?!, believe it or not the Prius is now the worlds 3rd highest selling car after the Ford Focus and Toyota Corolla.

Now that is progress.

Can Apps replace doctors?

The incredible uptake and development of mobile apps for just anything have been rapidly threatening many a service industry. Think personal training apps, banking, job, and real estate apps just to name a few. But what about healthcare? Could apps replace or at least reduce the workload of GP’s?

Many apps now complement the healthcare industry. Some apps (and maps) will help you find a suitable healthcare professional (emergency medical centre locator), while others will store critical medical data about yourself. Some fantastic apps will assist sufferers of certain conditions eg diabetes, to track and manage their medicinal intake (check out glucomo or diabetesmanager) , while others help doctors and healthcare professionals to make a diagnosis (check out eyechart, uhear or the locally built Australian Emergency medical app). However it is the advanced apps hitting the market that hold the most potential.

Diagnostic tools like the BGStar blood glucose montoring system has a plug in meter that attaches to an iphone where patients insert a test strip in order to accurately measure blood sugar. Another is a blood pressure cuff that attaches to a smartphone. With the speed of new apps coming to market it is fair to expect rapid advances in healthcare industry tools. As for replacing doctors – not likely, although the apps have huge potential to reduce waiting times for GPs and improve diagnosis accuracy. Plus there is the very attractive possibility of enormous savings in the public healthcare budget. If you are aware of any Australian developed healthcare apps, please drop us a line at jobnerd@gordongroup.com.au

Diagnostic tools like the BGStar blood glucose montoring system has a plug in meter that attaches to an iphone where patients insert a test strip in order to accurately measure blood sugar. Another is a blood pressure cuff that attaches to a smartphone. With the speed of new apps coming to market it is fair to expect rapid advances in healthcare industry tools. As for replacing doctors – not likely, although the apps have huge potential to reduce waiting times for GPs and improve diagnosis accuracy. Plus there is the very attractive possibility of enormous savings in the public healthcare budget. If you are aware of any Australian developed healthcare apps, we would love to hear about them, so please drop us a line at jobnerd@gordongroup.com.au

Love your car? Get even closer with this app

Forget carrying keys or a beeper to start your car. That’s so last century. Now you can start your car from your smartphone – even when you’re nowhere near it. The Viper SmartStart app is available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry and lets you by pass the low-tech way to open your car. On the way back to your car you can even set the air-conditioning and heating exactly to your liking.

Ever forgot where you parked your car? Well now you can use the apps GPS signals to locate your car and guide you back to it – and it won’t even berate you for your foolishness.

And for those who really love their car, now you can have an even closer relationship with it (or is that her?), the SmartStart app means you can share your car’s location on Facebook and even give it status updates throughout the day on things like temperature or battery power. As wacky as these features sound, they might be useful if you are travelling and have left your car, for example at the airport. If you do find that the battery is running low you can charge your car by starting the motor from your smartphone. There’s also a handy panic button if you find yourself in a sticky situation in a parking lot late at night.

Whilst the app is free it doesn’t work alone. You’ll have to buy a SmartStart DSM250i module for $399, which then needs to be installed by an authorised dealer. The app comes with a Telstra Sim card to communicate with the app.

Smartcity – no people needed

Forget about smartphones – how about smart-cities? No people necessary.

Costing up to $1billion, a first of its kind city with no residents is being developed in New Mexico in the US. It’s a scientific ghost town humming with the latest technology in the heart of oil and gas country.

The city, called CITE, or Centre for Innovation, Technology and Testing, is being built to help researchers test everything from intelligent traffic systems to next-generation wireless networks, automated washing machines and self-flushing toilets. The town will be modelled after a real city, Rock Hill, and will come complete with highways, houses and commercial buildings, old and new. No one will live there, although they could as houses will include all the necessities, like appliances and plumbing.

New technologies will be tested on existing infrastructure without the usual disruptions and interference in everyday life. For instance, while some researchers will be testing smart technologies on old grids, others might be using the streets to test self-driving cars.

New Mexico was an obvious choice for the site as it not only offers plenty of open space but is also seeking diversification from reliance on the oil and gas industries. The 39 hectare site will break ground by June 30 with the overall investment estimated to top $US1 billion.

The “Apple Killer”?

Is the new Samsung super-phone really good enough to be called the “apple killer”? The Samsung Galaxy S3 was officially launched earlier this month in a blaze of publicity, putting an end to all the rumours. Many are wondering how it’ll stand up to the anticipated iPhone 5 and until the iPhone 5 is actually released, the Samsung currently seems to hold the rank of being the ultimate smartphone available to date.

