Of Interest ::: Nature: Water found on Moon ::: With a dose of chlorine and fluorine. (0 comments)
Book Recommendation ::: The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable ::: If you're into product or business development, this book is a must. (0 comments)
Of Interest ::: Marc Andreessen To Big, Old Media: You're Screwed ::: Sell, but who will buy? (0 comments)
Of Interest ::: Yahoo! Search BOSS ::: Yahoo!'s open search web services platform. (0 comments)
The Significance of 3G in Apple’s new iPhone
July 10, 2008 – 14:21
Image via WikipediaAs the launch of Apple’s new revision of the iPhone is approaching, there has been growing amount of criticism towards Apple not introducing anything really revolutionary with the new product. This critique is normally heard from U.S. and that is understandable, given that U.S. is still lagging behind Europe when it comes to mobile infrastructure. As an iPhone 2G user, however, I must contradict some of these arguments. There are some unique selling points from European perspective:
- 3G. European 3G coverage is getting near 100% and for example in the Nordics, subsidized contracts are only allowed for 3G devices.
- iTunes & AppStore. Try to find as usable for any other mobile handset. You won’t.
- Cocoa Touch. Yeah, there are loads of Windows Mobile phones with touch screen, mainly in the U.S. market. I actively use Samsung SGH-i780 for my corporate tasks and I can only say that there are touch UIs and then there is Apple’s touch UI. Try to guess which one works.
- Mobile Safari. Only desktop grade mobile browser. Don’t even try to mention Opera, it is not even close.
- ActiveSync. While RIM rules the U.S. market, Europe is still wide open for corporate solutions. This might give Apple a chance.
- Battery life. Reviews say that iPhone’s battery life is bad. Well, compare that with any Nokia N-series phone, which are common in Europe, in similar usage scenario and iPhone is not that bad at all.
These are only some of my positive points regarding iPhone. Of course the design is also superior compared to any other handset in the market, at least in my humble opinion.
Posted in Computing, Gadgetry, Technology | No Comments » | 
Of Interest ::: The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs R.I.P. ::: This has been one of my favourite blogs so it is a sad day :-( (0 comments)
Of Interest ::: Response to a critic of my hyper-local thinking: SteveOuting.com ::: A good read for anyone working in the newspaper industry. (0 comments)
Of Interest ::: Iphone 3g Review: iPhone 3G Reviews Are In ::: And they're mixed, though mainly positive. (0 comments)
Google Enters the Virtual World Arena with Lively
July 9, 2008 – 9:53
Image via WikipediaSo it was destined to happen: Google announced that they are also entering the virtual world arena with Lively, a browser based VW implementation. While there has been a lot of buzz and a lot of VC dollars involved with VW business this year, this news means trouble for players like Linden Lab and Sulake. It’s not only because Google is doing it, but because it is certain that Microsoft will follow Google either by rolling their own implementation or by buying themselves to the market - they simply will follow in Google’s footprints after making the mistake of not following with search. This means that smaller players will have trouble with the competition which also makes it harder to raise VC money. That about the business aspect.
The emergence of virtual worlds has been something of a curiosity for me for a long time. The reason is simple: I’m a huge science fiction fan and the development of global telecommunications infrastructure and now virtual reality applications on top of that reminds me of works by William Gibson. Add in diminishing natural resources and shortage of energy and food and things are getting really science fiction indeed - and not always for better. As my favourite writer, J.G. Ballard, put it: “Sooner or later, all science fiction comes true.”
Posted in Technology | No Comments » |
The Carbon Footprint of “Green” Goods?
July 8, 2008 – 10:36
Image via WikipediaAccording to pretty much every possible news outlet, Toyota will be adding solar panels to their Prius line of hybric cars. One thing that bugs me in all of these so called “green” goods is that there is no mention of the emissions from the manufacture of such goods.
A solar-electric-gas hybrid might cause lower emissions when in use - however manufacturing all those batteries and solar cells definately produce much more emissions than not manufacturing them. In addition to that, both batteries and solar cells need rare earth materials where the extraction of those from the earth causes considerable emissions, not to mention the amount of chemicals and energy used in purifying the materials. So, how green a green car really is? I think you would be better off with mass transportation if you really want to minimize your carbon footprint.
PS. I’d really want to know the additional emissions from product manufacture for all the goods marketed as “green”, just to be able to make fair comparison with non-green products.
Posted in Physics, Technology | No Comments » |