Windows 7 Multitouch Video

Here's a video of how Windows 7 hopes to bring multitouch to the masses - desktop wise.



Apparently, several gestures will become "standard", as the pinch to zoom, but each application will be able to further enhance it's gesture based controls.

Homer Simpson CSS

Don't doubt the power of CSS.

Here's Homer Simpson made entirely of text and CSS.

Click the image to see it in motion.

For Linux users:

PS: if this doesn't look right for you, it may be that you are on Linux and don't have the Verdana font. You can install it from the msttcorefonts package.

You can see this and many other great CSS examples in sixrevisions.

Transparent Menus:

A sticky footer.

And lots other great examples...

Ubuntu 8.10

Today is all about Ubuntu.

Ubuntu 8.10 is here and you can download it now! :)

If you haven't heard about what's new, here are some of the improvements:

GNOME 2.24

Ubuntu brings you the newest GNOME 2.24 desktop environment with tons of bug-fixes and new features, some of which include:

• 
  
  Nautilus file manager has tab support (by Christian Neumair) and Eject icons for removable drives in Places sidebar (by Stefano Teso, Cosimo Cecchi, Christian Neumair, and others).
• 
  
  File Roller archive manager now supports ALZ, RZIP, CAB, TAR.7Z file types also (by Paolo Bacchilega and Changwoo Ryu).

X.Org 7.4

X.Org 7.4, the latest stable version of X.Org, is available in Intrepid. This release brings much better support for hot-pluggable input devices such as tablets, keyboards, and mice. At the same time this will allow the great majority of users to run without a /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. A new failsafe X is introduced, to give better tools for troubleshooting X startup failures.

Two of the older nvidia binary drivers are not available for X.Org 7.4 yet, so users of these drivers will be automatically switched to the corresponding open source drivers.

Linux kernel 2.6.27

Ubuntu 8.10 RC includes Linux kernel 2.6.27, a significant release with better hardware support and numerous bug-fixes.

Encrypted private directory

The ecryptfs-utils package was recently promoted to Ubuntu main, with support for a secret encrypted folder in your Home Folder (by Michael Halcrow, Dustin Kirkland, and Daniel Baumann).

You can help test this new feature by going to Applications → Accessories → Terminal and typing:

• 
  
  sudo aptitude install ecryptfs-utils
• 
  
  ecryptfs-setup-private

Guest session

The User Switcher panel applet (package fast-user-switch-applet) now provides an extra entry for starting a Guest session (by Martin Pitt). This creates a temporary password-less user account with restricted privileges: the account cannot access any users' home directories, nor permanently store data. This is sufficiently safe to lend your laptop to someone else for a quick email check.

Network Manager 0.7

Ubuntu 8.10 RC ships Network Manager 0.7 (by Dan Williams and others), which comes with long-expected features, such as:

• system wide settings (i.e., no need to log in in order to get a connection)
• management of 3G connections (GSM/CDMA)
• management of multiple active devices at once
• management of PPP and PPPOE connections
• management of devices with static IP configurations
• route management for devices

More information can be found on the Network Manager wiki.

What are you waiting for?...

Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB

It didn't take long... I have just recently bought a 1TB external drive, and it already feels kind of small compared to this Seagate Barracuda with 1.5TB.

Using just 8Watts, this Barracuda offers excelent performance in both reading (130MB/s) and writing (100MB/s) tests.

Sure, it costs $225 - which is at a slight premium over 1TB offerings; but considering just a few dozen years ago you had to pay more than that for a 20 MB hard drive, I can hardly find it overpriced.


So, no matter how many photos or files you have to backup, don't tell me you need more than 1.5TB for it.

AC/DC Excel Video

Would you imagine opening up your Excel spreadsheet program to watch a music video?
You better believe it.



I can't say it's entirely new - as ASCII animations are nothing new - but it's interesting anyway... :)

If you want you can download the Excel file and see it in its full glory.

Windows 7 to Offer GPU Acceleration?

It looks like Microsoft doesn't want to be left behind when it comes to "general purpose" GPU processing.

This makes even more sense when you consider Apple's next OS X (a.k.a. Snow Leopard) to also have such capabilities.
One of the topics for the upcoming PDC 2008 is:

• Windows 7: Unlocking the GPU with Direct3D (Direct3D-based GPU acceleration of Win32 applications).

