Mobile

YouTube video courtesy of googlechrome

Google announced their Chrome OS yesterday...

Releasing the Chromium OS open source project

And, like a lot of people I watched the live stream on a web page built using Cold Fusion (how retro!) and requring either Real or Windows Media to watch (what happened to YouTube?). I thought Chrome OS was going to be a superset of Android and was very excited about the prospect of this super-Android on tablet computers. Instead, I became less and less excited by Chrome OS as the presentation unfolded.

After the announcement's conclusion, I tried to figure out why this all seemed so familar. Then, I remember a product I really liked that failed about a decade ago: Microsoft's MSN Companion. The MSN Companion was based on Windows CE (like today's Windows Phones) and essentially hosted Internet Explorer 4 in its firmware. The MSN Companion was a desktop dedicated web browser. Although it was not a mobile device, it was essentially 10 years ahead of Google's Chrome OS.

MSN Companion with a T-Mobile Dash on top of it to provide relative size information

I thought the MSN Companion was a great idea a decade ago. However, I'm not sure what is essentially a dedicated browser opearting system is what we need or want today.

It is quite an interesting world we live in these days when even a pen has its own app store...

LiveScribe's Pulse Smartpen Gets Smarter with the Beta Launch of an Application Store

Of course, the LiveScribe Pulse Smartpen is no ordinary pen. It can record and playback the ink you write on a paper with it as well as synchronize recorded sound with the ink. I bought my pen back in May and have been getting good use out of it.

You can find its app store beta at...

http://www.livescribe.com/store

The first page of paid apps for the Pulse Smartpen (21 apps) are mostly in the 99 cent to $2.99 range with the loan outlier being the $14.95 American Heritage Spanish Dictionary.

There are also 9 free apps in the store ranging in topics/functions from a video poker game to spanish travel phrases to guitar chords for beginners.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love lists (lists of pretty much anything amuses me), predictions for the next year, and conspiracy theories. As you might guess, I don't much believe in some of these despite their entertainment value. Gartner Research is usually a good source of lists and predictions (not to mention magic quadrants). And, in this item, I'm even going to count them among conspiracy theorists since they use the term "killer applications"...

Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Consumer Mobile Applications for 2012

However, don't be fooled by the title. Gartner doesn't actually name a single app. This lists consists of mobile app categories like money transfer, location-based services, and mobile search (their top three categories). Despite their interesting and mostly well-thought out list, it misses the boat by a wide degree. Here's what they missed.

1. Games! I know I'm going out on the limb here. But, I predict that people will buy games, lots of games for their mobile devices in 2012. What could lead me to make such wild speculation? Oh, I dunno. Just a hunch ;-)

2. eBooks/eReading: I predict that the dedicated ebook readers (like the Amazon Kindle) will be viable but less important products by the end of 2010. General purpose mobile devices like the iPod touch/iPhone, Android smartphones, and netbooks will be the main ebook platform despite their less optimal reading environments (at least using today's technologies).

3. Mobile Entertainment without traditional game features: This includes location-based social networking type apps and services that have become extremely popular over the past year

4. Apps that move traditional media (especially TV programming, newspapers, and magazines) to the "third screen" (mobile devices)

5. Augmented Reality: I know, I know. Most of what we see now are toy-apps or have limited functionality. This will change.

Let's get back together in 2012 and see how Garter Research's list fared against Ogasawara Seat-of-the-Pants Research's list.

Who would have thought 3 years ago that Apple's iPhone would capture 17% of the smartphone market and reinvent the way third party software is priced, marketed and sold. Not me, that's for sure. I thought for sure that the iPhone would join the Motorola-Apple ROKR (remember that clunker?) in the bad product idea hall of infamy. And, yet Gartner Group (via AppleInsider) tells us that...

Apple's iPhone captures 17% of worldwide smartphone market

It should be noted that other manufacturers are growing quite nicely to compared to Apple's 49.2% growth from the 3rd quarter of 2008 to the 3rd quarter of 2009. RIM matched nearly matched pace with 46.9% growth and 20.8% of the market. HTC (makers of Windows Mobile and Android phones) grew at a blistering 60.6% pace. The losers are Nokia with an anemic 4.4% growth and a loss of marketshare (down from 42.3% to 39.3%) and "Others".

This is one of those "I don't see the point" product developments...

Asustek to Launch WiMAX-enabled E-Books

Amazon's Kindle downloads books over a free 3G wireless data service powered first by Sprint and now, apparently, by AT&T in new Kindles. The wireless service is included as part of the purchase price and does not require any recurring payments for service. This is possible, I assume, because downloading ebooks takes very little bandwidth and part of the cost of the wireless service is paid in part by the initial payment of hardware and some percentage of each ebook purchased.

So, if ebooks require very little bandwidth to download, does it really matter if an ebook reader has a WiMAX radio and service? I don't think so. And, yet, that along with a 9-inch display appears to be Asustek's selling points.

CENS.com reports that Asustek plans to make its WiMAX capable ebook reader available in the Europe and the U.S. by March 2010. If Apple releases its much rumored tablet device in early 2010 or the Barnes & Noble Nook does as well as Amazon's Kindle, Asustek's product will probably never be seen on these shores.

InvestorPlace's article...

