Archive for Ambient Computing
Posted on Mar 9, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:45 am
Deepening the ongoing “WiFi is everywhere” story we’ve been following here at Information Appliance since our inception, two new WiFi-in-transport deals were announced recently.
First, my favorite airline, Southwest, has announced that it’s adding in-flight WiFi to four of its planes this summer. The set up comes courtesy of a partnership with Row 44, a provider of in-flight broadband. No word yet on whether Southwest will charge for the service, as other airlines do, or continue to beat them at their own game by giving bandwidth for free.
Far below the friendly skies, WiFi is also coming to BART subway and commuter trains in the San Francisco Bay Area. Full service is expected by 2010 and speeds of up to 15Mbps have been sustained already.
These two deals are just further evidence of WiFi’s penetration to nearly every area of our lives, a foundation for communication that’s going to enable some truly exciting ambient computing applications in the future.
Posted on Mar 2, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:30 am
MediaFLO, a company that delivers live TV to small, wirelessly connected screens, is teaming with receiver manufacturer AudioVox to bring its content to in-car TVs.
Engadget wasn’t terribly won over by the quality of the video, and recommends DVDs in the place of the service. But what if the service were delivering less-bandwidth-intensive content than full-motion video?
If those TV screens in the back of headrests were instead streaming web-delivered content like sports scores, cartoons, and digital photos, the image quality would likely seem a lot better.
I wonder if MediaFLO has considered piggybacking additional services on top of TV broadcasts? Might be worth investigating.
Posted on Feb 22, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:19 am
Chumby, the lovabale, Internet-connected gadget that’s gotten a lot of good press and developer engagement over the last year or two, has introduced a couple of new models. As far as I can tell, the only thing new in the models is cosmetic – not functionality or features.
At the Chumby store, there are now a pair of limited edition models with new color schemes. There’s also a designer model, handpainted by artist Sara Antoinette Martin.
Both ideas seem pretty neat to me, but I was a little taken aback by the price of the designer model: $599. That’s $400 more than a standard Chumby model.
The designer version is very appealing aesthetically, the package comes with some original art from Martin besides the Chumby itself, and it’s very limited edition. Only five of these handpainted Chumbys were made. Given the limited edition and handcrafted nature of the offering, and that it comes with additional original art, the price seems entirely reasonable to me.
What I wonder, though, is whether this kind of offering will succeed. Part of the appeal of the Chumby, as I understand it, is that it’s a relatively low-cost hardware platform that can have all kinds of software and services layered on top of it. Adding $400 seems to get away from that idea a bit.
Still, I suspect there are at least five people out there that have $600 worth of love for the Chumby.
Posted on Feb 14, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:25 am
It was a staple of the scifi/spy/future-cop genre for decades (starting with Dick Tracy, at least, right?) – the wrist-based communicator. What was once the future is now the present, thanks to LG.
LG has introduced its LG-GD910 information appliance that combines a wristwatch, phone, camera, and 1.43-inch touchscreen LCD into a package small enough to fit comfortably on your wrist. The device offers videoconferencing, a web browser, and a 3G data connection.
Though no one will confuse this display with a luscious 19-inch digital picture frame, the LG-GD910 watch phone is a lot more portable. No word on price yet, but LG has only announced Japanese and European availability. All the junior g-men out there ought to hope this gets to the U.S., too.
I’ll be curious to see whether the device offers any kind of RSS support. If it does, photos and other web-updated content could easily stream right to your wrist.
Posted on Feb 4, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:50 am
Free WiFi is coming to Beijing by 2011, according to a report in Beijing Business Today.
Though a free WiFi network was available in Beijing during last year’s Olympics, the new network is expected to cover a wider area and be more reliable and accessible.
This, I think, makes Beijing poised for an incredible boom in information appliances (which we define as non-PC electronics with WiFi connections and LCD screens).
Here’s why: China is a key manufacturing hub for electronics and computers, and is also a source of innovation in some of those areas. Combine that with a free WiFi network that blankets a city of nearly 17.5 million people and you’ve got pretty fertile soil for new developments to spring from.
By way of comparison, Beijing’s population is larger than that of all of Pennsylvania or Illinois, and is close to the size of Florida. If you put a free WiFi network in one of those states and combined substantial business in the information appliance industry, wouldn’t you expect a boom in innovation?
It will be interesting to keep an eye on China for these kinds of developments over the next few years. For information appliance companies, it may be the next major market.
Posted on Feb 2, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:46 am
Terrestrial radio is all well and good, but what if you really love a station that’s on the other side of the country from you? A regular radio won’t help. What you need – and what you’ve probably used – is radio streaming over the Internet. But no one’s going to keep a computer on their bedside table, so how do you listen to your favorite web radio stations while in bed?
The Nokia Home Music, that’s how.
The Home Music is a combination traditional FM radio and web radio that can tune in local broadcasts using FM and web radio stations using WiFi or Ethernet. It also has a USB connection for portable media player access.
The Home Music, which is available in Europe now and should be coming to the U.S. soon, supports both web streaming and streaming of music from the computers in your house.
Of special interest is the big color LCD screen that the Home Music offers. Since it’s got a high-bandwidth connection built in, the Home Music seems a perfect information appliance. Not only can it deliver music, with the WiFi and screen, and a few software changes, it could also deliver all kinds of web-updated content – photos, news, weather forecasts, and more.
While it looks like a great radio, with those kinds of additions, it might be a huge hit as an information appliance.
