Appatic

Gary Flake TED Microsoft Pivot Demo Now Online

2010-03-08T13:00:00.000-06:00

It took some weeks after Microsoft Pivot got itself available for Download, but the TED conference Demo from Gary Flake on Microsoft Live Labs Pivot is now online and ready to watch:

The session only last 6 minutes, but it is breath-taking (more if you like data visualization or stat charts) because it shows how you can navigate actual data. Map it in a relational structure and then look at it from a broad big picture or focus in a single detail filtered from either massive amounts of data or even just a single document. Truly inspiring. Just don’t take my word for it and give it a watch.

And remember that if you want to watch more TED sessions, you can do so with the TED Talks Silverlight 3 app from the comfort of your desktop (PC or Mac).

Linkage

Microsoft Pivot

TED

Watermarker: Add Watermarked Text To Photos Easily And Quickly

2010-03-08T01:11:00.000-06:00

Adding watermarked text is actually easy. You can do it with office in several ways, paint and almost any photo editor. But you have to do it one by one and it then quickly becomes a slow chore you will not want to do anymore.

Watermarker is a tiny portable app (28k!!) and all its purpose is to help you watermark photos in the quickest and simplest way. It is main attractive is not only only that it is a tiny portable app but that it let you watermark images in batches and select in what format you want them. So you can have 10 .jpg images and have them watermarked and turned into .png images in less than one minute. It is THAT simple.

The app is a open source codeplex project in a supposed alpha state (more like a beta), but i have tried it out and it works great in XP, Vista or 7. The developer is also looking for feature requests and opinions. In my case i would like to see the following in order to make it “perfect”".

1.-A option to select the height of the watermark in a picture: Top, Center or Bottom

2.-A option to indicate a level of text transparency

3.-A option to add a image instead of text. That way you can watermark them with your logo if you want.

If those 3 things get added later. Watermarker can be not just the good app it already is today, it can become a must have one too. But if you were in the look for a simple image watermarking app, look no further.

Linkage

Watermarker

Technorati Tags: watermarker,image watermarking app

Beware Of Security Essentials 2010, It Is Malware

2010-03-08T01:01:00.000-06:00

If you see something called Security Essentials 2010 (That can look as in the above screenshot) somewhere. Let it know to whoever installed it that it is a fake software full of malware. If you see someone recommending it anywhere, report him to the network or site moderator.

This thing trying to lure people into thinking it is Microsoft Security Essentials is a really bad piece of malware. You can read all the details on it here as stated by a Microsoft representative:

http://blogs.technet.com/mmpc/archive/2010/02/24/if-it-calls-itself-security-essentials-2010-then-it-s-possibly-fake-innit.aspx

FeedMyInbox: Get Any Site Or Feed Updates Via E-mail

2010-03-08T01:00:00.000-06:00

If your preferred way to get updates from your favorite blogs is E-mail. You should already know that not all blogs or sites count with this option or maybe do but they are only partial updates. The workaround to that is usually creating feeds from websites, then taking that feed to a RSS to E-mail service and then just hope that both services work right.

FeedMyInbox does the same thing in a single service. You can take any feed and send it to your E-mail, but you can also do the same with websites.

So you can manage the sources you are getting the updates from with a single dashboard.

The services is Freemium based. So you can keep track of 5 sources for free (site or feed) and if you want more you can choose a paid plan starting at $50 a year or $5 a month for 25 sources + more advanced and faster management.

I find the service very good but i think it is a bit overpriced. I think that it should start with a 9.99 a year service for 15 sources and then go up for the $50 a year or $5 a month but for 50 sources to make it attractive enough to be a impulse buy. But even then, 5 for free is a good deal. You just have to think on what 5 sources would you really really want to push to your E-mail.

If you are curious about it but still not convinced, they also got a nice video demo that shows how it works.

Linkage

FeedMyInbox

Technorati Tags: FeedMyInbox,www.feedmyinbox.com,rsstomail,feedtomail,sitetomail

Fav4.org: Minimalistic Icon Based Startpage

2010-02-22T17:00:00.000-06:00

Startpages seem to be in vogue yet again when it comes to the non-widget based kind.

Just startpages with shortcuts for the most frequently visited websites. No doubt that Opera 10 and Chrome 4 have something to do with this new found interest for what Opera calls the web Speed Dial and that later got shamelessly ripped off by Google with Chrome.

Fav4.org takes this idea to the bare minimum. Only 4 big icons for your 4 most visited websites. That is it. No more, no less. 4 striking and very soothing looking icons. I love the idea but dislike the limitations of it. Right now you can choose from a list of 73 web properties icons for your Startpage.

If your favorite webpage icon is not in here, the only thing you can do is to suggest it to the developer so it gets added later on. Right no there is still no choice to make the shortcut icons to open in a new tab but the developer says it is coming soon. Other updates are also going to be added.

Some Notes

But that still don’t overcomes the fact of ONLY being able to have 4 web icons in your startpage at a time. As much as i like the idea of Fav4.org. I would like to be able to decide the layout for it. In my case i would go with 3 row levels and up to 5 icons per row.

(If someone makes a clone of this with that option, let me know. Of course that the developer of fav4 will never be able to add those changes without changing the name of the site.)

So the only option would be if there could be more 4 icon line-ups (lets say 3) that could be slide-out/pop-out to appear by a tiny pagination selector at the bottom (like the one you see in this blog). At least that is the only solution i see that could work for Fav4.org being truly enticing to more users and also remaining with the same look it has now.

However, if you like the idea as it is. Fav4.org is a good option for a minimal and pretty startpage.

Linkage

Fav4.org

Technorati Tags: fav4,fav4.org,startpage,minimal startpage,icon based startpage

Tomboy 1.1.1 : Now With Full Windows 7 Support

2010-02-22T03:00:00.000-06:00

Tomboy continues to improve and with the 1.1.1 dev release. You can now have it in Windows 7 with Jump Lists fully supported. A dev release can be considered of Beta quality, so avoid it if you are only interested in stable releases.

Other improvements include faster startup, better performance and snappier response.

Here is the full changelog for the 1.1.1 dev release:

Awesome new Jump List support on Windows 7
Rearranged Tomboy startup so icon appears within 0.5-1.0 seconds or simply faster than beforePrevent crash when entering empty notebook name
3 Bug FixesNew translations
Translation updates: bg, bn, es, et, eu, he, it, nb, sl, sv, uk, zh_CN

For full information on Tomboy and its installation just go to the original Appatic Tomboy Post:

http://www.appatic.com/2009/10/tomboy-10-simple-note-taking-app.html

If you are just updating, then just proceed to download the latest version below if you are ok with it being a dev (beta) release.

