Recently in Gadgetry and Geekery Category

An ABI Research report reiterates what most home network users already know anyway: "ABI Research Says Consumer WiFi Needs User-Friendly Security." ABI's press release from yesterday says:

"Despite the frequency with which users report finding many unprotected WiFi networks nearby when they log on, or of finding that other people are piggybacking on their own networks, most WiFi security schemes are so difficult to set up that many users give up and accept their network's public exposure as an unfortunate fact of life."

Although Linksys certainly deserves some of the blame for this situation (oh, I guess D-Link and Belkin and a couple others too), in my mind the problem rests with Microsoft more than anyone. Even if Linksys succeeds in developing a usable, secure WiFi router, you can count on Windows XP and its inscrutable networking system to sabotage any improvements.

AB -- 3/23/06

Just an update that Microsoft has officially unveiled its design for Ultra-Mobile Personal Computers (UMPCs) at the CeBIT show in Germany. Previously sources revealed that Microsoft's mysterious Origami Project consisted of a paperback-size PC and that it would include VoIP capabilities.

Here's a good story from the Associated Press today with many details: "Microsoft unfolds Project Origami to reveal ultracompact PC running XP." Also see Microsoft's press release here for some good comments from Bill Mitchell, VP for Windows mobile platforms.

Here's a photo of Samsung's Q1 Ultra-Mobile PC:

AP says Samsung, Asus and Founder have built working models based on the UMPC technology and that the devices should retail at $500-$1,000 once they are available sometime in the next two months.

The machines will use button, pen and touch-screen input but will have a USB port so a keyboard can plug in. Microsoft says its pre-installed Touch Pack for Windows XP software will also include a thumb-based on-screen keyboard. Devices will weigh less than two pounds, with a seven-inch screen. Hard drives should be available between 30 GB and 60 GB. Units will have battery life of 2.5 to 3 hours.

AB -- 3/9/06

According to the Associated Press, Microsoft's new product code-named Origami, to be released March 9, is the design for an "ultra-mobile" personal computer the size of a paperback. Microsoft has been teasing the product through a web site at http://www.origamiproject.com .

AP business writer Allison Linn reported on the development early this morning, basing her story on an anonymous source "close to Microsoft." The source says these ultra-mobiles will be built by various manufacturers and should cost between $500 and $1,000.

AB -- 3/2/06

ABI Research is announcing a new study predicting that smartphones will grow to almost 15% of the mobile phone market this year, hitting 123 million units shipped. ABI Mobile Wireless Analyst Philip Solis identifies five factors accounting for smartphones' growth:

1. Increasing demand for mobile data communications, including email and instant messaging.
2. Falling prices.
3. Greater device choices.
4. Smaller sizes (even as functionality improves), which in turn means lower power consumption and better battery life.
5. More wifi enablement in smartphones, expected to reach 25% penetration by 2010.

Today's announcement also points to shifting trends in smartphone operating systems as another important factor affecting the outlook. The report says Symbian is still market-share winner and describes the Palm OS as "moribund" (nearing death). But Windows Mobile is growing, and Motorola, Samsung, NEC and Panasonic are now backing Linux in the smartphone market.

ABI's new report is called "Smartphones: The Next Phase of Worldwide Adoption."

AB -- 2/28/06

Just found out that Apple's two new products are a new Mac mini with Intel inside and the iPod Hi-Fi, a combination speaker and amp designed to work off of an iPod.

Apple describes the Mac mini as a "digital lifestyle" device designed for handling music, photos, DVDs, video and TV. With an Intel Core Duo processor inside, the device is supposed to perform "up to four times faster than its predecessor." The Mac mini starts at $599. According to Philip Schiller, Apple VP for worldwide product marketing, quoted in today's press release, "Apple has now moved 50 percent of its entire product line to Intel within 60 days -- a record transition."

The iPod Hi-Fi is an all-in-one stereo system with speakers and amplifier built into one enclosure with a dock for an iPod. The system is controlled by a remote and is powered from a wall socket or by six D-cell batteries. The unit starts at $349.

AB -- 2/28/06

ABI Research issued a fascinating release today, "The Camera Phone as Scanner: ABI Research Anticipates a New Information Market," based on their "Mobile Phone Imaging" study, which covers the expected drivers for growth of camera phones and mobile imaging.

ABI Analyst Kenneth Hyers suggests that camera phones will begin to act not just as devices to capture images but as scanners that can read metadata from real-world objects. Such metadata could be available through technology similar to that used for barcode scanning.

