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Hacks/Hackers Meetup at Philly.com - Part 2

2012-04-10T18:53:00.002-04:00

Don't forget to check out Part 1!

In the second half of the Hacks/Hackers meet-up, projects from the recent Random Hacks of Kindness hackathon were presented to the group. The projects were targeted at improving civic participation, with a tip of the hat to the meet-up topic of using data to engage. As with the first part, participants were able to engage in Q&A after the presentations.

(If you want even more coverage of the event, check out Jim Smiley's blog post)

First up was Casey Thomas presenting Lobbying.ph, a new web service focused on lobbying in the city of Philadelphia. In its current state, the app is pretty rudimentary, only listing out names and contact information about lobbyists and interest groups, but they hope to gather more data soon to build out more complex visualizations showing the interconnections and the flow of money in Philadelphia politics. This project looks like it has potential, but their biggest mountain to climb is extracting the information out of city officials in a transparent way, which, needless to say, is akin to pulling out your own teeth, but probably more painful. If it manages to accomplish its goals, it could serve as a model for other cities to become more open, transparent, and honest. Also, .ph is the TLD for the Philippines, but they felt it could convey PHiladelphia just fine.

Up next, Faye Anderson gave a presentation on her Cost of Freedom project. In response to laws going into effect across the country requiring voters to show ID when they go to the polls, she wanted to develop a web application that would provide information on how to get a proper ID to vote before Election Day. As someone who supports these voter ID laws, I think that the presenter's idea is fantastic, but the presentation/implementation left much to be desired. Rather than focus on the app and on how to get it out there (like maybe into local libraries and churches where the most affected would be most likely to get exposure), she instead ranted on how these laws are a form of voter suppression and are targeted at minority groups. The average American (70% of which support such laws according to this presenter) doesn't want to see anyone lose their right to vote, but also wants to see some integrity in the voting process. The concept could have made this a reality, but the presenter, a self-proclaimed evangelist lawyer advocate social media consultant who doesn't want any "likes," felt it more important to interject race and politics into an issue that requires real solutions. She had also set up a funding campaign on a Kickstarter-like service called Start Some Good, requesting at least $10,000 and up to $25,000, but she failed to quantify what the money would be used for. The campaign closed well below those numbers.

Last but not least, Jake Richter presented Who Paid?, a mobile app that can best be described as Shazam for political ads. The goal of the project is to allow a user to record a clip of an advertisement, send it off to the server, and get back a range of information, including who paid for the spot and fact-checking information. They've made good progress on the client and server software with the help of some open source technologies, but they are facing an uphill battle trying to first catalog all the different political advertisements, then trying to provide the cloud of information around them. During the Q&A, I was curious as to how such a system would work on a clip that at full length can be as short as 30 seconds. He responded that they were working to bring down the required sample length to allow people to use this app in real situations while still presenting accurate information. This app has the potential to bring greater clarity to political ads just when PACs now start to overwhelm our television sets and radio dials.

All of these apps have great potential, and are benefiting greatly from both volunteer efforts and open source software. It's actually a little surprising that, for as simple as the concepts of these apps are, an organization like the hosting Philadelphia Inquirer does not produce similar projects of equal simplicity and potential. Perhaps they should open up more to these types of ideas, and be willing to put that extra bit of muscle into building things that can really restore local governance. Would that help? Is it better these projects are independent? What else could people do with ideas like this?

Hacks/Hackers Meetup at Philly.com - Part 1

2012-03-30T14:30:00.000-04:00

The latest Hacks/Hackers Philly meetup took place (deep in the basement) at the headquarters of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com (all owned by the same company, obviously). This meetup was focused on the topic of data-driven media, divided into two parts. The first portion was composed of presentations and Q&A all about how the Inquirer family gets, handles, and publishes their data sets, large and small. The second portion was presentations of hackathon demos revolving around data. Because the meetup was so jam-packed, I'll be dividing this post into two parts along similar lines.

(If you want more coverage of the event, check out TechnicallyPhilly's writeup + video)

There were presentations from numerous people from the Inquirer, covering topics from crunching esoteric queries on sports data to presenting school crime data in a consumable way. Many of them touched on the difficulty of capturing the data from the various sources. The first speaker, Bob Vetrone Jr., discussed how the media outlet deals with sports data. I don't find deep sports statistics particularly interesting myself, but as a data set, sports statistics would be heaven-sent for programmers, since it is almost exclusively simple numeric data easily parsable and easily manipulated. What I didn't know is that the Inquirer does not compile their own sports statistics, but rather licenses the data from third parties. The stats you read in the paper are printed wholly from these sources, and are not edited, stored, or maintained by the Inquirer. He discussed some of the sources he uses to obtain the historical data he can use to provide context, but (at least from his perspective) there did not seem to be any full-access, easy-to-hack system for sports stats, free or pay.

Rose Ciotta, Dylan Purcell, and Rob Kandel discussed how data can be used to enhance or even make a story. They discussed some of the tools they used to produce the visualizations and interactives that the Inquirer uses to give expression to the data, some of which I had heard of, such as Google Fusion Tables, and others that I had not, such as Caspio. They also talked about some of the difficulties they face trying to get data from various agencies of government at all levels, a problem that appears generally chronic despite all efforts to make governments more open and accessible. I found their implementations interesting from a technical perspective, preferring web services, both premium enterprise-grade (Caspio) and free consumer-grade (Fusion Tables) over implementing their own data systems. During the Q&A, I asked them why they designed it this way, and got some interesting responses, ranging from a lack of access to their own database system to a concern about the impact on volume on any such system. They (including some color commentary from Wendy Warren) went on to discuss that they really don't self-host much of anything, a fact that honestly surprised me.

Given this new perspective on the inner workings of a major publisher's digital publication system, I have some comments and some questions. As I said, the fact that they do not self-host very much surprises me. Admittedly, server administration is an arduous and sometimes expensive task, but so was running the printing presses back in the day, something I find analogous. Just as they owned the presses to ensure the quality of their product, I do not understand why they would not also want to control the servers that are the digital equivalent. They had mentioned scalability concerns, but with much of their data, this could easily be alleviated. For example, much of their data, ranging from school crime rates to gas well drilling to even the property tax information discussed, does not change much, at least not in computer terms. (In human terms, something changing once a week or more can be considered frequent, but in computer terms, changing something once a second may not even cause one to break a sweat.) The implementation to constantly query an actual database seems unnecessary given the infrequency of updates, and given the fact that they already do full client-side processing of the data already for some sets. Why not simply create JSON-encoded static files (and pre-compress them for even better scalability) and use those instead? They can be automatically regenerated from a database as the data changes, which could be as infrequently as once a year or never.