It seems the next generation of operating systems will be able to not only use multi-core CPU, but also use different (and highly specialized) CPUs - as the ones you have in your computer's graphic card.

This will allow for far better task scheduleing, using your GPU to speed up operations that would take far longer if done on a general-purpose CPU.


Along with multitouch, and faster booting times, it seems they're on the right track - we'll just have to wait and see if they actually deliver.

Android G1 Security Flaw

Well, it didn't take them long to start finding security flaws on the recently launched Android G1.

Apparently, all it takes is for you to browse to a malicious web page and... you can have a nasty piece of software installed into you brand new Android.

However, don't worry too much - as each process runs in its own "sandbox", there's no risk that "virus" can compromise the rest of the stuff you have in there.

A fix is in the works and should be available soon.

iPhone 2.2 with Streetview

The latest beta 2 version of iPhone's upcoming firmware update 2.2 has revealed some new interesting features in the Maps section.

You'll finally be able to use Streetview:

As well as have walking directions and bus information.

As for the much needed copy-paste... it remains to be seen if version 2.2 will finally implement it.

MSI Wind gets BIOS update Boost

Good news for MSI Wind owners.

The latest bios update brings some interesting tweaks to its turbo button. Meaning: you can now overclock your Wind by 8%, 15%, or 25%.

This makes it a lot more enjoyable to use with CPU intensive tasks - you can get nearly 30% better performance in software like Photoshop.)

Grab your BIOS update here:
MSI WIND Firmware 1.09

Gmail gets Smileys and Emoticons

Well, love'em or hate'em they're here.

Smileys (a.k.a. emoticons) finally worked their way into your gmail account.

And as you'd might expect, Google's chat has been updated too:

So, no more need to hunt down those secret emoticons anymore. :)
 
Update: after all, there still are some secret smileys you might want to check out here.
Update 2: and even more emoticons and emoji you can enable in the Labs section of Gmail.

You know Multitouch is popular when...

... it's used to make people laugh:



Do I need say anything else? :)

Scotch Tape generates X-Rays

Apparently it is a known fact for quite sometime - but it's news to me - that unpeeling scotch tape generates light and X-Rays.

What they didn't know was that those X-Rays are more powerful than they expected. Some researchers at UCLA have shown that regular scotch tape can be used to x-ray the bones in the human body.

This kind of energy release — known as triboluminescence and seen in the form of light — occurs whenever a solid (often a crystal) is crushed, rubbed or scratched. It is a long-known, if somewhat mysterious, phenomenon, seen by Francis Bacon in 1605. He noticed that scratching a lump of sugar caused it to give off light.

The leading explanation posits that when a crystal is crushed or split, the process separates opposite charges. When these charges are neutralized, they release a burst of energy in the form of light.

However, before you start worrying about going to your office dressed in a protective lead outfit or throwing out all scotch tapes out the window, keep in mind this only happens when the scoth tape is in a vacuum... or so they say...

Citywall Multitouch

Another example of how Microsoft's Surface-like technology will inevitable change the way we interact with public information systems. Citywall is one such example, using currently available technology, allowing multiple users to interact with it - taking multitouch to the extreme.




If you're wondering about the display, it's one from Multitouch:

I Know what you Typed Last Summer!

If you ditched your wireless keyboard because you worried about someone eavesdropping on what you were typing, and feel safe using a wired keyboard... I have some bad news for you.

Using an inexpensive electromagnetic scanner capturing the full spectrum, researches have shown to be possible to detect what you are typing dozens of feet away, even behind walls.

No keyboard is safe. USB, PS/2, and even laptop keyboards all fell prey to this scanning technique.

Compromising Electromagnetic Emanations of Keyboards Experiment 1/2 from Martin Vuagnoux on Vimeo.


Compromising Electromagnetic Emanations of Keyboards Experiment 2/2 from Martin Vuagnoux on Vimeo.

Keep in mind that this isn't really new. Years ago, similar methods were employed to capture CRT signals, that allowed you to see what some monitor was displaying at a remote location.

