Today has seen a swell of news that makes me think that Windows Mobile 7 won’t be a complete bust after all. MobileCrunch is reporting that Microsoft may debut the new mobile operating system, along with new hardware, at the Mobile World Congress on February 15. If not then, AllThingsD predicts that they could be revealed at the CTIA Wireless convention in March.

Regardless of when the details are actually announced, both sites seem to be running with the assumption that the new WinMo 7 phones will be released shortly afterwards. Not only does this mean that we could see the OS far ahead of its previous release timetable (we expected it towards the end of 2010), but both sites are also claiming from different sources that WinMo 7 will see aspects of the Zune HD’s user experience — which lends credence to all of the Project Pink phone rumors.

MobileCrunch’s tipster also laid down some potential details on WinMo 7 and the new hardware:

• It’s “essentially a copy of the Zune HD’s kernel”, and the UI is very much like the Zune HD
• Microsoft is regimenting screen size and RAM amount, and minimum processor speeds
• Expect no background processes, system resource access, and no threaded processes (very iPhone-like)
• It won’t run Windows Mobile 6 code
• They’re aiming for gaming and multimedia consumers with Xbox Live integration, instead of the business types
• There will be an MS app store with a simple approval process

Aside from the potential lack of multi-tasking, WinMo 7 looks to be falling in line with the predictions I made back in October. We haven’t heard much about what will be powering these potential new devices, but Microsoft will surely want to stick with nVidia’s Tegra technology which drives all the UI goodness in the Zune HD.

If MS had continued along with their end of 2010 release for WinMo 7, they likely wouldn’t have stood a chance in the mobile market. Now they could potentially build some buzz and release their new phones before Apple’s next iPhone revision, and be in a good place to compete with the rising Android threat. It’s a shame MS didn’t make these big announcements at CES, because they could have easily ruled that event much like Palm did last year. Most likely they didn’t have much to show at the time, and they’re probably burning the midnight oil to make a big splash at one of these upcoming events.

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Windows Mobile 7 with Zune Integration Coming Soon?

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Note: I wrote this post back in September 2009, before Tegra started showing up in many devices. I think many of my points still stand, so I’m reproducing it here for archival purposes. Enjoy.

The first device to feature nVidia’s much-hyped “Tegra” technology, the Zune HD, has been out for a few weeks now. I figured it’s worth spending some time reflecting on the technology, and what it means for the future of mobile computing. I’ve been eagerly following Tegra since 2008 because of its potential to revolutionize mobile devices; it promised to deliver powerful computing, video and 3D performance all with a very low power footprint. And given its relatively smooth implementation in the Zune HD, I believe nVidia has accomplished what they initially set out to do.

What’s behind Tegra?
In short, the Tegra is what’s referred to as a “system on a chip”. It’s the combination of a processor, graphics chip, memory, and several other components that go into a typical computing system — the difference being that Tegra fits all of those components onto a single chip. Its minuscule size, along with its impressively low power consumption (it can decode HD video while only drawing 1w of power!), makes Tegra an ideal technology for mobile devices. You can check out the further technical details on Wikipedia.

How is it different than other solutions?
Their currently isn’t any other technology that can take on Tegra toe-to-toe. Due to its system on a chip design, Tegra can be placed in cellphones and similarly sized portable media devices like the Zune HD.

The closest competing solution would probably be Intel’s Atom line of processors–however, Atom still requires a separate chipset to handle graphics, memory, and storage. This currently makes it impossible for Intel to get the chip in mobile products, but it remains ideal for netbook-sized devices. Intel is eventually planning to go with a system on a chip design for future Atom products, so nVidia won’t be alone in this segment for too long.

Why should I care about Tegra?
The biggest draw for Tegra is its ability to do a lot of work while drawing very little power. Since improvements on battery technology move at a far slower pace than other tech, hardware manufacturers are often forced to figure out ways to get more performance while not killing battery life. Tegra accomplishes this by consolidating many components onto one chip. It’s also what allows the Zune HD to be so generous with its use of 3D (among other visual flourishes) while not taking a huge battery hit.

The Zune HD also provides a glimpse at what Tegra is capable of when power isn’t an issue–in particular, when its connected to a dock and used as a media center for HDTVs. We’ve also seen demos of netbooks running Tegra that can handle HD video without issue, even when sending the video to a large HDTV. In comparison, my Intel Atom-based netbook can’t play 720p video without occasionally hiccuping. Tegra will ultimately allow for more capable mobile devices, and will give us computing power to spare.     