The release quotes Hyers: "Imagine walking through the park and aiming your camera phone at a data tag on a statue. It directs your phone's browser to a web page about a historic building that used to stand there, or a concert that played there last summer, complete with video clips."

The release also suggests you could "Aim your camera phone at a scene pictured in a magazine, and it could deliver a map or other information about the site. In a store, you could 'scan' a product's label and get the latest consumer report article about it. In the supermarket, you could retrieve a list of a food's ingredients to ensure they won't trigger an allergic reaction."

Some companies, such as scanR and Mobot, have developed proprietary technologies heading in this direction.

Would capabilities like these be likely to take off? Hard to say. Camera phones certainly have become ubiquitous, so the field seems fertile.

Something about this idea reminds me of the CueCat, a barcode scanning device that was tested unsuccessfully back around the year 2000. I believe the CueCat was developed by a company called Digital Convergence. Using conventional mail, they sent out gazillions of these kind of hoky-looking USB (or maybe PS/2) barcode readers shaped like cats. Then they placed barcodes on ads in magazines (I think I remember seeing the ads in Wired magazine); the ads were readable using the CueCat. If you scanned an ad, it would send your web browser directly to a web landing page related to the ad.

As I said, the test was unsuccessful and the project was abandoned. But the connection I see here is that the CueCat was an early effort to connect the physical world with the virtual world, something which is becoming much more feasible now through camera-phone technology.

AB -- 1/31/06

Maybe I'm just stating the obvious, but the tools in Windows Live and Google Pack seem to have a lot in common. Some of the tools are similar -- security, mapping, search, IM and voice. But the two download pages are laid out in almost the same way -- a short explanation at the top with the downloads laid out in a two-column table. Kind of emphasizes the head-to-head competition brewing between the two companies.

I would expect the sophistication and value of these toolsets to continue to increase in the future, along with the competition for control over users' desktops.

AB -- 1/27/06

An AP report today says that the first magnetic levitation (maglev) elevators will be coming on the market as soon as 2008. AP cites an announcement from Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems of Tokyo, who says they will employ maglev technology to drive lifts that will be "quieter and more comfortable" but slower than conventional lifts.

I looked around for illustrations of maglev technology used in lifts and found an interesting video of a maglev elevator demo by MagneMotion.

From what I know, the greatest current application of maglev technology is in train transportation (I was going to say "rail transportation," but that would probably be wrong!) This article by Howstuffworks has a great photo and drawing of a maglev train guideway in Japan.

Maglev has also been proposed as a means to accelerate vehicles for space launch -- go here for an article about this, with some interesting photos and a computer model of a maglev launch system.

AB -- 1/17/06

I love the "Undo" function. It doesn't always work the way you expect it to, and it doesn't always work the same from one application to another, but it's a great idea that helps the user in many circumstances in many applications.

I wish somebody would invent a similar function called "Nudge."

Does your computer ever get stuck? You know what I mean. The hourglass just keeps spinning, or the hard drive just keeps clicking, or the progress bar will only go so far and then it stops. You have a sense that the application you're using or the process your computer is executing has just reached an impasse of some kind. You're not exactly sure, though. Should you call up Task Manager and abort the process? Or should you shut down the computer entirely? Or should you just be patient and go take a bathroom break or get a cup of coffee? (That usually doesn't work, does it? You come back and it's still stuck.)

Well, the "Nudge" function would allow you to bump the process along. You just click the "Nudge" button, and that makes the computer realize, "Oh, yeah, I got stuck in circular thinking. I'm actually supposed to be doing some work here." Then it recovers and gets the process moving again.

It would be built into operating systems and APIs and would work in all programs and across all computing processes. Somebody else should probably decide what the icon should look like. Maybe an elbow?

AB -- 10/10/05

This announcement came through our TMCnet news feeds today:

Site Secured for Solar Power Breakthrough; New Low-Cost Solar Energy May Replace Gas

International Automated Systems Inc. (IAUS) announced that it secured a site in Southern California for an initial solar electric generating plant. The company claims that its technologies are capable of generating electricity competitively, as well as producing hydrogen and green methanol. This initial plant will generate 1 megawatt, but the company hopes to expand that "beyond several hundred Megawatts."

The plant is due for completion soon -- first quarter 2006.

Neldon Johnson, CEO of IAUS, says that the company's technology "is a discovery of historical proportions that we hope will revolutionize energy production throughout the world."

Today's news release says:

"A solar area of only 100 miles squared -- a size of land that equals only 9 percent of the state of Nevada -- can generate enough electricity for the entire United States."

AB -- 9/29/05