MIMO Mini-Displays

On the other side of the planet (Korea) the craze of the moment seem to be small (and cheap) USB 7" LCD monitors that can expand your computer's desktop.

These small MIMO LCDs from Nanovision are very interesting because:
1) You just need a USB cable (no messy power cables nor bulky power adaptors)
2) Its low cost (starting at $81 USD.)

If you want more than a sinple display, you can choose enhanced models, with touchscreens, webcams, and eben TU Tuners.

These MIMO displays can be used either in both landscape (horizontal) and portrait (vertical) orientation.

Let's hope they get to us soon, and that its prices keeps dropping.

via [Engadget]

Debugging Javascript with Blackbird

Talking about JavaScript, if you're the kind of developer that is tired of using "alert()" when you're developing a script, you'll be pleased to know you'll soon never have to do it again.Let me introduce you to Blackbird.

This open-source JavaScript message logger will allow you to easily check what's going on behind-the-scenes in your javascripts.
It won't substitute a full-fledged debugger like Firebug, but it will certainly save you a lot of time tracking down what's going wrong.

(And you won't need to install anything on your computer or browser to use it.)

The Web and Javascript

Consider how much the internet has evolved in the past few years. If you still recall how most web pages looked ten years ago - with that old fashioned "static HTML" look - then you appreciate current Web 2.0 look even more.

And the basis for most of it is javascript...

Just look at Google Maps. You can drag a map around, zoom in/ou using your mouse clickwheel, even right click on it to bring up more options. It behaves almost like a traditional program running on your desktop.

Sure, it's not the only one: Microsoft's own Live Maps and Yahoo Maps offer similar features.

But the issue remains: what do you value more - content or usability?

When you visit Google Maps I'm pretty sure you're interested in checking out a map. Though important, I think it's safe to assume ease of use is secondary.

Now, let's imagine a case where someone, concerned with its own security, decides to disable javascript so it doesn't fall prey to "click-jacking" attempts.
He then tries to navigate to Live Maps just to find he can't even see a map.
Well, tough luck... he goes to Yahoo Maps... but again he'll face a blank page.

We finally tries Google Maps... and behold! There you can still check a map!

Sure, it's a very basic version of what you're used to. No fancy drag'n'drop, no dynamic page updates... but it still works.

So: how much should you depend on javascript to access valuable information?

Is it right to completely shut out people from accessing the information they need?


One school of thought says you should always present "content", and only then enhance it if you happen to have a more capable browser (with javascript, etc.)

Problem is, lots of people seem to be doing the exact opposite: developping for a fully fledged browser, assuming everyone has javascript enabled; and if you don't... tough luck! You get to see... nothing.


Keep in mind that with more internet-enabled devices popping up each day, this issue becomes even more important. Who's to say you're not trying to access those pages from a cell-phone, a internet-TV, or any other gadget like a internet-browsing watch from Japan?
Just because you're using a limited browser should you be locked out of the information you're looking for?


It's not javascript's fault - it is a fundamental part of the Internet to-be - it's just a matter of how it should be used.

Microsoft InstantOn

It seems like Microsoft isn't willing to be left behind when it comes to Instant-On.

Some users have been surveyed regarding what features they would expect from an "InstantOn" environment booting in just 8 seconds, as well as how long they would be willing to wait for it to boot.

Considering how successful  Splashtop has been, I'm not surprised to see Microsoft entering this sector - in fact, I don't know why it took them so long to realize boot times to be very important issue.

Even so, 8 seconds (in my opinion) is still too long for us to wait... sure, it's better than 30 seconds or a full minute... but keep in mind even a low end Eee PC was able to boot a full fledged OS in 5 seconds. So... when we hear something about an "instant On" device... we really expect it to be instant.

Oahu - Surface for the Masses?

It looks like Microsoft's Surface can be inside our homes sooner than we might think.

At least, that's what it seems if you Oahu turns out to be what we all hope it is: a multitouch 'surface' table.

For now, they're still inquiring about what people would use it for: content creation, homework, etc.

As for its price, it seems they're eyeing a $1500 target price - which would be rather acceptable for such a device.

