Mplayit has an interesting graphic showing the most popular games for the iPhone, Android devices, and Blackberry. I find it amazing that Tetris, a game invented all the way back in 1984, is #1 for the iPhone arcade games. In general, I find the whole game genre a bit mystifying. I played backgammon on line for a while but I uninstalled that after I realized I was wasting too much time on it. I find it amazing that people have so much time to play so many games.
The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) is a free software raster graphics editing tool. It supports photo editing, image manipulation and freeform drawing. Ars Technica has an article on upcoming user interface improvements that the GIMP developers are working on. I’m planning to download a copy and check it out once I get my home machine rebuilt with Windows 7.
Yes, I realize that we are already several days into 2010, but thanks to a monster flu I have been out of action for some time now. Today, I’m finally getting a chance to put down my thoughts and predictions about what the year 2010 will bring. So here is the first installment of a series of posts focusing on the forecast for specific market segments in the coming year.
Google Nexus One
The worst kept secret in the world from last year was the much-rumored Google phone. The Nexus One has finally arrived and Google is touting it as the greatest thing since, well, the Apple iPhone (Click here for a very cool Nexus One demo). Why Google has chosen to move away from its long-held practice of avoiding hardware development has a lot of us wondering. I’m sure it has Google’s partners who have developed Android-based phones (like Motorola) wondering as well. Why should they continue to pour money and resources into their Android phones if their software supplier (Google) is now going to be a direct competitor? Consider how many device manufacturers would jump at the chance to build phones running iPhone OS and competing directly with the iPhone itself? Not too many I suspect.
Ultimately, I suspect the Nexus One will do little to alter Apple’s growing dominance in handheld devices. It’s too little, too late, and there are way more iPhone apps than Android apps out there. In addition, Apple still holds the edge in sex appeal.
2010 will hopefully be the year when Verizon subscribers can (finally) choose an iPhone. This will depend on whether Verizon and Apple can come to terms and introduce a CDMA-equipped iPhone that works on Verizon’s network. This would be a big development for many of us (like myself) who would like to have an iPhone but are put off by AT&T’s spotty coverage. I mean, this is 2010 for goodness sake. Isn’t it embarrassing for AT&T that “Are you there?” is the most common phrase that is transmitted (or dropped) across their network?
For all of the other mobile phone manufacturers the competitive landscape has just become much more difficult. Companies like Nokia, Samsung and Motorola will struggle to differentiate themselves in a market segment increasingly dominated by Apple and Google. This could also be the year that Palm finally goes under overwhelmed by the Apple wave.
Winners: Apple, Verizon
Losers: Google, Nokia, Motorola, Palm, AT&T
So-called “tablet” computing devices are likely to be a major new growth segment in 2010. These devices are shaped like a slate and typically include touchscreen interfaces and may or may not include a stylus or other writing device. Tablets are intended to be simpler and easier to use than full-featured notebook computers. In my opinion, there is a serious market need for a device with a bigger screen and more functionality than a handheld that is also less expensive and easier to manage than a notebook computer. Some are saying 2010 will be the “year of the tablet”. I think they could be onto something.
Given that, the company to watch in this segment is, of course, Apple. Rumors have been flying that Apple will soon announce a tablet computing device dubbed the iSlate. This will be a multi-media touch-screen device with e-reader functionality. Reportedly, iPhone apps can be adapted to run on the iSlate without too much effort. This is critical because it means that the iSlate will have a wide array of applications available right out of the gate.
Microsoft Courier
Microsoft is also expected to soon announce Microsoft Courier. This is a booklet device with two screens that allows you to draw and write with a stylus or your fingers. While Microsoft was an early pioneer in tablet computing they have never been able to turn it into a big money-maker. My opinion is that Courier will be too cumbersome to be useful and I have never been a big fan of pen computing. Computers should free us from the use of pens and paper, not duplicate them. I will concede that there are some applications where a drawing device is essential; it just isn’t required for the large majority of us.
