Philippe Kahn

Philippe Kahn (born March 16, 1952)Darrow] is a technology innovator and entrepreneur, credited for creating the first camera phone solution sharing pictures instantly on public networks Parks, Maney, Agger, Krey] . Kahn has founded four successful technology companies, including his current company, Fullpower Technologies [http://www.fullpower.com] , as well as Starfish Software, LightSurf Technologies and Borland Software. He is currently the CEO of Fullpower Technologies, a company which provides solutions converging life sciences, wireless technology, accelerometrics, nanotechnology and MEMS.

Education and early days

Kahn was educated at ETH Zurich, Switzerland (Swiss Federal Polytechnic Institute), and University of Nice, France. Kahn received a masters in mathematics. He also studied musicology and classical flute at the Zurich Music Conservatory in Switzerland.Kahn]

In 1973, as a student, Kahn developed the software for the MICRAL, the earliest non-kit personal computer based on a microprocessor. The MICRAL was marketed for vertical applications, and is now credited by the Computer History Museum as the first ever personal computer.Computer History Museum]

Kahn is married to Sonia Lee, who co-founded LightSurf and Fullpower Technologies. They raise four children. Together, they run an environmental charity, the Lee-Kahn Foundation. Kahn is known for his passion for classical music and he plays the flute semi-professionally. Furthermore he is competitive in sailboat racing and leads his sailing team Pegasus Racing.

Technology

Kahn has founded four software companies: Borland, Starfish Software (acquired by Motorola in 1998), LightSurf Technologies (acquired by VeriSign in 2005), and recently Fullpower Technologies, founded in 2003.

Fullpower Technologies (2003-Present)

Fullpower, founded in 2003, is not yet public, focused on the convergence of life sciences, wireless technology, accelerometrics, nanotechnology and MEMS. Fullpower's [http://www.motionx.com MotionX] is the leading motion recognition technology platform. Fullpower's MotionX Technology Platform has applications in renewable energy, mobile devices, wearable devices, imaging, sports, gaming, life-sciences, logistics and security solutions. Little information has been publicly leaked on the specific implementations of MotionX Technology as most solutions are held highly confidential. A list of trademarks on Fullpower.com including TapTap, ShakeShake, TiltTilt, and Tilt 'n Roll provide some indication of what future consumer applications of Fullpower's MotionX Technology Platform. [ [http://www.fullpower.com/?Page=Technology Fullpower.com] ]

On June 10th, 2008 Fullpower launched a new generation of applications for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch. The first application released was MotionX-Poker, a multi-touch and motion-based dice game for the iPhone. MotionX-Poker was immediately available for sale worldwide through Apple's App Store. [ [http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=414689 Marketwire Press Release] ]

LightSurf Technologies (1997-2005)

Kahn is credited with the creation in 1997 of the camera phone,Fact|date=June 2007 which was the founding vision of LightSurf. The impetus for this invention was the birth of Kahn's child, Sophie. He was so excited and wanted to show off pictures so he jerry-rigged a cell phone with a digital camera and sent off photos in real time. In a recent NPR interview, Kahn discusses the social impact of the camera phone.Kahn, NPR interview] In another [http://www.slate.com/id/2157736/ article with Slate.com] , Kahn discusses the invention of the camera phone and its uses today.Kahn, Slate.com] LightSurf built the first end-to-end solution for picture messaging. LightSurf technology powers the offerings of Sprint, Verizon and many other leading carriers in the world. LightSurf is now owned by VeriSign, who acquired the company in 2005 for $315 million as it was filing its IPO. The camera phone is arguably one of the most successful consumer electronic devices of all time with more than 1 billion projected to be sold worldwide in 2008. Work on the camera phone infrastructure started in 1997. In Japan J-phone used the blueprint architecture set forward by Kahn and his team. The first handset was made by Sharp Electronics and the whole system complete with picture-sharing was made public in 1999 with excellent commercial success by 2001. In the North American market, Sprint and Verizon partnered with LightSurf. However, Sprint was the first to deploy a commercial system in 2002. The Sprint system, designed, developed and managed by LightSurf, was a combination of ASP/MSP solutions. The first US camera phone was the Sanyo 8100 running on the Sprint infrastructure with the LightSurf Picture-Mail system.

Starfish Software (1994-1998)

Starfish Software was founded in 1994 by Philippe Kahn and Sonia Lee. The founding vision of Starfish was "global synchronization and integration of wireless and wireline devices", which translated with the TrueSync platform to: "Enter or edit information anywhere, synchronization is automatic everywhere". Starfish developed much of the core IP for device synchronization, especially in the wireless industry. TrueSync was the first Over-The-Air (OTA) synchronization system. Starfish was successfully acquired by Motorola for $325 million in 1998 and subsequently became a division of Nokia after Motorola's downturn. Today Starfish's technology is an integral part of the Nokia platformFact|date=February 2007.

