Woah. Powerful.
Read more at Scott’s.
Link: The Pondering Primate: Microsoft Connects The Physical World With Camera Phone.
Maybe more, actually. Photo2Search gives users a way to search a Web-based database by using nothing more than an image captured by a cellphone equipped with a digital camera.
Maybe we are missing the point. I think we’re just confunding ourselves with semantics. Does it matter if we define things as a computer or a mobile device? I think Russ does a good job here (link below) in focusing more on the tasks rather than what the device is called.
I’ve been talking about ‘mobile vs PC’ for so long I’ve come to realize that it’s meaningless. Let’s talk about what we need to get done and just use the right device.
What do you think?
Link: When Your Mobile is Your Computer at MobHappy.
My vision is that our mobiles are going to morph into something like our digital, thin client, key to our digital data, as well as a communication device. Sometimes we’ll access that data directly, as it’s stored on our phones – much as we might keep games on there today. And some will be stored on the web, so we’ll use our phones as a way of accessing and unlocking this data.
Jyri Engeström is an interesting, kind, and clever guy. I’ve had the good fortune to listen and learn from him on numerous occasions.
I’ve been watching him closely in his latest project that recently landed him in Nokia Multimedia. Unfortunately, it turned out to be unfeasible and he’s decided against continuing his work there (link below).
I remember asking him about it recently. Leaving was the right thing to do, before it got to where was no good spirit left. Much better than to let it fester until too long has past and nothing has been accomplished. I wish everyone had the spine and courage to think in this straightforward way.
I hope that his vision does come true. And I recommend all of you to see his thinking on this matter – The missing disruptive mobile device. Isn’t there anyone out there (VC, device manufacturer, service provider) who can lend this chap a hand? He just needs a little space and time (relatively easy), and a bit of cash to make this thing come true.
Link: zengestrom.com: Stepping down from Nokia.
I did something that sounds completely nuts. I resigned from my position at Nokia Multimedia after just six weeks. That so because it turned out unfeasible to do what I consider sensible there. Better to acknowledge it in good spirit. There are some good people there and we remain friends.
Hey, that’s my line.
Well, good thing someone said it. I was on holiday. 🙂
Link: Google Calendar Arrives — But What About Mobile? at MobHappy.
As expected, Google has announced its calendar product. I’ve been playing around with it, and I’m pretty impressed — except for one glaring oversight. There doesn’t seem to be a mobile version. It will send event reminders to you via SMS — as long as you’re on one of 15 supported US carriers, though Verizon’s 51 million users are out of luck — which could be nice, but that’s of limited utility when you’re mobile. It doesn’t help a user look at the rest of their calendar, or figure out when they’re available.
Jukka, over at the S60 Multimedia Blog was talking about some of the new features in Lifeblog 2.0 (link below, and read some comments). I’ve been using it for some time now on my Nseries phone and really like the upgrade.
What I like about some products is that some of the best changes are small but have high impact. And Lifeblog 2.0 has many of these small, but impactful, changes.
One of my favorites is, in Lifeblog PC, you can select an item and then ask to extend the selection to all other items from the same cellID. Then, you can change the metadata (tags, date, location, etc) associated with them all.
For example, say you select a pic from a bar and extend the selection to all your pics ever at that bar (as determined by the cellID). You could then label all those pics as being located at the bar.
But, the real kicker is, you can then set Lifeblog to automatically label all future pics from that cellID in the same way.
How cool is that?
I think Lifeblog is finally getting into its role of mixing metadata, media, and phone info in a really interesting way that the user can easily manipulate and take advantage of.
Link: S60 Multimedia Blog.
I was wondering what kind of features actually one gets with the new 2.0 version (exclusively for Nokia Nseries phones).
Having been in the wireless business for many years, it always seems that we are repeating DoCoMo’s successes, kinda ‘me too’.
My suggestion: do what they do – go into the Lifestyle Business.
Link: CTIA – DoCoMo In The “Lifestyle Infrastructure” Business at MobHappy.
Now, Nakamura says the company is in the lifestyle infrastructure business — not selling connectivity, but developing services that allow mobile technology to pervade every aspect of its users’ lives. The focus isn’t so much on coming up with new mobile-specific applications and services, but rather ones that simplify and build on everyday life and experiences. It’s an interesting way to think about mobility, particularly coming from a carrier.
Here’s a good review that might be of interest to many.
Link: Avec Mobile: The best Internet service for sharing photos from a camera phone.
There are so many fabulous photos saved on our megapixel camera phone that we simply have to share some of them with the world. Fortunately, photo-sharing services on the Internet provide us with exactly what we want. But what if we wanted to post photos, view, and comment on them using our camera phone alone – without using a PC or a Mac? Which online photo album provides the best service for a camera phone?
Kelly is a designer with her head in the right place. What I like is that she constantly stresses the need for designers to be embeded and work closely as part of an integreated multidisciplinary team of visual designers, technologists,
ethnographers, and usability specialists.
What I like about this article (link below) is that she stresses, basically, that design should be about making useful products that blend into the individual’s mobile lifestyle.
Link: next generation mobile authoring | gotomobile.
Technological convergence, increased connectivity and consumer expectations are merging to create a landscape of opportunity for the next generation of mobile content, services and applications. Success and adoption are dependent on creating usable and useful experiences — positive interactions that are integrated into an individual’s actual lifestyle.
Ooh, and I see she’s starting up a category on her site tagged ‘lifestyle process’ design. Looking for more under that category.
I have been helping my son with his school report on Mesopotamia and was looking for some satellite pics from Google. I knew that the great ziggurat from Ur was still standing. Via Wikipedia, I got the coordinates and was able to get a nice overhead of the ancient city, really one of the first big cities and the source of the first great kingdom of Sumeria (Abraham, father of Israel is also from Ur, hmmm).
Well, from the pic, I saw an air base just south of it and revisted the news for any discussion on the ancient stuff from Iraq. It is sad that Iraq is considered the cradle of civilization and the lawlessness down there puts all these antiquities at risk.
But, on a nice note, that cognects with me in different ways, the Americans at the base just next to Ur (it was an old Iraqi base) have organized a marathon that runs around the ziggurat. And, it’s not just any marathon, but the Patriot’s Day Boston Marathon.
Personal cognections: Marathon – check; ran one last August and hope to run the Boston one some day. Ur – check; I have always had a facination with Sumeria, indeed my first corporate domain name was Edubba, which is sumerian for ‘house of tablets (I wrote the brief Wikipedia entry). Boston – check; lived there for many years, my kids were born there, and I love the place.
Just thought I’d share that. 🙂
Link: DenverPost.com – SPORTS.
In addition to the 150 marathoners, 150 four-person relay teams competed as well. The out-and- back course turned around near the 4,000-year-old Ziggurat of Ur, a temple tower dating to ancient Mesopotamia.