Come on - I'm delaying buying a new coffe table for my living room, and this would be perfect! :)

Turing Test nearly Passed - Artificial Intelligence

This sunday, we almost achieved a very important milestone in Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)

The Turing Test is considered the reference test for AI systems. One person (the jury) communicates with two other subjects - one being another person, the other being a computer running an AI program trying to simulate human behavior.
If the jury cannot tell which is which, it is said the computer has passed the test.

Up till now, no computer was ever able to full the jury, but we got close this Sunday!

The test determines the computer needs to fool at least 30% of the jury, and in this case the winning machine was "only" able to fool 25% of them - just 5% more to go.

Skynet is getting closer... :)

[Update]
If you want, you can play with elbot yourself, (the program that nearly won this competition.)

Firefox 3.0.3 Memory Leaks

No matter how much I love Firefox, I'm still frequently annoyed by it's memory leak issues.


If you shutdown and restart your computer daily, you probably never even noticed it, but if you leave your computer on 24/7 for weeks or months at a time, you'll certainly know what I'm talking about.

Sure, things are getting better - previous versions required closing/restarting several times a day; things you now need only do every couple of days or once a week.

For instance, today I found Firefox wasting over 500MB of memory - something not even my regular 20 open tabs could possibly justify, as proven by closing and restarting FF with the exact same 20 tabs, resulting in a "mere" 180MB use.

Now, the question is: is it FF? is it any rogue plugin leaking memory? (even though I try to use just "well behaved plugins")


That's why I love Chrome's Task Manager, that shows you exactly what tab/page/process/plugin is using what memory.

Until we have something similar on Firefox, I guess I'll have to keep closing/relaunching it every now and then.

Why DRM is Doomed to Fail

Here's why DRM is doomed to failed no matter how you look at it:

[xkcd]

iPhone 3G "No Service" Error

I had heard about it, read about it... and now saw it first hand.
My iPhone 3G is now showing me the dreaded "No Service" error.

It lasted exactly 3 months - bought on July 11th, died on October 11th.

In places where it always worked perfectly with max strength 3G signal, it now shows no service no matter what I try.

Everything else is still working perfectly (wifi, etc.) but when it comes to GSM/3G... nothing works.

At first I though it could be my SIM card. I took it off, cleaned it, tried it again. No luck.
So, I tried it in another phone, and it worked instantly.

To make things worse, sometimes the iPhone didn't even detected the SIM card has inserted/removed.
I had to reset it several times, and/or enable/disable Airplane mode for it to work and ask me the unlock code.

Sometimes I also got a "Waiting for activation" popup message... which sounded even stranger.


I googled around the internet, to find thousands of similar issues - some of them related to jailbroken iPhones; which is not my case: I've never used anything but the official Apple firmware, and currently on the 2.1 version.

I reset the network settings, I restored the iPhone... nothing made any difference.


Time to take it back to Vodafone. I just hope they can fix it and return it soon - as it's a pain not to have email/internet with you at all times...

Gmail Goggles - Google Sanity Checker

Emails are becoming increasingly important in our daily lives. They're fast, cheap, and easy to use.

But all that easiness also has its drawbacks: once you click that "Send" button there's no way back. Your email will reach its destination in a few milliseconds and there's no way to stop it.

This means that we - as flawed human beings with our own moments of weakness - are very much likely to send some emails we'll later regret. Particularly when we're likely to be annoyed or... how to put it mildly?... drunk.

That's where Gmail Goggles comes in to save the day night.
(Yep, that's no typo, it's Goggles not Google)

When this new Google Labs feature is active, it will require some extra confirmation before it sends your email.

Of course, you can easily adjust it to cover all your "party hours" - by default Gmail Goggles comes active for the weekends only.

via [Gmail Blog]

Chrome your Firefox

While most people have tried Google's Browser Chrome and later reverted back to Firefox (if you're like me - you can't live without ad-blocker plugins, to say the least) the truth is Chrome made us aware of all the space wasting stuff we usually have on our menu bars.

So, if you want to keep using Firefox but wouldn't mind if it looked as clean and streamlined as Google's Chrome, you can.

Just check lifehacker's tutorial: How to make Firefox Look like Chrome.

Firefox Before:

Firefox After:

ATM Pro Scammers

It's not hard to assume even thieves are going hightech these days.

