The Game Layer
Published in the Bangkok Post (PDF), 26 Dec 2010
Throughout human history games and game play have been a huge part of social development. In the last 30 years since the advent of personal computing we have seen the exponential spread of gaming consoles, platforms, and handheld devices.
Head in the Clouds
Published in the Bangkok Post (PDF), 28 Dec 2009
Back in the dim and distant past of the emergent global computing paradigm there was something called the 'Network Computer'.
Good morning U-Tapao!
Published in the Bangkok Post (PDF), 24 Dec 2009
The sound of a B-52 bomber taking off close by is enough to make you spill your morning coffee all over the floor.
Wave of the future.
Published in the Bangkok Post (PDF), Dec 9th 2009
A new Google product is about to energise your email and online communication habits. Prepare for the surge.
In recent years Google's meteoric rise from popular upstart search engine to global search advertising wealth generator and online services gatekeeper has been dizzying to watch. Since floating on NASDAQ in 2004 Google's share price has travelled stratospherically from approximately $85 per share to today's topping out around $500 per share - and rising... Google's net worth is around $150 billion.The steady accumulation and creation of new hip technologies and online services has been equally spellbinding - look at the list: Google Search, Adsense, Google Earth, Picassa, You Tube, Google Docs, Gmail, Blogger, Chrome, online translation, the upcoming Chrome operating system for PC.... The list goes on. These new information technology tools have become for us what early hand tools were to the roving hunter gatherers of old, or what the Gutenberg press and related distribution systems of previous centuries were for an earlier period of advancement. As the revenue pours in from every corner of the globe - with practically every use of the search engine and related technologies stimulating some type of earning opportunity - the resources to further develop the tools we will come to rely upon and use in our daily lives keep on accumulating. Google also mops up some of the best brainpower on the planet, acting like a magnet for graduates from the top science and technology universities globally. So, what's next? The latest next best thing to burst forth from this Internet powerhouse? Wave. As in the coming wave...
Wave.
Google Wave has been described as email-on-steroids, a new communications and collaboration model for the web with email at its heart. A rich and seamless overlap of email, chat, document collaboration, video-communications, mapping, photos and more. A 'wave' in Google's new information sharing model is a connected and multi-level conversation between you and your friends, colleagues or fellow collaborators. The wave holds your current and previous conversations live in real-time, allowing instant access to information flows and conversation additions at any point in the continuum of a topic, strand or discussion. The wave allows the easy and seamless addition of a variety of multimedia content or files in convenient drag and drop style. Participants can jump in and out of the conversation and bring with them contextual additions and other multimedia content. The live wave can be 'replayed' allowing easy access to any previous or current point of the topic. Participants can jump in at any point in order to comment on or elaborate the discussion. The live nature of the interface also allows the ability to see additions in real time as collaborators add information. Think along the lines of a social jamming style flow of participants and content within a live and interactive dialogue..! Got all that? Ready to roll?
Key technologies
Real time collaboration.
Concurrent control technology lets all people on a wave edit rich media at the same time.
Natural language tools.
Server based models provide contextual suggestions and spelling correction.
Extension.
The ability to embed waves in other sites or add live social gadgets using Google's Wave APIs.
What does it all mean?
Wave could herald the biggest shake up of email since the arrival of free web-based email services in the mid nineties. There has generally been a divide between those who operate email via stand alone applications connecting to a server (like using Microsoft Outlook at the office) and those utilising web-based services such as Gmail and Hotmail. With many of us using both on a regular basis. Both methods have evolved some great technologies and functionality while allowing the incorporation of a variety of richer media such as embedded HTML or live chat with other users. However both models remain relatively isolated in the sense that users are still distanced slightly from one another via the posting method of send-receive which has been the mainstay of this type of electronic communications for some time - despite of course the blurring of boundaries and a much faster pace of online information sharing habits in recent years.
Google's new Wave product seeks to jump start a revolution in the way we collaborate online in the wake of the social networking storm which has swept the globe in the past couple of years. The ability to move in and out of online discussions and to incorporate our rich digital media content as part of this process and as part of our evolving information lifestyle is what's now being brought out into the open with this latest offering. Wave seems set to act as a catalyst and to shake up our current ideas of how we use email and the web to communicate, work, share and play. It may also stimulate a new way of learning as well as kick start a completely new industry of add-ons and technical enhancements as the technology, concepts and technical underpinnings behind it are adopted across social networks and the web. Using its massive resources and abilities to shape and change future online development and usage Google is directly at the heart of this wave of the future. And looks like being so for some time to come...
Google Wave is set for release at the end of the year.
Power Shot straight to your Pocket
In the incredibly crowded digital camera market there seems to be more cameras than situations to you use them. Would you like night time shooting? Super-sized zoom capability? As many mega-pixels as you can hope to carry? Do you need small, or is bigger better? How about becoming a paparazzi? Fancy yourself as photo-journalist extraordinaire, or perhaps the next great landscape snapper? Maybe you just want to take pictures of your beloved at the beach and catch your co-workers re-handed at the office party?