What do other companies need to do to compete? 
The mobile space forces hardware manufacturers to think smarter, because they can’t simply increase the processor speed to get more performance — they also have to consider battery life and the portability of the hardware. Tegra has made nVidia king of the hill, and now everyone else has to catch up. As I mentioned above, Intel’s looking at upgrading Atom to a system on a chip design to compete with nVidia, but there hasn’t been much word from other potential players. AMD, the rival processor company to Intel (and owner of ATI), has been mum on this segment.

With rumors swirling that Nintendo may be using Tegra in its next DS, coupled with the fact that Microsoft will surely want to stick with it for their future portable devices (phones, or otherwise), it’s clear that nVidia is onto something. I just hope other chip manufacturers sit up and take notice; as I’ve written about before, competition is always a good thing.  

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What nVidia’s Tegra Means for Mobile Devices, and Why You Should Care

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One of many Apple tablet mock ups (via Gizmodo)

The hype surrounding Apple’s potential tablet release this year has gotten to be pretty unbearable over the past few weeks. The ever-contentious Joe Wilcox argued that the world doesn’t need tablets, John Gruber wrote that it may potentially be “Apple’s reconception of person computing“, while many others are treating it like the coming of the Messiah.

Now many sources are reporting that Apple is set for a “major product announcement” on Jan. 27th, and that a French developer has received a beta of the iPhone OS4 SDK, which includes options for scaling applications to tablet screen sizes. The Wall Street Journal also lends further credence to the tablet news by reporting that Apple is set to unveil the tablet device later this month, with a release in March. Hopefully once we get some concrete info on this thing, the tech blogosphere will calm down a bit.

Over the past few months, I’ve written a bit about tablets over at Royal Pingdom. In December, I asked “Who needs tablet computers anyway?” While my title may sound similar to Wilcox’s above article, I approached the question in a very different way. I don’t deny that tablets will eventually become a widely useful computing segment, but I think it’s going to take some time for them to find their place in our computing lives.

Several months ago, I also wrote about how great it is that Microsoft’s Courier device is taking a completely different approach from what we hear about the Apple tablet. Personally, I want a Courier more than any other tablet I’ve seen thus far.

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Did You Hear? I Think Apple’s Releasing a Tablet!

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The Archos 5 Android Tablet

Om Malik wrote up a great post today on the “Androidification of Everything” which served as a reminder that 2010 is truly going to be the year of the Android. I offered some predictions on what we’ll see from Android in 2010 over at Royal Pingdom, and Om’s post serves as an elaboration on one of my previous points. I wrote:

Part of the beauty of Android is that it’s not just limited to cellphones. Google has crafted a lightweight operating system that could do well on many other devices. We’ve already seen Android implemented on the Archos 5 portable media device, as well as the Barnes and Noble Nook eBook reader. In 2010 we can look forward to it showing up on netbooks (Acer already has one planned), and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it popping up on Internet tablet devices either.

Om mentions that both chip companies and semiconductor firms are excited about the possibilities for Android hardware. In terms of making Android ubiquitous, this is something that is possibly more important than Android phones eventually defeating the iPhone in marketshare. Smartphones are just one segment of Android’s importance. Android’s ubiquity among all mobile devices (e-book readers, tablets, netbooks, etc.) will be far more significant in the long run.

Read: The Androidification of Everything

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Looking Forward to the Android Takeover

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The next generation of high-speed transfer interfaces is on the horizon, and Asus is first on the block with the announcement that their upcoming Xtreme Design P7P55D-E Series motherboard is including both USB 3.0, and support for 6Gbit/s SATA. In short, it’s very fast–the board is capable of transferring a 20GB file in less than 70 seconds. This would take 2-3 minutes on a typical desktop today.

I’m particularly excited for USB 3.0 because it has an effective transfer rate of around 3Gbit/s, compared to USB 2.0’s current theoretical max of 480Mbit/s. Real world usage with USB 2.0 often sees around 300Mbit/s transfers, which makes USB 3.0 ten times faster. Of course, to see the added speed benefit you need to use USB 3.0 compatible devices which will be slowly trickling out soon.

The new SATA 6Gbit/s speed doubles the current SATA maximum from 3Gbit/s, and you’ll need newer hard drives to see the increased speed.

This motherboard has all sorts of other interesting features going for it, but I’m more interested in the speed boosts. I’ve already mentally added USB 3.0 and next-gen SATA to the list of things I’d want in a new board whenever I upgrade next.

