by Dean on September 20, 2009
Written for PC Plus magazine (issue 287), this article looks at how Apple is battling Microsoft on one side and the search colossus Google on the other. Here’s an excerpt:
Apple’s rejection of Google Voice for the iPhone (and subsequent threat of investigation by the FCC) has been cited as the tipping point for Eric Schmidt’s departure.
But rather than being an anti-Google move, Apple’s reason for banning Google Voice has more to do with preserving its core ‘walled garden’ business strategy.
Apple claims that the Google Voice application “replaces Apple’s Visual Voicemail by routing calls through a separate Google Voice telephone number that stores any voicemail, preventing voicemail from being stored on the iPhone, I.e. disabling Apple’s Visual Voicemail.”
You’re just not allowed to mess with the iPhone. Apple is fiercely protective of its eco-system and it’s built a $8 billion business based on retaining total control of it.
If you buy into the Apple way of doing things, you can only run the software that they approve of. Focusing on innovative design and usability, one Apple product acts as a lead-in for another.
Buy an iPod and you’ll try iTunes. You’ll download AAC-encoded music, QuickTime-formatted video and OS X-powered mini-apps. Before you know it, you’re an Apple junkie.
The more you invest into the Apple eco-system, the more difficult it becomes to abandon it in favour of something else.
by Dean on August 31, 2009
Heritage magazine recently commissioned me to do an article about the history of the Roman Baths in Bath. It appears in the issue on sale in September 2009.
At the heart of the Roman Baths in the City of Bath, 240,000 gallons of hot water bubbles up every day into the ‘Sacred Spring’. This steamy, mineral-rich water is said to have amazing properties. The Celts believed it was where the goddess Sul lived. The Romans bobbed and bathed in it, associating the water with Minerva, their own goddess of medicine and wisdom. While the Victorians not only swam in the water, they drank it, seeking homoeopathic cures to illnesses such as rheumatism, sciatica, lumbago and gout.
Today, the Roman Baths attract more than a million visitors a year. It’s Bath’s premier tourist attraction – a superbly-preserved Roman bathing house patched up by some elegant 19th Century re-engineering.
Take a tour and most of the original Roman building that stood over 1,900 years ago is still accessible. In fact, when you look down from the Victorian-built terrace to the emerald water in the Great Bath below you’re only seeing a small part of the overall site. The Roman Baths are actually six metres below the current street level. The rest stretches out underground, beneath nearby streets and the Abbey churchyard.
Bath and North East Somerset Council are currently updating the Roman Baths to “keep it at the forefront of the competitive visitor attractions industry.” The idea is to look beyond simply showcasing the silent monument and to explore the human stories of the people who used it.
Improvements are ongoing and include: new digital photo displays, more detailed scale models, costumed actors, animated projections, interactive exhibits and virtual 3D reconstructions. Lifts have also been added to boost accessibility. If you’ve already visited, there’s now every reason to go back for another look.
by Dean on August 30, 2009
A news article for PC Plus magazine that reflects on Conservative leader David Cameron’s criticism of the communications regulator Ofcom. Here’s an excerpt:
[David] Cameron could be aiming his reformist quango-gun in the wrong direction. Ofcom is primarily funded by payments from broadcasting licensees and communications providers. Government grants are only provided for specific projects. The regulator even pumped £223 million back into the Treasury last year.
And when it comes to looking after the interests of the taxpayer, Ofcom don’t appear to have been putting a foot wrong. It has long sought to curb exorbitant mobile roaming charges, while its commitment to Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) has improved competition in the UK broadband market.
Further help in that area has come from Ofcom’s newest investigation into real-world broadband speeds, which damned many broadband providers for failing to deliver the speeds they advertise.
Over 60 million separate service performance tests were carried out in over 1,600 homes between November 2008 and April 2009. The results showed that the average broadband speed in the UK was a sluggish 4.1Mbps and that only nine per cent of sampled customers with 8Mbps packages actually received speeds of over 6Mbps.
The full article appears in issue 286 of PC Plus magazine.
by Dean on August 1, 2009
New York-based creative agency Mogollon has made a name for itself in the music business. I chatted to co-founder Monica Brand for this article in Computer Arts Projects.
Look up Mogollon on Google and the word describes a prehistoric desert people of the American south west, a spectacular mountain rim, a country rock band and a New Mexico ghost town. It’s also the name of the New York-based creative outfit founded by Monica Brand and Francisco Lopez. With a mission to “produce innovative visual work,” Mogollon has built up an enviable roster of clients that includes Madonna, VH1, Warner Bros. and Absolut Vodka.
By any definition, Mogollon can be considered to have ‘made it’.
Beyond their core music work, Mogollon has produced brand identies for CC SKYE, Lisa Linhardt and Vagabond; digital ads for Absolut Vodka; plus film production design for TM Productions.
Ask Monica Brand what her favourite project is and she’s faced with a huge choice. The Escher-inspired logo design on the Sounds of Om CD cover? The Japanese-style waves and dripping clouds that define the website for jeweller Stacy Nolan? Or how about the magazine work they’ve done for the likes of Blender, Tush and Hint? As far as we’re concerned, the art direction for Lisa Lindhardt’s jewellery studio (‘A village east’) is quite simply breathtaking.