My questions then are: Is it really so common for digital publishers not to own the digital "presses"? Is is also uncommon for publishers to offer their content producers at least temporary internal systems to store, manage, and manipulate data? If there are such limitations, what is causing them (since so much can be accomplished with open-source software for virtually nothing), and what tools are used instead?

ONA Philly at NBC10

2012-02-17T15:00:00.000-05:00

Recently I had a chance to visit the NBC10 Philadelphia studios as part of an ONA Philly meet-up. The topic of the meet-up was to give NBC10's social media managers and on-air personalities the opportunity to discuss and get feedback about their social media strategies. The discussions were interesting, talking about how they use their web presences on sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and even their own web site to share news, gather feedback, and interact with viewers and fans. Topics ranged from how to keep public and private separate online to the recent acquisition of NBC Universal (including this owned and operated station) by Comcast even to SOPA and PIPA. The topics were interesting, well-discussed, and even entertaining. It was nice to see some of the on-air personalities off-air, as they had the ability to be much more dynamic, unscripted, and honestly more interesting.

The most interesting topics for me were their discussions of how they interact online and how they are leveraging online video. In addition to the station, each of the people there, both on-air and behind the scenes, maintained Facebook and Twitter profiles, keeping up both, but not always to equal degrees (some preferred Facebook while others preferred Twitter). Before and after the meet-up, I explored their various web presences to get a real feel of how they were using these resources. I noticed that while many of them keep up with their own individual pages, there does not seem to be very much cross-pollination, either between the personalities or back to the station's mothership pages. This was more prevalent on Facebook, where these conversations can remain organized but isolated, than it was on Twitter, where conversations can flow more freely and anarchically.

They also boasted of their online video catalog, talking about how responsive they are and how online and on-air video cross-pollinate. During my research, I found their video library to be on par with other offerings from other local and national sources. It seemed to be mostly comprised of clips from the station's news broadcasts and programming. The most frustrating parts were the lack of full-show content and the lack of dates on their videos to demarcate freshness. The flow between online and on-air seemed less bidirectional than advertised, but I don't have any data points to back that assertion up. I was able to ask them about their strategies regarding smart TVs, but they essentially had no strategy as yet because they didn't believe the technology to be sufficiently mature or mainstream. This means I won't be seeing their content on my Roku any time soon.

Their degree of innovation at the station seems to be somewhere between on-par and slightly ahead of the industry. They are still driven by broadcast television, not online content, which is understandable but also seems to slow their online drive. To really see a content provider that is totally immersed in online, I'd direct them to watch anything from Jupiter Broadcasting, especially live if they can.

CES 2012 Wrap-Up

2012-02-16T16:32:00.001-05:00

OK, so this will probably be one of the latest posts you'll see anywhere on the 2012 CES, but I definitely wanted to give a full post-show post-mortem on the big trends from this year. There weren't really any major break-outs this year as there have been in past years, but that doesn't mean that there was nothing to see. One major trend is the ongoing decline off Microsoft. As they announced shortly before the show, this would be their last year for a booth and for the keynote. Walking through their booth did not draw any excitement. Mostly they showed off products that were already out (WP7, Kinect) or products that were still a way off (Windows 8). Throughout the rest of the show, there was almost no buzz about Microsoft or their products from any other vendors.

Intel had an impressive display full of innovative new products. The problem there is that many of last year's innovative new products did not make a second appearance because they had flopped or nothing ever came of them. This does not bode well for most of those products from this year. Ultrabooks looked like they have major potential and more than a little momentum, but for the most part, these could only be found in the Intel booth as most PC makers had no floor presence this year. Intel also had very little presence beyond the confines of its booth, despite its role in the industry. ARM-based products were more prevalent elsewhere.

Unlike last year, tablets were not on every other shelf. A few off-brand manufacturers demonstrated some new tablets, but the big names focused elsewhere. Except for Motorola and Huawei, that story was basically the same for smart phones. Instead, 3D TVs and smart TVs commanded a large part of the biggest booths this year.

Though some accounts of the show spoke to the behemoth of Apple bearing down, there really did not seem to be much ado about Apple or its TV. There was of course the iPavilion, but it only represented a corner of one floor of one hall. In an opposite corner, Canonical was busy showing off a prototype Ubuntu TV to compete in the smart TV arena.

The biggest trend going was the fight for in-home infrastructure, from powerline networking to home automation, there were a number of vendors, such as Belkin and Verizon to name a few, showing off a number of technologies for this purpose. Many are looking to sell hardware products combined with easy-to-use SaaS control software with ongoing service fees. Most of them seem to be focused on using Android, either through apps or through custom appliances, to drive the preferred user interface. This could mean a bright future for Android in its fight against Apple and Microsoft.

CES 2012: Day 1

2012-01-11T01:51:00.001-05:00

Today marked the kickoff to the 2012 International CES. For me, it mostly served as a 30,000 foot overview of the show. We took cursory glances at most of the major booths, including Intel, Microsoft, Sony, Motorola, and others. There is not a whole lot to discuss quite yet, but here are a few quick observations. First, several ultrabooks made their debut appearances here, and they mostly live up to expectations. They are as thin and powerful as advertised, but not all are consistently feather-light. Companies are also still trying to push 3D television, despite the generally tepid response of the market. I have not been as overwhelmed by tablets this year as last, but the dark-horse category this time around appears to be audio, both mobile/personal as well as the in-home variety. The latest Ford Fusion electric was also unveiled today, and it looks to have some new, sleek luxury styling. I'll have to check it out more thoroughly tomorrow or later this week.

Consolidating Your New OS

2011-12-15T02:21:00.000-05:00

Tonight, I've decided to end my side project at YourNewOS.com and consolidate those posts into this blog here. I wasn't keeping it up and I did not see that changing any time in the near future. The old domain will be redirected here shortly, and all of the old content has already been migrated over, thanks in part to Wordpress2Blogger. The site never really had the firm direction it needed. Originally, I had planned to make it an audio podcast about Linux for beginners. Later, I transitioned it over to a blog centered around cloud from the SMB/SOHO perspective. Unfortunately, it languished, not from a lack of potential content, but rather from a lack of time and enthusiasm. I believe that by focusing my efforts on a single blog, this one, for the time being will result in the greatest and best content for me to produce.

ONA Philly Meetup at the Philadelphia Inquirer

2011-11-03T01:34:00.002-04:00

CEO Greg Osberg Speaking

Tonight I had the opportunity to attend this month's ONA Philly Meetup. The event featured a presentation from Inquirer CEO Greg Osberg on the paper's various digital efforts, including the new tablets from the Philadelphia Inquirer. The event was also bookended by essentially meet-and-greet sessions between Inquirer staff and the various other participants. The event was overall pretty good, and there was a pretty strong turnout of about 60-70 or so.