Linkage

Tomboy 1.1.1 <—Direct Download Link

Technorati Tags: Tomboy,Tomboy Notes,Tomboy 1.1.1,Tomboy for Windows

via Sandy Armstrong

Tasque 0.1.9 : Now With Custom Highlighting, Mono 2.6 Support And More Integrations.

2010-02-22T01:11:00.000-06:00

After almost 14 months without any update. Tasque is now finally up to date again thanks to the 0.1.9 release. This release comes with

Support for Mono >= 2.6
Customizable color highlighting in tasks.
Clear "New Task..." text in inputfield on drag and drop
Option to change category via context menu
Hiveminder improvements
Close task window on ESC keypress
Initial implementation of tooltip for the tray icon
Translation updates for: cs, da, de, en_GB, eo, es, et, gl, gr, hu, id, it, ja, nds, pl, pt, pt_BR, sl, sv, th, zh_CN.

A seriously needed and worthwhile update for everyone using Tasque. Also makes it more palatable to those still in the fence on trying it or not.

Go to the Tasque post for full details on Tasque and its installation. If you are updating, then just proceed to download it.

http://www.appatic.com/2009/11/tasque-simple-todo-list-app.html

Linkage

Tasque 0.1.9 <—Direct Download Link

via Mario Carrion

Technorati Tags: Tasque,TODO List app,TODO list desktop app,GTK-sharp,Gnome app,OpenSource,Tomboy companion app,GTD app

Microsoft Live Labs Pivot Now Ready To Use Without Invites

2010-02-22T01:01:00.000-06:00

After showing it off live in the TED conference. Microsoft Pivot has now been updated with a version that no longer needs invites. You just have to download, install and use it.

Linkage

Microsoft Live Labs Pivot

Microsoft Pivot Guide

Download Microsoft Pivot <—Direct Download Link

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Live Labs,Microsoft Pivot,Data Visualization,Data Relational Visualization

Pip.io Is Now Open

2010-02-22T01:00:00.000-06:00

A lot has changed since it first appeared last year and now you no longer need invites to access it. Pip.io is now out of Private Beta.

Pip.io

To read my first preview post on the service just visit this post:

http://www.appatic.com/2009/11/pipio-social-operating-system-preview.html

Start.io: A Links Only Styled Startpage Service

2010-02-08T21:00:00.000-06:00

When you think about a Startpage service, you more than likely will immediately think of MyYahoo, iGoogle, Live Home, MyAol, Netvibes or Pageflakes. What any of these have in common is that they are the most used Startpages (in the order i put them) and that there is a Widget factor to display information, games, news or other interactive content in them.

Start.io thinks that the Widget based Startpages are too complicated and that Startpages should return to their roots. When they were only simple html pages with live bookmarks (Activity monitored links like in Firefox) on them.

That is the whole concept behind Start.io. A Stylized page with different categorized sets of live bookmarks. If you hover a link, it will show in a tooltip if there is recent activity by counting how many new entries are in that page it is linking. You need a account and after you have one it sets you a short linked startpage like this: start.io/username

You can then add some categories, customize your links and the style of your page look from 9 predefined styles or make your own custom style.

To make it easier to set up. You can import your links from a exported bookmarks file from your browser or import a OPML file from you Feedreader of choice. If later on you decide Start.io is not for you. but you have manually setup your links, you can export them out the same way.

Start.io sets a long lasting cookie so you will be always logged to your Start.io account once you are in. The part of setting it up as the browser startpage is actually up to you to do manually.

While the idea is almost TOO SIMPLE. It got some good merits to it. The only things i would like it to have are: (1) a automatic browser startpage setup (why i do have to do that manually?), (2) that the links had dropdowns and counters just like in the Firefox Live Bookmarks bar and (3) that there were more page styles to choose from. Would it also kill it to have Video DEMO’s and actual live examples for previewing the service?.

Forcing a user to setup a a account just to check out the service is a horrible practice that only results in unused dummy tests.

Linkage

Start.io

Start.io About <—Service Info

Technorati Tags: Start.io,Startpage,only-links startpage,Live bookmarks Startpage

*Edited* (10/02/2010)

Tagul: Woldle-Like Tag Cloud Widget Generator

2010-02-08T17:00:00.000-06:00

There are many Tag Cloud Generators out there. One example would be TagCrowd. But it is a super simple option compared to Tagul. In this case what you get is not just a Tag Cloud but a Flash based Dynamic and Interactive Wordle-Like Tag Cloud.

That means you can shape it, color it, set different fonts and interact with it. Because of that you need to make a Tagul account. With it you can create 10 Tagul Tag Cloud for free.

A Tagul can hold up to 300 tags based on a domain but you need to manually adjust and set everything for it to work. Once you do have it working right then you can manage the Tag Clouds from your Tagul account and you will then be able to embed the code in your Blog or Website.

A good little utility, that is quite feature packed. The only criticism i can make on it is that the setup should be easier and it should have several automatic setup modes, so anyone can try it out faster. Some video demos and live examples in two test blogs (one Wordpress, one Blogger) would also be a good idea to really inspire confidence in people to use it.

Linkage

Tagul

Technorati Tags: Tagul,Tagul.com,Tag cloud generator,tag wordle generator

CPUID CPU-Z: A Simple Tool To Gather All Your PC Info

2010-02-08T13:00:00.000-06:00

Usually, if you want to check some info of your Windows PC. You check System via:

Windows XP: Start > Control Panel > System

Windows Vista-Windows 7: Start > Start Search > System

And that will give you the most basic information about you computer, plus access to the most basic system settings.

If you want more specific information, then you can go to Administrative Tools, Check your Bios at Boot or even use the Terminal. But now you will not need to do so.

CPU-Z from CPUID is a simple and light single-purpose-tool that gather all the information you would get with all the said methods just by running it.

(Here you can see a example run for the info on a MSI Wind U100)

CPU-Z will then give you the following info:

CPU

Name and number.
Core stepping and process.
Package.
Core voltage.
Internal and external clocks, clock multiplier.
Supported instructions sets.
Cache information.

Mainboard

Vendor, model and revision.
BIOS model and date.
Chipset (northbridge and southbridge) and sensor.
Graphic interface.

Memory

Frequency and timings.
Module(s) specification using SPD (Serial Presence Detect) : vendor, serial number, timings table.

System

Windows and DirectX version.

Once you have it running, you can also generate a report in TXT or HTML

And that is it. A nice little tool you can use in Windows XP, Vista and 7 (both 32bits & 64bits) for all your PC info gathering needs.

