Philippe Kahn: Original Software Gangsta Still on a Mission

Now Kahn is working toward fulfilling a new evolution of his vision at the yet-unlaunched Fullpower. Although Kahn and wife Sonia Lee founded Fullpower in 2003, the companys Web site says: "Fullpower is in stealth mode, focused on the convergence of Life Sciences and Wireless. We will launch publicly on September 15th, 2007."

Observers say the company will provide solutions converging life sciences, wireless technology, nanotechnology and Microelectromechanical Systems.

"At Fullpower, weve been working with the team for three years," Kahn said. "We are continuing to build technology that will help take the camera phone, media players and mobile game consoles to the next level. At Fullpower, we are a core technology company. We have this image of being to the wireless industry what Dolby Labs is to the media industry."

The Fullpower Web site also features articles about diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Perhaps, in some future capacity, rather than competing with Microsofts Bill Gates as he did in the past, Kahn might find himself somehow working with Gates to find cures for illnesses as Gates looks ahead to philanthropic aspirations beyond Microsoft.

Meanwhile, ever the technologist, particularly one steeped in the software development world, Kahn shared some thoughts on the state of the industry.

The excitement for software development is now with mobile devices: camera phones, media players and handheld game consoles, Kahn said.

"Thats where the innovation and the excitement are," he said. "These mobile devices work connected and integrated with a complex software and hardware infrastructure. Take the camera phone, it is more than a digital camera integrated into a mobile phone. The camera phone is successful because it delivers on instant Visual Communications by being fully integrated in a complex real-time sharing infrastructure.

"So the opportunity is now to build end-to-end solutions that are very complex and involve mobile components, massively scalable carrier-grade infrastructure, and all the communications protocols and security. Hence, this is all much more complex than building a spreadsheet on a Mac or a PC. And we like that because it is a technology-driven business in which we technologists can make a difference."

Moreover, Kahn said he believes there are three core constituents in the high-tech industry these days: the Web 2.0 players who largely exploit marketing opportunities pioneered by Yahoo and Google; the suppliers of enterprise tools who are mostly evolving offerings from the 80s and early 90s, such as Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, Borland and others; and finally the technology innovators such as Fullpower, which are focused on the wireless industry with camera phones, media players and mobile game consoles and their relevant infrastructure. "Thats a very complex and exciting space with great opportunities."

Indeed, "Apple just changed their name from Apple Computer to Apple with the introduction of the iPhone," Kahn said. "Thats a sign post that says it all."

NOTE: This is my maiden voyage out here in this space. My editor asked me if I wanted to take over this slot. I agreed, but you just dont "take over" for a Peter Coffee. Coffee is an original, and we retired his number. So Im going to take my shot and have at it. I dont know that I can make this column sing like Coffee did, but as Ray Charles was known to say: "Ima make it do what it do."

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