The Inquirer Tablet

I got a chance to try out one of the tablets, which actually ran pretty well. It runs a version of Android (I was told they thought Honeycomb, but weren't 100% sure on that), so it can basically run any typical Android app. For getting apps, it provides AppsLib as well as the Amazon Appstore. In addition to the standard apps, it included the three Inquirer apps that really make the tablet specific to this paper. Two of the apps provided digital copies of the print versions, essentially a fancy way of viewing a high-fidelity digitization of the paper. The third app offered a tablet-optimized interface to the Inquirer content. Pricing was more subscription-oriented, offering a one- or two-year content subscription with a subsidy on the tablet (more details can be found on the website). The tablet possessed a front-facing but not a rear-facing camera, and did not offer 3G/4G, only WiFi. It had a standard headphone jack, a microSD slot, a full-size USB port, and what appeared to be a mini- or micro-HDMI port. I didn't really notice any serious performance problems, though there was a bit of sluggishness on occasion and the touchscreen didn't always seem to respond correctly (mostly when trying to do pinch zooming). It will be interesting to see how well this is accepted by the market. Of the initial batch of 5,000, they've sold roughly half so far.

The presentation provided some insights into the digital strategy of the paper going forward. Of course the tablet is a major cornerstone of this strategy, but they also discussed other topics of note, including paid content, apps for other platforms such as the iPad, their expansion of their video productions including building a full video studio on premise, and their Project Liberty start-up incubator. They were also proud to point out that their subscriptions had been flat in the recent period, an improvement over precipitous decline, driven by several format changes and a shift from syndicated to local content. Content, they also reassured, was their core value proposition, and it would be the driver for growth in the future. I have to say that there are a lot of good, solid products coming out of this initiative, but I seriously have to wonder how beneficial they will be. That was the first time I had ever been to any newsroom (though we technically weren't in the newsroom, but I could catch some views of it), and I was underwhelmed. Perhaps it is the high-tech space I live and work in, but their offices struck me as particularly primitive (the Inquirer newsroom, for those who have not seen or been there). I was struck not only by the 1920's/1970's renovation utilitarian look, but also by the psychological layout of the place. Writers were all sectioned into sparse cubicles differentiated almost only by the stacks of paper in them. I expected to see some sort of display with a stream of news and information, or perhaps tablets for quick, mobile consumption, but these I did not see. Admittedly, I only caught a glimpse of the space, and I'd love to have been able to get inside and see how it all really works, but at least on the surface it wasn't what I expected. Maybe a field trip might be in order for Hacks/Hackers to help the techies to understand this world a little better.

Speaking of Hacks/Hackers, they were able to get in a plug at the end of the presentation, so hopefully there will be even more people at the next meeting two weeks from now. The topic of that meeting looks to be learning about tools for digging into data. I've not used most of those tools before (though I understand the concepts), so it should be pretty interesting. I was also thinking of, perhaps at some point, volunteering to do a presentation on digging into Google for them as well, if there is enough interest. I guess we'll see.

Looking at the New Blogger

2011-10-31T16:04:00.001-04:00

Recently, Blogger, like most other Google properties, has undergone a serious makeover. The changes can be seen both on the back-end and, optionally on a per blog basis, on the front-end. This blog has been moved over to use the newest Blogger modifications, and, for the most part, I'd say they are pretty good.

The Good

There's a lot Google did right with the new Blogger. The back-end has been massively improved with a new post editor and, perhaps most pleasantly surprising, and integrated analytics dashboard akin to a Google Analytics Lite. The design is cleaner, nicer, and much easier to navigate. I've been using it for about two weeks now, and I can say it's actually provided a motivation to blog more than before. In addition, Google is also said to be rolling out Google+ integration with Blogger, though I haven't yet done this myself.

Blogger blogs can also take advantage of a new, cleaner front-end template style that takes advantage of some Javascript/AJAX/CSS3/HTML5 goodness. If you're reading this now on my blog site, you can see an example of this new design style. The ugly bar along the top has been replaced and integrated into a minimalistic header area. Google has also nicely integrated in their own +1's as well as tweets and Facebook likes into every post. Individual pages are now gone in favor of a single scrolling page, but not forgotten with easy access from a unique URL just as before.

The Bad

Not everything is sunshine and roses, as there are a few points against the new Blogger layout, mostly directed at the new blog templates. First, the heavy use of the "new Web" technologies significantly complicates page loading and rendering, specifically because the page is loaded entirely by Javascript/AJAX rather than directly as HTML. This also causes the page to load more slowly, displaying a Blogger loading logo for a few moments before the text content appears. Because all posts are now shown on a single scroll page, all posts must be loaded first before anything is displayed, slowing access to content and increasing load time. The single scroll page also uses infinite scrolling (where it keeps loading additional content automatically at the bottom of the page), a widely-used feature I particularly dislike personally (I'd rather have the option to click to load).

The Ugly

There are a few considerations about the new templates that are particularly ugly. First, because the page is loaded by Javascript/AJAX and not directly, archiving or scraping a page becomes particularly difficult. I was recently writing a script to automatically find RSS feeds at a given URL and I discovered that this cannot be done easily with the new template. This also makes me wonder how this will affect search engine discoverability, since search engines may not necessarily download or run scripts when crawling. This may mean that, while Blogger blogs may show up on Google, Bing/Yahoo! and other competitors cannot see or index them. This could greatly affect incoming traffic to a blog, and could limit a blog's exposure.

Everything I Know About Google I Learned from Google (Well, Almost)

2011-10-24T21:20:00.001-04:00

About two weeks ago, I found Google Hacks in a Half Price Books, and thought, "Hmm, sounds useful, and for 6 bucks, I can get that much out of it." The book itself is, unfortunately, a bit outdated (not least of which was its mention of Google Sets, which was actually shut down the day after I read about it). I imagine that the authors are hard at work on a new version in light of the vast changes taking place on Google right now, many of which are being driven by the release of Google+. Despite this, and applying a little computer know-how, I can pretty firmly say that in the last week or so, I've gotten more out of Google than I have for a long time.

Most of what I've been using, I actually knew about beforehand, but reading the book jogged me into rediscovering those tools and using them in new ways. The first and biggest rediscovered tool is the numerous operators available to use when searching Google. They're both useful for drilling down into results and for "browsing" Google by using very broad searches like just a certain file type. Another forgotten tool (which, honestly, I didn't realize so many people still used) is Google Groups. Yes, they are still around and still updated with hourly frequency or better in many cases. They hold a vast reserve of information that does not seem to appear in a standard Google search.

I've also been tapping Google's vast data store to find out more about Google itself. I've discovered a few services and sites I never even knew they had, like Google Advisor, Google Correlate, and Inside Google Search. I've also found some very specific coverage on the search engine to keep up with changes and advancements, the best of which comes from the (Unofficial) Google Operating System blog. This trek into Googleness has even been a factor in driving me back here to blog again (also helped by the major revamp of the Blogger interface).