“Honestly?” She says. “The covers that we do for our own music mixes are our favourites, and ironically enough, they are our clients favourites as well.” Francisco Lopez regularly puts together the streaming equivalent of the old mix tape for Mogollon FM and makes the collections available on their website. Each selection has its own virtual cover art. And while this might seem like an indulgence, each virtual album is a promo tool, an ongoing digital advert for Mogollon’s artistry.
Another article for PC Plus magazine (issue 285) that asks whether the age of MySpace is over and if Facebook has peaked? Is the social networking bubble about to burst? Or maybe the party has just moved on to Twitter…
When Rupert Murdoch handed over $580 million of News Corp’s money to buy MySpace in 2005, it seemed like a visionary deal. MySpace was an Internet success story, bravely mashing together blogging, messaging, photos, audio and video into hackable pop culture home pages.
Wired called MySpace a “nonstop global block party of music, video, and hookups”. And everybody was invited…
Three-quarters of the UK’s online population are believed to have a social network profile. Most spend a significant chunk of their time online and check their profiles (for new status updates, messages, trends, games, pointless quizzes or shared multimedia files) at least once a day.
While Facebook claims 200 million users worldwide, MySpace still boasts 130 million. That’s still huge by anyone’s standards. In some respects, the challenge for MySpace isn’t so much gaining new users, but retaining their attention.
The full article appears in PC Plus, issue 285.
Another review for PC Plus magazine, issue 283. Mr Site Takeaway Website Pro offers you everything you need to get a website up-and-running. In a box.
You could argue that Mr Site Takeaway Website Pro has no place in the pages of PC Plus. At first glance, this one-size-fits-all approach to website construction is far too simplistic and restrictive. For anybody with an ounce of web knowledge, it’s a frustrating experience – like trying to paint a fine watercolour with a stiff bristle B&Q broom.
But what do you expect? Mr Site Takeaway Website Pro boils down the mechanics of a new website build into six simple steps. Log onto www.mrsite.com/create and the software will help you register a domain and get your first pages online within a few minutes. No technical knowledge required. No jargon. No fuss. No imagination. No flexibility… There isn’t even anything useful in the box except a manual (so don’t pay an extra £3.50 for a boxed copy). The whole process takes place online.
Of course, this almost effortless simplicity is exactly what some people want. There’s a memorable episode of The Simpsons where Homer runs for Sanitation Commissioner with the slogan: “Can’t Someone Else Do It?” This outsourcing is the essence of what makes the Mr Site software and any ‘in a box’-themed product so attractive. Not only are they convenient, but you don’t have to put much effort in to make them work, and the end results are usually pretty decent.
My review of Fujitsu’s PalmSecure Login Kit appears in PC Plus, issue 283. The PalmSecure Login Kit, as its name might suggest, uses the palm of your hand as a next-generation password-replacement system. Here’s an excerpt of the review:
Biometric technologies waiting in the wings include DNA matching, ear shape analysis, even body odour recognition. It seems that our bodily smell consists of a unique blend of chemicals known as volatiles. These chemicals can be extracted and analysed by ‘electronic nose’ biometric systems and subsequently converted into data strings for pattern matching. “That’ll be £10.99, sir. Could you excrete some scent towards the scanner please…”
A much more viable alternative to fingerprint recognition is the vein pattern recognition technology used in Fujitsu’s PalmSecure USB mouse. The technology works by identifying the vein patterns in your palm. These vein patterns are unique to each person and the structure doesn’t change as the body ages.
For this authentication technology to work, an image of the vein needs to be captured using near-infrared light emitted by a scanner. Deoxidized hemoglobin in the blood flowing through the hand absorbs this radiation, causing the veins beneath the skin to appear as a distinct black pattern. This pattern is then simplified, encrypted and stored as a master template.
There are several advantages to vein pattern recognition. It’s quick to authenticate, clean and contactless, plus it’s difficult to cheat the system as it relies on analysing a subcutaneous pattern. In fact, Fujitsu says that the technology is close to foolproof — it apparently works to a false acceptance rate of less than 0.00007%.
A slice of my review of Kaspersky Lab’s Internet Security 2010 software, written for PC Plus magazine. The full review appears in issue 285.
Like a EA Sports videogame franchise, Kaspersky Lab has rolled out new 2010 editions of its flagship Internet Security suite and standalone Anti Virus package. It’s a chance for Kaspersky Lab to point point out that it detects over 17,000 new and possible threats to your computer every day; an opportunity to make you think twice about whether your current security measures are really coping with the 2.4 million malware threats currently listed in the Kaspersky Lab database.
Peace of mind is a yearly subscription away.
Of course, it’s questionable whether this 2010 version is really any better at combating Internet evil than its predecessor. Isn’t it just an incremental update? An annual spit-and-polish with some new, bolt-on extras? Well, yes. And no. You could argue that, as the threats to our PCs evolve, so the technology to spot and eliminate them also needs to change.