[Source: Far East Gizmos]

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Asus Starts the USB 3.0 & SATA 6Gb Hype Train

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Update: Microsoft has issued an official response to this news here, and it seems they’re keeping 360 Netflix access tied to Live Gold membership. Don’t despair though, I have a hunch that they’ll reconsider if the Netflix PS3 service takes off strongly.

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It was only a matter of time before Netflix started sharing the streaming love across game consoles. Last night they announced that their streaming content, which has been much beloved on the Xbox 360, will be making the jump to the Playstation 3 as well. It won’t be integrated into the PS3’s software for some time, but Netflix subscribers can sign up to receive a Blu-ray disc that will grant them access to the stream content. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be an installation disc–it has to be in the console to work–but on the plus side PS3 users don’t have to pay anything extra for Netflix access.

This news shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Netflix has no reason to remain exclusive to Microsoft forever. All they care about is getting Netflix access to as many boxes as possible. The Xbox was the ideal way to introduce the service to the console world–what with its larger install base and Microsoft’s near-psychotic drive to outdo the PS3 in every way possible.

For the longest time, it was thought that Sony would be against Netflix integration for fear that it would cannibalize Blu-ray sales (Note to Sony: DVD and an uninterested public are your real concern). Sony’s focus now should be on making sure that the Netflix experience on the PS3 is as well integrated into the platform as it is on the 360. Hopefully it’s easier to navigate than Sony’s PS3 video store.

The real question now is how will Microsoft respond. First off, I’m fairly certain we’ll see them announce that Netflix will no longer require the premium Xbox Live Gold account sometime soon. This is the beauty of competition, Microsoft’s hand will simply be forced in the matter. I also suspect that they’ll continue on working out ways to offer content the PS3 can’t–be it exclusive Netflix content, or exclusive HD access.

It’s a win for consumers (and Netflix) however things work out in the ongoing competition between MS and Sony.

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Finally, Netflix Streaming is Coming to the PS3

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It’s no surprise that Apple has launched a new series of ads to compete with the launch of Windows 7, but the one above in particular really makes me want to smash my head into my desk. It starts with PC saying that Windows 7 is “not going to have any of the problems” Windows Vista had, and then proceeds to repeat that mantra through past versions of Windows (all the way back to Windows 3) while PC’s clothes get further outdated. All the while, Mac remains typically hip.

Now I know that Apple isn’t aiming for realism here–but pretending that the Mac OS didn’t have issues throughout the 90s just like Windows is pretty much rewriting history. I would argue that Windows 98 and 2000 were far better than anything the Mac had to offer until the release of OSX. And let’s not forget that the company wasn’t truly hip until Steve Jobs came back 1996. But then I suppose that doesn’t make for a cute commercial.

You can check out the other ads in the series over at All Things Digital.

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Apple’s New Anti-Windows 7 Ads Hurt My Brain

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Update: And like a swift judo chop to the groin for Microsoft, Google has announced a Twitter deal as well.

All Things D got the scoop this morning on two upcoming deals Microsoft has made to integrate real time updates from Twitter and Facebook into their Bing search engine. Their post was later confirmed by an official Microsoft announcement. The deal is a coup for Microsoft because it means they’ve successfully beat out Google from integrating real time updates into their search engine. The two have been trying to court Facebook and Twitter for some time now, with rumors of buyouts floating among all the various deals. While Google remains tops in traditional web searching, the value of real time searching is also becoming more apparent every day. For once, Microsoft has access to something Google doesnt.

Not surprisingly, the implementation of both services into Bing will be very different. All Twitter posts will appear automatically (and I assume private Twitter posts won’t), but Facebook users will have to opt in due to the closed nature of that social network. Strangely enough, the implementation of real time search into Bing seems to be directly at odds with their current marketing campaign, which heralds Bing as the cure for search overload. It’ll be some time before we see these services in action, but if Bing’s real time search results end up cluttering their other results, I’m going to have to call shenanigans.

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Bing Adds Twitter and Facebook Posts to Search Results, Should Google Worry?

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You’ve probably already heard about the Nanda Clocky alarm; it’s the alarm that has wheels so that it can race around your bedroom when it goes off in the morning, forcing you to get up and be more alert instead of just hitting snooze. I’ve followed the product since the creator, Guari Nanda, acquired a lot of press when she first showed off her idea as an MIT grad student. But while it seems that the product has found success, it also appears that the company has become a bit restrictive towards users who attempt to resell the product on eBay. Tech Dirt has the equally infuriating/hilarious tale of a family member who tried to sell their Clocky on eBay, only to be struck down by a trademark violation notice.

