Kozminski Techblog

Li-Fi has often made the news in recent years but has never been commercially materialized. However, things should start to move with the announcement by the French company Lucibel of the marketing of the first Li-Fi luminaire. Developed in partnership with the Scottish company PureLIFI and manufactured in France, the product is in the form of Led ceiling lighting connected to the Internet via an RJ45 (Ethernet) cable and a transceiver that provides modulation and Receives the signal sent by the connected terminal. The latter uses a Li-Fi USB stick to receive the data.

The lifi, for light fidelity is “the internet by light”.

The term Li-Fi was invented by Professor Harald Haas of the University of Edinburgh at a TED conference in 2011
“Internet by Light” is the way Cedric Mayer -one of the co-founders of Oldecomm, a French start-up that sells this application to the general public- calls it.
The big advantage of the Li-fi (Light Fidelity) is to be able to emit 1GBit per second, 10 times faster than Wifi.

How does Li-Fi work?

Li-Fi and Wi-Fi are quite similar as both transmit data electromagnetically. However, Wi-Fi uses radio waves while Li-Fi runs on visible light.

As we now know, Li-Fi is a Visible Light Communications (VLC) system. This means that it accommodates a photo-detector to receive light signals and a signal processing element to convert the data into ‘stream-able’ content.

An LED lightbulb is a semi-conductor light source meaning that the constant current of electricity supplied to an LED lightbulb can be dipped and dimmed, up and down at extremely high speeds, without being visible to the human eye.

For example, data is fed into an LED light bulb (with signal processing technology), it then sends data (embedded in its beam) at rapid speeds to the photo-detector (photodiode).

The tiny changes in the rapid dimming of LED bulbs is then converted by the ‘receiver’ into electrical signal.

The signal is then converted back into a binary data stream that we would recognise as web, video and audio applications that run on internet enables devices. (http://www.techworld.com/big-data/what-is-li-fi-everything-you-need-know-3632764/)

Advantages of LiFi

• LED bulbs are increasingly used (we find them everywhere: car, house, city, etc.)
• This makes it a potential access point
• From an economic point of view, this technology is cheaper than radio technology
• The LiFi has a theoretical transmission potential well above radio wireless (x10,000). At present, the bit rates reached are 10 Gbit / s
•  Unlike its WiFi counterpart, the light does not cross the walls. It will therefore be easier to protect access to its network

  BUT….

•    LiFi is currently a unidirectional technology. It must therefore be coupled with another technology (CPL, WiFi) or be used in specific cases (need only downflow);
•  Obviously to operate the light should always be on and visible from the receiverConclusion : Thanks to advances in throughput and architecture, the LiFi becomes an increasingly credible and promising wireless technology. Despite the fact that it is unidirectional at the moment, the possibilities of use are numerous (road network, geolocation, underwater communication, etc.).

Sources: http://www.oledcomm.com/fr/product-overview

http://www.futura-sciences.com/tech/actualites/internet-li-fi-internet-haut-debit-lumiere-arrive-marche-maj-59745/

http://www.techworld.com/big-data/what-is-li-fi-everything-you-need-know-3632764/

Moving from your home country in search of a new adventure is exciting! It’s something more and more people are doing. Whether it be students studying abroad for 3 years or professionals who move indefinitely, there is one thing that connects them all. That is that we all miss specific things from home. This is what inspired Daria Rebenok with the idea for Grabr.

Grabr is a peer to peer shopping and delivery marketplace. They make it possible for travelers to make money by shopping for and delivering products to people all around the world. Grabr uses these travelers to bridge the gap in the global shopping market. This way shoppers can have access to goods that are either unavailable or overpriced in their country. Travelers use the extra room in their suitcase to bring the products from point A to point B.

So who is this service for? There are two answers. The first is the shopper. Shoppers are people around the world who want or need to shop internationally. The second would be the travelers. These are people who are traveling, for whatever reason, and want to make some easy extra money.

To put it simply, someone wants something they can’t find locally. They post their plea for someone to bring it to them for a price that the two decide on (usually between $5-$20). Grabr takes a 7% cut of these fees. So you’re in L.A. but want macarons from your favorite cafe in Paris? Easy! Just post your request and connect with someone who is making the trip from Paris to L.A., agree on a price, and you’ll be enjoying those macarons in no time!

