Stephen Colbert on Cingular and Deregulation

Emerging Tech Standards for 2007

It’s hard keep up with the tech Jones, but if you are going to try, make sure to add the following tech terms to your vocabulary in 2007

TV Standards
Full HD (aka 1080p)
Currently the best image quality you can get on high-definition television. But content is iffy.

Slingbox
A device from Sling Media that makes live or recorded tv from your home system available to PCs and handhelds over the internet

IPTV
Standards for Internet Protocol television – means TV delivered over the web


Mobility
Follow-me TV
Lets you start watching a record TV show in your family room, and then move to your bedroom without losing your place

HSDPA / EV-DO
Two superfast 3rd generation mobile networks, the former from Cingular Wireless, the latter from Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless

Home Servers
Put all your photos, music, and video on the server that can dish them up on different devices in your home


High Definition
Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD
Two rival standards for next generation, high definition DVDs. It’s still too early to call a winner


GPS
Location Based Services
Global positioning chips in your phone lets companies figure out where you are and point you in the best local shop or restaurant


Set Top Box
HDMI
A new strand for connecting HDTV source, such as a cable set-top box, to an HD display. What is unknown is much the cable connection will cost (range between $80 to $120)

Mobile Internet Standard
Wi-MAX
A new mobile Internet standard, more advanced than Wi-Fi, that will soon be available from Sprint Nextel, Clearwire, and others

House Seat Hangs by a Byte

As the 110th Congress settles into the Capitol building this month, one congressman won't be able to get too comfortable in his chair, with a controversy over the electronic voting machines that put him in office boiling down to a battle over the source code.

Republican Vern Buchanan claimed Florida's 13th Congressional District seat last November by fewer than 400 votes, while some 18,000 ballots cast in Sarasota County mysteriously contained no vote either for Buchanan or his Democratic opponent Christine Jennings -- an anomaly that prompted Jennings to challenge the election results in a lawsuit against state election officials, Buchanan and the company that makes the machines.

Original Post: Wired Magazine

Top Wi-Fi Toys

PingMag, an online design magazine based in Tokyo has compiled a quick little list of the top five Wi-Fi toys for home.

1. Nabaztag - A 9" rabbit that can receive text messages, e-mails and any kind of RSS-feeds. Instead of a display it reads out any message in a synthetic voice or plays any audio content your friends emailed to the little bunny.

2. Chumby - A cute little round shaped wi-fi device with a display that can be programed to display just about anything you want.

3. Ambient Orb - A color changing orb that can be synchronized to display changes in everything from the weather to the stock market or even traffic conditions.

4. R100 - With three microphones, two tiny video cameras and six ultra-sonic sensors, this little robot can detect you, listen to your commands and read you your emails aloud. Plus, it can even walk around!

5. PhotoVu - This Wi-Fi enabled photo frame will synchronize itself with your Flickr output and constantly updated itself with the pictures you want to see in a spacious 17" frame. It's also compatible with iPhoto, Photocasts and Picasa.

Orginal Post: PSFK
PingMag: Top 5 Wi-Fi Toys At Home

4 Things You Didn’t Know About Mobile TV

In the near future mobile TV will quickly become a reality in the U.S. Already in 2007 the BlackJack has come to market, the iPhone presents the promise of new opportunities and Verizon has announced plans to carry live TV programming through their V-Cast service.

So what learnings can be applied to the mobile tv viewing experience that havs already taken place in more mature overseas markets?

1. Home use is a strong use cases for Mobile TV
It offers a very personal experience including micro-level control over where, what and how to watch. Mobile TV is about personal experiences so expect a level of personalization and programs that to market to be part of the consideration set in how people consume mobile video


2. Factor in what happens before, during and after watching
Currently finding decent program to watch is harder than you think. Limited display real estate makes browsing, choosing and retaining program information challenging. That’s why the promise of the iPhone is so important. The accelerometer sensors that detects when you rotate the device from portrait to landscape will automatically changes the contents display to widescreen so that content can be enjoyed the way it was intended to be consumed. Apple has also signed agreements with Paramount and Viacom to enable people to access movie content from their wide selection bringing the potential for a large library of widely available content to the mobile platform.

Almost as important, is Apple’s agreement with Cingular to bring the phone to market, accelerating the further adoption of 3G or Wi-Maxx technology to make streaming broadband content fluid as watching at home or steaming content on your computer. This will make it easier for people to share, discuss and comment on mobile content making the experience akin to watching traditional tv programming.