It sounds as if the user was trying to sell the Clocky as a new product, and perhaps Nanda was mistaken and thought he was trying to become some sort of unauthorized reseller. Ebay’s process for clearing up these misunderstandings isn’t easy: You have to get the “violated” company to approve your specific product listing. This user did that, but somehow still ended up getting another violation notice the next day.

I agree with Tech Dirt when they say that this sort of faulty trademark protection could conceivably harm the market for second-hand products. Ebay needs to find a way to handle faulty complaints–perhaps by punishing companies that make excessive incorrect violation requests? Until this is resolved, the user should just go ahead and sell it on Craigslist already.

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The Nanda Alarm Clock eBay Fail

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Zune Video, streaming on Xbox 360 from Ars Technica on Vimeo.

The next Xbox Live update will bring a bevy of new features, including Twitter, Facebook, and Last.fm access. I’m particularly interested to see if Last.fm works as well all the previews say. Another feature that’s getting less press is the ability to stream 1080p films from the renamed Zune Store. As an owner of an original 20GB Xbox 360, the notion of downloading 4GB+ files is becoming more and more of an impossibility, so a good streaming solution is key for MS.

I’ve been wondering if the service is as instant as Microsoft says it is (the fastest streaming we’ve seen on the Xbox thus far is 720p HD Netflix content), and according to the Opposable Thumbs blog at Ars, it definitely works as advertised. Video proof is above, and while it may be blurry, you can clearly get a sense of how fast the streaming works. Let’s just hope this quality keeps up when released to the public.

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1080p Xbox Movie Streaming Works as Advertised

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I always find it odd that while many seem to have no issue with Apple coming up with new and creative ways to market their products, for some reason it’s an issue when other companies try to market against Apple. Case in point: Ars Technica is currently polling their readers to see what they think of Verizon’s new “iDon’t” ads. At the time of this post, 38% of users said they loved the ads, and 28% said they were “just okay”. Still, that’s a majority viewing those ads positively. I’m thinking the results of this poll may be a bit of a surprise to Ars, because they argued that general users wouldn’t find the points covered in the ad all to useful.

Ars readers are surely far from “general”, and I’m sure they’re getting more out of this ad then most. But I do think covering the fact that the Droid has a keyboard, a 5MP camera, and that it’s going to be available on Verizon’s great network will pique mainstream interest more than Ars thinks. The iPhone and AT&T’s 3G network are ripe with flaws to critique, and I certainly have no problem with companies aiming directly at them in their advertising. Verizon pulled a similar ploy with their “There’s a map for that” ad, and we’ve also seen Microsoft try to take on the Apple tax with their “Laptop Hunter” ads.

They may not be as creative or (sometimes) groundbreaking as Apple’s marketing, but they are fairly honest critiques against Apple’s flaws. Mainstream users may not get everything Verizon wants them to from the ad, but it’s a knock against Apple’s seemingly perfect marketing facade. I would consider that at least a semi-success for Verizon.

View the ad below, and tell me what you think:

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Do Verizon’s “iDon’t” Ads Miss the Point?

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Among the many emerging solar technologies out there, dye-sensitized solar cells are perhaps the most interesting due to their incredibly low cost, coupled with their fairly high ~11% efficiency (at least among thin-film panels). According to Technology Review, backpacks coated with the cells for portable gadget recharging were recently unveiled at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair. The cells are based on the tech invented by a chemistry professor, Michael Grätzel, who mentions that they work well at wide light angles, are less susceptible to degradation in sunlight, and also work efficiently with indoor lighting.

As someone who’s always fretting about the battery life of their portable devices, I could definitely see the value in having recharging capabilities right out of my backpack–assuming it doesn’t cost a fortune. There’s little word on pricing for these backpacks, but as the first of their kind to market I don’t suspect they’ll be on the affordable end of the spectrum.

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Cheap Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Coming to a Backpack Near You

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I’m not sure if there’s a point to this video at all, but for the sake of stuff getting smashed, here goes: Gizmag is reporting on a recent Australian Sony press event held at a crash test facility, wherein they propelled shiny new slim PS3s into 46″ Bravia televisions. The stunt was apparently part of an Australian promotion that sees Sony giving away 25,000 120GB PS3s with certain Bravia models.

