Emerging Tech
Old computers never die, they just lose their chips, or relevance as the case may be. It was 1988 when computer scientist Mark Weiser realized that the personal computer, which was at that time still in its youthful years, was headed for obsolescence. His crystal ball revealed a digital future where the new world order would include, “Ubiquitous Computing.” Instead of sitting in front of a computer that’s sitting on top of a desk, the average human would interact with numerous, small, connected, electronic devices, and some large devices too, that perform a variety of computerized functions. Now with better computer chips possessing larger storage capacity, the personal computer, or the shape and form of it, may just disappear.
Weiser once outlined that the purpose of a computer is to help humans do something other than compute, be an obedient yet unobtrusive servant and be calm. And what exactly is this calm technology of which he spoke? This is technology that fades away into the background, not demanding of our immediate attention. And back in 1995 when Weiser described calm technology much of it wasn’t really around. But now in the age of iPods, Smart Phones and most recently with Google TV and a smaller version of Apple TV, we have seen Weiser’s ideas in motion, though he didn’t live to see the day. Beyond that, there are among others, smart refrigerators, smart clothes, smart houses and smart cars – not those smart cars. All of these combined with cloud computing allow us to unhitch and let our computers fade into the background.
You’re sitting at a lecture, a presentation, an important client meeting. You listen. You take notes. But how do you ever get those long quotes accurately? How do you recall every last client request? How do you retell that amusing anecdote with correct timing? It may not be just for business purposes but two products from Livescribe, the Pulse and the Echo could be just the tool for getting the most out of presentations. These “smart pens” are often promoted as ideal tools for students who need to take notes, due to ease of use with a handy pen interface. The “pens” allow you to write on paper with real ink, but they also record, playback and upload your notes to computers. They come with a USB interface, two, four or eight gigabytes of memory, a microphone and several other bells and whistles so you could be texting while in a meeting without missing a thing. But you ought to be paying attention.
Of the two, the Echo is the newer, hotter version with just a few more upgrades. Of course, critics note that you need special paper for this tool. It has barely visible dots that function as place markers for the pen tool. Reports are that you can print your own paper if you’d rather not buy the special stuff. The resulting notes from this tool is called a Pencast which can be uploaded to the Livescribe website for remote access. But wait. There’s more. The smart pen is also a platform, “With rich I/O capabilities and a Java™ development environment that enables a wide range of applications.” Already you can buy an app for unit conversions or French for Travelers, or Hangman – that hangman. Or you could download Guitar Chords for Beginners for free. Practical folks may not think it’s a necessary thing but hey, it’s new and fun.
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The 3D of bygone years is not like the 3D of today. “It’s immersive,” say the people at Samsung. The company recently released the, “World’s First,” portable 3D, Blu-ray player. Maybe some day there will be 3D contact lenses, (3D lasik surgery?) but for now you still have to wear the glasses. Once you’re down with that, you can practically feel the images surrounding you in your room or car or wherever you may choose to view your Blu-ray discs because, well, it’s portable. The portable Blu-ray player has a 10.3 inch screen with 1080p high-def video, and a three hour battery. It also has built-in Wi-Fi to bring you the best of the web with “downloadable widgets and apps.” Isn’t built in Wi-Fi practically a standard these days?
Samsung also has other 3D Blu-ray players in its assortment of products. Some are giving the Blu-ray 3D players rave reviews for “outstanding picture” in both 3D and 2D Blu-ray mode. But there are also complaints that the players don’t always remember your place in a movie once you’ve pressed “Stop.” And while there is a “slow forward” feature there is said to be no “slow back,” which means you need to slow forward and fast back then slow forward, all of which sounds like actions from a modern dance. There are also contradicting viewpoints on whether discs load quickly or not, though the Samsung folks insist that they’re working hard to eliminate lag time when you start a movie. In any case it’s the experience that matters and if it can be an immersive, 3D, Blu-ray experience, that’s even better.
You’re a teenager growing up in India several years ago. One summer you visit your grandfather and you notice that he walks a mile to his farm just to turn on the irrigation pump. He’s 82 years old. And one of his legs was amputated due to gangrene. Even more ridiculous, you notice, he’s walking to the farm several times a day because the water supply there is erratic. When you grow up you’re going to find a way to help him. But it’s not just him. You will innovate something that will help all the farmers in a similar situation. Plus you’ll help the environment because the farmers aren’t so quick to make the long walk back to the farm to turn off the water. Hence, wasted water and erosion. Some day, you’ll be the local hero.
Time passes. You study hard and get that engineering degree. You even marry a woman with similar qualifications and you both set out to help the farmers. But not so fast. Fie on your innovation, say the farmers upon discovering your quest to make their lives easier. How dare you? What’s a farmer and his sons got to do but walk back and forth to the farm every day, many times, anyway? This is the state of farm life in India. Innovate out of it and you take away the very thing that sustains them. Such was the issue for Santosh Ostwal. But he persevered and eventually won them over with his mobile app styled, remote-controlled switch. In the end he would found the company called, Nano Ganesh and his innovation would be used around the world. And eventually along came Nokia with an award for innovation. We hope he’s living happily ever after.