Linkage

CPUID CPU-Z <—Homepage

CPU-Z 1.53 <—Direct Download Link

Technorati Tags: CPUID,CPUID CPU-Z,CPU-Z,PC info tool,PC info gathering

TicTacDo: Checklist Based How-To’s For Activities

2010-02-08T05:00:00.000-06:00

TicTacDo is a web service that forces me to use the Hollywood Movie Producer Pitch Method in order to describe it:

TicTacDo could be seen as ToDo Lists meets How-To’s meets Yahoo Answers meets Activity Planning meets YouTube-like community site.

Laying that set of comparisons would result in this condensed explanation:

TicTacDo is a web community site and service to host and build ready-to-use checklists that detail step-by-step activity based How-to’s that can be shared, rated, collaborated and commented.

That is the core concept and i must say that TicTacDo is one of the best new community sites i have seen in 2010 (even if the service might be older). It takes a series of common concepts and really bring them together in a compressive, cohesive and just very well executed service. It is based on Konolive, that is a collaboration software and platform. so that also point in favor. It is just a good sign seeing that platform in action into a finished product by the same people that created that software.

Right now the TicTacDo community is still not as known and as used i think it should be. It is a really great service. Easy to use, clean design, you can share, you can rank, you can “defy” a Checklist by doing your own based on someone else checklist; if you think it is not clear enough or something about it is wrong. You can also just comment and note it out to the Checklist creator in a collaboration track each page got once you are a member.

It is also great to see something that is 100% focused and don’t tries to tackle too many concepts at once. In the case of TicTacDo, it is all about activities as the motivation for everything. Those activities then need be thought as How-To’s that instead of written explanations or answers as you would solve or read them in a service like Yahoo Answers. You instead articulate them as ToDo Checklists.

That said, even the best community sites and focused ideas will die a quick death if people don’t use the service and if people don’t engage with the service. So the affluence of people in TicTacDo is what can make or break it like with everything else. I would like it if it succeeded. Not because i like it myself, but because it is actually good.

One thing i would do like is if TicTacDo Checklists could be portable for its creator or by the creator decision. That means that i not only would like to share the link, but the actual checklist as a widget. Other than that i find the service easy to recommend as it is.

Linkage

TicTacDo

Technorati Tags: TicTacDo,TicTacDo.com,GTD,productivity community,personal productivity,social ToDo lists,Social Checklists,How-To,Social How-to's,How-To checklists

IzzyTodo: A Easy And Fast ToDo List Builder, Yet Uninspired.

2010-02-08T01:00:00.000-06:00

IzzyTodo is a quite obvious, but still moderately clever phonetic word play of “Easy To Do”. Is a quick way to build ToDo Lists and keep track of more than one of them at the same time.

The ToDo list builder is a asynchronous active form with a widget like behavior. You set up a title (target) for the set of tasks you need to get doing. As you add them, they come prefilled with tasks so you can see how they will look. You click on the text and change it as many times you want on the fly. If you want to erase a task you can delete it and the space will be eliminated and the form will contract to adapt. You finish a task and it is crossed over.

The builder and the aspect of the form is good. The service is easy to use and it don’t gets in your way. The only problem is that it is a single-purpose tool that lacks inspiration and some focus around it.

It presents you a landpage where you can accumulate and watch your lists but the page wastes a lot of space without reason. This makes it less proper and comfortable to use it as a Startpage or in a SSB.

That brings me to the question: “Is izzyTodo a web service page or a web service utility?”. Above i made the case that if it is supposed to be a startpage or landpage. It does a horrible job on that. It does worse on the second possible use. You cannot do anything with the lists beyond having them there. Why they aren’t exportable widgets?. even iFrame based would be welcomed. The answer is just: “No clue”.

So it takes me to the conclusion: That i like the idea and how the actual product works and looks (The actual ToDo Lists). But i am baffled on how it is being presented and “pitched” to me; because it cannot be used in a way that lives to the tool potential that would make it actually useful and worthwhile to use.

I hope that IzzyTodo makes up its mind on what exactly the service is and how it is supposed to be used. Given the tool is actually good.

Linkage

IzzyTodo

Technorati Tags: IzzyTodo,IzzyTodo.com,ToDo,ToDo list,ToDo list builder

Music And Files: Search Engine For Music Files In Online File Sharing Sites

2010-01-26T15:00:00.000-06:00

File Search Engines are nothing new, before they were just Custom Google Search Engines with a few filter scripts. A good example of that is Shufs. But now they are getting a lot more sophisticated and they now index, catalogue, filter and trend their own searches and the file searched like actual real search engines. A prime choice of that new improved custom search engines would be FilesPump. But even if they specialize in a single vertical as it is file searching. Some kind of files need even more filters to yield the results you want as fast as you want them.

Music and Files is just like FilesPump but it specializes in Music related files. After testing it with a dozen different queries, the results were really good i must say. With Music and Files you can search the biggest Online File Sharing Sites around and that is why the results can vary from good to excellent depending what you are looking for. As with any other file search engine, the way you use it is under your own responsibility.

Linkage

Music and Files

Technorati Tags: file search engine,online file sharing,online file sharing sites search,music and files,musicandfiles.com,music & files,music files search engine

Cyclur: iFrame Feed Widget Generator

2010-01-26T13:00:00.000-06:00

Cyclur is a feed widget generator. It lets you do everything from a well designed single page. The main hook of it is that it is iframe based so it will work everywhere while remaining light. The problem to this is that it is subject to fail to load more easily than a JavaScript widget.

Cyclur: A Simple Customizable Feed Widget Generator For Blogs via Bloggeratto

A good option if you want to integrate content lists from other blog or even your own blog into a link list in under a minute.

Linkage

Cyclur

Technorati Tags: Cyclur,Feed Widget Generator,Widget Generator,iframe widget

.NET Framework Setup Verification Tool

2010-01-25T17:00:00.000-06:00

The .NET Framework multiple releases contain lot of files and in the case of version 3.0 and 3.5 there are even shared files between them. This is usually one of the ways a .NET Framework install can get corrupted or malfunction causing problems when executing .NET apps. This is rare, but if .NET apps start failing on you then it is time to verify your .NET Framework installs. More if you happen to also have installed beta versions releases.

The . Net Framework Setup Verification Tool is a small utility that will quickly tell you what releases are installed in your computer and will check up all the files in them to verify they are all in working order.

You can check a detailed guide on its usage from the Developers website if you are interested about the usage of the App. It only support up to the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, so don’t be surprised if the .NET 4.0 Beta releases don’t appear listed yet.