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Sony’s Idea of Corporate Synergy: Smashing PS3s into Bravia TVs at 50mph

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Ars has a great post up on the 5 ways Ubuntu has made Linux more human in commemoration of the distro’s fifth birthday. They bring up some good points, including how being philosophically driven has helped Canonical drive development, its easy installation (which has gotten even simpler over the years) and setup process, and their focus on desktop usability. When using most other Linux distributions, I often feel that they’re developed by and for engineers–Ubuntu doesn’t feel like that at all.

I remember being gung-ho for Ubuntu in its early years–but that was long before I realized that the biggest problem with Linux desktop distributions is Linux. For all of Canonical’s attempts at making Ubuntu an easy-to-use environment, there are still situations where you need to bust out the command line, or hunt down and recompile an obscure package. It makes for a great operating system for non-techy users only after a Linux-head makes sure everything is up to par.

At this point I’m not sure if we’ll ever see a true mainstream Linux desktop environment. In practice, it still seems to work best in consumer devices (where users don’t care/don’t need to know what OS is being run). Until Linux distros can approach the ease of use and multimedia/device compatibility that Windows and Max OSX offer, the quest for Linux desktop domination seems excessively quixotic.

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Ubuntu’s Fiesty Fifth Birthday, And Linux As A Desktop Solution

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I suppose its no surprise that Apple’s latest hardware announcements have taken over the tech news waves today. After all, the announcement of sexy new 27″ iMacs, coupled with the future availability of Intel’s next generation Core i5 and i7 processors, is sort of hard to ignore. There were upgrades across the board for the Macbook, Time Capsule, and Mac Mini as well–but strangely enough, the most compelling announcement to me was that of a lowly input device: The Magic Mouse.

In general, I don’t hold too much fondness for Apple input devices, specifically their mice. Ever since the release of the “hockeypuck” Apple USB mouse with the original iMac, it seems as if Apple has aimed to purposefully torture their users. The Apple Pro mouse was an improvement (insofar as you could actually use it without wanting to harm yourself and others), but it was still stubbornly one buttoned–a trend Apple didn’t waver from until the two-buttoned Mighty Mouse in 2005. And yet, the Mighty Mouse remained far from ergonomic, and the rubber nipple scroll-ball was more a novelty than a true competitor to the scroll-wheel.

Basically, it seemed as if Apple was almost willfully ignoring the advances being made by the likes of Logitech, Microsoft, and other input device manufacturers. I’m honestly not sure why Mac users never raised a stink about it, but then I suppose it’s similar to how most people don’t realize how much the standard iPhone earbuds suck.

In contrast to their dubious history, the Magic Mouse appears to be much more ergonomic, and it eschews the rubber nipple for multi-touch capabilities. Wireless connectivity via Bluetooth is also the standard now. Just two weeks ago we saw some info trickle out about multi-touch mice being developed by Microsoft–but of course they were years from ever hitting the marketplace. As is often the case, Apple has leapfrogged the competition by releasing today what many considered years away.

The multi-touch gestures seem intuitive, and as a PC user the functionality actually makes me a bit jealous. I know that Windows 7 has multi-touch built in as well, and I’m hoping that someone eventually releases drivers to bring the Magic Mouse across the OS pond.

Check out a video demonstration of the gestures below:

The Magic Mouse will have a resounding impact on input devices moving forward–more than anything announced today. We’re going to see many different attempts at bringing multi-touch to the desktop, but once again we can thank Apple for being first and giving everyone else a swift kick in the pants to speed up their own innovation.

The Magic Mouse will be included with the newer iMacs announced today, and will be available separately for $69 at the end of October. You can hear me discuss the Magic Mouse, along with Apple’s other announcements, on episode 15 of the Symbiotek Podcast (coming soon).

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Why The Magic Mouse is the Most Important Apple Announcement Today

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If there’s one thing that’s annoyed me most about PC gaming, it’s all the work that goes into keeping up with the hottest video cards on the market. It’s sort of a crazy experience, especially for average consumers, and it’s something that I’ve always felt has kept significant portions of the PC gaming market far too exclusive to survive in the long run.

The Lucid Hydra 200 doesn’t solve all of these problems, but it makes it possible for people with less hardcore computer rigs to throw in any video card they choose to get a bit more power. Effectively, you could have an ATI and an nVidia card running in tandem without having to worry about their multi-GPU nonsense (Crossfire or SLI). It also seems like it’s not that expensive for motherboard manufacturers to implement this feature, which means we can see adoption spread quite quickly. Over time, perhaps the costs could even be driven down to fit the $100-$150 motherboard market.