The incredible amount of information available from the Google search box is dizzying and unnerving, especially when you consider how much can be learned just from typing in a name or address or phone number. What's more amazing is that, despite all of the potential uses and abuses by Google of this data, all of this is equally set into our hands to use as we wish. I think back to the Hacks/Hackers event I attended last week and wonder how much is out there that, if people just knew how to find it, could completely change everything.

Equally daunting, I realized, is what we don't find, that one search in 10 that doesn't really return what we're searching for, or only says, "Your search did not match any documents." I have to wonder whether what we want to know is really out there, but hidden, maybe behind a firewall or a log in screen, or whether there is something we are looking for that really has not been found yet. This, perhaps, even more strongly applies to that event last week, where rather than re-opine on a story covered in 97 other news outlets, maybe we need to start looking at the 0 results returned.

Hacks/Hackers Philadelphia First Meeting

2011-10-21T19:31:00.001-04:00

So I attended the inaugural meeting of the Hacks/Hackers Philadelphia group. If you don't know about Hacks/Hackers, you can read about them on their national site. Basically, their goal is to bring together journalists (hacks) and technology professionals (hackers) to solve the myriad problems faced by these groups that can be resolved through collaboration. I basically found out about it a few days before on TechnicallyPhilly. The event was held in Center City Philadelphia this past Tuesday (October 18, 2011) evening, so I made the long trek in to attend.

I was surprised at the number of attendees (off-hand count from memory says about 20-25 or so) since this was the first meeting. That speaks to the dense social networks present in both the local tech and journalist communities. Because the local group was just starting out, the meeting lacked a certain direction, and mostly focused on issues related to bootstrapping it, such as what types of activities they would engage in. At one point, discussion devolved into a minor debate on the efficacy of the waterfall programming model in comparison to Agile.

Despite that side discussion, people were able to voice many opinions on both sides, and at least one problem was solved that night (thanks to Google Refine). The group leaders and some members decided to take it into the direction of building apps for journalists, and want to sponsor mini-hackathons to accomplish this. They also spoke of the potential of submitting those apps to competitions for funding.

I hesitate to endorse this course of action. Since this is a networking group, it doesn't really seem to fit to use it as a start-up prequel. I think it would be much better suited as a forum to which members can bring problems so that others can help by bringing their unique perspectives. I haven't decided whether I will be going to the next meeting (whenever that might be). I feel I need to see a bit more direction and purposefulness coming out of the leadership, as well as a purpose that fits the structure.

Google+ Has Changed the Way I Want to Consume News

2011-10-21T15:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I decided that I don't like the way I read my RSS feeds so much any more. Yes, kind of an odd, spur-of-the-moment thought, but it struck me and I set out to find a new way to consume the content I follow. Currently, I read my feeds through Firefox. I have a folder full of live bookmarks that fill up with new stories as they happen. What I like about this is that it doesn't store up every story it ever had, and it's right there in my browser, so I can just click and open. What I don't like is the fact that I have to go to my bookmarks menu every time to click every story, and the fact that all I get is a title, no context and no shiny interface.

Since I run Ubuntu on my computers, I first tried the archetypal readers for that system, RSSOwl and Liferea. While they were functional, they both approached RSS feeds the same way: as a series of messages to be read much like email. I wasn't really clear in my head about what I didn't like or what I really wanted, but these both just didn't work for me. I also tried reading them in Thunderbird (as I had done very long ago), but of course, being a mail reader, it was an even more mail-like experience. Thinking maybe I was limiting myself, I even tried running a Windows feed reader under WINE (enough of a challenge by itself), and it too presented content in the same manner. I couldn't seem to get past the fact that I wanted something different, even though I didn't really know what.

Tired of this pursuit, I decided to distract myself with Google+. Login, load up home page, and it hit me. What I really want is not a message-oriented list of stories, but rather a stream of news from the sources I want to follow! The Google+ stream is what I was looking for in a news reader. It presented the most recent news first, with limited context that could be expanded, and provided comments and commenting within easy reach. Plus, it offers the ability to group different items into topical circles of my choosing, which can then act as stream filters. This is what I had been looking for.

On Google+, I already follow a number of tech journalists who post their stories on a regular basis, and so this partly lent itself to this idea of a Google+-like news reader. Because Google+ is a social application, though, it also intersperses personal content from friends and family, as well as from those same tech journalists. What would be perfect is that interface on Google Reader. Of course, lo and behold, apparently Google Reader is already getting a revamp, including Google+ integration. Perhaps very soon, I may get the reader I really want. Until then, well, I guess Bookmarks... Feeds... News... click.

Using QR Codes

2011-06-30T18:28:00.000-04:00

QR codes seem to be the new trend creeping into the mainstream today. In case you don't know, QR codes are those little square barcodes that are starting to appear on signs and advertisements all around you. They can be plain black and white, or decorated in colors or with pretty images. Because QR codes have built-in error correction, they can even have logos or other small icons embedded in them for branding purposes. Of course, the best thing about QR codes is that they're free, both to use and to create.

QR codes are utilized by scanning apps on smart phones, usually directing the user to a certain targeted or optimized website. This can draw in visitors and potential customers quickly and get them directly on the content you want them to see. They can also be used to transmit contact information, pre-compose an SMS message or email, provide latitude-longitude coordinates, or even supply WiFi access point information. Because of their versatility, these codes can be used for innovative, bidirectional, mobile interaction.

Several innovative uses of QR codes can already be found in the wild, including providing tour guide information and product information, save your place in line, buy groceries, and even play massively multiplayer real-life games. As time goes on, and QR codes proliferate, I can envision many more uses for QR codes being discovered, including using them to illicit customer feedback (perhaps replacing those little paper cards found on restaurant tables) and using them to provide geographic information on maps for directions and other such information.

Is There Such a Thing as a Cross-Platform App?

2011-03-09T18:49:00.000-05:00

Apps have exploded onto the scene in the past year, and today nearly every device with a screen (and some without) seem to have their own app platforms. The real "app" craze seemed to start back with the iPhone when they opened their platform up and allowed developers to add on whole new paradigms of software. Behind the iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Palm's WebOS, Windows Phone 7, and may more followed suit, adding app platforms of their own. The real challenge became the proliferation of incompatible app platforms. Developers had to decide whether they would build their software for iPhones, Androids, or Windows phones, since the code was not directly portable between them. Even different versions of Android phones did not all support the apps written for them. With the fragmentation driving costs up, are we going to see moves toward a common app platform?

In the early days of the Web, email exemplified the walled-garden mentality that drives proprietary incompatibility. AOL users could only email other AOL users, but not users of CompuServe or Prodigy, and vice-versa. Over time, though, the walls came down, and now email is so standardized and open that it has become completely unremarkable, essentially expected infrastructure. As we look at these various app platforms, we have to wonder whether they will take a similar path, and what that would mean for the future of the software industry. Looking back at our email example, once it became standard, the price of email became essentially free, liberating online communications, but driving some email providers out of business.

