I recently watched John Underkoffler speaking on TED (Thanks Marius) and exemplifying its vision on the future of User Interfaces. It made me realize that the user interface components are almost ready for deployment in projects. The only unknown is when they will become mainstream. There are two crucial aspects in this, one is technical, the other one social and how user behavior can change.

The user interface elements have applications that work and are already marginally used or soon to be released.

I have actually experienced the multi-touch technology, using a project developed at The Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, and one of my friends was part of the team. The project is called “A Multi-touch Collaborative Solution for Measurement Data Visualization”. I tested it with a fun application, a pile of digital images on the surface table. There were three of us at the same time, manipulating, moving and zooming individual photos on the same table.  It’s fun! Then, of course there is the more known and ready to ship Microsoft Surface.

Look at Project Natal Kinect. It will allow players to interact without any controller at all.

Technically, all we need are projects, real-world applications that combine more of these technologies into something that can be used for a purpose. And fun can be one purpose. I am more curious of user adoption. And I will assume it will become mainstream price, not 15.000 bucks for a Microsoft Surface table. Just imagine a multi-touch monitor or TV that you can also place horizontally with some accessory kit and have multi-touch table in your home or business location.

Do you remember when we were enjoying watching Sci-Fi movies where actors interacted via Voice Commands? It’s all here now. But do we use this feature? I remember playing with voice commands in Vista’s beta and never used it since. And it actually worked. I have a decent phone, but not a powerful Smartphone, that does have voice recognition capabilities that is very useful in a particular situation. When I drive, I just push the button on my Bluetooth headset, say the name, and the phone matches the name from my address book and dials. And I mean voice recognition, not matching pre-recorded voice labels. So, all computers and most phones have voice recognition capabilities. How many of you use them? Or how many people you know who interact with their PCs via voice? I assume few to none.

All that said, my curiosity is when these types of interaction will be used, even after they become mainstream and standard capabilities. What do you think?

In John Underkoffler’s demo computers and network devices are supposed to be space aware. Notice the movement of elements from one device to another. That is the part that is completely new to me in a real demo and I am looking forward to see that working. Just look at the implications. You need a real interaction between location, user input, user interface and the network. That means that when a packet is sent in your network it will have some information on the physical location of the destination address. And It’s the only way I can imagine, but haven’t found any info on that on MIT Tangible Media Group website. Please send any info on such projects.

Just imagine having the device that will interact with this new User Interfaces and network equipment in your office to add that level of interaction between colleagues. Or beyond that, through the Internet. Just imagine a standard that will aid you carry location information just like VoIP packets transport voice through the Internet.

The future looks bright and fun!

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a picture is worth more than 1mil iPhones!
I hate you, AT&T! Apple basher!

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[+] click picture to enlarge

Toys in test:
1. Reference RDS/RCS 1Mbit cable connection via 54Mb WiFi – http://www.rdsnet.ro/
2. Vodafone 3G/HSDPA 3.6Mbs Huawei USB ‘SmartModem’ – http://www.vodafone.ro/ [product page link]
3. Orange 3G/HSDPA 3.6Mbs Option ICON II USB Modem – http://www.orange.ro/ [product page link]
4. Zapp Mobile 2.4Mbs Z010 CDMA 1xEV-DO wireless modem http://www.zapp.ro/ [product page link]

Testing machine and area:
1.83Ghz Core 2 Duo 2GB RAM Apple Macbook with a/b/g/n – enabled Airport WiFi card.
All tests were performed in a residential area in Bucharest, RO. Time 11:00ish PM. Moderate network loads.
Additional testing was performed on a WinXP Dell 1.6Ghz Core2Duo machine. Performance obtained was about 30% lower!!

