Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Location-stamped photographs

This attachment for a digital camera automatically records the location, time of day and compass direction you are facing when you take a picture. How long do you think it will be before this capability is built into a high-end digital camera? How long do you think it will be before it is built into all digital cameras? We will be talking about location-based applications -- how might this capability be applied?

Friday, September 22, 2006

Apple's video strategy

Robert Cringley has written a column speculating on Apple's video strategy. He notes that Apple's recently announced iTV video extender connects only to HD TV sets which will data over a wireless link to a PC or iPods. Cringley thinks Apple is moving into video conferencing and the sharing of text, audio and video content at home and the office. He expects Apple to eventually sell HDTV sets with iTV capability built in.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Barriers to mobile Internet access

The British broadcasting Corporation has an article explaining the slow adoption of mobile Internet access in Europe compared to Japan and Korea. They attribute it to a number of factors like slow connectivity, poorly designed hand sets, and limited content due to "walled garden" policies. All of that seems to be changing (at least with some providers) as evidenced by support for the .mobi top level domain.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Professor Sells Lectures Online

A thread was posted on Slashdot discussing a professor's decision to charge $2.50 for recordings of lectures. We have just listened to lectures in the Distinguished Speaker series at UC Berekely. How do you see the future of networked applications in education? What are the implications for individuals, organizations and society>

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Remote medical monitoring

The New York Times has published an article on remote medical monitoring. The article gives examples of patients who remain at home and are monitored by doctors. Wireless connectivity would allow similar monitoring outside the home. While there are technical problems to be overcome, the greatest difficulties facing this and many other applications are with the people "system" around them. Why might doctors, hospitals, and medical instrument makers resist this sort of application? Could this technology empower people to better manage their own health care?

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Fourth generation cellular communication

Samsung demonstrated a prototype of fourth generation mobile connectivity recently. Connectivity speed was 100 Mbps in a bus traveling 60 miles per hour. The "nomadic" speed inside a building was 1 Gbps. Samsung has been active in the mobile WiMAX standardization effort -- will they set the 4G standard?