To determine whether we will see the convergence of the app industry around a standard, let's looks at the potential candidates for that standard. We can discount both the iPhone and Windows Phone platforms because, despite their real or potential popularity, they are extremely closed and tightly held platforms. This first leaves Android. Android is a prolific operating system, finding itself into a growing number of mobile devices and tablets. In addition to Android-based devices, Android apps could make their way onto other platforms, because of Android's open source heritage. With an enormous number of applications already built, Android has a huge lead in the race to be the standard.

The other potential candidate is HTML, particularly the dynamic trio of HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript. HTML is, of course, the same technology that built the Web, but the upcoming release of HTML5 changes the game. HTML5 takes all the lessons of web apps learned from previous versions and incorporates them directly into the new standard. There are already numerous HTML-based apps already out in the wild today, including Google Docs, YouTube, Zoho Office, blogs, Twitter, and more. Many of these applications are used mainly on the desktop, but they can also have mobile aspects to them. These applications can be accessed as easily from a mobile browser as from a desktop. In addition to traditional browser apps, HTML is also used as the basis of apps for Chrome/ChromeOS and WebOS. The main drawback of HTML apps is that they lack many of the more advanced integration features of native apps, but as web app platforms get more integration, they may offer a competitive experience.

Both candidate platforms face big challenges to becoming true app standards. HTML5 is still under development, and is facing some internal fragmentation issues (most notably video formats). Android is under assault as Oracle takes Google to court over patents. They may both be knocked out by a yet-unknown competitor coming out of nowhere. On top of all this, there are still many issues related to app distribution, AKA app stores. Right now, building apps for Android and iPhone will provide the best integrated experience for the widest mobile audience, while building apps using HTML provides the greatest cross-compatibility for devices of all shapes and sizes. We get to enjoy the show and the innovation as these two app platforms duke it out for mindshare and device-share.

VMware Wants to Virtualize Your Phone

2011-02-18T22:52:00.000-05:00

VMware has come out with a new product that will allow you to run a virtualized Android system on top of your regular Android on your phone. They created it with the intention to give businesses the ability to offer customized, controlled phone software (including its own number) on generic consumer-purchased hardware, eliminating a cost while still offering the benefits of control. Users can switch between the two versions of Android just as they would run any other app, but the virtualized Android integrates deeply with the underlying system, giving users a friendly interface to what is essentially two phones in one.

This product is targeted moreso at larger enterprises with the IT staffs to support this technology, but just as desktop and server virtualization technologies keep getting simpler and more affordable, this capability may soon find its way into the smaller business market. If nothing else, this could help separate business from personal on a phone with an ever expanding role in our lives, and with an ever stronger drive to integrate everything together, even if we don't want it to. In addition, virtual Androids can be stored onto removable cards, meaning that if a phone breaks, a new one can be brought up to speed with the virtual Android almost immediately, including your number, your apps, your email, and everything else. No more re-entering all your business contacts.

HP Wants to Put WebOS On Your Desk and In Your Lap

2011-02-16T15:47:00.000-05:00

HP came out with a whole new line of WebOS-based devices in forms ranging from tiny phone to full-size tablet. HP, who acquired WebOS in its purchase of Palm last year, has been looking to put the Linux-based WebOS operating system, originally designed to run Palm's Pre phones, into every device they make, including printers, phones, and tablets. The big news that came out of the HP event, though, was that they are apparently also looking to put WebOS into standard desktops, laptops, and netbooks, either in addition to Windows or possibly in place of it.

Right now, WebOS does not represent a very significant share of the mobile market, but with this being the first real push of WebOS by HP rather than by Palm, we may see both significant improvements in the software and a noticeable growth in market share. The question become what market that share is going to grow in, whether it be mobile, tablets, or even desktops. Though HP has said it will not be pushing Windows off of its hardware, the idea of a Linux-based, apps-oriented system running alongside of Windows should send shivers all the way to Redmond.

At the same time, though I see a strange confluence of factors that may well shed some light on the future direction of HP. First we need to look at what the nature of WebOS is. It is a Linux variant designed to run on smartphone hardware, and scale up to the tablet space. The overwhelming majority (~98% or so) of these devices run on ARM processors, as opposed to Intel-based processors such as the Intel Atom. ARM processors use a much simpler design, allowing them to be easier on battery life and to be cheaper to manufacture. ARM differs enough from Intel designs (also known as x86) that most software made for Intel-based computers cannot run on machines with ARM processors. ARM processors, with their lower cost and power consumption, continue to advance tremendously as users are demanding more from the phones and tablets that use them. Just today, NVIDIA previewed its newest Tegra 3 processors, and Marvell (who acquired their ARM division from Intel in 2006) are coming out with a similar chip. Marvell even demonstrated an ARM-based netbook at CES 2010 capable of playing full 1080p video effortlessly.

Somebody else also previewed an ARM-based netbook at CES last year, a little company by the name of HP. They also showed off a few other ARM-based devices running Linux. This means that HP has been looking into ARM-based devices for a while now, and WebOS may just be the software that can make the system happen. An ARM device with WebOS would have the capabilities of a tablet or netbook (and would probably be in those categories), but would have a 10 hour battery life. It could also be a full-size laptop, desktop, or other form factor designed for mostly Web access and usage, competing head-on with Google's ChromeOS.

I cannot finish this article, though, without pointing out one more story: Windows 8 is coming to ARM, too. This means that the next iteration of Windows will also be able to run on these low-power devices. So maybe HP will not run Windows off of its machines, but I can't promise they won't prefer you get WebOS. I'll leave you with a look at the HP ARM-based Android device.

Update: Looks like someone's been reading this blog...

Meego Faces New Challenges

2011-02-15T22:48:00.000-05:00

With the effective loss of one of its two parent sponsors, Meego has gone into a bit of a tailspin. With Nokia turning away from its in-house platforms, both Meego and Symbian, and embracing a future of Windows Phone 7, the Meego development community now must adjust and chart a new path forward. The question now becomes what does the Nokia-less, Intel-more future of Meego look like?

Meego is a Linux-based operating system much like Android and Ubuntu. It was formed from the merger of Intel's fledgling Moblin project and Nokia's up-and-coming Maemo project. Those two companies were the primary sponsors of Meego, and guided development of the software. Meego was designed to be a system that spanned the spectrum of devices, from netbooks to tablets to smartphones to in-car systems and set-top boxes. A single core system, customized with device-specific user interfaces, would be able to run across all of it, providing a consistent and unified personal technology ecosystem. In addition to the base system, Intel also designed its AppUp app store as a significant piece of this holistic computing vision, further unifying your different devices by running the same apps on all of them.

