Roger Kemp's Net » Software

Motorola gadget consolidation

Roger — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 08:38:24 +0000

Never tought I’d see this coming from Motorola, but Engadget has a nice little hands-on piece, showing the Motorola Atrix 4G, HD multimedia dock, and laptop dock. This is coming close to what I refer to as gadget consolidation (they, Engadget refer to it as Continues Client). They have several options, both hradware and software based. I see it as a hardware based solution, where one device will act as PC / TV / Phone / Media Center / PA etc. And Motorola is heading in the right direction. I think Apple is heading in that direction as well, but they are taking their time, ironing out the kinks to make it perfect, both on the front end (hardware and software) as the back end (infrastructure, media). And that last part is I think where Motorola is lacking (no real app or media distribution platform), while the front-end isn’t really a given yet either… Wonder what Google thinks of their implementation…

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Regurgitated features instead of new ideas.

Roger — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 12:54:29 +0000

Today Facebook will announce its “gMail killer”. At least that’s what the rumor mill is claiming. Or should I call it echo chamber? Seems Silicon Valley is losing sight of the ball and is just lapping up the press releases and events, waiting for Twitter, Facebook or Google (or spin off) to announce “the next big fat feature”. That’s what’s wrong with the picture these days. It’s not about ideas that will change the world anymore, it’s about features added to an existing idea that will hopefully keep the masses happy. Or at least keep the hipster in-crowd happy. Or as with the latest PR blitz (@Path) keep the investors happy (by providing some “used to be part of Facebook” buzz). It’s all so similar to what was happening in the late 90′s. But now it’s not IPO’s, it’s who’s financing who and who will be bought by who. Product and/or idea doesn’t matter all that much, as long as there’s a healthy buzz so money can change hands swiftly and with a healthy profit. Can you say “Bubble”? If you can, say “Pop”. In the mean time, I hope to hear from the real innovators out there, announcing the next big ideas without the big events. Just a good product or service that catches on, fills a real need or solves a real problem.

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Thoughts on OS X Lion

Roger — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:26:17 +0000

I really like what I’ve seen from OS X Lion so far. The full screen apps are hopefully going to make apps simpler and more straight forward to use. Have all the tools for an app right there in one screen. No more endless menus to wade through, just different panes with toolsets. Resolutions of most monitors, either laptop or desktop, are high enough to make everything you need fit in one fullscreen area. I think it will make app developers look at how to use their available space more efficiently. Another thing I notice is how it looks way more relaxed and less cluttered. No more window frame, no more menu bar at the top. And if you need more space, just flip to the next screen, when done, flip back. I use Google Chrome fullscreen on my MacBook Pro, and it looks so much more stylish, almost independent of which website I’m viewing. In this case, less is truly more.

Same goes for the Mac App Store. I think this is a nice intermediate to streaming apps (still a while away). It greatly lowers the threshold for purchasing applications and installing them. True innovation of the application installation process is finally here. It seems so straight forward now, after having used the App Store on my iPhone for a couple of years. Wonder what will happen to the pricing point of desktop/laptop apps. Will prices go down significantly, because that’s what people are used to from the App Store so far? Or will it be easily accepted that these are a different breed of apps and therefor more expensive?

The new desktop app startup process, Launchpad, is a nice iPhone/iPad app startup and management copy to the desktop. Again, less is more, no more cluttered windowed lists of apps, just an efficient use of available desktop space to present the installed apps. Can’t wait to upgrade to this new version of OS X. And what about that MacBook Air?

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Google everywhere – The Google Car

Roger — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 15:51:53 +0000

Google controling your TV, your phone, your tablet and now also your car. The news of the Google car isn’t that surprising to me. I’ve been thinking about the idea of a computer driven networked car for a long time. Especially since I’ve been back in the Netherlands, which seems to grind to a halt every day during rush hour. A network of computer driven cars and networked road systems, constantly aware of all traffic would make traffic jams seem so quant. Each car would know where it and all the other cars are going (navigation systems where the first step towards this system), at what speed, and what the traffic up ahead is going to do. Merging, exiting, making turns, passing will all be known way ahead of time by all participating traffic and the network will calculate the best speed and timing of all actions to get you to your destination in the most efficient way, not only for you, but also for all the other networked travelers.

Traffic jams will be a thing of the past, as will most traffic accidents. The benefits are obvious. And with a gradual introduction, even the most staunch American driver might relinquish control over his or her vehicle.

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Google TV Microsofts Apple TV

Roger — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:16:51 +0000

Google TV is generating some great embedded CE support with a bunch of CE companies announcing embedding Google TV and android into their TV systems, hot on the heels of the Apple TV announcement of last week. You can see Google taking the role of Microsoft in this case (supplying the “OS” and not worrying about the hardware) and Apple, well, Apple is just Apple, wanting to control the whole aspect, both software and hardware. I wonder if Apple’s attitude will keep it relegated to the “niche high margin Apple cult market”, while Google pulls a Microsoft and takes over the CE market?

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Plex signs deal with LG

Roger — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:42:14 +0000

Right on the heels of the new Apple TV announcement, Plex, the Mac Media Center software of choice, today announced it inked a deal with LG to have their software embedded in future LG HDTV’s and Bluray players. Having it embedded in HDTV’s is what I have been waiting for, no need for another box and just control it through your Plex iPhone app. Wonder if Apple is developing their own line of HDTV’s…

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Thoughts on Ping

Roger — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:00:25 +0000

Why Ping, Apple? Why do you want your own social network on top of your proprietary media distribution platform? Do you really think you can do it all? Why not focus on what you do well and partner with, let’s say, Facebook? Integrate Facebook with iTunes and use the “like” and “follow” functionality, post reviews on Facebook with a link to iTunes and vise versa. Don’t be like Google in this case, trying to do everything yourself, but use the most popular social network out there to grow your own base of iTunes users. Or am I missing something, it isn’t the first time that’s happened.

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DigitalColor Meter

Roger — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:39:50 +0000

Daniel Brusilovsky found a great little tool with which you can analyze the RGB value of every pixel on your screen. Like him, I didn’t even know it existed. Should come in handy for anyone who works with colors on a Mac.

Hidden Mac Gem: DigitalColor Meter (TechCrunch)

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