There are always new ways of approaching the problem – updated virus definitions, a bulked up malware database, trusted application management and new crowd sourced early-warning systems.
Protecting a typical PC against Internet threats is much like a game of Desktop Tower Defence. Using only Pellet Guns and Squirt Towers will still allow a few Creeps to get through. You also need Dart, Swarm and Frost Towers in your arsenal to handle every situation. Because those Creeps will keep on coming.
Another feature for Computer Arts Projects magazine. This one looks at some innovative website experiments with outstanding graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It goes something like this…
According to web usability king Steve Krug, the first law of interface design should be: “don’t make me think.” He’s written a best-selling book about it, preaching that good web design should be simple, structured and obvious.
And he makes a strong case. He believes that the majority of Internet users crave a “reassuring sense of familiarity” when they visit a website. They like to know where the main menu is, what their options are and where they can click next. “Users like conventions,” says Krug, “even if designers find them constraining.”
Then again, some websites push the boundaries. On www.egofoto.net, photographer Senol Zorlu showcases his portfolio work on a stunning, scrollable photo-wall built in Flash. While Japanese clothing company Unicloq goes to town with a bold, fast-cutting combination of info-graphics and video footage.
Web design in 2009 is characterised by dramatic visuals – think Flash animation and bold artwork; oversized typography, 3D effects and full-screen video. But designers are also keen to develop fresh and innovative UIs to engage and interact with website visitors. By sidestepping conventional page furniture, sites like these can stop you dead in your tracks.
The guiding principle isn’t so much “Don’t make me think”. It’s “go on, surprise me!”.
There are some great websites on show here, including: Sour Sally, Thank You begins with a T and Barcinski JeanJean.
The full text of this feature appears in the ‘Interactive issue’ (#125) of Computer Arts Projects.
Oh, and for anybody wondering what the GUI depicted in the image here is, it’s WHITEvoid’s incredibly speedy (and Webby Award-winning) 3D portfolio system built in Papervision3D.
[There's currently no link to this article. But you can find issues of Computer Arts Projects at myfavouritemagazines.co.uk. Want to know more? Find Computer Arts online at www.computerarts.co.uk.]
Today’s 3G/UMTS networks were only launched in 2003, but work is well under way on replacement technology dubbed Long Term Evolution (LTE).
This so-called 4G standard is the hottest ticket in town, promising download speeds in excess of 100Mbps and uploads over and above 50Mbps. A Nokia field trial of LTE technology set a cellular data record of 173Mbps in 2008. Compare this to the 14.4Mbps speeds currently offered by 3G networks patched with the HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) upgrade.
The word you’re looking for is: “whoosh!”
LTE: fourth generation mobile technology
“LTE will not only make existing applications faster,” says Motorola, “but [it] will enable a wealth of new applications previously available only on a wired internet connection.” For example, LTE will be fast enough to download TV shows and HD movies, automatically back up any digital photos you take to a home PC, even support 3D multiplayer games.
But the killer app here should be video, both watching it and uploading it. We can already imagine an LTE mobile with a SlingPlayer connection or streaming BBC iPlayer content on the train. It might also give mobile TV a kick up the backside.
If the numbers hold up, LTE could deliver 5-6 times the performance of 3G with HSPA. This speed boost comes courtesy of OFDM (Orthoganal Frequency Division Multiplexing), the same transmission technology used by WiMAX, DVB-T and DVB-H.
OFDM reduces latency, minimises interference and can cram more data into the same slice of bandwidth. So it’s ideal for transmitting video. The LTE standard also employs the same TCP/IP protocols that underpin modern networking and Internet connectivity. Once services begin to be deployed, voice traffic will be shifted from GSM to Voice over IP (VoIP), enabling calls to be integrated with multimedia and web services.
How does LTE impact today’s 3G services?
Further speed increases are possible with the addition of MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology. The idea of having multiple antennas on transmitters and receivers is already used to great effect in 802.11n Wi-Fi gear. Nokia’s 173Mbps trial used MIMO in a 2×2 configuration (i.e. two antennas on both the transmitter and receiver). A 4×4 MIMO set up could potentially deliver wireless broadband speeds of 326.4 Mbps.
Of course, LTE has its share of sceptics. Do telcos continue to push 3G technologies to the limit? Or do they abandon them halfway to fling more money at LTE? There’s an argument that we’ve yet to see the full potential of 3G and the average consumer still hasn’t taken advantage of it.
The HSPA+ upgrade (aka Evolved HSPA) reportedly closes the performance gap between 3G and LTE. Vodafone has recently tested the technology in Spain, pushing 3G data download speeds to 16Mbps. It plans a 21Mbps trial in the next few months, with 42Mbps download speeds the ultimate target.
But even though HSPA+ can be pushed to 42Mbps, the technology is still around 3.5 times slower than LTE. So the smart money is on LTE being deployed alongside existing 3G services, delivering high-speeds to those willing to pay a premium for them, while continuing to grow the 3G base.
But don’t hold your breath. Initial deployments of LTE are expected by 2010, with commercially available services up and running by 2011 or 2012. Give or take a year, due to the current financial crisis…
