Friday, January 10, 2003

Microsoft media player, called Media2Go The New York Times -> A Microsoft Watch Will Provide Much More Than Time "The media player, called Media2Go, resembles the Apple iPod, in that it has a 20-gigabyte hard drive that can hold hundreds of songs. But it also has a color screen for watching videos and looking at photographs. Microsoft showed a mockup with a 3.5-inch screen, but some manufacturers would make larger versions with 7-inch screens, it said. Samsung, iRiver, Sanyo and ViewSonic have agreed to make versions of the device, which is expected to sell for less than $500." 9:38:26 PM  comment []       Smart Mobs -> Shirky: individuals, not companies, blanket homes. ...Most people do their computing at home or at work, and deploying WiFi to those two areas will cost at worst a couple hundred bucks, assuming no one to split the cost with. There may be a small business in wiring "third places" -- coffee shops, hotels, and meeting rooms -- but that will be a marginal business at best. WiFi is the new fax machine, a huge value for consumers that generates little new revenue for the phone companies. And, like the fax network, the WiFi extension to the internet will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but it will not be built by a few companies with deep pockets. It will be built by millions of individual customers, a hundred dollars at a time. [Smart Mobs] 9:28:05 PM  comment []       InfoWorld: Wireless -> CES: TI chief calls for open standards for mobile Net. 2003 can make "inflection point," exec says [InfoWorld: Wireless] 9:24:23 PM  comment []       Yamaha Wi-Fi-based audio system 80211b News -> Yamaha Wi-Fi-based audio system: For over $2,000, you can get an 80 Gb music server with CD-R that can broadcast via Wi-Fi to a receiver (included) that has its own 20-watt amplifier and support for external speakers. Extra receivers are $800. [80211b News] 7:28:01 AM  comment []       Wi-Fi Alliance announces terms of Wi-Fi program 80211b News -> Wi-Fi Alliance announces terms of Wi-Fi Zone program: The chairman of the Wi-Fi Alliance told an 802.11 Planet keynote audience that this program was coming, and today's announcement allows wireless ISP to apply for free involvement until the end of March good until the end of March 2004. The program requires basic service standards to be met. Nomadix has already announced their support for the program. [80211b News] 7:27:01 AM  comment []       SanDisk introduces Compact Flash Wi-Fi 80211b News -> SanDisk introduces Compact Flash Wi-Fi: Alan Reiter writes up SanDisk's announcement at CES of their Cmopact Flash-based Wi-Fi cards that are available in configurations with 128 Mb and 256 Mb or no memory. The memory plus Wi-Fi combination is particularly useful because in cameras that could be upgraded to handle Wi-Fi networking support, for instance, it would require much more engineering to add double Compact Flash slots. [80211b News] 7:23:47 AM  comment []       The Wireless Display Arrives allNetDevices Wireless News -> The Wireless Display Arrives. Announcements this week from companies big and small are pushing the monitor farther away from the computer by sending the video signal over a Wi-Fi connection. [allNetDevices Wireless News] 7:19:13 AM  comment []       HERE COMES 'WE MEDIA' Columbia Journalism Review -> HERE COMES 'WE MEDIA' -> by Dan Gilmor "Evolving electronic gear will keep blurring the lines. Camera-equipped mobile phones are going to create all kinds of interesting new views, for example. One of these days, we’ll see 500 photographs of some major event in Tokyo, all e-mailed to a Web site from people’s phones." 7:00:17 AM  comment []       Regarding Open APIs and Standards sixapart -> Regarding Open APIs and Standards There is some discussion going on about moblogging phones supporting open standards like the metaWeblog API. Joi writes about the future of moblogging and open standards, and the benefits to the hardware manufacturers of using a standard API, rather than a proprietary lock-in. The benefits extend to the tool developers, as well. This seems obvious, but it is in the best interest of a tool to support as many APIs as possible. This is why Apple's new Keynote software imports and exports PowerPoint files; this is why Movable Type supports both the Blogger and metaWeblog APIs, and why we plan to add support for the Blogger2 API; etc. Even if the metaWeblog API is simply a lowest-common-denominator API, and tools build extensions on top of it, support for the lowest-common-denominator may turn out to be essential for the survival of a tool. As a case in point: If hardware devices support the metaWeblog API, they'll need some method of directly uploading image/media files to a weblogging tool. Enter the (proposed) metaWeblog.newMediaObject method. As Joi writes: It would be easier if someone added more image handling in the API. Once Dave lifts the caveat, we'll support metaWeblog.newMediaObject in the next Movable Type release. 6:54:04 AM  comment []       The Mini-PC Gizmodo -> The Mini-PC. A new half-size laptop that weighs less than a pound and is just one inch thick from Vulcan, a company owned by that other Microsoft billionaire, Paul Allen. The Mini-PC will run Windows XP, and have integrated WiFi, a 5.8-inch screen, a 20GB hard drive, and a built-in mini-keyboard. Read [Gizmodo] 6:19:14 AM  comment []

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