Moreso than PhysX, this is the sort of innovation we need to see in the PC gaming segment.

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The Lucid Hydra 200 Makes Multi-GPU Gaming Across Video Card Vendors a Reality

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Last night I attended my first session of the New York Tech Meetup, and it seems I’ve found exactly what I’ve been looking for in the city when it comes to a vibrant tech community. I recently moved to New York from Western Massachusetts to pursue a career writing about technology and film–after several years of IT work and dreaming about making the jump to writing full time. I had already gotten my taste of the film blogging world after covering Comic-Con and several press screenings for Slashfilm, but I had yet to get a full sense of what being in New York means for my tech interests until last night.

The first thing I noticed during the evening’s introduction (by NYTM organizer Nate Westheimer) was that New York techies seem to have a major complex towards the Silicon Valley and Boston tech communities. There’s a clear cultural difference between NY and the Valley, but as someone who spent their entire life halfway between New York and Boston (I grew up in Hartford, then went to college and worked for four years in Western Mass.), it never really occurred to me how the NY tech community was different than Boston. Westheimer mentioned one key difference (which he also wrote about on his blog)–that the NY community fails at connecting the university and commercial spaces.

Given the tech titans we’ve seen come out of MIT and Harvard, I think he may have a point. Culturally, Boston tends to focus on academia and intellectualism, so it’s no surprise that their higher educational institutions aren’t ignored when it comes to commercial tech ventures.  Westheimer went on to explain that the scheduled demos (two from Columbia, and two  from NYU) were examples of the innovation coming out of the university space, and that the commercial sector should take note.

Here’s a rundown of those demos:

Green Dot (NYU)

On their site, the Green Dot folks describe their work as “a research project that investigates motion capture, pattern recognition, and ‘Intrinsic Biometrics’ techniques to detect and analyze human movement signatures in video.” In short, their technology resembles the motion capturing we see today (wherein an actor’s movements are recorded via dots placed on their body), except without the need to wear anything. After a video feed is processed by their technology, the end result is a video with green dots tracking the movement in the source. Again, this looks very similar to footage you see from typical motion capturing techniques today.

They demoed some video footage of famous figures and pointed out some interesting factoids based on their visual signatures. The project is government funded, and you can definitely foresee some military uses of this technology once it’s perfected. They describe their current focus as “the analysis of national and international public figures while they are giving speeches, with future plans to investigate many other domains.” Read into that what you will.

On the consumer and professional levels, the technology could be really useful for bringing motion capturing to the masses. Imagine taking a video of your cat walking, and then applying that motion to a 3D figure.  If you’re an iPhone 3G or 3GS user and want to try it out for yourself, you can download their application from the app store, just search for “Dot Show Ian Spiro”.

CuZero (Columbia)

CuZero is an interesting attempt at changing the way we search for images. The presenter points out that image searching in its current fashion simply doesn’t work very well (anyone who has used the Google Images search for any length of time can attest to that). For the most part, image searching today relies on file names, the “alt” tag (which can be placed alongside the images on a website, but usually isn’t), and text surrounding the picture.

CuZero turns this paradigm on its head by allowing you to bring in text and image queries into a grid, and prioritize the different elements of your search in real time. You can also further filter your search results via a similar interactive method. It’s honestly hard to explain in words, so head over to their website and check out a video demo.

I got a very Minority Report vibe from the way they were able to interact with their queries, and the way their system also recognized buildings and other elements from pictures was also fascinating. This research certainly has the potential to change the way we search for images in the future.

Musically Intelligent Machines (Columbia)

Musically Intelligent Machines is a project that aims to automatically classify music–much in the same way Pandora works, except without the need for human intervention. The developers crawled through 15,000 mp3s to demo the service, and you can play with it on their site. The presenter mentioned that he was surprised the software could determine what constituted “British” music. Apparently it’s smart enough to determine British accents, and possibly even British styles of music.

Overall, the software works as advertised, and there is certainly a market for this sort of thing. I’d be interested to see how it would compete on a commercial scale against the likes of Last.FM and Pandora.

Teaching Robots to See (NYU)

At these sorts of events, there has to be at least one project that portends the impending robot uprising, and this project’s goal of creating robots that can see certainly brings Skynet to mind. NYU professor Yann LeCun demonstrated the research by showing how their software can recognize objects (he used a toy soldier, which was recognized as human, and a toy airplane that was recognized as an airplane). He also showed how they’ve trained robots to move autonomously and avoid objects using a dual camera system for eyes.

