Year of the small(er) business

Despite budget uncertainties, this year’s ITEC seems likely to gather most of the usual military, government and academic players. What may be more surprising is the presence from the military training and simulation industry as large businesses hold off or scale back on conferences, opening the door for smaller companies at the show.

“The large companies are retrenching in some ways, and picking their shows. This is a matter of course — they are being very selective. In many cases, they’re cutting shows out of their portfolio for the next year or two until they get more certainty at home,” said retired Rear Adm. James Robb, head of the National Training and Simulation Association, which puts on the conference along with Clarion Events.

Two major players in the industry that will not be attending are Cubic and Raytheon, who pulled out of the show but have shown considerable presence in the past.

“The big companies come in and they have great quality, great capabilities, but in some ways, those big-ticket items become less affordable in this environment,” Robb said.

Flat or shrinking budgets across much of Europe and the U.S. mean governments and militaries are reducing live training hours, cutting funding to training and maintenance, and seeking cheaper alternatives for training and oil painting reproduction when possible.

ITEC organizers have been reaching out to smaller companies that have not previously attended, hoping to counter the loss of big companies that can pull out of conferences to save money and weather the budget storm. It’s also a way to reflect the changing demands and priorities of purchasers. Smaller solutions may appeal to government and military representatives from smaller countries that have smaller budgets and are seeking smaller transactions, Robb said.

“They probably can’t afford the giant new simulator, but they’re looking for software, or are looking for things with low price points,” he said. “We have to represent that new demographic.”

Attendees at both ITEC in Rome and at the upcoming I/ITSEC in Orlando, Fla., can expect to see a push on smaller companies, though large companies are likely to return or increase their presence once the budgets are more stable.

A patent filed by Apple seems to suggest that the company is working on a type of invertible ear tip for its headphones that is part of a plan designed to improve the user's comfort.

The patent seems to suggest that a user could be given various accessories with their Apple headphones that they can chose to use to produce a pair of headphones that they find most comfortable.

The patent, available to read here, mentions suggests that: "To improve a user's comfort, a headset or headphone may include one or more elements operative to provide a pleasant interface between the audio components of the headset (e.g., the ear piece) and the user's ears."

The patent mentions various types of earpieces, including over-the-ear and in-the-ear earpiece. All these earpieces are designed to "provide a compliant fit against the user’s ear".

"To provide a comfortable fit for the user, the ear piece may include a compliant outer portion operative to adjust to the shape of the user’s ear, thus providing a firm and secure fit that remains comfortable. For example, the compliant outer portion may include a tubular structure coupled to the ear piece and forming a flexible structure surrounding the ear piece," according to the patent.

"The ear piece may be operative to be placed in the user's ear. To improve the fit of the ear piece within the user's ear, the ear piece may be substantially surrounded by a compliant element. The compliant element may include a curved portion extending away from the ear piece such that the curved portion is placed in contact with the user's ear when the ear piece is inserted. In some embodiments, the compliant element may be larger than the user's ear such that the compliant element may elastically deform, creating an interference fit between the user's ear and the ear piece," writes Apple.

Apple has already launched it's EarPod headphones, which the company claimed were designed for a better more comfortable fit, and the patent could have been filed in relation to these headphones. However, the reference to in-ear and over-ear solutions may suggest that Apple has more designs up its sleeve.