Testing on:
- Local (short path) download – Zapp data driver library
Test file – Software image WL-500gx – Deluxe (v 2.1) – 1x/EV-DO [3.20MB]

- External (overseas) download – Revision3 / Diggnation
Test file – diggnation–0108–2007-07-26multipass–large.h264.mov [108MB]

- Ping to google.com

Without further ado, the results:

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The control RDS cable connection needs no introduction or explanations. It performed as expected, capping out at the 1Mbs mark. Response times were great -inline with expectations- but maybe reported a tad lower as the WiFi router adds its own slowdown. This said, here are the screenshots.
Short path:

Overseas:

— google.com ping statistics —
12 packets transmitted, 12 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 67.475/68.679/71.692/1.056 ms

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The Vodafone HSDPA SmartModem. I had a really good experience using this modem with speeds in excess of 300KBs (3-4Mbs). Unfortunately I was unable to replicate the performance tonight. Granted, and this goes for the other two players, the quality of the link, signal strength, network load and cell performance affect the max speeds attainable. Vodafone RO provides 3G+ (HSDPA) 3.6Mbs service in major cities and a guaranteed minimum of 1.4Mbs. What I managed to get was a not-so-flashy minimum with an excellent signal strength.
The proof-
Short path:

External:

— google.com ping statistics —
12 packets transmitted, 11 packets received, 8% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 278.274/313.286/609.070/93.856 ms

Notes: The application (Vodafone Mobile Connect for Mac) needs to be downloaded from the VF website. It weights around 15MB and it’s fairly easy to install and use. The drawback is that an additional “Activate” click has to be performed in order to enable the connection in the pref pane. The link is pushed through a VF APN proxy that strongly compresses the traffic (esp JPG images). That adds a certain lag and forbids use of some web bandwidth testing apps.
VMC:

[+] click to enlarge

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Orange touts a fresh 3.6Mbs capability in its network. Although generally slower compared to Vodafone, with a poorer link quality, the very ugly Option modem has performed on par (if not a tad better) with its competitor. Here is the proof:
Short path:

And overseas:

— google.com ping statistics —
12 packets transmitted, 12 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 267.750/283.606/298.381/8.540 ms

Notes: Orange has performed notably better than VF in the response time test, with almost half the average round-trip time. Great news for VoIP applications. Its Mac application I had to request at Orange Customer Service and was later forwarded in an email. The whole process took around 10 minutes. GlobeTrotter Connect weighs around 2MB and is spartan. It required a restart (not typical for OSX) to work without asking for one. The traffic is also routed through a proxy but optimization is only provided through separate APN.
Orange took no pride in customizing the packaging of their modem, sign of eagerness to take it to the market. More so, the documentation has Mac screenshots of an app you expect to find in the package but can only get separately, on request.
Not so cool!
The app:

[+] click to enlarge

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Zapp…oh Zapp…used to rock when its antenna was in good shape. Anything between 1.4Mbs and 2.0Mbs was possible. It’s generally a connection that can handle many streams at a time without degrading the ongoing transfers. It scales in an intelligent way. Plus, unlike Vodafone and Orange, the connection is direct without a pass trough a proxy for compression.
On the short path the Z010 would usually do 150KBs and on the diggnation file it would normally fly at a sustainable 180KBs!
I’ll add the screenshots though, but with a big fat disclaimer: this is not how a *healthy* Zapp modem performs!
Local (their own freakin servers):

A la longue:

— google.com ping statistics —
12 packets transmitted, 12 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 254.470/386.584/1362.356/296.632 ms

Notes: It breaks my heart to bash Zapp so badly after serving me 140ishKbs downloads for years in times when Orange/Vodafone only had shitty EDGE (150ishMbs) with this poor performance due to the faulty modem. Yet I think the ping results are relevant, the Z010 still doing good at 254.470 minimum round-trip time! Mkay… we have some spoilers here as I knew what to expect of some modems in test. Also sadly reporting that the CDMA modem was only here for a broader image of the competing technologies, less for actual results. It’s had a long service life feeding my mobile lifestyle and unfortunately it has the antenna bruised, which translates in very poor reception – read performance!
The Z010 needs no drivers for Mac running OSX, a compatible driver already rests in the OS’s library. With the connection set up in the pref pane, call is initiated in 2 clicks and established in less than 3 seconds! No other apps involved! Sweet!
Unfortunately the Z010 is no longer offered by Zapp but can be purchased by special request. It features a battery of its own that improves overall performance and lowers the drain on the notebook battery. It also has a b/w LCD screen that displays data such as signal strength, time/date and battery level. SMS can also be received on the device.

