Philippe Kahn

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Philippe Kahn
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Philippe Kahn
Philippe Kahn Working on the first camera-phones
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Philippe Kahn Working on the first camera-phones

Philippe Kahn (born March 16, 1952)[1] is a French-born mathematician, technology innovator and entrepreneur known as the inventor of the camera phone, a pioneer in the wireless industry, and the founder of Starfish Software, LightSurf Technologies and Borland. He is currently the CEO of Fullpower Technologies, a company which provides solutions converging life sciences, wireless technology, nanotechnology and MEMS.

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[edit] 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 Zurich Music Conservatory in Switzerland.[2].

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 Museum as the first ever personal computer.[3]

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 and jazz, and he plays the flute. Furthermore he is very competitive in sailboat racing and leads his sailing team Pegasus Racing. He is an ardent proponent of freedom of speech.

[edit] Business

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

[edit] 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.[4] 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.[5] Kahn is in many ways the embodiment of the American Dream: he arrived in Silicon Valley with a duffle bag and a few thousand dollars of savings to become one of Silicon valley's most successful technologists. This has been a subject of discussion as he was a highly educated immigrant and already recognized for his technology achievements, a far fetch from Latino migrants.

Borland's first commercial success was Turbo Pascal immediately followed by the first desktop organizer, Sidekick. Borland went on to have a superior and more expansive line of PC development tools than any other company in the market 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 very succesfully followed by secondary offerings in the US in 1989 and 1991. Philippe Kahn, the inventor and technologist, had become a successfull high-tech business executive. The competition with Microsoft was fierce. As with most of its competitors, Microsoft got the better of Borland. Although Borland carried on, the grind of trench warfare with Microsoft did not sit with Kahn's personality focused on technology and innovation.

Borland is one of the few corporations that have competed with Microsoft in the 80s and early 90s and are still thriving to this day. 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.[6] However, he remained on the board as a director until November 1996, showing support and loyalty in the adversity until he finally resigned from that position.[7]. Kahn had been the President, CEO and Chairman of Borland for 12 years.

[edit] Starfish (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 platform.

[edit] Lightsurf (1997-2005)

Kahn is credited with the invention in 1997 of the camera phone,[2] which was the founding vision of Lightsurf. 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.

[edit] Fullpower (2003-Present)

Fullpower is in stealth mode, focused on the convergence of life sciences and wireless. The company is rumored to have a strong focus on Nanotechnology and MEMS. The Fullpower website discusses diabetes, heart disease, mobile health, MEMS technology and there has been a lot of speculation about what Fullpower has been spending years developing. According to the website, Fullpower will launch publicly on 15 October 2007.

[edit] 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. It is deeply committed to sustaining a quality environment in which our children will flourish.[8]

[edit] Music

Kahn is a fomally trained classical musician having studied classical flute and musicology at the Zurich Conservatory in Switzerland. He is passionate about music and considers himself an enlightened amateur that takes time every day to practice. 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. 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.

[edit] Sailing and Sports

Kahn's focus on the environment and the outdoors lead him to the sport of sailing. Kahn's sailing team, Pegasus Racing, competes in many world championships each year around the world. [9] The team's recent accomplishments include winning the Melges 24 world championships, the Transpac race, 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.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Darrow
  2. ^ a b Kahn
  3. ^ Computer History Museum
  4. ^ Unz
  5. ^ Wortman
  6. ^ Kellner, Krey, Jeffers, Parks
  7. ^ Borland press release
  8. ^ www.lee-kahn.com
  9. ^ www.pegasus.com

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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
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