If you're probably aware of those dreaded ATM scammers that store all your credit (and debit) card information whenever you use it on a bugged ATM, you might want to know that newer versions can SMS that info in real time back to the thief.

After all, going back to retrieve the device was one of the biggest risks for them, right?

But, you really have to admire the manufacturers attention to detail, going as far as using the exact same manufacturing process to ensure the skimmer has the exact same texture and color of the intended ATM machine - oh yes, they carry a large assortment of models for most USA/European ATMs.

But as life isn't easy these days - not even for thieves - the data sent to their computers is encrypted so they can feel safe. After all, we wouldn't want anyone to steal all those valuable card data from them, right?


And if you're considering turning into the "dark side" and making a quick buck with one of these, you better think again. These devices aren't sold to any individual - oh no - you need to have someone vouching for your reputation on this sort of business.

Would you believe that?...

Flow Waterjet Cutting Robot

Flow Corp. has recently introduced their latest 6-axis waterjet cutting robot.

I was only able to find a video of their older 5-axis model, but it is still quite impressive.

It's a good video to show any friends not believeing water can cut through steel, stone, titanium, and... pretty much everything else you put in there.

Flash Security Flaw - Clickjacking

If you can't live without Flash, I have some bad news for your. There's another serious security flaw lurking around.

This problem affects all computers with Flash installed (which represent nearly all of the computers browsing the internet) and allows an attacker to have access to your webcam and microphone with a single click.

This type of attack is known as clickjacking and here a video explaining how it works.


Clickjacking Camjack Demonstration from Jeremiah Grossman on Vimeo.

While they work on a fix, Adobe recomends you turn off webcam and microphone access on Flash.

Animate your Linux Logs with Logstalgia

For many people, Linux means watching endless scrolling text on a computer monitor.

However, if you do have to watch endless log scrolling on screen, you can easily make it look a little nicer. You just need to use Logstalgia.



Now you just have to explain to your boss you're really not playing a game. :)

Eee PC boots Linux in 5 seconds

To show that you don't need any high-end hardware to do it, some Intel Linux programmers have shown an Eee PC booting Linux in 5 seconds at a Linux conference.

And there's no cheating involved - this is the time it takes untile both CPU and Flash disk are idle.
(Unlike those methods that show you a working desktop but keep loading stuff for a very long time after it.)

If a modest Eee PC can do it, how can one explain why modern operating systems take such a long time to boot even on a high-end quad CPU?

Let's hope all other programmers out there will keep a close eye on this "speed record" and use some of that info to speed up their own projects.

YouTube now with Super HD

I didn't want to believe when I heard YouTube was increasing its resolution 4x.

Don't believe me, check it out yourself: YouTube Super-HD

On a more serious note, you do indeed have two new visualization modes for feature length videos:
1) Lights Out, darkens the rest of the screen
2) Theater View, add curtains to the side (from the time movie theaters actually had curtains.)

iPhone - Run Web Apps in Fullscreen

One of the new features of the latest iPhone firmware update is the option to run a Web App in fullscreen. Web Apps are regular websites specificaly designed for the iPhone, usually mimicking it's native interface and behavior using javascript.

What this means is that it is now possible to create a site that can visually indistinguishable from a native iPhone App (apart from the slower performance - we're still talking about internet served web pages.)

All you have to do to use a Web App in full screen is to save it to your Home Screen.

You can try it with this demo App.

• Go to the demo app page using Safari on the iPhone
• Press "+" on the bottom of the Safari screen
  
• Select "Add to Home Screen"
• Save the App to your Home Screen
• Tap the newly created icon on your home screen
• You should now be using the Demo app without the Safari top and bottom menus.
  

One more indication of the way things wil be in the future - with native and webapps seaminglessly integrating with eachother.

Google 10th Birthday

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Well, I really can't remember - but you can now check how Google looked back in 2001 as part of their 10th anniversary celebration.

Just head to:


http://www.google.com/search2001.html

And see for yourself how the internet was a lot smaller back then. :)

Carbon Nanotubes - The End of Steel?

Carbon nanotubes are constantly being heralded as one of the most promissing materials ever. They're expected to make the space elevator possible, and now it is said they can use it to create a transparent fabric stronger than steel.

