Broadband and Me

BBC NEWS | Technology | US gamers lay hands on Xbox 360

Well, the Xbox 360 is now unleashed in the US. The only reviews I have read so far suggest a very good platform in terms of hardware but no killer game (unlike Halo on the original Xbox). Personally I am going to have to wait to the new year at least to upgrade and probably until the first drop in price. Its a shame as I would love to try out the digital convergence at home - music, video and games. Oh well I can dream
Of course John Porcaro has the insider track on the 360 marketing effort, particualrly on the rumours of deliberate slow release of stock…

BBC NEWS | Technology | Speak easy plan for media players

ScanSoft and Gracenote are developing technology to give people access to their film and music libraries simply by voice control.

They want to give people hands-free access to digital music and films in the car, or at home or on the move.

Great idea - looking forward to seeing this implemented. I wonder how they will get round how to activate voice recognition. I mean if it is always on how does it cope with you having a conversation in the car or on the move?

I’m fascinated to see it in action. I wonder if they could develop voice recognition for TVs - I am always loosing my remote controls.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Consumers ’snub portable video’

Jupiter Research claims that European consumers are more interested in mobile audio technology than video or smartphones.

The report concluded that the driving force behind the growth of Europe’s portable player market was likely to be music, rather than films or any combination of the two.

and…

Dedicated music players are the only established digital media players in Europe today despite their high prices,” said Ian Fogg, Jupiter analyst.

Mr Fogg said although video players and smartphones were trying to cash in on this success they faced a tough job because of the compromises that had to be made when creating a dual-purpose device.

“Europeans care most about music playback,” he said.

Seems reasonable given that most people are likely to already have a portal music player e.g. a walkman, in the past and are used to the functionality that it gives.

I think its difficult to predict accurately whether this will be the case from data such as this although common snese would suggest that mobile video in general is going to be niche for a while. General ’smartphone devices’ however may have more broad based applications long term and eventually overtake pure audio. See for example the growing convergence in static digital entertainment and computing. If my PS2 / Xbox plays games, DVDs, CDs then why can’t my mobile phone do the same?

Oh! It can

BBC NEWS | Technology | Digital paper makes device debut

What a great idea! You may argue what’s wrong with real books and part o f me would be sympathetic but mostly I am very excited. If I can have a device that I can download a series of books which I can then read as I see fit, will keep my place and won’t get folded up or have tea stains all over (don’t ask!) then I really want one…

Not sure when we will see this in the West though…

Roland Piquepaille’s Technology Trends

Spray-on Nanocomputers Are Coming
Computing is about to really become ubiquitous if a research project started at Edinburgh University delivers its promises. In “A spray-on computer is way to do IT, the Edinburgh Evening News writes that “spray-on computers the size of a grain of sand are set to transform information technology.”
Scientists at the institution have just been awarded a £1.3 million grant to develop the “ubiquitous computing” technology which uses tiny semiconductor specks that can sense, compute and communicate without wires.
Researchers are already working with staff at Edinburgh hospitals to develop a method of using the computers to monitor heart patients at home.
They plan to spray the nanocomputers on to the chests of coronary patients, where the tiny cells would record a patient’s health and transmit information back to a hospital computer.
And this isn’t the only application envisioned by the scientists. Professor Arvid, who leads the project, thinks our current computer interfaces, typically a keyboard or a mouse, will completely be replaced by these nanocomputers.
Arvid said: “In the future, computers will be able to be diffused into the environment. There won’t be a sharp division — barricades will just disappear into the background.

I need to do some more research on ubiquitous computing however the ideas here behind the nanocomputer and its applications are I suppose what makes technology so fascinating for me. Infinte possibilites suggest themselves from a computer the size of a grain of sand with sensing and communication capabilites.

I can always track my children. I can check out my own health. I can network and operate the whole house very easily. I can communicate around the world without recourse to a phone or a keyboard. Science fiction moving to science fact.