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Wednesday, June 26, 2002 |
The Wireless Arcade
"They don't have fancy 3-D graphics, but video games for handheld devices stand poised to capture a huge U.S. market. Why? Because we all have to wait.
It’s game time....
Inside the conference room, a standing-room-only crowd has assembled for the “Wireless Game Summit,” a marathon exploration of the first new gaming platform in three decades....
Wireless games are played on Internet-enabled portable devices such as personal digital assistants and, particularly, cell phones. Though most of us are now familiar with the idea of getting driving directions or surfing the Web on a cell phone, the real killer app of wireless devices is games. Primitive-looking wireless games have already gained enormous popularity overseas. And bolstered by new software tools that allow game creators to deliver robust, colorful images, and by the emergence of third-generation, or 3G, cellular networks, wireless games may be on the verge of commercial success. The New York-based market research firm Datamonitor projects that by 2005, 80 percent of all wireless users in the United States and Western Europe—200 million people—will at least occasionally play games on their handhelds. In that period, the wireless-games market will zoom from less than $1 million per year to $6 billion, if the rosier estimates are to be believed.
Everybody waits: for school to let out, for planes to arrive, for dentists to see us. To the wireless-gaming industry, these unoccupied interludes in an average day are opportunities—minutes waiting to be killed with their creations. 'There are plenty of time-saving applications,' says Paul Goode, entertainment platforms group manager for Motorola. 'We’re working on the time-wasting ones.' " [Technology Review]
Remember - no one thought solitaire would be one of the most popular apps on a PC. Wireless gaming will be huge - mark my words.
5:05:50 PM Permanent link here
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After spending two hours trying to get ColdFusion MX to play nicely with Oracle and failing (thanks for trying though, Will), it was nice to take a distracting drive through GooShopping, portal to the commercialization of your childhood (your past and present ones).
11:20:48 AM Permanent link here
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Do You Know This Woman? You've Got Her Autograph
"Ten things you probably don't know about the woman who signs all the new bills printed by the U.S. Treasury:...
No. 4: Marin is one of just two people allowed, under federal law, to write on U.S. currency--and signatures only, no shopping lists. The other person? Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill, who has the other printed signature on the currency. People ask Marin all the time to sign dollar bills for them. She'll do it--but only if it's one that's been printed since she took office and carries her engraved signature. If it bears the signature of her predecessor, Mary Ellen Withrow, or any other previous treasurer, no dice.
No. 6: Her favorite phrase? 'It's all about the money.' " [Chicago Sun-Times]
7:52:17 AM Permanent link here
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AT&T Launches People Finder
AT&T Wireless introduced a service under its 'mMode' brand that lets cell phone users track down other AT&T subscribers.
The service, called 'Find Friends,' will give AT&T wireless phone customers the street intersection of the person they are tracking. People must opt in before their location would be provided, the company said.
Once a person is located, the cell user has the choice of calling that person, sending a text message or setting up a meeting.
If the person being located agrees to the meeting, the cell phone user receives a directory of restaurants, bars, bookstores and coffee shops where they might meet. Once they agree on a meeting place, the mMode service provides the opportunity to RSVP and receive directions -- all wirelessly." [Wired News]
This kind of service will be big with Net Gens someday. I have an article somewhere in my office that notes the differences between generations and how Baby Boomers are worried about their privacy and being tracked, while Net Gens want to be found and "seen." So they don't have the same privacy concerns the rest of us do, mainly because they don't understand the issues yet and they're so used to switching identities online. See also All Eyes Are On You.
The wireless round-up article also includes the following:
"PDA users can receive free video newscasts and headlines from USAToday.com by signing up at Mazingo.net."
7:33:20 AM Permanent link here
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All Eyes Are on You
"Tollbooths, ATMs, doctors' offices, online chat: You leave critical personal data behind wherever you go. Let's follow one American as he scatters his digital DNA.
First, Meet Mark, a graphic designer in Chicago. Like most of us, Mark knows his boss can read his e-mail, insurers can access his medical data. but he's blind to the bigger truth: personal data is collected, and sometimes shared, at a fantastic rate." [Popular Science]
A day in the life picture of the tracks we leave behind as we live our lives." [Privacy Digest]
And this article doesn't even mention the FBI tracking your reading habits. Definitely worth your time to read through this.
Addendum: you can pick up the Slashdot commentary here.
1:05:17 AM Permanent link here
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"GTCO CalComp recently introduced its InterWrite School Suite family of products, which includes an interactive whiteboard with a wireless Bluetooth option, a wireless Bluetooth SchoolPad, and annotation software.
'The InterWrite School Suite was designed to help teachers turn their lessons into interactive experiences for the students,' says Eric Timmons, President of GTCO CalComp. 'Whether using the SchoolBoard to teach in front of the classroom or using the wireless SchoolPad to teach anywhere in the classroom, the SchoolSuite allows teacher to engage and inspire their students....'
Using InterWrite Software, teachers can make notes, highlights, and annotate anything projected on the SchoolBoard surface and e-mail or print all the notes, along with the computer image, to give to absent students.