Linkage

.NET Framework Setup Verification Tool User’s Guide <—Info From The Developer Blog

.NET Framework Setup Verification Tool <—Direct Download Link

via Ghacks

Technorati Tags: .net framework,.net framework setup verification tool,.net framework checker,software checker

toRSS: Turn Your Incoming E-mails Into A RSS Feed

2010-01-25T15:00:00.000-06:00

toRSS is a very good solution to make sure that you keep track of your E-mail and also serves as a way to have more than one way to remind yourself of that. The way toRSS does that is by letting you take all your incoming E-mails from your inbox and convert them and list them into a RSS feed. This way you can read your mails as you read the news for your favorite sites and services.

Why would i want to do that?

One reason would be so you do not forget to answer your E-mails and another because you can keep a better track of your E-mail this way. While i don’t use toRSS myself. I use a desktop-to-web solution to archive the same thing. Unless you are using Outlook or Evolution, you usually cannot set e-mail handling rules. These can be handy because you can set that all incoming e-mail has to be seen twice to be considered “Read” or you can set a timer so every amount of hrs all e-mails are declared “Read” but never before that time even if you have seen them already.

So if you are not using a E-mail Desktop Client you have to rely on your preferred web E-mail provider. Having a RSS feed of your E-mail allows you to read your E-mail before you hit your actual inbox if you like me prefer to read the news first that E-mail. So if you have already read your E-mail in your FeedReader, once you do see all the incoming E-mails in your actual inbox. You will already know which ones you want to read again, reply, delete or disregard but keep. I think it makes for a better E-mail workflow and if you agree with me, then toRSS is a good way to check if it also works for you.

In my case i can also harvest all my E-mail via the IE8 Feed Reader. Given the IE8 Feed Reader can be tweaked and enhanced with Plugins, you are able to keep and save all your e-mail that way and even back it up and export it to different file formats if you desire it.

How do i use toRSS?

It could really not be simpler. You only have to fill up a service form. Clicking on the icon of your web E-mail provider in that form will actually pre-fill the form with the settings needed for your provider, so you only have to add your Username and Password.

(Example showing common settings for Windows Live Hotmail)

Once you have filled up the form, just click “Generate Feed” and you will be given a RSS Feed for your incoming E-mail. Just don’t share that feed publicly or lose sight of how you are using it. If you do, then just change your E-mail password and that feed will just stop working.

Conclusion

I think toRSS is a great solution given it eliminates the learning curve and technicalities of having to maintain a Desktop to Web solution of the same like i do and because of the possible benefits it can bring to your E-mail handling. The only actual price to use it. Is that you need to trust toRSS with your E-mail account credentials and to have clear that you must use it with care. Even then i still Recommend it.

Linkage

toRSS

Technorati Tags: torss,torss.net,E-mail to RSS,Mail to feed

FilesPump: A File Search Engine For All Online File Sharing Sites

2010-01-25T13:00:00.000-06:00

Sometimes trying to search for a specific file in Online File Sharing sites like Rapdishare results in nothing but a waste of time. There are many other file search engines like Shufs that can help to get better results. Most of the times they are just Custom Google Search Engines with some Filter Scripts.

Files Pumps goes beyond that by adding search trends and tracking what is being searched and then indexing the results that are getting clicked. This way it is able to offer what is being downloaded, what is being searched the most and in the end it means you are more likely to get the file you want.

In my quick testing i found it yields way better results than the common file search engines i mentioned above. FilesPump also offers Plugins for both Internet Explorer and Firefox. So that also gives it points in being something actually useful, you can use more than just once in a while and then forget all about it. I do must state that the way you use it under your own responsibility.

Linkage

FilesPump

Technorati Tags: file search engine,online file sharing,online file sharing sites search,FilesPump,FilesPump.com

PDFmyURL: Make A PDF Out Of Any URL Instantly.

2010-01-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

PDFmyURL is a online single purpose tool that lets you convert any web url into a PDF file instantly.

It can be used in 3 different ways:

1.-Casual web service:

You go to the website, load up a url and off you go with your PDF file.

2.-Bookmarklet tool:

You add the bookmarklet to your browser and each time you want to save a web site as a PDF, one click and you are ready to with your PDF file.

3.-On demand web tool:

You can add PDFmyURL as a service to the homepage or postpages of your Blog or Website. you only need to set it for automatic url selection for post pages or as a static link for a single url like this:

<a href=http://pdfmyurl.com?url=www.Appatic.com>download this page as pdf</a>

Some Notes:

You can also do more specific configurations on how do you want PDFmyURL to render a url and convert it to PDF, but you need to read the guide in the website to check if it is something you would want.

The service is simple and it works very well as i tried it out with several pages. It was also very fast too. Recommended.

Linkage

PDFmyURL

Technorati Tags: PDFmyURL,PDFmyURL.com,url to PDF,url to pdf converter,online url to pdf service

Upload Pie: A Simple Image Sharing Tool And Temporary Image Hosting Service.

2010-01-18T03:00:00.000-06:00

There are many Image Hosting and Image Sharing Tools around, but what if you want to share a image with someone and you would prefer that the image was only up for a set amount of time?. Many image hosting do have the policy of erasing images every month or even every week. But not many let you directly erase a picture or set the time you want it to be available for consume.

That is the idea behind Upload Pie. They let you share a image or set of images (as a PDF) up to 3mb big and you then set the time for the picture to be available for viewing. The images are only available for as long as a pie can get consumed. Given that a pie usually gets consumed at the end of a meal, the smallest amount of time a image can be available is 30 minutes. And given that most pies only can last a week even if in refrigeration, that is the longest you can share a picture. Very clever way to associate the name with what the tool does don’t it?.

Once you have uploaded your file, you are then given a Upload Pie short url for you to share the picture. That is pretty much it. The idea is simple and sound, the website got a very pretty design and it could not be more straight forward. Pretty much the only thing i wish it had is that the picture share had a landing page instead of just loading the image and that it gave you a way to share the Upload Pie short url to Twitter, Facebook or a E-mail right away after it gives you the url. So i hope they add those features to make the site even better. Still a nice little online single-purpose tool worth of a bookmark.

Linkage

Upload Pie

Technorati Tags: Upload Pie,UploadPie,UploadPie.com,Image sharing tool,Image hosting,Temporary Image hosting

OpenPDF: E-book PDF Search Engine

2010-01-18T01:00:00.000-06:00

OpenPDF is a simple Google powered custom search engine with some filter scripts that lets you search for all kind of PDF files. So you can search for a E-book, a document or a magazine and got a better chance to find it.