It can be argued that a service like this facilitates the sale of illegal goods. Grabr does impose restrictions as to what can be bought through their site. In their terms of service there is a list of prohibited items that includes illegal drugs, human remains, counterfeit currency, and live animals. Items imported without a customs declaration are also banned. Stolen property  or anything the U.S. government deems hazardous are also prohibited. But the question still remains as to how users will be monitored. However, companies designed as peer to peer, such as Airbnb, say they’re only facilitating the person to person connection via technology. This therefore lets the people and not the company take care of the arrangements, which in turn makes the company not liable for any illegal transactions.

Regardless of the things that can go wrong, I know that I will definitely be using this to get all of my favorite foods from the U.S. delivered here to Warsaw!

Sources: http://www.inc.com/christine-lagorio/grabr-launches-anything-delivery-peer-network.html

                https://grabr.io

Some people might say that Elon Musk is the man who killed the gasoline car through his company Tesla. It’s impossible to argue that Tesla have not opened the eyes of the big masses and in some ways revolutionized the car industry. The public view of electric cars has changed with the introduction of Tesla model S, the electric car can be stylish and fast. However, how much has really changed? According to statistia.com1 the number of electric cars sold has gone from about 100 thousand in 2013 to estimates suggest that about 1,3 million has been sold in 2016. Tesla has sold approximately 170 0002 cars since the introduction of the Tesla Roadster in 2008. To put this number in perspective, the total number of sold cars in 2016 amounts to roughly 75 million3 this makes the number of electric cars to about 1,7% of the total.
To me this suggest that the golden era of the combustion powered car has not come to an end rather than a new phase. It’s said that sport cars are usually ahead when it comes to technology, if this is true we will see a lot of more hybrid cars and they will be more advanced than ever. The last few years all large sport cars manufactures have released new cars. Ferrari introduced their La Ferrari, McLaren came up with their extreme P1, Porsches contribution was the 918 Spyder and perhaps the most extreme came from Swedish company Koenigsegg when they introduced the all new Regera. Christian von Koenigsegg the CEO and founder of Koenigsegg states that there are much more to be done with the development of the traditional combustion engine. For example, Regera4 has no gearbox which is very unorthodox. Christian is involved with other companies and subsidiaries of Koenigsegg that develop new technology to improve the efficiency and performance of the traditional engines.
There is no doubt that the trend suggests an increase in the numbers of electric cars being sold, but that does not take into consideration the already existing stock of traditional gasoline powered cars. So even if media may suggest that the combustion engine is dead, it will take a very long time until won’t be around anymore, and until then we will see more new inventions that will make the combustion engine better in every way.

1 https://www.statista.com/statistics/270603/worldwide-number-of-hybrid-and-electric-vehicles-since-2009/
2 http://www.hybridcars.com/chinas-byd-becomes-worlds-third-largest-plug-in-car-maker/
3 https://www.statista.com/statistics/200002/international-car-sales-since-1990/
4 http://koenigsegg.com/

HIPPO ROLLER is the perfect example of product not so innovative about the technological aspect that can make life easier. As you can see on product’s website, the company is the first to consider it a simple innovation.

Let’s start observing where this product was born. In my opinion, it isn’t a case that is an idea from two south-african guys, because the water crisis is a recurring problem in Africa. African people (generally women and children) spend a lot of time to provide themselves water since that they have to do many travels up to the springs. So this product is a brilliant idea since that now they can do less travels and take more water than before. In this way they have more time to spend in other things like go to school, work or farm.

Now, the first question is: what is Hippo Roller and how does it work?
Hippo Roller is a device for carrying water more easily and efficiently than traditional methods, particularly in the developing world. It consists of a barrel-shaped container which holds the water and can roll along the ground, and a handle attached to the axis of the barrel.
Hippo Roller makes it extremely easy to collect water in tough rural conditions – up to 5x more water than a single bucket, by simply rolling it along the ground. Then, this product has a filter to have cleaner water.

Problems:

• the biggest problem is financial. A Hippo Water Roller costs $100 plus shipping costs. That’s a pretty steep price for a South African or for a charity that wants to buy a large amount. Most use donated money to buy them. In other cases, corporations will buy some and donate them to a nongovernmental organization or a village.

To conclude, I want to use company’s mantra because lets you understand their philosophy and my opinion in this case:”Simple ideas. Changing lives.”