Yes, you read it right.

A team of researchers says it's possible to weave a carbon nanotube fabric at up to 7 meters per second.

This new material would now only be extremly light and transparent, it would also be stronger than steel - making us wonder about the countless applications where it could be put to good use.

I think it won't be that long until we'll have to edit that Wikipedia entry regarding Star Trek's Transparent Aluminum, and change it from fictional substance to a real one.

Optimizing XP for Dual HD/SSD [Part III]

In the previous parts (Part I, Part II) I've talked about why having more disks is better, and how to make sure Windows uses it the best possible way.

But, even though traditional Hard Drives (with rotating magnetic media) are still the most popular type of HD (and will probably continue to be for some time) SSDs are slowly beginning to emerge as viable alternatives.


Tweaking Windows XP for SSD use

These disks rely on Flash memory for storage and have no moving parts - which makes it ideal for rugged operation. Having no moving parts and using Flash means they also have lightning fast access times.

While traditional Hard drives have latencies in the order of the milliseconds (7-9ms) SSDs latencies are measured in the nanoseconds range.

This means that most techniques, developed over the years, to overcome the latency of traditional hard drives is now rendered "obsolete" and can even become counterproductive.

However, you should keep in mind that there are a lot of different SSDs out there, and while some may perform flawlessly, others may be plagued by issues such as slow write cycles and/or inefficient controllers.

But even in a worst case scenario, SSDs offer unbeatable access times and rather good to excellent read performance.

So, our quest here is to reduce the number of writes as much as possible - particularly in the case of large numbers of frequently changed small files, such as the ones your browser caches on your computer.


1) upgrade to as much RAM as you possibly can.
This will allow you to disable the Windows virtual memory paging file.

2) disable unneeded disk space wasters such as System Restore, Hibernation, and even Indexing Services (unless you're really fond of it.)

3) disable prefetch
Prefetch is a method that reads some stuff from disk before you actually use. It was useful in situations where a traditional HD might be lagging behind under workload, but it comes at the expense of extra memory use and additional disk writes (Windows keeps a copy of these prefetch files on disk.)
Browse to C:\Windows\Prefetch to see everything Windows is storing there... probably even for programs you haven't run in ages - or already removed.

You can disable/adjust prefetch by editing Windows Registry. If you're not comfortable doing this, then stop here and ask for a friend's help. Last thing you'd want is to mess up the registry and end up re-installing Windows.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters]
"EnablePrefetcher"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOpt imizeFunction]
"Enable"="N"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\OptimalLayout]
"EnableAutoLayout"=dword:00000000


Check this link to learn some more about it and also see how to re-enable Prefetching if needed.



Hopefully, the next generation Operating Systems will be able to use SSDs more effectively than current versions that were developed using all sorts of tricks to get the most out of traditional hard drives.

Eventually, we'll get to a point where everything is bound to be "Ram-like" and people won't care about how many "Ram, HD, SSD, cache" space it has... things will just work. And it will be up to the computer to best determine if/when/how to do its thing, whether it pulling data from the cloud, or storing a copy on local storage, or... who knows?

For now, we'll keep looking into SSD prices, and hope it won't take long until we can all afford Intel (or similarly performing) SSDs.

Hyperwords for Firefox [Plugin]

If you constantly find yourself copy-pasting words from webpages to find out more about it - whether it is a person, a company, an amout your want to convert to other currency, or a word you want to translate to another language - then you'll certainly appreciate Firefox plugin.

Hyperwords

With Hyperwords, all words suddenly become links you can easily use to find outr more about it.

Check this short demo video and see how the web can become in the future, with everything connected to everything else - whether we use hyperlinks or not.


[Youtube video]

Android, iPhone... now what?

Now that Android is out (and it even has Copy-paste although no standard headphone socket) how will this affect buyers when the time comes to choose their next smartphone?

Usually, people buying this kind of devices know exactly what they're buying - but there are also those who just want to "show off" and buy whatever the seller pushes them.

Because, let's face it - how many people out there now what an Android" is?
Most likely people would give that "is this guy nuts?" look.

In that sense the iPhone has a broader public "status" with more people knowing what it is - or at least having heard about it as the "touchy" phone you swipe your fingers over.