His work actually comes out of the same place that Green Dot calls home, the Vision Learning Graphics group at NYU. With their technologies combined, we could easily see some very important future developments emerging.

Dan Bricklin was also interviewed by the great NY blogger Anil Dash. Bricklin was both hilarious and insightful, and I now feel compelled to grab his new book at some point. There’s something about tech history stories that I find completely fascinating, and as creator of the spreadsheet (among many contributions), he must certainly have some good stories to tell.

Check out Dan’s interview, along with the rest of the event, at the NYTM video page.

More than 1,000 words later, I realize now that I could write about this Meetup for several more pages. I take that as a good sign. The NYTM makes me excited to be a techie in New York, and I’m proud to be the third person to RSVP for October’s event. If you’d like to join, simply sign up via their Meetup page. I would love to have some Meetup buddies!

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Thoughts on the September 09 New York Tech Meetup

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I’m about ready to give up on Digsby. I’ve been a faithful user for the past year and a half, and I’ve written about it positively as well, but it seems as if they have no desire to implement two of the biggest missing features since the beta: Group chat, and in-line text formatting (the ability to bold/italicize/etc. individual letters and words). Instead, they seem content to push forward with more complex social networking features (today, it’s URL shortening and better MySpace Newsfeed support), all the while ignoring what I consider basic features for any IM client.

I don’t think I’m being greedy by asking for these features. Group chat (and chat room) support was a part of AIM since the 90s, and it’s also a feature of every major IM platform that Digsby supports. It’s shocking to me that so long after Digsby’s release, I still need to open up another client or head to Meebo to participate in group chat.

Similarly, I have no idea what’s keeping them from implementing proper in-line text formatting. Currently, if you choose any formatting options in Digsby, it applies that formatting to the entire post. For example, writing a sentence like this would be impossible in Digsby because it would end up bolding, underlining, and italicizing the entire sentence. Somehow, this doesn’t seem like a feature that should be missing from any text-heavy program in the year 2009, let alone something focused on text communication.

This is what happened when I tried to format a single word in this post:

I initially started using Digsby as a replacement to Trillian Pro for aggregating all of my IM services (I was tired of waiting for Trillian Astra), and the fact that it also aggregated social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter was convenient at the time as well. Things are different today. I use TweetDeck to follow Twitter (and occasionally Facebook), and Trillian Astra is finally out in public beta. Trillian actually supports group chat and in-line formatting, and is aiming to compete with Digsby with social networking aggregation as well. And yes, I know about Miranda IM and Pidgin, but both are a bit too simple (not to mention fugly) for my tastes.

I can’t imagine I’m the only one annoyed by Digsby’s shortcomings, but I suppose most users are too dependent on its more advanced features to let these minor issues bother them. I honestly think the Digsby team has done great work on the client since beta as well, but that doesn’t excuse them from failing to implement two fairly basic features.

At this point, I’m going to switch over to Trillian Astra full time to see if it does everything else I need. After criticizing the Cerulean Studios team for so long on their delayed Astra release cycle, I owe them this much. If the Digsby team ever decides to fix these features, I may give it another shot.

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Dear Digsby, Where’s the Group Chat and In Line Text Formatting?!

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Okay, so it’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I’m working on remedying that right now. Without revealing too much, let’s just say I’ll be making some time to do a lot more tech writing in the near future. If you’re interested in what I’ve been working in for the past few months, check out my work on the /Filmcast podcast, /Film, Twitter, and my Tumblog.

Along came the Palm Pre–a phone I like to refer to as the first real “iPhone killer”. I know that’s a loaded statement, but in this case I think it truly applies. The Pre is of course building on the iPhones success, but its improvements over Apple’s platform are fairly significant. Whereas the iPhone is media and gaming focused, Palm is taking things back to what made them famous with the Palm Pilot–productivity.

This may just be me, but I find the focus on productivity is something I’d appreciate on my phone moreso than (battery draining) media and games. Palm’s emphasis on getting things done starts with the Pre’s physical keyboard, and continues to the phone’s multitasking capabilities and the Synergy data sharing across a variety services. From everything I’ve seen, the Pre’s aim is to make your life in our information saturated world a bit easier. It’s an objective that directly builds upon Palm’s beginnings in the PDA market, and it also shows how serious they are about reclaiming smartphone marketshare from the likes of the Blackberry and Windows Mobile.