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The conclusion is optional for a buying decision. Both Orange and Vodafone do well in normal-real life tests! Both offers are compelling, reasonably and approachable priced for near-unlimited traffic (8GB/month). Both modems come free with subscription and are both Mac and PC compatible. If on the PC counterpart the modems have PnP installation – the drivers are stored on the modems themselves – you’ll have a little more trouble getting them for your Mac. Be advised! Request those drivers before you are on the road and need further internet access! :)

Not surprisingly, both modems do shitty jobs on Bill Gates-flavoured machines. With Orange capping downloads at around 85KBs I went no further testing and lit up the Mac. And there numbers started looking like the ones on the marketing fliers. ;)

Overall brief: sexiness/performance/ergonomic; grades from 1-5

Vodafone 3G/HSDPA SmartModem: 5 / 3 / 4
Orange 3G/HSDPA Option ICON II USB Modem: 1 / 3 / 3
Zapp Z010 CDMA 1xEV-DO: 3 / 4 / 3

===== 5 cigarettes were smoked during the making of this review. please do not try this at home. smoking is bad for your health!! =====

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For those unfamiliar with Macs, Safari promises to be the fastest browser on any platform, a clean interface so you can focus on browsing, uncompromising security and of course the usual browsing standards like pop-up blocking and tabbed browsing. You will also familiarize with nice Aqua elements like the nice blue scrollbar.

Keep in mind it is still in Public Beta.

Grab a bite of Apple! Safari for Windows is available for download here.

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There hasn’t been much Fon news or related lately but we couldn’t miss the fact that
– Time Warner opened their doors to broadband sharing in the US and
– The programmers in Spain finally came up with a beta version of the FON Spot Mac / Linux

What this software does is that it turns your Intel-based Mac into a FON hotspot. If you use a 3G or EvDo modem this software will turn your Airport into a Access Point-like WiFi adapter and start sharing your connection around.
It’s not a new concept for Mac users as by default Macs let you share your modem connection in three clicks anyway. But FON saw this was an opportunity that could not be missed to expand their service and brand where conventional hotspots do not protrude. Shrewd!

Screenshot of Mac’s WiFi sharing enabler

Let’s analyze if this would really work in real life past the obvious geeky sexieness.
Having a Fon hotspot ‘built in’ your Mac is neat if you’re a big fan of the service and really want to take it everywhere with you. Maybe you have a flat mobile broadband connection anyway and you don’t mind sharing but you’re missing the credentials for your signal. Or maybe you just don’t mind doing it. Any case you chose it’s fine!
But in all other cases you’d be simply sharing your connection as is or no sharing it at all. Eventually it all comes down to FON’s business model. Share WiFi and get WiFi for free elsewhere in FON hotspots, as a Linus. Or share your WiFi for some money. These cases are based on a permanent presence in a determined location. Usually one would use a fast connection they don’t really mind sharing.
What happens when you share your crawling 3G/EvDO? Those pipes are not that large, your connection is not in a specific connection and does not provide service 24/7. That does not make for a compatible service with FON’s, which anyway is catchy because it brings advantages both ways.
Based on how FON Spot for Mac works the only winner here is.. FON! You would likely not share that limited bandwidth (I’ve done it oh so many times with my EvDo) and not agree FON is using your expensive connection for self-promo and Alien (non-member user that pays premium for access) money milking.

Running c*free, a free hotspot operator, I’ve often used Mac’s WiFi sharing to promote the brand at different events or ingenuous places. Hell, I’ve shared that signal a couple of years ago when I was still using Windows through an Ad-Hoc profile and later using a USB kit called c*free mini.
Yet, I still don’t know how this would go beyond such use!
Most folks who have/use a mobile broadband connection pay a shit load of money on it every month. They are usually business/entrepreneur/SOHO types that
- care for their data and its security
- pay for the 3G / EvDo for a precise purpose
- are time critical
- don’t have time or interest in playing with gizmos and hacks such as FON Spot
- are energy-conscious, meaning they would power their WiFi only when in the range of a signal they would use.