I previously posted about Search-PDF-Books because that is the one i personally used. I still like that one better, but OpenPDF does got you something different to add and that is a integrated PDF viewer. The PDF viewer is taken from Google Docs and it loads embedded in-page. The problem is that it don’t works half of the time. But it is a good idea to have that for those who don’t want to load a full instance of their PDF Reader or they can’t for one reason or another.

But overall the experience is good and it is a nice alternative to have if you are constantly searching for PDF’s.

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100 Tech Predictions For 2010

2010-01-03T23:55:00.000-06:00

I wanted to do a very broad range predictions list for 2010. This is a year with lots of potential ups and downs and i want be able to look back to see where i had my mind pointing to when it get to look back at it in December.

2010 Tech Predictions:

1.-Adobe will be pushing their Open Screen Project very hard, but it will be a very time consuming endeavor that will consume most of the year. The reason being brands and builders demanding personalized satisfaction.

2.-Adobe should be seen having to seriously upgrade their security as they become Hackers and Crackers new preferred target. Some will blame and mock Adobe because of their lack of 64 bit versions and their slow reaction to ensure security patches.

3.-Adobe should be able to stop its decline from 2009 but the stiff competition from Microsoft is going to end in a year with very small gains.

4.-Palm will be the subject of offers from more than one venture. The most likely and most appropriate suitor should be Blackberry as it would be the one that can better absorb and integrate it. Nokia will weight in out of principle and to make Blackberry or whoever acquisition as expensive as it can. Without blowing its cover since Nokia pride is too big to admit defeat with Symbian and Maemo. However Palm don’t wants to be acquired and will resist as much as it can.

5.-Palm should be able to see a uptake year. Thanks in the most part to Palm taking out ideas from Palm Hackers as Apple did with the iPhone 1 Hackers.

6.-Palm will be getting full head on in the bet for WebGL and OpenGL among other unfinished standards as a cry for web nerds empathy and to save the face of the pretty but weak WebOS.

7.-Blackberry will try to acquire Palm. in the case of failing will have a look to Asia as a way to branch out.

8.-LinkedIn will see a lot of more success as it updates it interface, releases apps for the big 5 smartphone ecosystems and does some acquisitions. Will try to go for Yammer, a flailing Plaxo and will also try to get into the GEOlocation game with a business angle. What will acquire i don’t know. but it will acquire more than one thing.

9.-Oracle will ultimately be able to finalize its acquisition of Sun Microsystems. In the case of finding obstacles it will force arm the EC into compliance thanks to the USA government intervening and Oracle pumping money to European politicians and sending public messages to European Consumers who are not actually pleased at all with the EC. In the end Oracle will own Sun Microsystems.

10.- JavaFX will get new releases, will be seeing the light in Mobiles too. The platform will prove to be good and powerful as it has already been proven. It will be hyped a bit in the Tech Spheres. But will end up as a distant 3rd place to the arms race of Adobe vs Microsoft.

11.-IBM will branch out in a Competition-Cooperation race with others as it sees big strong enemies popping in VMWare, Oracle, Microsoft and even Adobe and Google. Should be choosing doing business with Amazon, the new powerful Comcast, Cisco and Salesforce. IBM is here to stay and will just adapt to the new times. But will be still doing business with frenemies like the Microsoft Enterprise branch and the Sun branch of Oracle.

12.-Cisco will continue to acquire at least 3 companies more as it extends its power of being the infrastructure backbone of technology. Will find a favorite frenemy in the new Comcast. Both and other media and telecom companies will be very interested in keeping Google at bay to who they see as a threat. Will gladly do deals with the likes of IBM and Oracle in shared interests.

13.-There will be a lot of consolidation and acquisitions in/from the OpenSource World.

14.-There will be rumors of a Red Hat – VMWare merger than in the end will probably don’t happen. It will still make nervous all the other Big OpenSource companies. If it were to happen possible mergers could include Debian – Canonical. If so, Novell would simply choose to acquire some small nascent companies.

15.-Red Hat will be the target of rumor acquisitions. Most likely suitor being IBM and most unlikely being Cisco.

16.-Some will try to acquire VMWare who don’t wants to be acquired.

17.-VMWare will become the defacto winner in virtualization solutions for everything. will release Mobile virtualizations. Will get interested in Virtualized Environments, Remote access to them via browsers and App Streaming. All 3 last areas being things Microsoft is also interested, researching and developing on. Microsoft will become VMWare pretty much only competition in most areas.

18.-The New Comcast will put everyone nervous, will find lots of opposition but in the end will still exist unless something really surprising and unexpected happens.

19.-Disney will launch a new channel geared for Boys and Teens to compete with Nickelodeon Networks. Based in Content from Marvel and new series. Writers working at Marvel right now will end up commissioning lots of proposals for new content that will get nowhere most of the times but end up as comics.

20.-Marvel will be getting new lines for kids, teens and commercial tie-ins now that Disney is the new owner.

30.-Big Social Networks will concentrate in differentiating themselves from Facebook in what years ago would have been considered niche verticals.

31.-Facebook will integrate Friendfeed features into the status updates stream.

32.-Facebook will separate in 2 Flavors: Standard and Lite post to the new interface update.

33.-Facebook Connect will continue to advance, as it gets to be used in new improved ID Badge Widgets from Facebook trying to persuade users to use it as their new online ID card.

34.-Facebook Payments will launch but will concentrate in-facebook transactions for 2010.

35.-Facebook Payments will be used in a new business opportunity that will come out of business facebook based pages, listings and mini stores. it will also be used as a way to test geolocation that will riff on Foursquare, Twitter and Blippr.

36.-Facebook Payments will end up being the new beacon as it will have a opt-in blippr style option that will raise security, privacy and oversharing concerns.

37.-Facebook Listings (or whatever) will be Facebook based pages for brands and business that will offer deals that can be purchased within Facebook itself.

38.-Facebook Video will become one the top 5 video sites of the world. will branch out a video portal of its own.

39.-Facebook Widgets will be the way of Facebook stretching to the web as they will be embeddable everywhere and they are Facebook Connect enabled.

40.-Facebook Revenue for 2009 will be reported as over 600million.

41.-Facebook profit for 2009 will be around 50-100 million. but it is still well over a billion in the deep because of investments and the fact it didn’t made any profit previously. But Facebook will gloat on been a profitable and advance thinking company. Will boost in new hype most of Silicon Valley will just follow.

42.-Facebook Revenue for 2010 will be over 1 billion dollars.

43.-Facebook Profit for 2010 will be over 300 million dollars. will then only be less than half a billion in the deep. Facebook will gloat even more as if it was not.

