Saturday, October 04, 2003

RSS-Data and Feed Notifcation Bryan Field-Elliot of PingID makes the connection between something like RSS-Data and the need for true pub/sub style infrastructure for RSS.  Like others, he's frustrated by the "pull" nature of subscribing to RSS data feeds. In a separate email, I pointed out to him that RSS 2.0 already provides functionality (in the <cloud> element) for this, though it's not implemented in many reader/aggregators (Radio UserLand does implement it).  Dave called this "Soap meets RSS", and it's documented in the spec. Data-oriented syndication applications on RSS need this kind of functionality, and it's already there, though virtually no one implements it.  2:10:48 PM    comment []

Glenn Fleishman notes some comments made about the near-term arrival of Wi-Fi chipsets in mobile phones. There was a discussion of integrating Wi-Fi into cell phones at the Communications Design Conference: Some analysts think we'll see the devices in production by the middle of next year. A lot will have to be worked out before a combined cellular/Wi-Fi voice service can be aptly offered. The only way that will happen is if the cell carriers can figure out a way to control the air time that their customers spend on the Wi-Fi networks to ensure that they continue to make money. I've been looking at this space very closely.  The two big opportunities that stem from this are: VoIP/SIP stacks get put into smartphones, enabling IP-based bridging and roaming into and out of the mobile networks, also enabling coverage even in the basement of the pentagon. More interestingly, I think, is that your smartphone can use 10MB (realy 4MB) of data, instead of the extremely limited 30Kbps on most GPRS connections, or even the 400Kbps on pseudo-3G.  Lots at stake for mobile carriers, potentially having a huge positive impact on their cost structure for both voice and data services, and better service options for consumers.   10:00:32 AM    comment []

End of Email: What's Next Kevin Werbach picks up on Ozzie's comment on the end of email as a productive tool for online communications.  I'm interested in how instant messaging applications might morph into richer, permission-based general purpose messaging engines.  Buddy lists are a form of creating a permission-based mechanism for personal communications, and some IM clients allow anyone to send to you, but you can opt to not receive the message, or reject it into the future. I'm involved with a startup (Applied Messaging) working on some interesting IM-related applications that also helps facilitates the use of email-style async messaging, but in the context of permission-based contact lists and presence.  I'm hopeful that applications like this will at least provide higher "qualities of service" than we're now getting with email. 9:37:41 AM    comment []