Google Maps finally integrates subway stations

If you used Google Maps today you may have noticed that they have finally added subway stations to the map interface.

It’s nice visually, but doesn’t give you as much options as HopStop (directions by train, driving or walking) but nonetheless I am a fan.

At the very least, I can see how to get home from wherever I maybe.

What all the fuss over DRM !?!

So I had a conversation with a co-worker today about sharing music and it reminded me of the daddy over at Apple.

Steve Job’s earlier this month called for the world's largest record companies to start selling songs online without copy protection software (see the BBC if you’re interested).

If you are a consumer of movies, music or digital content in general you should care.

First up, what is DRM???

What is it?

• DRM stands for Digital Rights Management
  

• It’s a system that restricts how, when and where you can listen to music and soon will include movies

What’s all the fuss about?

• Consumers like you and me like to “do what we do” with our music
  

• The problem is today we all can make near perfect copies of music and videos, and distribute them over a broadband connection in a couple of minutes or over several hours
  

• Without restrictions on copying, content providers like the RIAA or studio houses say they could go out of business (yea right!)

Why should you care?

• There is no single DRM standard
  

• Apple has their own and Microsoft has their partners (see playforsure)
  

• If you purchase content on iTunes you can only play it on an iPod or a Mac computer. That sucks if you are like me and use a PC at work and a Mac at home (I miss my library!)
  

• Even worst yet, if you for some reason decided to buy a Zune there are time restrictions for play…say 3 days for a song or 24 hours for a downloaded movie
  

• None of these thing make for a desirable experience

What does it all mean?

• Once again our angelic leader at Apple comes off looking like the hero
  

• If he wins out, we get to freely swap music and movies
  

• If he doesn’t he comes off looking like the consumers knight in shining black sweater vest

Food for thought…sound off here…

The Blackberry is Crack

Sometimes we can become device dependent and this is a sad, sad case of tech taking over our lives. There are actual studies that have linked the internet to an actual addiction and this video is exhibit A

Pipes and Tubes

Yes the internet is a series of pipes and tubes and Yahoo takes that quite seriously. Yesterday they launched a service called Yahoo! Pipes.

It’s received quite a bit of traffic and went down for part of day due to the excess traffic to the site.

What is it?
It’s a service that allows you to create your own mashups

How does it work?
It provides a drag and drop editor that lets you find data sources and combine feeds in different ways

What can I do with it?
The service is social, in that you can have an avatar, view all mashups from a certain user and even edit existing mashups to create something new

The editor is pretty slick, using ajax-like technology, rather than Flash and shows actionable modules that are connected by lines.

It’s quite cool and may even be useful if you want to like viewing NYTimes articles with relevant images on Flickr or getting aggregated news alerts from Google, MSN, Findory, Bloglines and Technorati

1/3 of IPTV Global Subscribers are in France

An article in the January issue of Telephony Online found the following:

• There were 2.7 million IPTV subscribers worldwide (as of end Q3 2006)

• 68% of which were in Western Europe

• 28% in Asia

• France is the biggest market worldwide for IPTV, with almost 900k subscribers, representing 1/3 of the worldwide total

• Hong Kong is the second largest, with the largest Hong Kong IPTV supplier, PCCW, having 638,000 subs in Q3 2006

France is arguably the most digitally forward thinking country in Europe leading the way in IPTV, blogging and even mobile TV (not first but near the top).

Why may you ask?
Well consider the different regulations between IPTV and traditional distribution means. The bundle approach (ie: Comcast Triple Play) of combining broadband, TV and phone services have been very success. Although the UK is the oldest IPTV market (established by Homechoice in 2000), in fighting among competitors (ie: Sky vs. Homechoice) never gained traction among consumers.

Orginal Link: Telephony Online

Home to the Future

This weekend I had a chance to check out Time Warners's Home of the Future.

It conssist of a 45,000-cubic-foot exhibition on home-related technologies. It also combines “massive size” with “tactile interactivity” to show how new technologies will soon shape homes.

It's nice to see Time Warner considering audible levels, which is a big concern for urban dwellers. In the future, the structure of our homes may be tied to how we enjoy our entertainment and its interesting to see how a cable company is preparing for that future push.

Original Post: NYTimes

Innovation Inbox #2

Great product design brings together the perfect marriage of form and function.

In this issue, we highlight cutting-edge products and technologies, for an inside look at how and why they were developed.

Enjoy!

Alltel's new Celltop

Company: InformationWeek

What is it: Allow customers a new way to organize content on their phone

Bona Fide: Puts interactive, changeable windows or "cells" on your phone's display. The idea is to let you scan through such information without having to press several buttons.

RFID Audiobar

Company: Mogens Jacobsen

What is it: A physical bar-like social environment that enable visitors to interact with sounds via RFID tagged bottles

Bona Fide: Each bottle is labeled with different keywords, by moving the bottles around, visitors can play sounds that match the keywords

QR Codes…The Next Big Thing From Japan?

Company: Various Japanese Companies

What is it: A new type of bar code that can hold more information than in the past, like alphanumeric characters and even Japanese text

Bona Fide: Can be used to direct mobile phone users to special websites to download brand ads, ringtones, character logos, viral videos, branded flash games and more.

Billboards with Face Recognition

Company: Microsoft

What is it: a prototype advertising system that uses a small video camera and facial-recognition so ftware to try to determine a viewer's gender and select an appropriate ad to display

Bona Fide: May be the future of the advertising industry, allowing agencies to provide targeted messaging in a real world environment such as Amazon and Google do with search

The Olive Martini Glass

Company: Beth Fuller

What is it: Redesign of the martini glass

Bona Fide: Designed to be held comfortably in the palm of the hand, while there is a hole in the lip of the glass to accommodate olives on a toothpick