Archive for June, 2007
One of the biggest Ubertrends ruling lives today is Time Compression, or the “acceleration of life.” Ask any CEO if they would like to fly faster and you’d get a resounding “yes.” That’s why I truly lament the demise of the Concorde in 2003, it was a step backward in the evolution of humanity. Well, fret no more Texas billionaire Robert Bass is coming to our rescue.
At Paris’ fabled Le Bourget air show last week, the Aerion debuted, an US$80 million supersonic jet that will carry eight passengers from Chicago to London in less than six hours, a flight that now takes more than eight hours.
But Bass is not alone. A $2.5 billion Nevada start-up, called Supersonic Aerospace International, has hired Lockheed Martin’s advanced Skunk Works unit to develop a 12-seat jet, the QSST or “quiet supersonic travel,” which will be able to fly at 1,200 mph or Mach 1.8, while producing only a whisper of the annoying boom once emitted by the retired Concorde.
Over the next decade, The Teal Group estimates, manufacturers will turn out some 12,000 business jets, worth $173 billion. This year alone, manufacturers will produce 999 business jets, worth $16.4 billion, according to Teal. That is nearly double the 2003 output, when sales bottomed out after the last big growth spurt of 2001-2 ended.
June 25th, 2007
It’s rare feat indeed for any light to achieve a trendy status in the US$3.2 billion lightbulb industry. But LEDs (light emitting diodes) offer an entirely new palette for architects and designers. They’re incredibly small, come in millions of colors, last a dozen years and don’t put out much heat.
LEDs, previously used only for signals and indicators, were a US$4 billion to US$5 billion business in 2006, with sales expected to hit US$10 billion by the end of the decade, according to Strategies Unlimited.
Meanwhile, researchers are taking LED to the next level, engineering them to positively affect moods and health. As they become better and cheaper, LEDs are set for a big splash, first replacing neon lights, then the U.S.’ 4 million traffic lights, finally they’ll invade the home, like the Koncept Z-BAR LED lamp:
The Koncept Z-BAR’s (US$130) 66 LEDs generate 100 lumens, enough to help it win an I.D. Magazine “best of category” award.
LEDs are being used to light jewelry store displays and to provide ambiance lighting in restaurants. Hotels, like Las Vegas’ Bellagio, use LEDs from Space Cannon to provide exterior color accents. And this month, Toronto’s 1,815-foot CN Tower is being lit with more than 1,300 color-changing LEDs. Meanwhile, automobiles, such as the 2008 Cadillac CTS feature both interior and exterior LED lights.
And to prove just how valuable the market has become, Royal Philips Electronics offered US$688 million last Tuesday to acquire Color Kinetics, a decade-old Boston company that designed the CN Tower’s new lighting and holds patents on systems to control LED color and brightness.
June 24th, 2007
The 28-Feb-06 Wall Street Journal, citing the Boston Consulting Group, reported that “The U.S. mass-luxury market alone had US$500 billion in sales in 2005, or about 15% of total consumer spending, and is growing 10% to 12% annually.”
The Kipini Conservancy is a convergence of luxury and sustainability and bills itself as a project “Where Conservancy Meets Luxury.” The site reads: “Protection of natural resources is the mandate of a conservancy. Kipini ventures further, creating an endeavor that matches imagination with stewardship of the environment.”
The Dunes at Kipini, a 70,000-acre conservancy, blends luxury with the wilds of the African landscape in Kenya. Prices start at $1.9 million.
June 12th, 2007