44.-Facebook growth in 2010 will slow down but should reach the final plateau of around 500 million by the end of 2010. People will start questioning the stats and wondering what is the real % of active users and what should be considered a active user.

45.-Friendfeed will be closed down or open sourced a la Jaiku. If so, it will still mean that it is dead. Just Zombie dead.

46.-Plurk will either find a monetization road or start facing the question of closing down.

47.-Plurk will continue to grow a lot mostly in Asia.

48.-Plurk, thanks to its API will find more adepts in North America as it starts gaining apps. But these will roll as slow as paint drying. That is unless Plurk starts acting proactively which is unlikely.

49.-Plurk will still remain offended by Microsoft even if it was MSN China. will try to force Microsoft in helping them out to get unblocked in China. Got no clue of what could happen.

50.-Plurk will still be the unsung #2 of Social Messaging. Even if most of the Tech Community in North America will ignore them.

51.-Twitter will go all for GEO thanks to its recent acquisition of GEOapi.

52.-Twitter will open the firehose Api and oAuth for everyone but will present new Paid options for API usage.

53.-Twitter business play will be paid API options.

54.-Twitter will do partnerships with other companies as a way to keep Facebook at bay.

55.-Twitter will do acquisitions but will not be able to buy Bit.ly as it has become too expensive for them. Will instead buy Tweetmeme, a photo twitter solution, a file twitter solution, a video twitter.

56.-Twitter should have at least 100 million of revenue in 2010. but will end up having a poor profit range (as low as 10%) because of acquisitions, development and costs. But they are a good call to keep Facebook and others at bay.

57.-Jack Dorsey’s Square will end up not leading because of fierce competition. Square still should do good and remain a contender. It is possible that rumors of acquisition in late 2010 get to start circulating.

58.-Digg will find success in their advertising approach. Will still want to sell but will deny it. Will follow trends from others. Will remain afloat and doing good.

59.-Revision3 will remain a snail going up a hill. But hey, it is going uphill.

60.-Kevin Rose will try to sell ice to penguins with its twitter directory. The penguin will not bite.

61.-Tumblr will continue to beat Posterous and Soup.io. But Posterous will follow closely enough to keep Tumblr on edge.

62.-The Cloud Wars will be the most entertaining thing for true geeks. Pretty much everyone and their mother will be in it.

63.-Google will find itself with several antitrust problems during the year. will pledge they would never do anything bad. People will start not buying it as more proof of Google way of “not being evil, just innovative” starts coming up.

64.-Google will indeed launch a Google Phone. it will be more hype than anything else. Carriers and builders dealing with Google will not be happy.

65.-Google will gain lots of new enemies as it starts pushing Google Voice via VOIP. Will not see the cost of its arrogance. But many companies will start gunning for it politically.

66.-Google wave 2 will be Etherpad googlefied. It will find moderate success that some people will take as the best thing since sliced bread.The majority will remain not amused.

67.-Google Chrome OS will launch and will be disappointing as every single first year Google product. Hype will still follow and will generate a plethora of ridiculous headlines involving windows in many blog posts.

68.-Google Chrome 5 will be reached and Chrome will finally be a full browser. Internet Explorer and Firefox will get nervous but will counterattack fiercely.

69.-Google Chrome will reach 10% in 2010 cementing its third place for the foreseeable future.

70.-Google will finally do some decent updates to Blogger. yeah, this is more hope than a prediction.

71.-Google will realize that they cannot compete with Office 2010 (Shocking, i know), will try to buy Zoho. Zoho chances of selling are 50/50 based on if Google will be willing to pay well over 1 billion for it.

72.-Google will end up fighting Zoho, Adobe Acrobat, Apple, Oracle and even Thinkfree as the fight for Office in the browser and the cloud gets serious. Only way for Google to stay as #2 is to buy either Zoho or Thinkfree. Adobe want that #2 very very very badly. Also because of the threat of Oracle and Apple getting seriously interested for it. If Oracle get interested in this, they may also want to acquire Thinkfree to ramp up Open Office into a contender. Apple will instead simply build up into iWork.

73.-Google will start getting unfocused and will make lots of mistakes as it figures out that being at the top is bloody hard if people start gunning for you.

74.-Google will lose some marketshare in search and advertising for the first time ever.

75.-Zoho will continue to succeed thanks to their strategy of supporting everything Microsoft and everything Google. The new advances of Adobe, Apple and the prospect of having to compete with Oracle will still make a dent . And those would be the only reasons they would be willing to sell to Google (or anyone). But only if Google (or anyone) is willing to pay a fair price.

76.-Adobe Acrobat will finally get serious as it unveils their version of Powerpoint and update all of their applications. would still need to acquire Sliderocket and Scribd if they really want to do well in the future. But that is impossible to know.

77.-Open Office will start questioning itself in this new war. Best way for it to thrive would be if new daddy Oracle would buy ThinkFree so they came to play for the OOteam.

78.Apple will get serious with a new release of iWork, iWork.com. Start a new marketing chant of Macs being also good for Office. Windows+Office in Bootcamp or Office for Mac will still be the preferred choices much to the chagrin of Apple. But that don’t means they cannot do a good fight for #2, so they will.

79.-Apple hardware failures will start to ramp up and will become the headache of Apple in 2010.

80.-Apple Mac OS X getting more and more attacked by hackers will be a concern to Apple. Many of these new attacks will be sponsored by Security Companies as they see that the business in the Windows side is drying up because of MSE, Windows 7 64bits and a glut of Free Security Software. Also because they know Mac users will gladly pay for anything.

81.-Apple will launch their Tablet and it will be good i must admit. But will not be alone as new convertible pc’s, tablets and readers from EVERYONE start to come up before and after. It will not be the success that Apple expects it to be at all. Possible hardware and software failure could also be a factor as in every gen 1 device. Should still do OK.

82.-Apple growth will slowdown. Stock will fall or flat out.

83.-JooJoo will be unable to fight Techcrunch fury. The thing that did it will end up being that spiteful remark of “Techcrunch is only a blog”. :P

84.-Meizu will continue to enjoy success in Asia. Engadget will continue to mock regardless of that. Gizmodo may start cheering to go the opposite way.

85.-Sony PS3-PSP-PSN strategy will continue to disappoint Sony and most of Video Gamers. Will end up with #2 of Generation and #3 in general. No, Wii is not part of this generation no matter how much Nintendo Fanboys say it. Should be only counted in general.

86.-Nintendo growth will flat out in 2010. Wii sales will decline.

87.-ReadWriteWeb will continue to be the most even out Tech blog even if some crazy Marshall Kirkpatrick posts get to be and Jolie O’Dell continues trying to be too funny. Ok, i am kidding on the last part………or am i?. RWW will continue to copy GigaOM strategy. It will work.

