Wednesday . It once belonged to the god Odin ( aka Woden or Wotan ) , the chief of the Norse pantheon , who was so run through with knowledge that he pass on up one of his eyes to attain thewisdom of the ages . I think Odin would appreciate thathisday that has become synonymous with gadget and gizmos here at Macworld and not , say , Thursday . I do n’t manage if that guy had a hammer . So did Bob Vila . What ’s your point ?
Microsoft and Palm apparently fit with my assessment , as both chose today to launch flamboyant unexampled products . Will Surface and Foleo genuinely usher in revolutions in technology , or are they merely pass illusion ? We ’ll take a brief aspect at each , and throw in a third potential revolution for you digital hippies out there , all for spare .
Touchy, touchy: Microsoft breaks the Surface
Trust the folks in Redmond to describe their new coffee table in practicallymessianicterms . Though perhaps Surfaceisa bite more than just a gussied - up billet to put your drinks : the board features a 30 ” screen that uses a multi - touch interface . Multi - sense of touch is , of course , one of the biggest cant in technical school at the second , as several fellowship belt along to corner the market place on this computer user interface evolution . At last year ’s SIGGRAPH , I observe that both NYU ’s Jeff Han and Mitsubishi were demoing multi - touch interfaces . And , of class , Apple ’s own iPhone hope to bring multi - touch sensation into the mainstream in just a few unforesightful weeks . All in all , the future is finally originate to search likethe hereafter . Now , how about my flying car ?
So what make Microsoft ’s entry stand out from the crowd ? I ’ll give you a trace : it ’s one of Bill Gates ’s favorite words . gadget . Microsoft has approach Surface in — surprise — a very Microsoftian fashion . If you watchthe demo videos on their siteyou’ll see a number of examples where people put a equipment down on Surface and it interfaces with the table . Digital picture seem to spill out of a camera ; earpiece display their specs and allow you to compare them ; music tracks from your Zune appear as CD cases ( finally ! a way to hike up Zune sales ! ) . Of course , the devices you use will involve to be compatible with Surface , which talk both Wi - Fi and Bluetooth .
From a usability perspective , there are plenty of questions to be answered . The videos evidence what pass off if you associate your camera with a few pictures : what if you havehundredsof pictures ? Will there be a more manageable way to deal with them ? And as far as the promise that you ’ll be capable to merchandise call back and off , I wonder if Surface is n’t an unwelcome jobber : why ca n’t you just trade medicine between two Zunes ? And if it does n’t work with the best marketing music player of all time , does it even matter ? Not to cite , how will this future of freedom dig with Microsoft ’s love of all things DRM ?
interrogative sentence , doubt , questions . And not ones that are likely to be answered in the near future tense . Much of what Microsoft is showing off are likely applications . The initial unit will cost somewhere in the range of $ 10,000 , so it ’s footling surprise that Microsoft is first rolling out Surface with an assortment of retail spouse : hotel like Sheraton and Harrah ’s and stores like T - Mobile . Microsoft gestate the toll to throw off over the next few years , enough so that Surface will finally seem in the homes of mortal , but it expected a similar waving for the Tablet PC , a twist that has never really caught on exterior of its niche .
The coolest affair about Surface ? There ’s nary a hint of Windows in its UI : no start menu , in fact few bill of fare at all . No Aero Glass , no minimize widgets , nothing . I presume it is guide on a foundation of Windows , though — a theory I fully expect to be proved once the first Surface erupts into a gargantuan 30 ” Blue Screen of Death . As some French cat I ’m too indolent to Google once famously order , “ Plus ça modification , plus c’est la même chose . ”
Shakespeare’s First Folio it ain’t
I confess that I ’m not reallydownwith the smartphone gyration . My cellular phone speech sound is primarily used for bore old earphone cry . On rare occasions I send school text messages , but it ’s a painfulness to fumble through the complicated user interface , and do n’t get me started on what passes for World Wide Web surfing . Frankly , it ’s not really design or suited for those tasks ; that ’s a problem with wandering computation in worldwide . Our present 24-hour interval display and input applied science just do n’t practically surmount to those sizes .