'Using Bluetooth to connect the SchoolBoard is a great option for schools that need to share an electronic whiteboard between multiple classrooms,' said Eric Timmons. 'Instead of taking the time to disconnect cables from one computer and reconnect them to the computer in the next classroom, the board can be rolled into the classroom and seamlessly connect to the computer wirelessly. In addition, the wireless option is perfect for existing schools where running cables from the board to the computer is often an issue.'
The wireless InterWrite SchoolPad allows teachers to engage their students from anywhere in the classroom. Utilizing Bluetooth technology, the SchoolPad allows teachers to control a computer with a connected projector from up to 25 feet away. With this wireless capability, any surface in a classroom can be used like an interactive whiteboard.
In addition, with the ability to connect multiple SchoolPads to the same computer, groups of students can collaborate on the same assignment." [allNetDevices Wireless News]
12:56:52 AM Permanent link here
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Lawmaker: Let Studios Hack P2P Networks
"A California congressman is preparing a bill that would let copyright owners, such as record labels or movie studios, launch high-tech attacks against file-swapping networks where their wares are traded.
Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., whose district includes Hollywood territory, said Tuesday that copyright owners needed new legal protections to combat online piracy. Some of the labels' and studios' high-tech techniques for stopping online file traders might be illegal under anti-hacking laws, Berman said.
'While P2P (peer-to-peer) technology is free to innovate new and more efficient methods of distribution that further exacerbate the piracy problem, copyright owners are not equally free to craft technological responses," Berman said in a statement. 'This is not fair.'
The bill, which is still being drafted, would provide a shield against legal liability for copyright owners who used high-tech attacks to stop file trading. It would stop short of giving them the right to damage file-swappers' computers or spread viruses, however....
File-swapping companies criticized the proposed legislation, saying it opened the door for copyright holders to launch 'cyber warfare' on consumers.
'StreamCast does not condone hacking into consumers' computers,' said Steve Griffin, CEO of StreamCast Networks, which distributes the popular Morpheus file-swapping software. The techniques Berman cited are 'subversive tactics to attack the very person that media companies are trying to market to,' Griffin said." [CNET News.com]
Does the reverse logic also get worked into the bill? Would this mean open season on the record labels for those consumers whose computers are damaged by the copyright protection software on CDs?
Oh yeah, let's open this Pandora's Box! Tick off hackers AND your customers. Another brilliant idea from a California legislator bankrolled by the entertainment industry.
12:43:17 AM Permanent link here
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Electronic Books Lose the Plot
"It's time for The Edge to take its annual dose of public humiliation as we look yet again at how the electronic book has failed to sell during the past 12 months, just as it failed to sell the year before that and, indeed, pretty much ever since The Edge predicted that it was about to become a compelling force.
As it happens, this has probably been the worst 12 months in the short and troubled life of the e-book.
Had it followed the usual arc of technology, the Rocket eBook for which we forked out $500 just over two years ago should by now have been replaced by several generations of devices with a good deal more power for considerably less money. Instead, it remains arguably the most desirable of the dedicated e-book readers - and completely unobtainable.
The reason for this triumph of Gutenberg's technology has much more to do with mismanagement than with the concept of books on the screen.
The Rocket eBook's replacement, the REB 1100, featured less memory, a lower-contrast LCD screen, and a higher price tag than its predecessor. It also lost a considerable degree of utility - RocketWriter, a piece of software that allows users to convert Web pages and personal documents for display on it.
Worse, Henry C. Yuen, chief executive of Gemstar, the company that had taken over the manufacturer of the Rocket eBook, NuvoMedia, and its chief competitor, SoftBook, deleted the free library of e-books that had attracted potential buyers, and tried to funnel all sales through Gemstar's website. He also ensured that the site would lose its attraction to the community of users that had largely driven the demand for e-books by stripping it of unbiased comment and turning it into a mouthpiece for the company.
Yuen's aim was to control the emerging market in e-books. Instead, he practically stopped it....
Last month we learnt that Thomson Consumer Electronics had stopped manufacturing the REB 1100 after dismal sales....
In the long term, Microsoft's plans for a tablet PC may well fulfil the promise that dedicated devices have so far fallen short of meeting. The Edge's hopes, however, rest with the co-founders of NuvoMedia, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. We note that the non-compete clause that Yuen imposed on them will expire this year." [smh.com.au, via useless miscellany]
12:21:13 AM Permanent link here
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Pre-Cog Review Of Minority Report II With Reflections On Minority Report I
-- Spoiler Warning -- [Don't read this if you haven't seen the movie and want to be surprised!!]
Review, 25 June 2005.
"It's only three years since Spielberg and Cruise entertained us with the first Minority Report that was based on a Phillip K. Dick short story. This year Minority Report II (MRII) maintains the feel and thrills that made the first one successful at the box office and a smash hit DVD...." [DotBlog]
Really interesting conjecture that's probably right on target! Richard should pick up some royalties off this one.
12:14:22 AM Permanent link here
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© Copyright 2004 Jenny Levine.
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