What if you could transmit an entire HD movie in one second? News from the world of Intel says you can. And that’s not all. Intel recently announced, the “World’s First End-to-End Silicon Photonics Connection with Integrated Lasers.” And it could be said that Intel’s silicon photonics connections are not like your connections – not the current ones, anyway. The new connection builds on an assortment of data transmitting technology developed in the twentieth century but now it increases performance and imagines new possibilities. The company anticipates that such a technological leap will revolutionize the face of computing. It will allow search engine companies, cloud computing providers and financial data centers to save costs, space and energy while also improving performance in an array of areas.
The long and the short of it is that the new technology will allow data transfer of up to 50 gigabits per second – that HD movie – all because light beams will replace current hardware. They can add more and more bandwidth at minimal cost by scaling up exponentially. With light instead of cables they no longer need to group components of a system relatively closely, these can now be spread out farther afield. Additionally, silicon is much cheaper and easier to acquire than current elements. Once this technology is out and about in the marketplace, the contents of an entire laptop can be copied in a second. Videoconferencing will be almost real as the people in conference seem to be in the room with you. But you still won’t be able to smell their cologne.
Okay, so the buzz this week is all about the new Blackberry Torch which is supposed to be the closest competition to the iPhone, especially since it also involves AT&T as a development partner. Of course, there really is no rule that says every new phone worth its salt ought to be compared to the iPhone? In any case, much is being written about the Torch by geeks as well Blackberry fans. And while we could go on and on about it, here are the main points from Crackberry and others.
1. It’s the first and only slider BlackBerry. It’s the first BlackBerry to feature a ‘proper’ touchscreen (no SurePress clicking on the screen required).
2. This phone was built for AT&T and will launch exclusively with AT&T in the United States, we will also see the device roll out internationally on other GSM carriers. Shortly following AT&T’s press release regarding the Torch, we saw Rogers, Telus, Bell and Virgin all confirm they will soon have the Torch available, so it’s only a matter of time before a Torch is available on a carrier near you.
3. It’s easily recognizable as a BlackBerry and when you pick it up for the first time it still feels like a BlackBerry, albeit a slightly porky one. At 5.7 ounces according to RIM (which I confirmed on my crack scale with battery, sim and microSD inserted), the Torch is definitely on the heavier end of the smartphone scale.
4. The accelerometer is accurate and responsive, allowing the device to switch quickly between portrait and landscape use. Take note though, when the keyboard is slid out, the display locks into portrait mode.
5. Like the BlackBerry Bold 9650, the Torch 9800 gets a bump in internal device memory, from the 256MB found in the previous generation of devices up to 512MB. In addition to providing more room for app space, the 512MB helps smoothly power BlackBerry 6.
6. RIM has also included 4GB of built-in (non-removable) storage space for files such as pictures, music, movies and podcasts and a 4GB microSD card is included bringing the storage space out of the box up to 8GB.
7. The new camera is a welcome upgrade to BlackBerry. For the most part you’ll be able to simply leave the camera in Autofocus mode and take good pictures, but spending some time getting to know the different scene modes will help you take better pictures.
For all who advertise on the internet, tag tracking is close to a necessity. How else would you know what’s working and what’s not? But in the way that the solution ultimately becomes the problem, tracking can be a minefield in itself. An advertiser could be paying duplicate commissions to affiliates when the same customer receives ads from more than one service. Those who use a multitude of tracking tools cannot hope to manage them all and such excessive tracking can slow the site down to a – crawl. But now there is TagMan, which isn’t a man who tags, but a tool that consolidates tracking tools, reduces duplicate commissions and eliminates tech stress among other amazing things. “The implementation of TagMan is seamless and in no way affects your relationships with existing marketing partners or tag providers. And, once done, you’ll never have to go through the pain of tag implementation again.”
TagMan describes itself as a tag management system, “designed specifically to provide online advertisers with greater ability to manage the tracking tags that sit on their web site and make the most of the data those tags deliver.” It also promises easier ways to add, delete or edit tags on your site. “A single TagMan tag is installed on any page that needs tracking and all other tags that need to sit on that page - whether display, paid search, natural search, affiliates or site analyt¬ics - can be plugged into the site through it. Since the tags from all channels sit in the same system, advertisers and their agencies can track the full customer journey and tell which channel delivered a particular user much more effectively.” Now if it does all that they say it does, then TagMan is your man in field, ready to save you time, money and headaches – all in a single bound.
Recent news that Apple has applied to patent app ideas for travel, hotel reservations and shopping set digital tongues wagging about the possible unfairness of such a move. The term “patent troll” bounced around as critics and proponents of openness decided that such patenting could be dangerous and scary. In theory, Apple would own the methods by which travel reservations are made or hotels are booked. It would directly compete with the idea of independent, mobile app developers who have brought their collective creative genius to the App store in ways that were previously unimagined.
Apple’s idea for a hotel app would give users the capability to check-in and check-out any time they want, and to leave for the theater or concert for which they purchased tickets via the app. It would essentially be akin to the universal remote control on steroids. But while at a glance it seems like a great idea, tech watchers aren’t pleased that it comes from Apple rather than independent developer. Additionally, some of the features of the proposed Apple patented app are done by others, meaning there could be trouble or on the horizon.
Regardless, the application for patenting the air travel app is intriguing. The app would function as a virtual assistant with GPS, clock, calendar and contact list all integrated. It would track the user’s plans for air travel and track the user as such travel is executed. It determine when the person shuts off the device, presumably to board a plane then when it’s turned on again, the app would already know the time and place and notify others as necessary. Plus it could say where to get breakfast since they no longer serve it on planes.