The gadget community is abuzz with the news that the Opera web browser is coming to the Nintendo DS, but have we really thought about the implications yet? With this, Opera and Nintendo are making the DS much more than a simple gaming system. (more…)
I think the 3D desktop concept is beginning to go too far. I was looking at this video today of the “BumpTop” 3D tablet PC type interface which mimics the way documents are “organized” in a real-world desktop. As pretty as the interface might be, it suffers from a fatal flaw: The cluttered real-life desktop is not a good organization method. (more…)
Everyone knows Microsoft as the purveyor of operating systems and video game consoles, but it’s interesting to hear something about Microsoft working behind the curtain. The company is apparently close to deploying a communications system designed to better connect parties by allowing them to choose precisely when and how they are contacted. (more…)
I said recently that I thought 2007 could be the year of location-based services. But, after reading this WIRED article on O’Reilly Media’s Where 2.0 conference, I think it might just come even sooner. It started with numerous “mashup” websites, mixing up Google Maps with other sites’ data feeds to provide new and novel functionality, such as the ability to plot real-estate listings within a Google map, or the ability to embed the latitude/longitude or zip code of a photograph within Flickr’s tags, and then use these to plot them on a Google map. (more…)
If you’ve ever found yourself in an unfamiliar locale wandering around looking for a gas station, a good place to eat, or something to do, then the notion of location-based services is great. Unfortunately, it’s an idea whose time hasn’t quite come. Or has it? (more…)