Because of Nokia's about-face from Meego, the platform now seems to be tripping up, and shutting some facets down. The netbook-centric user interface, designed to run on devices powered by Intel's Atom processor, is being put on hold, as is the handset interface designed for smartphones. Intel has pledged its continued commitment to Meego, but is hedging its bets by building chips able to run competing platforms like Windows Phone 7, Android, and HP's WebOS.

So what does lie in the future for Meego? I could only speculate, but here are some of those speculations. We are already half-way through Q1 2011 and no Meego-based products are even off the drawing board. As Google continues to push Android and HP starts to build out WebOS, any new Meego product in the mobile, tablet, or netbook space would be jumping into a very crowded pool. Its bluest ocean is the in-vehicle system market, with its only big-name competitor being Microsoft. It will also serve as a development and proving ground for new Intel products in an environment they can completely control. Meego already utilizes a number of technologies from the openSUSE Linux distribution sponsored by Novell, and this opens the possibility that the now-parked netbook and mobile user interfaces might be adopted by openSUSE and adapted to that operating system. No matter what, Meego has a steep climb ahead of it to reach the mass market.

Android Apps on Meego

2011-02-14T22:10:00.000-05:00

Ever want to run your favorite Android app on your netbook? Traditionally, this was not really possible, but the Myriad Group is looking to change all that. They are working on porting the Android environment for apps to run on non-Android devices. Their product, named Alien Dalvik, will launch initially on the Meego platform sometime later this year.

Meego is a Linux-based operating system for netbooks and mobile devices, meaning that it should be easier to get Alien Dalvik up and running than on a traditional Windows device. It will also provide users with a seamless experience, meaning that Android apps will sit comfortably among the traditional applications on the machine. Now Meego, and potentially other platforms, will be able to provide a unified experience from smartphone to tablet to netbook, and potentially further, given the reach of Meego even into in-vehicle systems and embedded devices.

As apps become more prevalent in the general software ecosystem, work like this will really facilitate being able to run the best software on any platform. Since apps are also built using simplified frameworks, this will also improve speed-to-market and profitability, as well as lower barriers to entry for new software projects, meaning more choices for consumers. This also pushes Android apps beyond the sole purview of the Android OS, putting them one step closer to becoming a de jure standard for universal apps.

CES 2011: Wrap-Up

2011-02-10T16:12:00.000-05:00

Following a spectacular CES this year, I figured I would cover the few things I missed, as well as re-emphasize the major trends coming out of the show. First, what I missed: NVIDIA and the Motorola Atrix. I didn't spend any time at the NVIDIA booth mostly because I was under the assumption that they were a graphics card company. What I found out is that they've really started to branch out into some other, more interesting areas. The big news right after the show was that NVIDIA has teamed up with Intel, strangely as the result of a lawsuit between the two. Intel has already integrated NVIDIA GPU technologies into its Sandy Bridge line of processors, resulting in markedly strong performance, something I saw firsthand. I think the biggest deal here, though, is the fact that NVIDIA is a driver of the ARM processor with their Tegra2 line, and while other commentators have said that Intel brought nothing to the table for low-power devices such as phones and tablets, I believe that there is an implicit agreement between NVIDIA and Intel to split the market into an Intel-dominated high-end and an NVIDIA-dominated ARM arena.

The other big piece I missed was Motorola's introduction of the Atrix. While this device has been making big headlines, I hesitate to call it a big thing coming out of CES. I didn't see it firsthand, but I watched enough video of people who did to get the gist. The most impressive feature of the phone to some is that it can be attached to a dock-like diskless netbook, and can power that device entirely from the phone. Maybe it's me, but it less than impressive to combine all the weight and bulk of a netbook with all the processing power of a phone. I know the Atrix is supposed to have some impressive specs, but most netbooks now-a-days are still vastly more capable.

Overall, though, I saw three mega-trends throughout the show floor. The first mega-trend is tablets. There was an explosion of tablets being shown this year, many of which are going to hit the stores in the next few months. Most of these tablets are 2.x Android-based, even though Google has said only 3.0 (only available on Motorola Xoom) is officially recognized for tablets. The second mega-trend is that TV manufacturers are doubling down on 3D television, despite any indications to the contrary from the mass market. Going into the show, some were saying that companies would start to ease away from 3D. Not only did this not happen, but 3D came on even stronger. I think that, unless there is some tectonic shift in either the marketplace or the technology, 3D, particularly glasses-based 3D, is heading down a dead-end road. The third mega-trend is apps. Every device imaginable came out with its own apps platform, from TVs to home-control systems. Apps are heralding the return of quality software, and will go everywhere in 2011. The big questions still surrounding apps are the standards, if any, that apps will converge around. If they do not converge, we could see a horrendously fragmented apps environment.

CES 2011: Day 3

2011-01-09T20:35:00.000-05:00

So I said there weren't going to be any further CES updates, but I did see something worth mentioning.

It's Chris Pirillo! I saw him being interviewed just as I was walking out the door, so I couldn't even tell you what he was talking about. Also, you'll notice that he's in some sort of Reese's candy booth. Reese's introduced mini Reese's cups, and they are awesome.

I'm going to try to get out a post-CES review some time this week, going a bit more in depth on what I've written on previously, and covering anything cool I might not have touched on already, so stay tuned!

CES 2011: Day 2

2011-01-07T23:09:00.000-05:00

The second day of the Consumer Electronics Show was a bit more disappointing than the first, but I'll start with the more interesting parts.

As expected, tablets were abundant yet again today. There was of course the Blackberry tablet slated for release. Others such as media player company Creative also showed off some tablet offerings. Most I saw today are Android-based (except for the Blackberry), and have feature sets on par with what has been generally described in news reports.

Cars are also getting deeper into the consumer electronics mix. Ford is continuing to promote the next generation of its Sync system co-developed with Microsoft. This will bring more features to new cars and allow for greater integration between your car and your other consumer electronics devices such as wireless networks.

I also got to look at the Boxee Box, a little device designed for watching all kinds of media. It can not only stream from Internet sources such as Netflix and Hulu, but it can also show shared media from your local network. This device is already available for purchase today, and offers not only a nice set of features, but also a nice set of connections, such as Ethernet or WiFi for connectivity, and HDMI for output.

What was most conspicuous was the public absence of several big names: HP, HTC, Netgear, and Canonical (makers of the Ubuntu operating system). While these brands technically had a presence, their presence was limited to private "meeting space"-type areas. They did not have anything to show to the public. From HP, I was hoping to see some WebOS based products, and whatever else they might have been cooking up. From HTC, I was hoping to get a look at potential tablet offerings to come. I hoped to see some cool new and refined networking gear from Netgear, and I just wanted to see anything from Canonical. I was left wanting from all these companies, and am a little disappointed in them. Maybe next year they can all belly up to the table.