Palm ’s unexampled twist , the Foleo , propose to fix that . There are time , Palm founding father Jeff Hawkins points out , when you need a full - size screen and a full - size of it keyboard , and that ’s basically what the Foleo is . The gadget has a 10 ” screen , keyboard ( with , manifestly , ablechTrackStick ) , spill to your smartphone via Bluetooth , and can power on instantly , more like a PDA than a laptop computer .
Buthold on just a second . permit ’s back up a bit : the key to making your smartphone the peregrine platform of the future is … a totally separate machine ? That’s … erm , interesting . My first reaction upon seeing the Foleo was question why they just did n’t make it a standalone computing gimmick — it ’s around the size of some of the diminutive laptops that have become popular in Asia , and there ’s been a growing demand in the US market for light , little subnotebooks . I presume the decision was mainly for two reason : 1 ) sum more innate functionality would have required a larger , bulky machine and 2 ) nobody ’s lead to throw out their laptopandsmartphone to have one twist that separate the difference . They might , however , opt to get disembarrass of a full - blown laptop in favour of a small “ mobile companion , ” especially for quick , unforesightful business stumble .
Though the demos show it used in coincidence with a Treo , Hawkins also say that they plan to strain and make Foleo work with other devices as well . That ’ll be interesting : I wonder if Foleo is actually running its own atomic number 76 or if it ’s somehow just acting as a display and input twist for the smartphone ( using something like VNC , for instance ) . If you used it with a Windows Mobile gimmick , for example , would it use Windows Mobile ’s user interface , or would it still look like this Palm - fashion UI ? And what about the iPhone ? Hawkins purportedly says they want it , but how will the multi - touch interface translate ?
The Foleo ’s going to run $ 599 when it ’s useable later in the year , though a peculiar basic pass will drop that pricetag by $ 100 . tot up to a smartphone , you ’re belike bet at a $ 1,000 + investment — around the cost of a low - end laptop . Despite being “ a wholly new family ” of roving devices , I have to wonder how many people will opt for a third gadget that is both bulkier than their smartphone and less hefty than their notebook computer . My speculation : not many .
The pen is mightier than the keyboard
One thing I ’ve relished about the digital rotation is that it intend that I do n’t involve to show people my absolutely atrocious handwriting . It ’s a secret I ’ve taken pain sensation to conceal : my chicken scratch look like they ’re publish by a drunk , blindfold five year old ( best political party gameever ) .
So I recognize the announcement of a “ paper - based computing platform ” with suspicion and dread . LiveScribeuses a two - part process : a smartpen and specialised “ dot paper ” to tape everything you scribble down , say , during your class lecturing . That information can subsequently be transfer to your computer via LiveScribe ’s desktop software ( which , unfortunately , looks as though it may be Windows - only at this point ) . In addition , the smartpen can record audio snippet linked to certain theatrical role of the text you write . The company ’s working on bringing a host of other functionality to spirit , such as recognizing math formulas and mechanically solving equating when you write them out , let you animate “ movies ” that you draw off , and more .
It fathom somewhat ambitious , and with a $ 200 pricetag for the penitentiary and acid paper price “ comparable to stock report products , ” it seems cheaper than Microsoft and Palm ’s revolutions , if less flashy . But simply put , I do n’t remember it ’s for me : I can see this being useful for extensive notetakers in school , but I seldom practice playpen and paper any more except for jot down quick notes and To Do list , and that ’s because I favor to have them in strong-arm contour as opposed to on my computer . Not to mention , as I suggested above , my hand is frequently illegible to all including myself . And , as I ’ve yet to see a flesh - and - blood picture of the twist , I suspect it may only be usable bycartoon characters .
[ viaGizmodo ]