88.-Mashable will become Adshable, CNNshable and Pollshable. Visitors will take note and comment. Pete Cashmore will ponder on it. Outcome unknown.

89.-Techcrunch will continue to lead thanks to the insane post output, MG Siegler and Paul Carr fueled hate being always in the rise ( if people would only realize that THAT is the game) and it being so branched out. Ironic since Big Mikey tirade on content farms right?

90.-The Next Web will become the new BlogNation but without the fraud. They will grow a lot and will put RWW and GigaOM on edge.

91.-The war for Mobile Browsers will break with new releases of Opera Mobile and Opera Mini vs Netfront, Firefox Mobile 1.0, Skyfire, IE Mobile 7 and even a possible Maxthon Mobile.

92.-Opera will lose the war for the desktop as it falls from the TOP 5. will concentrate on Mobile and Devices. It will prove to be the right call as Opera Mini and Opera Mobile will be under attack from Netfront (vs Opera Mini), Firefox Mobile 1.0 ( vs Opera Mobile) and Skyfire (vs Opera Mobile). Devices (TV’s, Consoles, etc) will be the only place where they will continue to reign supreme for the time being.

93.-Nokia will continue to be stubborn and will stick to Symbian and Maemo. will fall to 49% of Dominance. Even if still being incredibly big and being more than just a Mobile maker, Bloggers in the USA that have no clue about this will call for its death.

94.-Nokia will win over Apple in the patent war. May only get 1 billion out of it. Bragging rights still worth it.

95.-Nokia Maemo devices will do well, but will not advance as fast as the competition.

96.-SonyEricsson will continue to flounder with weird smartphones and mediaphones.

97.-Mozilla will release 3.6 in january, 3.7 in may-jun and 4.0 in november-december. 4.0 will be awesome. Chrome and the Google ties will still hurt Mozilla morale big time.They seriously need to cut ties with Google. funny that AOL and Ask may end up being their saving grace.

98.-Mozilla Firefox Mobile 1.0 will launch in the top 5 smartphone ecosystems and will prove to be the right call for Mozilla.

99.-Maxthon will beat opera for the 5th place in the desktop thanks to its introduction in the E.C Browser Choice Ballot, their Russian-Asia deals and their China Browser Research Lab.

100.-I will still be getting lots of “Oh, Avatar?, that movie rocks, You are fan of James Cameron?”. These will be summed up to “Oh, Avatar: The Last Airbender?. Love the series, Movie is nice too. You are a fan of it?”. This even if i have the name since 1996. But having passed the hype of Second Life and Xbox Live references, I will be fine. Ok-Ok, not much of a prediction but i had to wrap this list up.

Some Notes

I have added some humor to the predictions. Hope they don’t offend anyone. These are my own speculations and opinion.

Will also take suggestions if i should break this post into several pieces. I know that a 3000+ words post is quite daunting. I promise to never do posts over 3000 words again.

I will be doing updates via comments to this post all year round until i get to look back to it in late December. If you disagree or got your own 2010 tech predictions please comment on this post. If you like it, please subscribe to the feed or twitter.

If you are wondering why there is no Microsoft 2010 predictions, that is because those got their own post:

10 Microsoft Predictions For 2010

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Technorati Tags: 2010 Predictions,2010 tech predictions,opinion,rant,Appatic 2010 Tech Predictions,Avatar X 2010 Tech Predictions

*Edit 1* (04-01-2010 at 1am) Made it more readable

*Edit 2* (04-01-2010 at 1:30am) Correcting Typos.

10 Microsoft Predictions For 2010

2010-01-01T13:00:00.000-06:00

2009 was a bittersweet year for Microsoft because it was full of hits and misses. But i think that 2010 should be a better year for Microsoft. Here are my predictions for 2010:

1.-New Money Makers.

When people read on that, a thought is usually associated with Sharepoint. But while Sharepoint will continue to be growing like weed as Office 2010 also hits release. It is not a new thing. It has been Microsoft breakthrough hit for the last 2 years. When i mean new, i mean new in the sense that they may have been doing fine, but from 2010 on they should be doing great or surprisingly great.

I.-Microsoft Automotive

First it started to make car appliances to integrate msn derived services and later it expanded to do some simple car media managers. While most don’t know it, It is quite likely that your car (if it was made in the last 3 years) is running Microsoft Automotive in one way or another. All based around specially modified Windows CE 3.0-5.0 (usually). But then it came up with Microsoft Sync for Ford to great success and just now it has struck a partnership with Kia called UVO. That is without mentioning the new Carputers based in Win CE 6.0 and Microsoft SYNC 2 that are also going to be released.

But maybe that is just not all of it and new announcements or partnerships get to be too.

So 2010 should be the year where Microsoft Automotive products jump out as something recognizable in people minds.

II.-Microsoft Robotics

It had a actual very good 2009. The SDK has been downloaded already around 1 million times (counting from all sources) and that is a insane number if we consider it is being used to control Robots…it is not a software that anyone but those studying or working in robotics can use.

The reason i say it will have a even better 2010 is because it will be the year when it starts making money based on activity that is going to be mainly centered in Asia. As they are pumping up bigger initiatives left and right, private and public to accelerate as much as possible Robotics development starting in 2010.

III.-Windows Server HPC and Windows Home Server.

Both have done OK, but it is just about to start showing up more and more as something labeled “Of Interest” in the Windows Server part of Microsoft. They are part of the spectrum ends in the Windows Server biz. From the super high scale operations for Windows Server HPC to the personal server for Home ( and Small Businesses too even if not supposedly intended) they are getting new releases in 2010 and they will meet a lot more success that in 2009.

IV.-Windows Media

IIS7 Media Pack, new Media Center services & capabilities thanks to Windows 7, SmoothStreaming, Zune Video, MSN video, Microsoft TV and last but not less important:

Mediaroom.

If Microsoft is finally going to do a hard push for Windows Media is going to be in 2010 as Windows 7 consolidates marketshare, as it prepares Windows Mobile 7, deploys Zune Video, pitches media around Silverlight and it also finally extends Mediaroom into next gen Cable Top Boxes and Internet Enabled HDtv’s.

So that is why i think it should be a big year for Windows Media.

V.Silverlight

This is of course the safest of the predictions in this entry. Silverlight 3 will be consolidated as it passed over the 51% of Marketshare with the Winter Olympics and goes beyond that with many exclusive events that are on the line for each month of 2010 all around the world, New line of business and Enterprise RIA solutions are developed and all kinds of consumer apps go hybrid (they can run in the browser and in the desktop) and cross platform with Silverlight.