Maybe advertising it as "Google Phone" will be better - at least it will be instantly recognized for anyone using the internet.


On the other hand, is quite funny to see how volatile the "internet" opinion is:



While some constantly whine about Apple's "censorship" policy that keeps Apps out of their App Store as they see fit, others complain about the "openness" of Android's Market, where everything made by anyone will be available.


So, let's get it straight: what the heck do you want?


Regarding these device's user interface...



Although I have never been a Mac user, I always heard about Apple's attention to detail.

Thing like the subtle "fade-in/fade-out" transitions on the iPods, and even the completely unnecessary transition effect when you turn the airplane mode on/off on your iPhone, with the small plane zooming by and fading out.
As I said, that's completely unnecessary... but nice.
(Though there are lots of other more important "nice" things we should have and don't - like that "copy-paste" thing!)


For now, the Android user experience is nothing like iPhone's. It look like a bunch of programs quicly put together, each with its unique look, fonts, colors, etc.
I'm sure that - as things mature - it will certainly evolve into a much nicer looking and enjoyable experience, but that will take time and patience, until an "Android" look and feel is created.

I sincerely hope Google to be successful in this endeavor.
And I also hope Android might be the tipping point when it comes to DRM-free content.
You can buy DRM-free tunes from Amazon on Android, unlike iTunes Fairplay DRM.
And thankfully consumers are starting to take this DRM issue more seriously than ever (see all the complaints regarding EA's latest epic game: Spore) and even countries like Norway which are demanding iTunes to give up it's DRM so its music can be played in any MP3 player and not just iPhones.


And last but not least, for these devices to be successful there's something we can't forget about: mobile broadband internet access. Without suitable plans, affordable and a decent amount of data, none of these devices will ever take off.
For instance - here in Portugal, most iPhone plans still have a 250MB monthly limit - which is a bit short if you're always out of the office and relying on 3G internet access.
We also need integrated solutions so we don't have to pay several internet access bills: one for the smartphone, one for your laptop, one for your wired connection at home, etc.

Now that Google is starting to have it's own satellites, maybe it won't be that long until we can have free worldwide wireless broadband internet access...
:)

Apple Ends iPhone NDA

It sounds too good to be true, but it really has happened: Apple has finally seen "the light" and ended the infamous NDA that plagued iPhone developers.

No one was allowed to talk about developing for the iPhone, not even to ask for advice and suggestions among developer forums, but now... a new dawn for iPhone developers has finally arrived!


Here's Apple statement:

We have decided to drop the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for released iPhone software.


We put the NDA in place because the iPhone OS includes many Apple inventions and innovations that we would like to protect, so that others don’t steal our work. It has happened before. While we have filed for hundreds of patents on iPhone technology, the NDA added yet another level of protection. We put it in place as one more way to help protect the iPhone from being ripped off by others.


However, the NDA has created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone’s success, so we are dropping it for released software. Developers will receive a new agreement without an NDA covering released software within a week or so. Please note that unreleased software and features will remain under NDA until they are released.


Thanks to everyone who provided us constructive feedback on this matter.

Better late than never.

[Apple]

Rev your iPhone

It may sound like I'm about to tell you about a racing game for the iPhone, but no... it's not a game. In fact it may very well be one of the tools you've been waiting for a long time

I'm talking about Rev and Rev Lite, two applications that will appeal everyone interesting in knowing a little bit (actually, quite a bit) about their vehicles that run on the iPhone.

The Lite version (free) uses just the GPS and accelerometers presente in the iPhone to trace your course and your vehicle accelerations. But the full version is a lot more interesting, as it allows you to interface your iPhone to your vehicles OBD-II port via a WiFi module.



Through the OBD-II interface you can access all your engine data, including:

• Vehicle Speed
• RPM
• Fuel Consumption
• Engine Coolant Temp
• Fuel Pressure
• Throttle Position
• Intake Manifold Pressure
• Air Intake Temp
• Fuel Level
• Barometric Pressure
• Fuel Trim

... among others.

You can also use to check why a "Check Engine" light showed up on your dashboard and reset your engine parameters.

Available at the App Store, just one touch away.