Borland (1982-1995)

Realizing that even innovation such as the MICRAL would not be commercially viable in Europe, Kahn arrived in the US as a tourist in 1982 and won a job with Hewlett-Packard, subsequently losing it because of his undocumented status. After a period of consulting activities, he set up Borland International, although he was still not a legal U.S. resident at the time.Unz] After four years in the U.S. on a tourist visa, Kahn was granted a Green Card in 1986. He is today a naturalized U.S. citizen.Wortman] He came to Silicon Valley without many possessions. The Borland company was started above a garage, in a rented, two room space over an actual Jaguar repair shop in Scott's Valley, CA. Kahn liked to joke he was starting his business the "American way, in a garage". Kahn was financially strapped, with little income, and was unable to purchase cars for his family due to his immigrant and credit status. Former Zilog Inc. advertising manager, Charmaine R. Taylor co-signed for two vehicles, and placed advertising for Borland products her agency created. This allowed him to stretch his non-existent budget long enough to garner sales to pay for the $45,000. in advertising. The first Turbo Pascal product ads exploded Borland's name in Silicon Valley, and launched the company financially.

Borland's first commercial success was Turbo Pascal, immediately followed by the first desktop organizer, SideKick. Borland went on to have a line of PC development tools, as well as a suite of office products that were in direct competition with Microsoft and Lotus/IBM. Borland filed its IPO in London in 1986, successfully, followed by secondary offerings in the US in 1989 and 1991. Philippe Kahn, the inventor and technologist, had become a successful high-tech business executive.

Borland competed with Microsoft in the 80s and early 90s. President, CEO, and Chairman of Borland since inception and taking Borland without venture capital from no revenues to a $500 million run-rate, Kahn and the Borland board came to a disagreement on how to focus the company. Kahn was forced to resign by the Borland board from his position as CEO in January 1995.Kellner, Krey, Jeffers, Parks] However, he remained on the board as a director until November 1996, showing support and loyalty in the controversy until he finally resigned from that position.Borland press release] Kahn had been the President, CEO and Chairman of Borland for 12 years.

Philanthropy

Sonia Lee and Philippe Kahn established the Lee-Kahn Foundation in 1998. the foundation sponsors local and national non-profit organizations dedicated to advancing human growth through increased access to health care, education and the arts as well as animal welfare.www.lee-kahn.com]

Music

Kahn has recorded jazz albums with professionals that are among his friends. He has recorded three albums that mix modern classical influences such as Dutilleux, Jolivet and Debussy with straight ahead jazz. His albums are available on most online music stores. In 1990 he released "Pacific High" featuring: John Abercrombie, Alex Acuna, Richie Beirach, Billy Hart, Ray Kane and Dave Liebman. In 1991 he released a CD called "Walking on the Moon," featuring his own performance and promoting space exploration. Later in 1992 he released "Paradiso" featuring: John Abercrombie, Alex Acuna, Alan Broadbent, Terence Blanchard, Peter Erskine, Dave Eshelman and John Patitucci.

ailing and sports

Kahn's focus on the environment and the outdoors lead him to the sport of sailing. Kahn's sailing team, [http://www.pegasus.com Pegasus Racing] , competes in many world championships each year around the world.www.pegasus.com] The team's accomplishments include winning the Melges 24 world championships, the Transpac race multiple times, 1st and 3rd place at the 2006 International 14 World Championships, 1st at the Mumm 30 2006 North American Championship, 1st at the 2006 18' International Skiff Regatta in San Francisco, 1st at the 2006 Key West Melges 24 Regatta, 1st at the 2006 St. Francis Perpetual ZTrophy. Kahn's son, Samuel "Shark" Kahn has placed in the top ten at numerous world championships and has been the youngest member of the US National Sailing Team at age 15. Recent sailing achievements include winning, with Richard Clarke, the double handed division of the 2007 Transpacific Yacht Race race from Los Angeles to Hawaii. [http://www.transpacificyc.org/php-entry-07/pow/tp07-press_rel.php?newsitem=47 Transpac 2007 had everything but wind] , Trans Pacific Yacht Club press release] In this [http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/philippe-kahn/emailing-the-father-of-the-camera-phone-as-he-sails-across-the-great-blue-pacific-280464.php Gizmodo interview] , Kahn discusses the race.

Philippe's Law

In the early 1990s while at Borland, Kahn postulated a formula of software development productivity that, in a 1992 COMDEX keynote speech, he named "Philippe's Law". The law states that the productivity of a software developer in a team of "N" people is diminished by dividing it by the cube root of "N".Zucker]

Philippe's 3 Rules of Software Craftsmanship

In late 2007 in his keynote address at the [http://www.memsindustrygroup.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3331 MEMS Executive Congress] , Kahn formulated what he called "Philippe's 3 Rules of Software Craftsmanship:

quote|Rule #1 - "Start with a vision"

Rule #2 - "Throwing more bodies at software projects only makes things worse"

Rule #3 - "There are three vectors that drive software craftsmanship: quality, schedule, and features. The challenge is that you only get to pick two"| [Fullpower.com] [Johnson]

Notes

References

* cite news
last = Wong
first = Amy
year = 2007
url = http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=AP&Date=20070518&ID=6922790
title = Camera Phone Pioneer Ponders the Impact
publisher = Associated Press
date = 2007-05-18
accessdate = 2007-05-18