The list goes on of the types of photographers we might choose or wish to be and the list of cameras to match is equal to the task and more. One area you might count yourself in is the 'prosumer' category. That is the neat segment for those that might have a tendency to lean towards professional quality picture taking while at the same time reside quite often in the camp of savvy consumer - a hybrid of 'professional' and 'consumer'. You'd like to take high quality professional pictures with the best gear but at the end of the day you're also a consumer like the rest of us and would like to have a decent machine at your side just in case...
Step forward the new Canon Powershot S90. Released in September and now available locally this neat little machine is high-end pocket picture taking material. And then some.
Canon has returned to the S-series line up with a camera they hope will rival the Panasonic Lumix LX3. That photographers camera has gathered a great following for its great features and small form factor. A combination of good lens (Leica) , quality images, high ISO capabilities, RAW shooting and full manual control. It has taken Canon a while to catch up. They have of course been concentrating on the S90's bigger brothers, the excellent G10 and now G11 units, which are more than adequate for the task.
Full featured, light weight.
The S90 has many of the features of the larger and more rugged G11 – the same Digic 4 processor and the same large sensor - 1/1.7", 0.43 cm² – also with reduced 10 megapixels capacity. The S90 has a bright F2.0-4.9 28-105mm stabilized lens. Current wisdom is to reduce the megapixels in order to allow more light to the sensor. That transpires into one of the key features of the S90 - that is the ability to shoot in low light without a flash with very fine results. It has an almost 4X zoom (28–105mm equivalent).
Another key new feature is the front side control ring around the lens which allows you to control key aspects of the settings from a neat old-style dial interface – which is metal and solidly clicks into position. The control ring can be used to change aperture, zoom, ISO, white balance and other settings assigned to it. This mini marvel also allows customization of a shortcut key on the back side as well as allowing direct access to settings via the D-pad which neatly falls under your right thumb. The combination of topside and backside controls along with the control ring make the camera a pleasure to fiddle with and have almost all settings readily available for quick access.
The S90 is smaller and thinner than the LX3 and can be easily pocketed in trousers or shirt. This makes it incredibly easy to carry around and with higher quality images such as seen on the G11 providing real power in a highly portable package.
Picture quality is fantastic with much the same output as the G11. Great sharp pictures with the ability to work in many variable low-light scenarios. With RAW shooting capability alongside Canon's DPP post-processing software (supplied with the camera) there is the possibility to finely tune your results. High ISO capabilities shine through.
Style is minimalist and classic black – the housing is tough metal and therefore strong. The camera feels solid and substantial.
For those wishing to have the portability of a point-and-shoot camera with higher-end manual controls, customisation, RAW shooting and low-light photography alongside the great sensor and processing technology of the bigger G11 then you may have found your photographic companion.
A very smart and well designed powerhouse of a camera to suit your niche or photographers mindset.
Canon S90 Key Features
• Lens Control Ring
• 10 million pixels sensor
• RAW shooting
• Fast f/2.0-4.9 maximum aperture range
• Lens covering the classic 28-105mm range
• Dual Anti-Noise System (high sensitivity sensor and Digic 4 noise reduction)
• 3.0 inch PureColor II LCD
• Optical Image Stabilization
• Smarter Scene Detection
• Low Light mode
Price: 17,900 Baht
Do Androids dream of Smartphone sheep?
Can Androids think and can they think BIG? Would you like a smart-phone heavyweight in your pocket this Christmas? How about having the might of the Google mobile operating system (OS) as your personal assistant and window on the information universe?
Well, the outcome is not clear yet on the omnipotence or otherwise of Google or its rapid rise to information society behemoth and how things will unfold in the coming years. What is clear though is that we are on the cusp of rapid change in the smartphone market. And Google is at the heart of it.
A range of new hardware providing access to the emerging Google mobile OS, ‘Android’ has arrived... It's time to arm yourself with the latest next big thing as you strike a blow against the dominance of the major players in the coming smartphone wars. But what weapon to choose?
Choose your weapon…
Prime candidate is the latest HTC Magic, a second generation Android handset just released with much improvement on the original G1 device. Now sporting the latest Android Cupcake 1.5 release of the Android operating system. The physical keyboard has been replaced by a virtual one and the size form has been dramatically reduced. Specs include a 3.2-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with 480x320 HVGA resolution. A Qualcomm® MSM7200A™, 528 MHz, 288 MB RAM, 512 MB Flash ROM, a 3.2 MP camera, 2 to 16 GB memory. On top of this the HTC Magic offers GPS and e-Compass. Battery life is important if you fancy doing smartphone battle all day via Wifi or 3G. A constantly available connection to the Internet and access to the info universe requires decent battery life - and here we have it with a big 4.5 hours of talk time and 450 hrs of standby. This device can go 12 hours on heavy application use and connectivity - not taking into account voice use. Other enhanced features include Wi-Fi, Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz. HSDPA/WCDMA: 900/2100 MHz
The HTC Magic offers the ability to sync with Microsoft Outlook and also of course seamless integration with Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, Google Talk, You Tube and more. Microsoft Office and Excel documents can be viewed along with PDFs using the supplied Quick Office suite of tools. There's an accelerometer (for GPS navigation, games and input).
