Web 2.0 for beginners

Web 2.0 isn't always easily understood by ordinary people. I think the following presentations do a very good job, though, of clarifying some of the "new" concepts on the web.

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Nokia vs. Apple ... the story

Although large, with the weekend coming up, I can recommend reading this article from Michael Mace's blog about the upcoming battle between Apple and Nokia.

Apple event - news

Steve just presented a few new things. I followed it on the Engadget site. Check it out, as it has some nice pics to show off the new stuff. To sum it up, this is all news:

• You can now create ring tones with iTunes, for $0.99
  
• New colours for the Shuffles.
• New iPod nano. It is the fat one we have seen pics of before. This is a really well done device: new form factor and new interface.
  
• Renewed iPod Classic. It has lots of memory and the same interface as the new Nano. Too much memory if you ask me, for the screen size it has.
  
• New iPod Touch. Basically it is an iPhone without the phone features and a little thinner. It has wifi and the Safari browser too. The addition to this, though, is the iTunes wifi music store: you can buy straight from the iPod - they will also make this available to the iPhone.
• Not sure I should mention this, but they have entered into some strange deal with Starbucks. When you come close to a Starbucks you can see what music they are playing and download it - accessing its wifi network.
  
• 8GB iPhone will start to sell at $399 (versus the $299 for the 8 GB iPod Touch).
  

Foleo goes into hibernation

Personally I liked the concept of the Foleo, and am a bit sad to see that Palm has put that project on a hold. An instant-on, equipped with full qwerty keyboard, weighing 2lb, wifi-enabled device sounds attractive to me - disregarding for a second the whole software part of the device.

Admittedly, not many people were charmed by it, and I can see why they have decided to do this right now. Also it is clear that Palm needs to focus the (little) energy they have left on something that will be successful. The Foleo did not look good in that respect.

I wish them luck and look forward to hearing more about them in the future.

Linux makes large strides into important markets

Linux is really gaining momentum in many different markets, as you can see from the following examples. I believe it has a bright future and it will really add to consumer/business choice.

Palm has played (and a little more than just playing) with the idea of working with Linux for their next gen devices. For quite some time we saw no news, but finally they revealed the Foleo. I know not everyone likes the concept - I do, by the way - but it is good to see this concrete step and the possibilities it offers. Very recently they have also revealed their new entry-level Treo, called the Centro. Although not certain, it may well be running on Linux as well (speculation at the moment). I like the possible prospects of it.

More generally, Palm Infocenter, regaring some research from ABI Research, writes that Linux-based platforms are expected to be the fastest growing Mobile OS. With the current low market presence, this should be no surprise, but 31% in 2012 is a very respectable number.

It is not only limited to mobile phones though: HP is following Dell and will start bringing Linux to the desktop (currently only Australia). Considering that Linux OS is normally for more advanced users, it is promising to see that the two main PC manufacturers will pre-install Linux. In terms of volume, it is still peanuts, though.

Novell is another company with an aim of making money from Open Source platforms. According to CNET they are now starting to make money. In fact, "in a quarter when Novell saw anemic growth in most of its businesses ... Novell's Linux business grew last quarter by 77 percent more than its size in the third quarter of 2006". In this business we are talking about larger deals though. Take for example this recent deal: "a German state has signed a major contract with Novell for the supply of Linux server and desktop products to 33 universities."

I am not even talking about TVs and the like, because some are running Linux as well. In any case, I think it is clear from these recent developments that Linux has a bright future.

The mobile web is getting better every time

For people that do not have the iPhone with its brilliant browser, this is good news: the new Opera Mini 4 beta is renewed with many additional features. Check it out here.

I installed it last night. The landscape feature is pretty cool, but having a Nokia Communicator (9500), this is not terribly necessary. I must say that it is pretty RAM hungry, because for the first time since two years, my Commie was out of RAM! Despite of this, it is a very recommendable install.

For me it is the go to browser on my phone, because of its quick rendering, good handle of different web site configuration, and saves on my data bill.

