Pages

Friday, August 03, 2012

Apps Are Where It's At



In 1996 everyone wanted a website. Today everyone wants an app.

Why a High-End Software Maker Pursues App Companies
selling expensive software to businesses, lucrative as it may be, is becoming a less reliable way of staying on top of trends in computing. As employees use tablets and smartphones both at home and work, and as desktop software moves to the Web, the lines between consumer and business customers are blurring.... Autodesk's consumer offerings are either free and supported by advertising, or they cost one or two dollars to purchase in app stores, while its typical software packages retail for thousands. ...... Historically, IT innovation started in big organizations, such as the military and large companies, and trickled its way down. But today, Bass argues, software trends are starting at the level of individual users ..... "I get more mail from people who have bought SketchBook and Pixlr for 99 cents than some of our $5,000 applications," he says. "The letter always starts: 'Dear Mr. Bass, I paid 99 cents for SketchBook and when I did, I expected it would have this filter or do this.' I rarely get that around our $5,000 professional products. For 99 cents, people feel very entitled." 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Clouds: Sacred Earth

Mesmerizing video.



Via Sergey Brin

Visionary Sergey

Sergey looks quite the visionary in this picture, don't you think?


Augmented Reality Getting Closer



You don't need zombie goggles to experience augmented reality. In its stripped down form you experience augmented reality more often than you realize you do. If your smartphone is helping you better navigate your surroundings, you are already on.

Augmented Reality Is Finally Getting Real
As smartphones explode in popularity, augmented reality is starting to move from novelty to utility. ... helped by the massive popularity of smartphones and tablets, and their constantly improving processors and sensors, along with the growth of high-speed wireless data networks ..... The software uses a smartphone's GPS, accelerometer, and compass to determine a user's position and line of site; but also to triangulate with other phones using the same software to determine specifically what everyone in a cluster is looking at. The company's technology has been used in a number of apps, including one for a recent NASCAR race in which fans, who couldn't see the entire 2.5-mile track, could point their phones at distant turns and get photos and videos generated by others who were closer to the action. .... Project Glass draws attention to the idea of a digital layer on top of the physical world..... Swedish furniture maker Ikea's 2013 catalog, 211 million copies of which were shipped out Wednesday, includes additional content that readers can see with an Android or iOS app.
Augmented reality could also make possible intimate remote engagement. You could have participated in Tahrir Square action. I guess you already did through Twitter. See? Twitter is also augmented reality. It is a stretch to say that, but it is.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Privacy, Security And Consensus



There is more room for mischief in mobile. The average person is not aware how much they are already giving away.

Study Reveals a Confused View of Mobile Phone Privacy and Security
Smartphones store a wealth of valuable personal data—photos, videos, e-mail, texts, app data, GPS locations, and Web browsing habits—that is increasingly falling into the hands of advertisers, app makers, law enforcement, and crooks...... The majority of respondents also said they believed their mobile phone to be as private as their personal computer. .... millions of people already provide mobile data to marketers, business analysts, and law enforcement, often without their knowledge or consent
Enhanced by Zemanta

Power Grids Overloaded Many Places


This is the real solution: The Moon Does Not Have Water.

Outage in India Could Be a Harbinger for the Rest of the World
The growing complexity and reliance on the electric grid in both developed and fast-growing countries is making stability tougher to achieve..... "Saying the reason for India's gridwide collapse was that they had more load than generation is too simplistic." .... Mansoor suspects it is something fairly mundane, such as a failed relay or a grid operator making a mistake ..... the causes of India's blackouts have more to do with politics than technology and engineering
You might argue the same for APIs. They are so intermingled, there might be an outage or two down the line.
Enhanced by Zemanta

VoiceGem (2)

VoiceGem