...more recent posts
Looks like the free VoIP application Skype (from the kazza people - I mentioned it last September) will be coming to OS X. From the Skype forums:
May 18th: In response to all the requests: there WILL be a Skype version for Mac OS X. No info is publicly available about when exactly it will be out, but it's already in the work
May 24th: I will contact you when we have something to send to you, which is not in next week but quite close. Thanks for patient waiting. :-)
For David Stotts, computing needs a new face: yours. He'd like to hook you up to a partner miles or continents away, pipe live video of each of you onto the same computer desktop, and let you hash out your ideas, pointing to work on the screen, hearing each other's voices, and watching each other react....
...The key is transparency, which is wired into today's high-performance graphics hardware. By tapping that capacity and the human brain's ability to organize visual patterns, Stotts and his team found a way to let you peer through transparent images of yourself and your partner at the same time you're watching your work on the screen. (If you've ever looked through your reflection in a pond and noticed a fish swimming under the surface, you'll have the idea.)
Here is way more than you want to know about how web browsers and web servers negotiate their connections, and how the browser parses the resulting data stream into something that looks to you like a page. Written by the guy who leads development of Apple's Safari browser.
There is a lot going on under the hood to make this all happen. <understatement/>
To see what our mobile devices are going to look like in the near future, you just have to look at the mobile processors being previewed today: "Qualcomm pushes technology limits with new designs."
...Qualcomm announced the release of three new baseband processors that combine multimedia capabilities with support for GSM, GPRS, and wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) on chip....These chips will be available to cellphone manufactures in the 4th quarter of 2005 and into 2006.
All three of the processors are equipped with a multimedia processing block that can support up to 6-Mpixel cameras, 30-frame per second VGA support, and a gaming core from ATI Technologies that can handle 4 million triangles pr second. The chips also come equipped with interfaces for 802.11, Bluetooth, MDDI, TV, and USB.
I was sitting outside two days ago drinking a coffee and waiting for a friend. A young lady sat down next to me. And then a moment later a very confused looking family ("you're not from around here, are you?") dragging lots of luggage stopped in front of us asking if we knew where the 4 points Sheraton Hotel was located. I just shook my head, but the woman next to me offered to call and find out. Who says New Yorkers aren't helpful?
Anyway, she calls information, gets connected, but the number is busy. At this point I'm still doubtful, but I click to the browser on my Treo 600, point it at google, and go. About 10 seconds later I have the address (luckily I got the address right on the google results page without having to click through.) And I got it *before* she was able to get her voice call through!
After they left she looked at my phone and asked, "Is that the Treo? Mine is on order, but it's taking forever to get here."
:-)
I've never been very interested in video games, but there is no doubt they have been a major driver of computing technology. And now more than ever. Sony recently unveiling it's much rumored PlayStation Portable (PSP) at the E3 2004 conference. What a beautiful device! (Full sized picture here. In action - and multicolored - here.)
It's not going to be out for quite some time (after 1/1/2005 in the U.S.,) but it really looks worth the wait. Technical details are here, but the highlights include: 16:9 wide screen display, 32 megs of RAM, a 333 mhz processor (very similar to what is in the PS2 right now!), and a custom-created 1.8 GB UMD optical disc drive (it is Sony afterall, so of course there is proprietary storage.) In other words, games on this thing are going to be much closer to top of the line home console games than to anything we've seen in a portable.
But it gets more interesting from there. The PSP ships with 802.11b (WiFi) wireless networking built in. It can connect in client server mode (like with your broadband wireless basestation, so you could play games against people anywhere on the internet,) or in peer to peer mode, so you can strike up a game with everybody on your subway car.
And then there are the accessories, said to include a camera, a GPS unit, and a keyboard. These give you a sense that Sony has a lot in mind for this device. Sure it plays games, but it also plays music, and movies, and can be a wireless web cam. I'm sure voice over IP is in the cards too.
Hopefully they can price it right.
I've been trying to tighten the focus on this page. Lately I have been feeling that the technology I've been waiting for since the very early 90's is finally at hand. Ubiquitous, wireless, pocket sized computers with the power of traditional desktops but the ease of use of traditional consumer electronics. In other words the "next step" for computing. I'm working toward a larger write up, but I haven't been able to produce it yet. Still, my hope is that the links on this page all point to specific pieces of this one puzzle.
Boeing will introduce in flight wifi internet access on Monday on a non stop flight from Munich to L.A.. Cost will be $30 for the entire flight, or $10 for 30 minutes. Boeing hopes to have this service, called Connexion, on 300 planes by 2006. Singapore Airlines has plans to also deploy the system, but other major U.S. carriers are still dragging their feet.