Just a thought

I was mulling over something the other night. Not a bad thing, just a wrinkle on much of the discussion that has been occurring in here of late. The vast majority of the focus that seems to be directed at this technology has been revolving around mobile phones. But let me ask you this – what benefit above and beyond what is currently available does this technology bring to the table for mobile phone security?

Now before people start throwing out statistics about how much more secure this is, ask yourself why that matters for a mobile phone? It is just a personal mobile phone. Why does a personal mobile phone need higher security than what it already has? Current technology does the trick there. What is the selling point to a mobile phone manufacturer? I’m sure most of you here do not own a Ferrari. Why don’t you? It is one of the finest cars on the planet… top of the line. Why would you not buy one? Answer - because you don’t need one… it’s not practical for your needs. It is overkill; your Camry station wagon does just fine.

So what does this mean for the short term? Well, in my opinion only, I would be surprised if we get a contract with a mobile phone company. There is actually no requirement for a mobile manufacturer who already has similar technology to change. There is nothing to be gained from it. Maybe a company that currently does not have such technology might be a target but I honestly do not think mobile phones are the market here.

Now having said that… if my thoughts prove to be correct, a commercial deal may be longer in the making but because of the unique nature of this technology, it is more suited to other sectors, such as defence and national security - higher end sectors that require cutting edge technology. If this works as advertised, it is far beyond basic mobile phone technology.

So the more I think about it, the more I suspect that in the short term we won’t see much happening with commercialisation but eventually there will be one big engagement and it will be a blockbuster. If we see an announcement soon about engagement with a mobile manufacturer, well good on them and I, as well as all of you will be most pleased. I just kind of suspect it won’t be happening though because there’s just no purpose for it with mobile phones and no incentive for a manufacturer to switch from what they currently have and what they know works just fine. What this technology is better suited to is something far bigger than mobile phones.

Kind of like buying a ticket to the Little River Band, having them cancel the show the day before but then the venue puts on KISS as a substitute.