Al at Alcatel Lucent

Not far from the Splenda island I featured in the last post, you will find Alcatel-Lucent. Given that both companies are clients of MillionsofUs, this is hardly surprising; MOU seem to want to keep their clients close in Second Life, and their own islands are within a virtual stone's throw.

As usual, before I cover the island,I should give you a potted description of the company. Alcatel-Lucent "provides hardware, software, and services to telecommunications service providers and enterprises" worldwide. Though originating in France, and still headquartered in Paris, the company is truly multinational, employing around 80000 people in 132 different countries and raking in over 18billion Euro a year. While I was there a visitor from US rivals, Cisco, popped in for a look.

As is often the case with MOU islands, I seem to spend ages trying to get into them, give up for a while and then come back to find they've been open for weeks, or even months. Alcatel-Lucent island fits this model perfectly. I finally went back there last night, only to find it has been open to the public for well over a month. In fact, I've nearly missed the opportunity to take part in their competion - but more of this anon.

The island itself is divided into a number of pods, linked by walkways to a central tower, in which you will find an auditorium. The intention is to highlight the role of the company in various circumstances: home; office; partnerships. There's a lot of nice furniture and lighting, and a variety of displays, telling you about how important you are to the company and blah. A nice touch is the presence of a small public sandbox. Freebies come in the form of a T-shirt (meh) and a folder containing I don't-know-what, since I didn't pick it up.

While I can't claim to be bowled over by the island, it is well built - as you would expect. I don't know whether there is a schedule of events for the auditorium, so perhaps the "social stickiness" of the island relies on the presence of a sandbox, and the aforementioned competition - but more of this anon. I must have got something from the site, since I did take a sheaf of photos:



The pods:


Indoors:


So what about this competition, then? Well, I'm glad you asked. Here is the basic info from the notecard available on the island:

Imagine it is the year 2017 and you have the power to create the ideal technology and devices that would fit your lifestyle in your virtual and real-world lives. Technology that would allow you to socialize, communicate, entertain yourself and your friends, get and share information and content, and/or manage appliances and devices in your home.

The Alcatel-Lucent Second Life Island is all about imagining the future and making it happen now. We are opening up our sandbox to the residents of Second Life to inspire them to come up with the future of what the next generation of wireless can bring. This is a call for Xtreme innovation!

Imagine:

• Latency (lag) problems are a thing of the past (wireless and wireline)
• Devices are creative flexible and can be designed to meet your needs (oh, and they are affordable too)
• Wireless streaming of audio and video in real time for unlimited time periods with quality levels equal to the best HDTV
• Always-on wireless connection with simultaneous use of both voice and data
• Or how about having your household appliances, car, laptop, and mobile devices have the ability to talk to each other and send data remotely (and yes, this is all really easy to do)

We want you to submit your ideas! Show us the awesome device or technology that would just make your Second Life…or real life, so much better.

If your killer idea wins, you will get 50,000 L$ (about 200 USD or £100), while Alcatel-Lucent get the IPR on your idea, from which they hope to make millions. Good, eh? You have until December 1st to submit your ideas. Personally, I'm keeping mine to myself.