Apple Soars Behind iPhone 3GS Momentum

...contains a lot of interesting information and charts beyond its title's focus (the iPhone). I found the ChangeWave Research chart titled Cell Phone Satisfaction Rating - By Manufacturer particularly interesting. I've never heard of ChangeWave. So, I don't know the quality of their survey work and analytic abilities. However, it looks like they had a pretty good sample size for their survey (4,255 consumers). There is the question of how this sample was stratified and the other usual information never reported by the press. But, lacking other information, I'll take the survey results at face value. The manufacturers listed in their survey study includes Apple, RIM (BlackBerry), LG, Sanyo, HTC, Palm, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson. And, customer satisfaction was listed in that order I just listed with Apple in an unassailable first place position with 74% of iPhone users reporting they were very satisfied. RIM was a distance second with 43% of users reporting they were very satisfied. HTC stood in the middle of the pack with 35% happy campers. Sony Ericsson was at the very bottom of the list with a mere 17% of customers reporting they were very satisfied. I was quite surprised to see Nokia and Samsung tied for second-to-the-last in the list with only 29% of their customers being very satisfied.

What I didn't see reported about this study are the responses to questions like "Why are you very satisfied?" or "What is the problem with your phone that makes you unsatisfied?" Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and Nokia might want to start contacting their customers now and asking those questions for themselves.

Scottevest Performance Polo

I think I first saw a Scottevest vest and jacket around 2002. And, I've wanted one ever since. But, quite honestly, jackets, vests, and even long sleeve shirts don't make much practical sense when you live in a place like I do with an average daytime temperature that hovers around 80 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. But, when a friend recently tweeted a Scottevest sale coupon, I recalled that Scottevest short sleeve T-shirts and Polo shirts were added to their product line a while back. So, with coupon code in hand, I ordered both a Polo ($30, see photo above) and T-shirt ($25, photo below).

Scottevest Cotton T-Shirt

The Polo shirt has a single gadget pocket near the left shoulder with a earphone wire loop inside the collar. The T-shirt also has a left shoulder gadget pocket with earphone wire loop and adds a second pocket on the right bottom of the shirt. I tested both shirts on consecutive days of near 90 degree temperatures with near 90% humidity. I stuck a 5th generation iPod nano in the should pockets and used an Apple in-ear headset on both days.

I was happily surprised that the iPod nano did not place a drag in either shirts' pocket. There was no tugging on either shirt. And, because of the nano's light weight, I really didn't even feel it. I stuck my earphone's wire through the loop in each shirt and tugged and coiled the extra cable in the pocket. Having earphone cables out of the way is a great thing.

The best thing about these shirts, however, are not their gadget aspect. The best thing to me is the way they handle the perspiration that is all too noticable on hot humid days like the ones we've been having here for the past week or two. I thought the Polo did a better job of releasing moisture. But, the T-shirt does a better job than any other "normal" t-shirt I've used under similar conditions.

I'm glad I finally got around to buying these Scottevest shirts. Based on my two days of tests (one per shirt), I'm very satisifed with my purchases so far.

Here's a couple of suggestions for Scottevest for version 2.0 of these products:

1. Use the material used in the Polo shirt for a T-shirt. It deals with moisture better.
2. The Polo needs a second pocket to store away a Livescribe pen, actual ink pen, or glasses. A traditional shirt pocket is fine. A velcro shirt sleeve pocket would be good too.
3.They need to add an Ultimate Cargo Pants shorts version to their product line.

Finally, read before buying the shirts. Scottevest notes that you should buy one size larger than you normally do. I did that and the shirts fit fine.

Cell coverage image courtesy of Root Wireless

Interesting item by John Cook over on TechFlash...

Startup pinpoints the good, bad and ugly of wireless networks

CNET partnered with a firm named Root Wireless to collect data about cell phone coverage in 8 metro areas: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Washington, Dallas, and California's Orange County. Data collection includes average signal strength and number of bars (which some of us consider near useless), data connectivity and throughput, and issues such as dropped calls/failed data connections. According to CNET's own announcement about this project...

CNET to add phone service data to handset reviews

...real world data collection (as opposed to "imaginary worlds" I suppose :-) is underway with plans to release information in January 2010. It is too bad the data won't be available before the holiday gift buying and giving season. It would be a great way to choose a phone while considering actual coverage data.

Screenshot courtesy of Google

I think many of us have a fascination with metrics about real world things that matter to us personally. That's probably one of the reasons that my favorite feature in the new 5th generation iPod nano is its pedometer (of all things). So, I found this announcement from Google particularly interesting...

Google PowerMeter's first device partner

Google's first device partner is appropriately named Energy, Inc.. Its TED 5000 product is actually a family of devices ranging in price from $199.95 for the Model 500-G to $319.95 for the Model 5000-SC. All of these 5000 series models works with Google PowerMeter.

So, what's the mobile angle? The TED 5000 models feature integrated web servers that can serve up data in a mobile friendly manner on mobile device web browsers. This includes access using Google's own iGoogle for mobile phones. So, you can keep track of your home's electricity use from a variety of mobile phones.

I wonder if more than just the TED 5000 itself is needed to create a functioning system though. It looks like installation involves dealing with a home's main electrical panel. So, I assume a licensed electrician is required to conduct the installation (which can raise the total initial cost considerably). Might be time for a call to Energy, Inc. to ask for a podcast discussion.

Here's a whole different way of thinking about wireless network technology as reported by Technology Review...

Wireless Network Modded to See Through Walls

As TR reports, the University of Utah research involves using the 802.15.4 wireless protocol used in the ZigBee Personal Area Network (PAN) specification. A statistical model is used to determine is something is moving behind a wall by analysing the variance of the signal strength in a peer-to-peer network (34 nodes were used in the experiement. You can find the original paper available for download here...

Through-Wall Tracking Using Variance-Based Radio Tomography Networks

You can see a different way of achieving similar results explained in this report of research that was conducted a couple of years ago...

Oceanit Sense Through The Wall Technology on KGMB9 news

It also uses RF (radio frequency). However, this technology uses RF to detect heart rate and respiration. An earlier application of this technique was used to develop a sensor bed to read a patient's vital signs with attaching physical sensors.

Full disclosure: My day job is as a project manager for Oceanit. I was not, however, involved in either of the projects described above.