Unless something really catches my eye tomorrow, this will conclude the coverage of CES 2011. I had a blast, and I can't wait to go again next year. It will be interesting to see what comes of all these innovations in 2011.

CES 2011: Day 1

2011-01-06T21:47:00.000-05:00

The Consumer Electronics Show is back again, and this year we have coverage from the floor. As many of you know, the Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, is the premier electronics event. It takes place in Las Vegas, NV, around this time every year. Notable products that came out of CES in the past include Blu-ray, the VCR, the Xbox, and HDTV. CES is where electronics companies come to show off their latest creations and innovations.

This year, a huge trend is the development and growth of the so-called smart TV. Smart TVs are televisions that can connect to the Internet and can download and run apps much like you can on a tablet or smart phone. This type of product can be seen in many of the booths, including LG, Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony. They all appear to be moving as an industry in this direction. While they were demonstrating many types of apps designed for consuming content from sources like Facebook, Twitter, and the New York Times, I did not see much in the way of more consumer-oriented apps, i.e. shop-from-home-type apps. I did ask at LG about this concept, and the person there did not know of any out there or in the works, but I'm sure we will see these emerge soon, allowing consumers to shop from their couches.

Also popular are the tablet computers. Microsoft was showcasing Windows 7-based tablets, while many others were showing off Android offerings. Coby is launching several new and improved versions of its low-cost tablet line based off of Android. The new versions will all be Android 2.2 or later, meaning that they are compatible with Flash technology. Others were showing off higher-end tablets, such as the WeTab at the Intel booth. The WeTab is a Meego-based device developed in Germany.

Speaking of Intel, the chip manufacturer had a lot to offer this year, starting with Meego. The Linux-based operating system was showcased on the aforementioned tablet as well as a few netbooks, but is likely to find its way into a larger device pool, such as in-car systems and more. Somewhat closely tied to Meego is the Intel AppUp apps library. AppUp currently works on Windows (XP and 7) and Meego systems. It contains a mix of free and paid apps (including the popular Angry Birds), and will allow users to sync apps across at least five machines. This service is actually already active, though I don't believe it is completely final yet.

Intel is also launching the next generation of its iX line of chips (i3, i5, i7). These new chips include the integrated GPU technology allowing for graphics processing right on the processor. This translates into incredible speed for applications, particularly those that are graphics intensive, such as transcoding video and gaming. These chips are not months away, by the way, but mere weeks, expected to launch in products this month.

These new processors are enabling a whole new generation of technologies, including real-time HD video conferencing for the average computer, 3D video editing, and a device (I believe is) called the Keenu. It is similar to the Kinect (but is not meant to compete with it) in that it can be used for motion-controlled device interaction. It is presently slated to launch in France as part of a set-top box system from Orange. It is a very cool device showing the potential for innovative interfaces.

There are a few extra points I'd like to make about the show in general. First, this is a great year, much like the first year I went. There is a ton of innovation going on out there and a lot of it is very cool. Second, tech companies are throwing a lot out there without figuring out real applicability, meaning that a good portion will never reach market, and technologies that might mesh well are just not there yet. Third, I'm really looking forward to what I'll see tomorrow.

What Version Is the Web Now?

2010-12-23T21:35:00.000-05:00

OK, maybe it's not the most poignant question of the day, but it is an interesting conversation starter. We've often heard the term "Web 2.0" thrown about to describe nearly every technologically novel web site that came along in the last half-dozen years or so, but the idea of a version for the web can be more significant than merely the marketing-speak some deem it to be. Understanding, at least in broad terms, what version of the web we are on can help us to recognize and understand trends in the web world.

So now we have to determine what version of the web we are actually on. We'll establish this by looking historically forward from Web 2.0. Web 2.0, in its first incarnation, was most strongly defined by blogs and wikis, web software that allowed for social, public, and mostly unstructured publishing. The next level, Web 2.1 if you will, was marked by more structured types of sharing, with a lot of that content deriving from wikis and blogs. Services such as Digg, Delicious, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and others are typical of this era. These two pieces mostly fed each other, sustaining and growing back and forth. It was in this period that we also saw the rise of podcasting.

Web 2.2 was the era of the mashup, where programmers could take bits and pieces from different sites and services, and could combine them together to produce a new mini-application called a mashup. These programs would use APIs to gather together disparate data and display it in an unusual or unique fashion. Similar to mashups, so-called widgets (or gadgets) also evolved at this time, both on the web and on the desktop, allowing developers to use web technologies to quickly develop micro-applications for very specific uses. The technologies of the Web 2.2 era would greatly contribute to later developments.

Web 2.3 saw the rise of the rudimentary social network. The prototypical examples here are Friendster, MySpace, LinkedIn, and early Facebook. Friends would now connect to each other on the basis only of being friends, and not for any other purpose, like sharing links or writing content. Social networks, more than anything else, provided a communications platform between people, where they could share intimate details of their lives with their closest friends, and be less concerned about that information being exposed too widely. Eventually, privacy concerns would grow more prominent as Web 2.3 services transformed into Web 2.4 services.

Web 2.4 is the age of the platform. The Facebook Platform is a very prominent example of a service offering programmatic access to develop integrated applets, ala Farmville. Twitter also marketed itself as a platform, allowing developers access to APIs that allowed them to build rich interfaces to the service. Status updates in both services became a major piece of the platform. Programmers were able to leverage expanded APIs to not only extract data, but also to create new content and information, and to use all that to create innovative new experiences, at first within the domains of the platforms, but eventually also beyond those borders, such as with Facebook Connect. At the same time, apps for mobile devices that took advantage of these platforms experienced tremendous growth.

At last, we arrive at the present, Web 2.5. It represents not only an incremental growth from the earliest days of Web 2.0, but also a major shift in the way that we use the web. We are entering into the era of the Web Application, where desktop-equivalent or nearly-desktop-equivalent software is now accessible and functional through the browser. This period of web development will be ushered along by concepts like the web app store and cloud computing, and technologies such as HTML5. Some elements of this existed in very simple forms at earlier periods, most notably the Google Docs set of productivity applications (and similar), but these applications have matured, and are now unleashing a fundamental change in the way we view computing.

As we move into the Web 2.5 era, we will see many of the offerings of previous generations, even Web 1.0 properties like Amazon, adapt to the demands of an application-like experience, or we may see a fair number of them fold up and disappear completely. This does not mean that every site on the Internet will become fully and exclusively application-oriented, but we will see a general trend in this direction as more content providers want to appeal to an ever advancing audience. The Web Application metaphor will open doors to consumers in ways traditional web properties and traditional applications never could.

Can You Really Trust the Cloud?