It’s unclear to me how this hack will make it in the real world. It might! But as it stands, incentives – even ones like the principle of sharing in exchange for free connectivity (wait!! Free WiFi? Why, when you already have the darn 3G?) – are low or inexistent!

For the techie ones I opened the installer and below is a screenshot of the package contents. I did not install the hack on my Macbook for it’s still beta and I rely on being able to use my Airport card. Those of you who have the time and curiosity are welcome to post their experiences in the comments section.

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Dell’s lappie software:

Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn
VMWare Workstation 6 Beta
OpenOffice.org 2.2
Automatix2
Firefox 2.0.0.3
Evolution Groupware 2.10

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Can’t remember where I read this statement, but it’s one absolute truth hidden behind a joke! :)

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Ahhhh, the sound of precious electronics crashing onto the expensive natur pavement of Bill Gate’s cubicle… The horror!! The horror!! Linux strikes back (thanks Intel *grin*) in an Mac-esque incarnation for the UMPC.
Looks like Intel is shedding the Origami gorilla (read: Microsoft) as they prep a Linux-based platform to compete with Vista and XP-based UMPCs. Intel will unveil their new MID (Mobile Internet Device) platform at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing later this week. says Endgadget.

That’s about it, folks. First Dell, now Intel… ;)

Wireless is fun! Thanks to Linux!

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Marius pointed me to this article in Financial Times the other day. I kept it in a tab and only paid some attention to it this afternoon. I’m sorry I did so.

We pointed to an ever increasing number of non-US internet startups in our previous posts. It didn’t look like much other than usual headlines. Come to think about it now, I realized that the US stopped being the sole fertile ground for disruptive ventures that rock our online lives.

The ‘buzzes and hypes’ are now global and we can finally use the whole map of the world to place hotspots of innovation and leadership. It’s news that emerged in silence and evolved into a shocking reality that the world (and especially the US) will start to grasp in the months to come: the US is about to lose its tech lead!

Sure, there’s still some quiet mourning in our WiF offices about the fact that most of “the net” is nested in a place called Silicon Valley. If anything is about to happen in the tech world it’s now being designed and tested in the Bay Area, in Texas or Nevada, New York and somewhat Chicago (for all-advertising). We’d love to be there too as geeks have their ways of congregating. But the restrictive US immigration policies make us think twice.
Exactly like we are, fellow entrepreneurs and skilled tech gurus now turn their heads to Europe or Asia as good places to start a flourishing internet business. The economical, human and technological gap is narrowing. There’s countries that support innovation by law and political lobby (like Estonia, for example), countries that have a very louring tax environment (like Luxembourg), some that have great infrastructure like Germany and S. Korea, or some that have very very high skilled but cheap workers like Romania.

This is becoming alarmingly real for the US and great for the world as a global trend. Establishing further ‘Silicon Valleys’ in other non-traditional places is bound to happen in the near future and is a good example that innovation and business leadership are not reserved or restricted to a single supplier.

I reckon this trend will gain more momentum as relaxing the US immigration policy it a long and difficult process. How long until Silicon Valley becomes a historical monument, pilgrimage destination for geeks?

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More about this at:

CrunchGear 1, CrunchGear 2 and TechCrunch

FollowUp: Ryan Black over at engadget demolishes our theories with three strikes… read at engadget.com

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Apparently Google plans on hitting the corporate market with a new office solution, the Google Apps they have been beta testing lately. From a calendar, e-mail program, word processor and even presentations processor, they are coming up and they are knocking on important doors with them. Up till now, Pixar and the Disney Studios are two important players who said they were going to switch from Microsoft’s solution, but they are not the only ones interested.

The people at Slashdot ask themselves if this is going to be the end of a monopoly or the start of another, but Google does not want to make this an “us vs. them” thing, they say they just want to offer choices to people. Go Go Google, but watch out for Microsoft’s Office Live coming up from Redmond.

Read more at Business Week Online: Google Steps Into Microsoft’s Office .

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