Whilst many of the features and specs that had been widely rumoured and leaked turned up on the finished article, such as a quad-core processor, larger display, NFC, S Voice (voice recognition), it seems that many had been expecting more and some users are disappointed with the specs and features. For example, there were concerns about the display quality as a Super AMOLED Plus HD display had been expected and it turned up as a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD sans Plus. Also 2GB of RAM had been anticipated (as in the upcoming LG Optimus LTE 2) but the Galaxy S3 has stuck with 1GB. The S Voice software feature seems to be felt by many to be a novelty factor to rival the iPhone’s SIRI and plenty of people were hoping for a step up to a 10 or 12-megapixel rear camera not the 8-megapixel camera that is on offer. As for the design, this has come under mixed reviews with comments that there is no ‘wow’ factor. Some also feels the plastic design looks cheap.

Samsung have alienated many US customers by delaying the launch there. This seems to have sparked real outrage amongst many in the US!

Turning our attention to the iPhone 5, it now remains to be seen whether Apple can come up with something really special to compete with the Samsung Galaxy S3. Although of course, nothing in the way of specs and features has yet been confirmed for the iPhone 5, some of the widely-reported inclusions are an improved A5X or A6 processor (possibly quad-core), a larger display with higher resolution than even the current Retina Display, improved camera, LTE connectivity and much more. It will be interesting to see just how many people that had planned to purchase the S3 hang on to see what the iPhone 5 has to offer.

Will 4G (LTE) technology make NBN superfluous?

With all three of the mobile carriers in Australia in the process of rolling out the next generation of mobile technology roll-out of Mobile 4G (LTE) many are wondering what the impact of this will have on the uptake on National Broadband Network?

Let’s take a look at what 4G gives us: access to mobile broadband at higher bandwidth with lower latency. This means that you connect faster to the network and can download stuff quicker – especially video streaming. The question to ask oneself is when would one use the 4G service over and above a fixed line NBN service? Obviously you would use a 4G connection when a WiFi or fixed connection is unavailable – when mobile for instance, but – and it is a big but – also if 4G is seen as genuine substitute to fixed line.

4G will only be seen as a genuine substitute to the NBN fixed line if it is not materially more expensive and it can give the same, or better, user experience.

“My view is that the price point of 4G will closely match fixed NBN pricing as the carriers compete to win more customers over to their mobile networks, so there will not be a price barrier,” says Anton Gain, MD of telecommunications advisory company Gain IT & T Consulting*. “The congestion issue, however, is more difficult problem to solve.”

Mobile technology is a contention technology, which means the more people who use the available bandwidth in a given area, the slower the access and latency. This will occur when multiple users download large content files simultaneously in small built up areas where a limited number of base stations can be accessed. The user experience in this situation suffers, and it is well known that people are very impatient with bad user experience – especially when it comes to telecommunications.

Mr Gain believes that until the mobile technologies can resolve the congestion issue 4G will still be seen as a complementary product to fixed line for the majority of users.

*Gain IT & T Consulting Pty Ltd specialises in Telecommunication advisory, deal structuring and negotiations.

Who is hiring and who is firing? A global snapshot

A global study* surveying the hiring and firing trends in some of the world’s most important employment markets in 56 countries on five continents has proven just how much divergence there is in economic and employment fortunes around the world.

Let’s start with the bad news. Overall hiring is down since last year. The good news however, is that it is only down by 1%. And it seems that this level of activity will remain more or less constant over the coming quarter. We’re hoping this indicates a degree of stability has finally returned to the global employment market.

Here in Australia we know we’re one of the lucky countries. It certainly comes as no surprise to read that the overall global figures show substantial variance in the fortunes of individual countries. Several of the Eurozone countries are still languishing in the doldrums. In Spain, for example, less than a third of businesses are recruiting. The most significant activity is still taking place in the fast growing economies of the developing world. In China, for example, more than 70% of businesses are currently seeking new staff, while in the Philippines the figure is in excess of 90%.

Surveys like these are valuable indicators of the levels of optimism or pessimism within businesses in key markets around the world. What they tell us is that, whether a counties employment market is active or not, competition for the best talent at the professional and managerial level is consistently fierce. The skills that companies need, in conjunction with specific technical capabilities, such as effective people management and development, concise and clear oral and written communication, commercial awareness, entrepreneurship and innovation – are always hard to find. It seems that it’s not just a question of being short of talent – it’s being short of the right talent.

Winning Sectors: Across the globe the sectors with the highest current levels of recruitment at professional and managerial level were: Shared Services, Luxury Goods, Fashion, Leisure and Accountancy

Losing Sector: The lowest anticipated hiring levels were in the agricultural products sector with only 24% of organisations currently hiring.

Global Snapshot – The Worldwide Picture

Are you currently hiring at managerial / professional level? – 55%
Are you currently letting people go at managerial / professional level? – 20%

So, what’s the outlook for the rest of 2012? It seems that the most hiring activity over the coming quarter will take place in emerging markets and particularly in those of the Asia Pacific region with China, Vietnam and the Philippines all scoring highly.

* The Antal Global Snapshot

The changing face of global video

There’s a new face in town. With Kiwi origins, a ‘work anywhere with anything’ attitude and stunning good looks – it’s FaceMe.