Form factor is small and neat easily fitting into the palm of your hand, with a jogwheel just below the display. Android performance is fast and zippy. Native Flash 5.0 is now included in the latest releases which is a major boost for much web content.
But what of the new Android OS and its intelligent offerings? What can we expect from an information ally such as this and how might we dare square up in a top-tier smartphone showdown with a view to victory?
All about the Apps…
The Android platform is Open Source and therefore is being contributed to and enhanced on a minute-by-minute basis across the world by thousands of developers. It also offers access to the free Android Market where there are already thousands of available apps for our tech savvy info warriors to get there hands on... A fully equipped HTC Magic can in the right hands easily compete with the top touch screen smart-phones from the big players. The device offers a very well designed user interface as well as fast and unique applications to assist the user with a multitude if daily tasks and activities. And what about the Google element? Well, being aligned to and a product of the biggest player in the world of Internet search, advertising and cloud computing you can expect of course that Google’s armory of online resources and services merge seamlessly with the Android OS. We have immediate and real-time access to offerings such as Gmail, Google Docs, Google Maps, Facebook, Twitter, stocks, weather and more. The always-on functionality can be used with GPRS, 3G and Wi-fi providing the user with a fantastic user experience as well as super slick and customizable touch-screen interface features.
Ultimately you have in hand an operating system which seeks to give back control and customization to the user. Multiple ‘desktops’ and full personalization all round off an operating system already in its second generation after only 12 months on the market with a range of hardware from a variety of manufacturers on the way and multiple price entry points to suit.
With the understanding that there are only a few - albeit well resourced and designed - hardware options currently competing in this market it can perhaps safely be assumed that a real challenger in the form of the HTC Magic has truly arrived.
Flying low with the X340 Slim…
The crowded mini notebook market is often a little confusing to those wishing to move into truly mobile computing territory. There are too many options sometimes on the road to urban cool. City slick, portable notebook computing takes in some very unremarkable hardware these days - dull screens, shoddy keyboards, slow processors, underwhelming style over function. The X340 'Slim' from Taiwan's up and coming MSI looks to change all that.
The current champion amongst lightweight and mobile computing is of course the Macbook Air. The fantastic wafer thin aluminium shell of the Air coupled with knockout design and decent computing power under the hood shook up the notebook industry upon arrival last year. It has taken a while for other manufacturers to come close and with the MSI X340 'Slim' we have a very good looking and usable alternative.
With sleek dark or all white looks and weighing in at only 1.3kg - with a lot more guts than your average netbook - the X340 Slim is perfect for those needing form and function alongside easily portable computing. The muscle on offer includes a decent 320 GB hardrive plus 2GB of RAM and a decent glossy 13.4-inch (1366 x 768 pixels) screen. Running at the heart of this contender is a 1.4-GHz ultra-low-voltage SU3500 chip, which is based on Intel's Core 2 Solo CPU. Intel's CULV technology is a step up from Solo and offers much lower power consumption - 5.5 watts in this case. Graphics are integrated and overall performance is decent. The X340 also boasts great connectivity with two USB 2.0 ports, VGA, HDMI, 2-in-1 SD-Card reader, RJ-45/Ethernet (Gigabit) plus stereo headphone/line out, stereo microphone in sockets.
The X340 Slim fits directly into the category of netbooks offering more power and function for a bit more money, comparing favourably with the lower end of this sector. The slightly larger 13.3 inch screen also enhances usability. The keyboard is solid and responsive although has a tendency to flex. There is though a marked feeling that you are using a much more expensive piece of hardware, excellent news for those wishing to get the best value for money. The X340 feels actually even lighter than it looks, another bonus.
Since the rush of netbooks into the marketplace there have been consistent rumblings on lack of power for those needing to get work done versus simply looking good while accessing the web. The X340 is notably much faster than Atom-based alternatives and in Photoshop and iTunes tests performs well against similar competition. The X340 will even run Vista well with no noticeable slow down, an important point especially as we approach the arrival of Windows 7 which should offer even snappier performance if included.
In all this good looking and higher performance ultra-portable is ideal for those needing do more serious work on the move. With the addition of Windows 7 alongside an already gutsy set of hardware and attractive lightweight packaging you have a great alternative to some of the more pricey competition.
MSI X-Slim X340 Specifications:
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
Processor: Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 CULV (1.4GHz, 800MHz FSB, 3MB cache)
Memory: 2GB DDR2 SDRAM (800MHz)
Internal Storage: 320GB 5400 rpm SATA HDD
Display: 13.4-inch diagonal WXGA (glossy, 1366x768)
Graphics: Intel X4500M Integrated
Wireless: Intel 5100AGN, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Ports and connectors: (2) USB 2.0 ports, VGA, HDMI, 2-in-1 SD-Card reader, RJ-45/Ethernet (Gigabit), stereo headphone/line out, stereo microphone in, 1.3 megapixel webcam
Dimensions: (LxWxH) 13" x 8.82 " x 0.24"-0.78"
Weight: 2lb 14oz (not including weight of AC adapter).
Power: 4-cell 32Wh battery
Warranty: Three-year standard warranty