2010-12-21T19:54:00.000-05:00

The news came out last week that Yahoo! will shutter a number of its cloud application platforms, the most notable of which is the Delicious bookmarking service. After the news circulated around a bit, Yahoo! finally reconsidered closing, and instead opted to try to sell it. As a cloud service, Delicious allowed users to save their bookmarks to the cloud, and to share them with their fellow users. Those users were hit pretty hard with the news, fearing that they would not only use a valuable service, but also a long history of bookmarks tagged with extensive meta-information. While a sale of the Delicious property might preserve the service for its user base, the whole fiasco raises serious concerns about the reliability of the cloud.

The idea of the cloud is that we entrust our entire digital life to third parties, but the essence of the cloud still relies on the same free market principles as all other products. If a particular cloud service is not making money, it could fold tomorrow, leaving everyone out in the cold. While this is not an immediate concern for a product like GMail, upon which so many are dependent, it is still a potential reality for any cloud service, even those that are seemingly the most stable.

The immediate effects of a cloud service shutting down are quite onerous on that service's direct users, but ripple effects could dramatically alter the landscape of the Internet, eliminating the possibility for creative third-party applications beyond the prescribed use cases. It could affect the way you receive news or the way you connect with friends, or the way you publish content, even beyond the service itself. Because of this network effect of cloud services, we need to look broadly at the services we use and how they connect and interact so that, should a cloud provider shut down unexpectedly, we are able to adjust and move forward. It is this sentiment that is driving much of the open data and open cloud movements of the day.

I have personally experience the effects of a cloud failure. I used Magnolia.com to store bookmarks in the cloud for a time. Fortunately, I only used it experimentally, so I lost very little when the service's database was completely corrupted. I must admit also that I have not used that service or a similar one since. When it comes to the cloud, perhaps it is best to trust, but back up often.

Television as the Portal to the Immersive Web

2010-12-15T12:00:00.000-05:00

Television has long been the epicenter of the American family life. The whole family would gather round to watch the nightly news or the big game or the latest reality show. Television is starting to evolve, though. First we moved to high-definition in recent years. The purpose of this was really less about making sure people got more detail and more about freeing bandwidth for additional and complementary services, since digital channels, even high-definition channels, take up less bandwidth than their analog ancestors. At first this translated into more channels, more on-demand programming from providers, and faster Internet speeds over the same wire. Now, with all of that coming to fruition, we are pushing into a next level of television.

The first movement is toward the 3D television. With the increased bandwidth, a lot more information can be sent to viewers, such as the double-picture needed to watch in 3D. 3D has had a rough start so far, though, as there still is not a lot of programming, and as consumers are hesitant to buy new TVs so soon again after just upgrading to HDTVs. There is also the hesitancy toward having to watch wearing goofy glasses. The second movement has been the development of apps for the TV. Some televisions or television accessories are now able to access native and web applications without needing a computer. They are even using mobile and tablet operating systems like Android to get the job done, opening TVs to extensive pre-existing app stores. So far the apps are somewhat rudimentary, such as an app to view and post to Twitter, but these apps can develop to become very integrated, and can also take advantage of the expanded bandwidth discussed above.

At the same time as we see these movements, we can see more areas intersecting in our living room. At first, we will see standard webcams added into TVs, but we should keep an eye on emerging technologies coming out of gaming, namely the Kinect from Microsoft. Originally developed for its Xbox gaming platform, developers have taken the 3D-aware device and used it to create several innovative user interfaces. You can now use your hands to navigate the web or to play a virtual piano, and this kind of innovation will only continue. The other intersection point we can see is the directions of apps on mobile and tablet devices. Apps are finally moving out of the simple and niche to become more engrossing and more profit-driven. The best example of this is Amazon's Windowshop Interface, originally developed for the iPad, and now migrated to the browser. With a more natural interface for different platforms, Amazon will be able to make sales in ways and places never before conceived. Browsers are also moving toward incorporating a new graphical technology called WebGL, allowing 2D and 3D object representations to be transmitted across the web.

So where does all of this lead us? We can see better, glasses-less 3D televisions on the horizon. We can see applications able to take advantage of ever-broader highways onto the Internet. We can see spatially-aware technology. We can see new ways of driving business and life. We are headed toward a future where we will see and touch and walk around in a web that feels almost as real as going outside. In a word, "immersion" is the future of the television. We will be able to window shop from our living rooms. We will be able to video conference Grandma or the Johnson account in fully immersive 3D. We'll be able to game with our friends half a world away like we were in the same room. The Immersive Web will not completely supplant the desktop-oriented web of today, but it will make it a lot more interesting.

ChromeOS: A Lost Leader

2010-12-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

Last week, Google premiered the beta version of their upcoming ChromeOS for cloudbooks. The event was very exciting as I watched it live on YouTube. They demonstrated a device that lives exclusively on the Internet, having no native apps except for the browser-OS. With ChromeOS, Google is hoping to move users to its cloud-based services such as Google Docs. Along with demonstrating the system itself, they also showed off the small ecosystem developing around it, including a web app store from Google for the browser and a product called Citrix Receiver, which allows a remote native application to be streamed across a network. Google offered to send free cloudbooks to volunteer beta-testers, many of which have started to receive their equipment last week.

The reviews so far have been mixed. While boot times and connectivity have been everything that was promised, testers are finding the lack of usable internal or external storage and the lack of peripheral support to be challenging. This is the price paid for living in the clouds.

It's hard to imagine the average computer user making that kind of sacrifice just to use a faster computer. The lack of a real hard disk is enough of a barrier to adoption, and not just because people "don't get it," but because most people want and some people need to control their files locally, and to install a native program or two. It's just not realistic to try to fight this necessity. ChromeOS also shoots itself in the foot in another way. Many of the benefits of ChromeOS, such as the web app store, can be experienced in a Chrome browser install in a less restrictive environment, such as Ubuntu, MeeGo, or Windows. I can do everything I want in the browser, but then when I close it, I still have the capability to run my office suite, save my pictures off my camera, and print my emails to the printer on my desk.

While ChromeOS won't even launch commercially until the middle of next year, it is already facing strong competition. The two biggest contenders, Jolicloud and MeeGo, are already out there for everyday use, and include most of those pieces of functionality ChromeOS is missing. At the same time, they are both built using Chromium (the open source version of Chrome) technology, meaning they have access to all the same technologies. While neither has seemed to gain significant uptick yet, they may be able to beat Google to its own party.

The biggest piece of enduring advancement that will come out of ChromeOS will be the ecosystem built around it, which, as already mentioned, is just as usable on any other system with the Chrome browser. The web app store will be the first of many, allowing content creators to develop amazing, standards-compliant applications entirely within the browser. Citrix Receiver will advance telework substantially. Browser-based book reading applications, such as Google's eBook store, will move the publishing industry further and wider into devices they never even thought books could be read on. Even if ChromeOS burns out, it's already made the future a little brighter.