Sitography:

• https://www.hipporoller.org
• http://www.businessinsider.com/hippo-roller-carrying-water-easy-africa-2016-5?IR=T
• http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/07/12/ost.hippo.water.roller/
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/hipporoller/31153771236/in/photostream/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippo_water_roller

Yesterday, November 17, Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky took the stage at the historic Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles to announce the launch of a new product: Trips.

Chief Executive announced that Airbnb would offer travelers the opportunity to create customized itineraries for hours or days that afford a more authentic local experience.

“If you want to travel, you basically end up on a research project,” Chesky said. “We want to fix this.”

Through Trips, customers can book a range of local activities and find attractions that are not on the tourist circuit. The services are available now as an upgrade to the Airbnb app in 12 cities and will be in more than 50 cities next year. Flight and rental car bookings will also be part of the service eventually.

The new platform lets people offer immersions (services that either last many days) or single experiences (services for a few hours). You can also filter by categories or switch from the experience you want to have to the place you want to go.

Furthermore Airbnb says it partnered with a restaurant reservation startup called Resy to let you book a table at a popular place to eat through its platform, so you can book tables as you browse recommendations. The company is also partnering with Detour, a startup that makes app-enabled audio guides, so travelers can go on audio walks in the cities they are staying in. It also pushed out a new timeline feature under the Trips tab, which Chesky says will let the company understand where you’re going, what gaps you have in your trip, and what your preferences are to recommend activities to you.

The goal is to provide travelers with a way of connecting with experiences they wouldn’t typically be able to have has a tourist. That way, more travelers think of Airbnb as a destination for finding cool stuff to do in a new place.

Airbnb is looking to differentiate itself from the competition and trips platform will potentially become an end to end travel service operator.

Sources:

http://time.com/money/4575413/airbnb-travel-agent-trips/

Airbnb is turning itself into an ‘experience’ machine beyond just booking places to stay

http://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-trips-launch-2016-11?IR=T

If you were to ask someone to name the start-up hubs around the world, they’d probably name places like San Francisco, London, Tel Aviv or Berlin first. But if you’re an entrepreneur or investor, Poland should be on your radar. This is because over the past few years the Polish start-up scene has exploded. A recent report from StartUp Poland gives more insight into the country’s digital economy.

In a poll of 2,400 start-ups, 39% identified as software development enterprises, mainly selling their products as SaaS, e-commerce, mobile app development and IoT services. All of which share the dominant B2B business model. There are a decent number start-ups in the poll who are growing more than 50% annually. Most of these companies are in business with medium-sized companies and large corporations. Just over half (54%) of Polish start-ups are exporting their services abroad mainly to the United States and the United Kingdom. 60% of the digital entrepreneurs had bootstrapped their start-ups, and reported being profitable from the beginning. However, others have used funding from the EU as well as domestic and foreign VC funding.

Here are some of the top start-ups in Poland:

1. DocPlanner: an online healthcare platform that enables patients to book appointments with local physicians. They raised two impressive rounds of $10 million and $20 million in the last year and a half. The company plans to use their funding to expand internationally.
2. Brainly: is a social learning network and is one of the most promising and fastest growing within the EdTech space. They’ve raised $24.5 million in funding and have over 80 million monthly users. They are available in over 35 countries and have 12 language versions.
3. Brand24: provides easy to use, cost-effective internet monitoring. Hundreds of businesses like Panasonic, IKEA, and Air France are using Brand24 to get real-time customer insights and actionable intelligence that is relevant to their products and brands.
4. Growbots: founded only 2 years ago, Growbots is the first all-in-one outbound sales platform. It has attracted funded and has moved part of their team to San Francisco. They offer automatic lead generation and automated email drip campaigns that can integrate with your CRM. They allow you to set up your ICP access over 200 million quality leads.

With the start-up momentum continuing to grow in Poland, it might not be long before they are viewed as a powerhouse like San Fransisco, London Tel Aviv, or Berlin.

Where are these stat-ups located?

Sources: https://startupxplore.com/en/blog/polish-startup-scene-bitinspiration-interview

  http://tech.eu/features/1877/polish-startup-scene-krakow

  http://www.forbes.com/sites/alisoncoleman/2016/05/20/poland-on-track-to-becoming-a-major-european-tech-startup-hub/#29fbc95b431b

  https://itkey.media/the-startup-ecosystem-poland-report-released