3. Accessories designed to enhance the watching experience will vary in effectiveness
For the most part people are on the move when the decided to access mobile content, so arm length space is at a premium and often a luxury. If mobile TV users are like me, they will be willing to watch between 15 and 45 minutes worth of content on the go. Usually this content will be consumed on public transportation and more often then than not in tight spaces. So the technology used has to be transparient enough not to interrupt the viewing experience. I think the Wall Street Journal has taken the right approach is their paper redesign to streamline the experience of readers. This will help determine the adoption rate of consummation as more people will be on the go with less leisure time.

While enhancements like antennas may not increase the marginal utility of mobile TV consumption, headphone via noise reduction tools like headphones will always be at a premium. People will want to control the environment around them and that goes double for when you are trying to focus your attention on TV programming.

So the watching experience needs to couple a smooth watching experience with sensory considerations (ie: listening when a conductor makes announcements or being aware of when your stop is)


4. Consider the posture in which people decide to consume
Ergonomical design is more important than you think. How people consume mobile TV will largely be dependent on the context of the type of content people decide to watch. For instance, while watching my video iPod this morning I had to hold the screen up close so that I could see the detail of the fight scenes taking place in Episode 1 of the Clone Wars. I can’t help to think design will inform my purchase decision depending on how people like to watch TV. For instance a vertical vs. horizontal display would weigh heavy in my mind if I knew I was going to be watching most of my videos on the subway

Inspired by: Perfect Future

Romantize the Mundane

There is something to be said about brands that take the direct approach when describing their pruduct's function. I really like how Hind writes about how their product keep you cool under pressure.

Orginally posted at SideWalk Life

Technorati Profile

Custom Games for Myspace

The creator of the Slideroll slideshows tool has just launched something very cool: Sploder allows you to build your own custom Flash games and post them to MySpace, Xanga, hi5, Piczo and the rest. It’s your typical action game, with a spaceship, missiles, mines, obstacles and enemy craft, except that it’s user-editable.

Read the full review at Mashable

Mac TiVo Collabo Fiiinally Here

Mac and TiVo have finally released Mac TiVoToGo a looong promise desktop software that will enable users to publish and share digital music, photos, and TiVo recordings between their computers and a networked TiVo Series2 DVR.

But here's the thing...Mac TiVoToGo does not require the TiVo Desktop and has been entirely built into Roxio Toast 8 Titanium as a collaboration between TiVo and Sonic.

For a full description and more pictures head over to zatznotfunny

Microsoft's Shifting Strategy

In an increasingly converging world, Microsoft is shifting its strategy to what they call "connected entertainment". Spearheading the effort is Microsoft vet Robert Bach the staple behind the Xbox and Zune.

In a memo to Bill Gates, Bach outlined six priorites to better intergrate Microsoft's Xbox 360 properities into the entertainmet genre. Among them is muscling into the sale of movies online and building their own hardware and software to compete with Apple's market leading iTunes and iPod properties.


Microsoft is playing catch-up and is moving at the speed of light to innovate in markets where stiff competition exist.

As a result Microsoft has consolated their entertainment groups under one umberlla to create ways for Microsoft properties to work better together (note the mishap of Zune not being able to run the Vista platform).

This new strategy will require Microsoft to develop better relationships with content makers. Among the relationships they seek to develop is with record labels, movie studies and cellphone makers.

For the consumer, Microsoft's shift in strategy could mean seemless integration into alll aspects of our digital lives from setting our DVR from our cellphones to purchasing DVD from the Xbox 360.

Very interesting, can't wait to see what innovations are to come

BMW Device of Mystery

News about BMW's new product has been making it rounds on the blogsphere. Not much is know to for what the products does, but it has been rumored to be an MP3 player / GPS tool.


Still, the prospect of BMW possibly launching products outside of their luxury sports cars is intriguing. Stay tuned on this one.

Electrolux Vacuum Shoes

For those of you out there that hate sweeping the floor, Electrolux has developed a prototype shoe that vaacums as you walk.

Don't know if this will take off or if green is my color

The Inner Life of The Cell

A beautful 8 minute animation created for Harvard;s Molecular & Cellular Biology program. It is intented to "transports Harvard Biology undergraduate students into a three-dimensional journey through the microscopic world of a cell" The animation illustrates the mechanisms that allow a white blood cell to sense its surroundings & respond to an external stimulus.




links: infomation aesthetics