I know I’m late to the party with covering this, but I just had to express my excitement over the Pre. Not only is it a great looking device that could give the iPhone some much needed competition, but it’s a great story as well. Palm’s future is based upon the success of this phone. So just as we geeks are eagerly anticipating every bit of information about this device, I’m sure that Palm is anxious to see how well it performs.

Palm’s been very careful about releasing any information on the Pre’s pricing and availability, but word is that we’ll finally know the details in the next few weeks. I should hope so, because Palm is surely working hard to get this thing on the street in June. The release is perfect timing for me since I’m looking to replace my Helio Ocean, and it should also coincide with Apple’s latest iPhone refresh.

Like many, I will be making an epic purchasing decision between the Pre and iPhone, and I can only hope that the Pre lives up to the hype.

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My Thoughts on the Palm Pre

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photo credit: MobileBurn

I’ve come to the realization that I desperately want the T-Mobile G1. Last year I was itching for a new phone, and ended up grabbing a Helio Ocean in November. But, let’s face it, the Ocean is so 2007 by this point–not to mention that Helio has since been bought out by Virgin Mobile, which makes their future (along with that of a potential Ocean successor) somewhat murky. Along comes the G1–which retains the Oceans oh-so-necessary QWERTY slider keyboard–and, conveniently enough, seems to improve on all the features of the Ocean.

Evolving from Dual Sliders

The defining characteristic of the Helio Ocean is the phone’s dual slider configuration. Slide up vertically and the phone reveals a standard number pad. Slide horizontally, and you get a QWERTY keyboard. While ingenious (it required the invention of a new type of triangular spring), this configuration also makes the Ocean a bit bulkier than some other phones. [Technology Review ran a large feature covering the Ocean's design in 2007, and it's well worth their site's annoying registration.]

The G1 improves on this design by foregoing the number pad (which I never use anyway), and instead relies on a larger, touch-enabled screen. Unfortunately for Helio, the first generation iPhone was released only a few months after the Ocean, which rendered the Ocean’s slider configuration almost instantly obsolete. Since the iPhone, touch screens have become the new milestone for cellphone manufacturers. Word is that the Ocean 2 is retaining the dual slider configuration, and won’t feature a touch screen. If that’s the case, then Helio has truly learned nothing from the iPhone’s success.

Open to Third-Party Applications

Helio kept the Ocean’s appplication development even more restricted than Apple did for the iPhone. At least Apple developed a system whereby independent developers could get their third party apps approved–Helio only made software by large companies available, and offered no solution for independent developers. Of course, as is usually the case when artificial limitations are placed on a platform, a homebrew scene eventually formed around the Ocean, and power users were able to take more advantage of the Ocean’s capabilities.

The open nature of the Android operating system is one of it’s biggest selling points, and while I’m sure we’ll see a fair amount of useless applications, I’m more excited about the potential for truly great independent software coming from the community.

It’s Still Ahead of the iPhone 3G in Some Ways

Some of the most satisfying “features” of the Ocean were those that the first generation iPhone conspicuously lacked; specifically, 3G network access and GPS. While that’s no longer the case for the iPhone, the G1 continues the trend of braggably better features like the 3 megapixel camera, the previously mentioned open application philosophy, and copy and paste functionality (I’m sad I have to list this too). That the G1 is directly integrated into all of Google’s services is also a plus for some, myself included.

Wrapping Up

My main issue with the G1 right now is T-Mobile–a company that unfortunately doesn’t have the most robust 3G network in America. Looking at their 3G coverage map, it turns out that I only have Edge coverage in the places I would use the phone the most. Sure, Wi-Fi is always an option, but I’m not quite sure if that inconvenience is worth giving up the 3G speeds I’ve been so spoiled with this past year. Hopefully T-Mobile will get their act together for 2009, or Google will get the G1 and other Android phones on other carriers soon.

I know I’m not alone in my technolust for the G1, and this is definitely a good sign for Google. They’ve pulled an Apple, and have shown significant clout in an unfamiliar market. Let’s face it, Apple needs competition in this sphere–because they’re certainly not going to get it from Microsoft. That the T-Mobile G1 has already made me justify paying the $175 fee to get out of my Helio contract speaks volumes. I just hope Google, along with the Android cellphone carriers and hardware manufacturers, can keep this up.

Update 10/15/08: Dean Takahashi offers a great overview of the G1 over at VentureBeat. MG Siegler is also reporting that some preorder customers may be getting their G1 this Friday, October 17.

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The Android T-Mobile G1 is the Real Successor to the Helio Ocean

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