Music store integration

The iTunes software and iPhone is a good duo: The integration works perfect and allows the user to add things to the phone easily, while it allows Apple an easy way to add features, upgrade software, and sell optional goodies, be it future software, games, ring tones, etc. No other phone manufacturer has achieved this sort of integration, and it looks like it is difficult to achieve.

Sony and its Walkman brand had a music store but after little more than 3 years, Sony Connect will be closed in the near future - mainly due to lack of success. It offered a rather closed system to a small audience, and it eventually did not reach the tipping point.

At the same time, we are hearing news of Nokia opening a door called Ovi. Supposedly it is the gateway to "a new Internet service for Nokia users to access music, games, maps, guides, synchronize information and network with friends using their devices and/or the PC", according to Gizmodo. I think I like to sound of it. An N95 with 8Gb of memory looks like a great companion to this new initiative from Nokia.

As I said, it is not easy to achieve something that Apple has. Nokia has a large user base, it has capital and ideas. Just maybe this thing can take off. I hope so ... competition is good.

Cities covered in Wifi - something of the past or the future?

Living in Europe, the idea of having open wifi throughout the city is like a dream. When I hear these stories about San Francisco, I simply hope it won't take to long to be rolled out here.

Two new stories, though, have made me think this may be a thing of the past rather than the future, particularly if you combine it with the fact that mobile networks become quicker over time (the big reason to prefer wifi at the moment).

ARS Technica writes on its site that in Chicago they seem to have decided against roll-out due to the worsening economics of these networks. There is still some hope, but it is sign in the sky, if you ask me.

Similarly, according to Wired, Earthlink will be letting go of Don Berryman, the Executive Vice President and President of Earthlink's Municipal Networks. Besides letting go of him, they are firing another 900 people. Wired says this calls into question the ultimate fate of already struggling municipal Wi-Fi projects in San Francisco and other cities.

Maybe the future is simply broadband at home and in the office, Wifi in public places and mobile networks everywhere else. Makes sense?

China is not the new India yet

India is already well established in the IT oursourcing market. It is currently the "go-to-guy". China is still its little brother, but this will be only a matter of time given its potential (with the proper changes implemented by China).

Symbian Ltd, the people behind the OS running on Nokia and some SE smartphones (among others), has opened an important R&D facility in Beijing, according to AAS. On the one hand, they are hereby making use of a big pool of engineers, but equally (or more) important, they are now in one of the biggest growth market. Nigel Clifford, CEO of Symbian:

“China has a vital role to play in our strategy for continued global leadership with over 700 applications originating from China over the past two years and 12% of Symbian smartphones shipped in China during Q2 2007, representing 77% year on year growth, according to Canalys”

Other companies that are already located there are not always equally positive. Take for instance Infosys. According to a FT article:

"Infosys Technologies admitted on Wednesday that its China operations were growing more slowly than expected, with the company’s customers preferring to use its English-speaking outsourcing base in India."

This same article argues that the pool of talent is larger than any in the world, with 650,000 engineers produced every year. It seems though that this number, although large, does not tell the whole story. According to an OECD report, as the FT states, in China “a high-technology myopia pervades current policy objectives and thinking on innovation.” As a result, "more broadly-based innovation in services and other sectors of the economy has been neglected". In other words, it seems to want to build the house starting with the roof.

With the necessary changes though, nobody will deny China's possibilites. For now, though, it is India's little brother when it comes to IT oursourcing.

Google sets its eyes on the mobile market?

Google has been working hard for already quite some time to be (omni)present on mobile platforms. Local search is one of the next hot things and Google is well-suited (and interested) to be a big player there. However, it now seems clear they are taking it further than simply offering mobile services.

The Google phone seems to launch shortly. There is a bit of discussion whether they will only focus on software or will go and actually launch a mobile phone. Engadget argues that it is all about a Linux-based Google OS. On the other hand, a blog article in Information Week doesn't discard Google hardware. If you ask me software and services is Google's strength and I reckon they'll stick with that. That way they'll also be able to remain friends with Apple.

It seems that Google will start its mobile adventure in India, and eventually quite possibly in the US it will even have its own network, although that'll be something for early 2010s (if it even happpens).