Silverlight 4 should reach out in final form by mid year and Silverlight for Mobile could be announced anywhere from CES to Mix010. It is going to be the biggest year yet for Silverlight as a it is also unveiled for devices and Moonlight 3 reaches parity with Silverlight 3 and parts of Silverlight 4.

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These new buzz generators and many things more are the reason why Microsoft is more Future Proof than most give it credit for.

2.-Search War Escalates And Results Add Up Slowly But Surely

The battle for search with Bing will not be a breakout success in 2010 as Google starts fighting back, but Microsoft should be able to reach anywhere from 20 to 30% in 2010 thanks the Yahoo deal and Google getting distracted with Android, Chrome, Chrome OS and the development of their next generation plugins and also because antitrust clouds will start forming over Google.

3.-Office 2010 Will Have Silverlight Based Counterparts For The Most Important Components By The End Of 2010.

The Office Web Apps were first unveiled as Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote. I think that at least Outlook, a Sharepoint component and a client to manage Office Live Workplace should get the Silverlight treatment and get released in some form. But publisher and project would also be good contenders to get the makeover too.

4.-It Will Be WPF Breakout Year.

WPF is very cool and while many are calling for its end because of Silverlight 4. WPF is a high scale program platform in both power and looks. Silverlight is not anywhere yet able to replace WPF any time soon.

Thanks to the release of WPF 4.0 with .NET 4.0. WPF will show really great advances and will be seen a lot more. The release of Visual Studio 2010 and Expression 4 (Both WPF apps) are only part of the why.

5.-The .NET Framework Goes Places.

.Net has already displaced Java in the consumer desktop side. Silverlight that is a .NET derivation and simil will allow .NET to displace Java a lot more in the Enterprise via LOB and ERIA solutions. .NET 4.0 with WPF 4.0 will allow it to continue gaining ground in many new ways. .NET CF 4.0, ASP .NET MVC, MONO,Moonlight, etc, etc will also help a lot to get .NET everywhere.

6.XNA in Mobiles, Desktop And The Browser In A Official Form.

It is unclear how, but either via Silverlight or via .NET. XNA and the games from Xbox Live Arcade will start appearing officially beyond Xbox Live. They were already showing up in those places thanks to Silversprite (Browser via Silverlight), WPF-XNA (Desktop via a WPF app) and Mono.XNA for MonoTouch (Mobile in the iPhone)

7.-Windows Live Will Ship New Apps and New Services Besides Solid Updates.

The biggest problem about Windows Live is Brand Confusion and Poor Marketing.

Thanks to the association with Windows 7 and the reorganization in Microsoft that now put Windows and Windows Live together under Steve Sinofsky as the Windows Client and Windows Live Services division. I think that those previous problems will start to dissipate.

I have read and been alert of any kind of Windows Live rumors and they are very disjointed and extreme. But i do believe that 2010 should bring 2 new Apps to the staple of Windows Live and some new web services additions.

I unfortunately got no clue on what exactly they will end up releasing so i will not even try. The Windows Live team have been the most unpredictable group at Microsoft for the past 4 years.

8.-Microsoft Surface 2 Will Get Released in New Forms And Surface 1 Will Be Available For $5K

Microsoft Surface is right now the size and height of a kitchen table because it works with projectors and laser scanners that make it big. Surface 2 according to some rumors comes in more than one form and it will be less that half the height of Surface 1. Minimum price should start below 10K.

Surface 1 units are very likely to get discounted and resold by first buyers for $5k or less.

9.-Microsoft Will Get So Aggressive In The Cloud That Will Quickly Match Or Surpass Everyone Else.

I have read many takes saying that Azure “Is not enough” or that “It is only as good as Amazon Web Services” which is nonsense. People saying these things are either not technical enough or forget that Azure is not the only thing Microsoft got to fight in the cloud.

Windows Azure is the most important piece. The center of the cloud strategy but people often forget that they got Microsoft Online Services and that they are now getting ready to offer all kind of Software As A Service without the need of native installs. These new kind of app are installed for the session in a way alike to .NET ClickOnce or Silverlight OOB.

The combination will prove to be enough to gain a dominant role against AWS. Microsoft worry in the clouds don’t lies in IBM, Amazon or Google. They will come from surprising offerings and partnerships that VMWare will come up as it will fiercely join the fight for the cloud, servers and even the desktop.

But whatever happens a price and feature war will be fought.

10.-Windows Mobile Will Be Fine And WM7 Will Surprise.

Looks like almost every big blog is calling for the death of Windows Mobile and its supposed lack of relevancy in 2009. They were wrong in 2009 because it took to the very end of the year for the iPhone to pass Windows Mobile in a set of surveys that got a divided opinion. And as much championing of Android and Palm WebOS as there was. Windows Mobile is still 8 times bigger than Android and over 15 times bigger than Palm WebOS. It is not realistic to say that Android will manage to grow 10 times its size in 2010 and even if it would. Windows Mobile would have to stand flat for Android to be able to surpass it in a year time. In the case of WebOS surpassing Windows Mobile…that, that is just a pipe dream.

Windows Mobile 7 is a big question mark in everybody’s mind. But the possibilities based on the whispers around it are quite incredible and if true it would change the game:

Windows CE 7.0

(Weird because WinCE 6.0 is still fresh)

Silverlight 4 UI-UX based

(Some say that this is the why it was delayed. There is also videos around that show Silverlight 3 based UI-UX development for mobiles)

.NET CF 4.0

(Makes sense, but what this will be used for if it is going to be SL4 based?)

XNA as the gaming platform.

(Would be fitting if it is going to be SL4 based. Both use XAML)

Azure Connected

(How exactly?, maybe is for sync services or it refers to Outlook, Office and Windows Live. No one knows)

Whatever happens i am sure that Windows Mobile 7 will be worth the wait and that it will meet success in the long run.

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We will see how right or wrong i get to be in a year.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Windows,Windows Server,Windows Live,Windows Mobile,Microsoft Surface,Microsoft Robotics,Microsoft Online Services,Windows Azure,2010 predictions

Happy New Year – Feliz Año Nuevo 2010

2009-12-31T22:40:00.000-06:00

2010 is a transitional year. but unlike any other it aims for a future of wonder and the things next to come in the second decade of the 21st century. If the year 2000 meant that we were touching the Future. 2010 is the year were we need to accept that we are now living it.

Now lets think, dream and act on the promise of a better future and a reality of based on the better good.

Happy New Year and a prosper 2010!

Feliz Año y prospero 2010!

-Avatar X