Video conferencing from our iPhones, iPads, Macs and PCs is now possible thanks to the intuitive user interface combined with ‘open standards’ architecture. Raising the bar in the video collaboration arena – FaceMe’s version 2 will be launched in Australia this month.

We spoke to Michael Squires of FaceMe and asked some tough questions about this new technology.

What’s the difference between FaceMe and Skype?

Skype is “free” for one to one video meetings. If you want to have more than the two of you in a video meeting then you have to sign up for Skype Premium which is about $10 per user per month. When you go to Skype Premium you can then have group meetings. It says you can have up to 10 video attendees in the meeting maximum but anyone who reviews it says that performance seriously degrades when you get to 5 in a video meeting. The reason for the degradation is because Skype is a consumer based tool which was originally built for internet calling. The protocols used to build Skype are focussed around trying to hold a voice call. They are a heavy TCP stack (Peer to Peer) which is very demanding on bandwidth. They need that stack to hold a voice call. Video is an afterthought hence the limitation on video conferencing.
So the ironic thing is that Skype, whilst capable of a 1:1 meeting fails miserably when you have a business group. It also will impact any business that has a low bandwidth connection. FaceMe code and the codecs used are built from the ground up for Video and Voice collaboration. That’s a major differentiator.
There is no content library in Skype which makes it hard to share any business content or mark it up in a business meeting.
There is limited to no support for Skype.
You can only connect Skype to Skype so that’s not great if you want to invite a customer to a meeting. Download and configuration are required to join.
You can’t schedule a business meeting in Skype. It’s an adhoc “hey I’m here and so are you so let’s connect” arrangement.
The video and voice quality of Skype is highly influenced and degraded due to the congestion of the bridges used and coupled with the protocol application build the result is a very average and problematic product.
You can’t record in Skype.
There is a lot of doubt about when you need to purchase Skype Credit for Voice conferencing on a business grade scale, resulting in potential for ‘bill shock’.

Compare all the above to FaceMe and there are some significant differences. So on a 36 Month term a customer can buy a block of 10 FaceMe accounts for $240 per month (that’s 24$ AUD each) for more business features, stability, ease of access, unlimited meetings and no voice bill shock for local dial in.

Look out for the FaceMe launch at ceBIT on 22nd May.

The Gordon Group Index of IT salaries worldwide

We know Sydney IT salaries are amongst the highest in the world but just how high are they compared to other key IT centres internationally?

We’ve collected salary information from around the globe on six key IT jobs – Development Managers, Project Managers, Software Developers, Business Analysts, Network Engineers and Testers – averaged them out and converted the figures into Australian Dollars. See below….

As suspected, Sydney tops the list with average IT salaries of over $100k per annum with Perth coming in second at $99 125. On our index of hot IT spots New York is third with IT salaries there averaging $91 677 and Singapore forth at $86 666. London comes in just behind at $85 770 and then our Kiwi mates at $74 624.

But before we all start patting ourselves on the back a word of caution; this data is not all good news. As we can see salaries in places like India and Manilla are 10% of what we are being paid here. Does the word ‘off-shore’ come to mind? With cloud computing on the rise the need for local centres is diminishing as companies look to reduce their costs by taking their IT spend overseas. There’s a huge pool of well qualified people out there prepared to do the same job for a fraction of the price. It’s a sobering thought Sydney-siders.

Development Managers, Project Managers, Software Developers, Business Analysts and Network Engineers, find your closest job title below and see what you’d earn if you lived elsewhere in the world:

Sources used:

Sydney, Australia: MyCareer Salary Centre

New York City, USA: 2012 Robert Half Technology Salary Guide

Perth, Australia: MyCareer Salary Centre

London, UK: CW Jobs

Auckland, New Zealand: 2010-2011 Robert Half Technology Asia Pacific Salary Guide

Singapore: 2010-2011 Robert Half Technology Asia Pacific Salary Guide

Bangalore, India: PayScale

Manilla, Philippines: ZDNET

A message from the MD: The state of the Sydney ICT market: April 2012

With the average Sydney ICT salary now over $100,000 I can’t help wondering if we are slowly out-pricing ourselves in the international market? Although unemployment figures remain stable at 5.2%, fear and uncertainty resulting from some recent high profile job cut announcements, coupled with international financial instability, means that there is an air of uncertainty surrounding the jobs markets in Sydney at the moment. A cycle of uncertainty can often, in my opinion, become a self-fulfilling prophesy and we would do well to bear in mind the reality of our strong economic figures. In the ICT market things move quickly however and the advent of cloud computing services has provided a compelling option for service delivery without the need to manage physical infrastructure, inevitably leading to more IT roles shifting offshore.

It’s important for business managers and owners to be strategic when altering their local staff structure. Yes, there is market uncertainty but this calls for a considered approach rather than a knee-jerk cutting of staff. I have seen job cuts can often do more harm than good for business in the long term. It is about making sure the right people are in the right role at the right time to drive productivity improvement. Drop me a line, we are happy to chat about where we can help. Peter Hooper Tel: 02 9994 8048

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