* cite news
last = Seitz
first = Patrick
year = 2007
url = http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=21&issue=20070306
title = His Camera Phone Was A Snap
publisher = Investor's Business Daily
date = 2007-03-06
accessdate = 2007-03-03
* cite news
last = Taft
first = Darryl
year = 2007
url = http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2090362,00.asp
title = Philippe Kahn: Original Software Gangsta Still on a Mission
publisher = eWeek.com
date = 2007-02-05
accessdate = 2007-02-06
* cite news
last = Maney
first = Kevin
year = 2007
url = http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/kevinmaney/2007-01-23-kahn-cellphone-camera_x.htm
title = Baby's arrival inspires birth of cellphone camera — and societal evolution
publisher = USA Today
date = 2007-01-23
accessdate = 2007-12-25
* cite web
url = http://weekendamerica.publicradio.org/programs/2007/01/06/father_of_the_camera.html
title = Father of the Camera Phone
publisher = publicradio.org
accessmonthday = January 7
accessyear = 2007
* cite web
last = Agger
first = Michael
url = http://www.slate.com/id/2157736/
title = The Camera Phone
publisher = slate.com
accessmonthday = January 18
accessyear = 2007
* cite web
url = http://www.pcworld.ca/news/column/ad5f8a190a0104080147c30274057315/pg0.htm
title = The 25 near-greatest PCs of all time (1971-1983)
publisher = PCWORLD.ca
accessmonthday = September 14
accessyear = 2006
* cite press release
publisher=Borland
date=1996-11-07
url=http://web.archive.org/web/20010618010852/http://www.borland.com/about/press/1996/pkresign.html
title=Kahn Resigns as Borland Director — Cites Increasing Demands of New Business
accessdate=2006-04-21
* cite web
url = http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/?year=1973
title = 1973
work = Timeline
publisher = Computer History Museum
accessdaymonth = 20 April
accessyear = 2006
* cite news
first=Barbara
last=Darrow
url=http://www.crn.com/sections/special/hof/hof.jhtml?ArticleID=11159
title=1999 Industry Hall of Fame / Borland's Big Man
work=Computer Reseller News
accessdate=2006-04-28
* cite news
first=Michelle
last=Jeffers
url=http://www.forbes.com/asap/2000/1127/103.html
title=Getting Chance To Dance
work=Forbes
accessdate=2006-04-21
* cite web
last = Kahn
first = Philippe
url = http://www.fullpower.com/pk/
title = Résumé
accessdaymonth = 20 April
accessyear = 2006
* cite web
last=Kellner
first=Tomas
title=Survivor
work=Fortune
url=http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2001/0709/128.html
accessdaymonth=30 August
accessyear=2005
* cite news
first=Michael
last=Krey
url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-6996492_ITM
title=Borland Founder Kahn Focuses On Sending Photos Over Cell Phones
work=Investor's Business Daily
accessdate=2006-04-21
* cite web
last = Parks
first = Bob
date = October, 2000
url = http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.10/kahn.html
title = Wired Magazine, The Big Picture - Borland International Inc.'s Philippe Kahn
accessdaymonth = 20 April
accessyear = 2006
* cite web
last = Rohrbough
first = Linda
date = December 20, 1991
url = http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NEW/is_1991_Dec_20/ai_11652030
title = Borland: Kahn's C-mas CD promotes space exploration - Borland International Inc.'s Philippe Kahn
accessdaymonth = 17 April
accessyear = 2006
* cite news
first=Ron K.
last=Unz
url=http://reason.com/9411/col.unz.shtml
title=Sinking Our State
work=Reason
accessdate=2006-04-21
* cite web
last = Wortman
first = Victor D.
date = June, 1997
url = http://www.fullpower.com/?Page=Vision&Side=BlogArchives&View=1996-1998&ID=1998-June-30
title = Prominent Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Wants His Company to Be the "Dolby Labs of the Wireless Industry"
accessdaymonth = 22 April
accessyear = 2006
* cite news
last = Zucker
first = Paul
year = 1992
url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NEW/is_1992_Nov_17/ai_13046987
title = COMDEX: Kahn keynote - software needs to change
publisher = Newsbytes News Network
date = November 11, 1992
* cite web
url = http://www.fullpower.com/?Page=NewsRoom&Side=IndustryEvents
title = MEMS Executive Congress Keynote
publisher = Fullpower.com
accessmonthday = November 13
accessyear = 2007
* cite news
last = Johnson
first = Colin
year = 2007
url = http://www.eetimes.com/rss/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202804275&cid=RSSfeed_eetimes_newsRSS
title = MEMS breed a new batch of consumer-pleasing devices
publisher = EE Times
date = 2007-11-12
accessdate = 2007-11-12

External links

* [http://www.lee-kahn.org Lee-Kahn Foundation, has biographies of Lee and Kahn]
* [http://www.fullpower.com Fullpower Technologies, has biographies of Lee and Kahn]
* [http://www.pegasus.com Pegasus Racing, follows all of Kahn's sailing activities]

Persondata
NAME=Kahn, Philippe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Entrepreneur, camera phone inventor
DATE OF BIRTH=March 16, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH=France
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=