Not to be outdone by its rivals, Google is also rumored to be putting the final touches on a tablet device. This device will run Google’s Chrome OS which I discussed here and here. The Google tablet would (of course) have touchscreen capabilities, e-reader software and should do a bang-up job with multimedia presentation. Chrome OS will also be easy for consumers to manage since it’s going to keep all of your data and applications in the cloud (where they belong) rather than keep them on your local device. This operating system will also be crucial to the success of the upcoming Google netbook.
One of the most surprising success stories of the last few years has been the explosive popularity of Amazon’s e-reader device, the Kindle. Amazon rapidly gobbled up this market segment while everyone else was sleeping. With Apple and Google now pushing their way into this space it’s likely going to get a lot more difficult for Amazon to maintain its dominance. Book and magazine reading is rapidly going to become an expected feature in tablet computers. The question then becomes whether Amazon will transform the Kindle into a full-fledged tablet computing device in order to keep pace. That undoubtedly will not be easy.
Winners: Apple, Google
Losers: Microsoft, Amazon
HTC phone with Android
Rumor has it that Google employees are currently testing an all-Google cell phone that will be rolled out soon. Apparently, this device will be made available to the public without a contract that binds the user to a specific service carrier like AT&T or Verizon.
This would represent a big change in the way things are done here in the US, but is more like how things work in Europe. Currently, if you want a specific brand of cellphone (iPhone for example) you may not be able to use it with your current carrier. The way most people purchase cell phones is by signing up for a multi-year contract with a carrier who then subsidizes the purchase of the cell phone itself for you by knocking a few hundred dollars off of the factory price. A Google phone that is released to the general public would upend that model.
It would also put the Apple iPhone squarely into Google’s crosshairs. Unlike most cell phones, the iPhone is a seamless combination of hardware and software designed by the same company. A Google phone would be similar in this respect. The benefits for the consumer is generally a better all-around user experience.
People who make cell phone hardware however may not be too happy since Google will be cutting them out of a piece of the action. Will they still be as eager to build cell phones that run Google’s Android operating system? Maybe not.
The carriers may not be too thrilled either since they rely on their handset offerings to differentiate themselves from one another. If all handsets eventually work with every carrier then they will have to compete solely in other areas like quality of service and coverage.
A Google phone, like Chrome OS, fits nicely into their overall strategy for world domination. Google wants to remove the barriers (i.e., Microsoft and Apple software and hardware) between you and their online services. What better way to do that than by giving you a Google phone to go with your Google netbook. Can a Google desktop be too far behind? Undoubtedly. You heard it here first.
IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) has been the most widely used Internet Layer protocol since the inception of the Internet. This protocol uses 32-bit addresses to identify computing devices in a network. With 32-bits to use that means you can have 232, or 4,294,967,296 distinct addresses.
4.3 billion addresses in a world with 6.7 billion people doesn’t seem like nearly enough since everyone will eventually have their own desktop, netbook and handheld devices all of which will require an IP address. Consequently, the end result is that we will eventually run out of IPv4 addresses and civilization will grind to a halt.
Well, not exactly. The obvious solution to the IPv4 addressing scheme is to simply make the addresses larger. That’s where IPv6 comes in. IPv6 uses 128 bits for an address, 4 times as many bits as IPv4. Thanks to combinatorial math, however, it will make possible a substantially larger amount of addresses. To be exact 2128, or 3.4028236692093846346337460743177e+38 addresses in total.
BGPMon.net has a map showing IPv6 adoption worldwide. The U.S. is a laggard at only 3% while Japan is at 17% and Germany at 13% (Strangely enough, Cuba is the country with the highest adoption rate at 75%. BGPMon shows Jersey at 100% but I really don’t think Jersey is a country).
There are varying estimates for when IPv4 address exhaustion will occur, but the consensus is that this will happen sometime in 2010 to 2012. That doesn’t mean your IPv4 machine will stop working of course; it just means that if your company wants additional IPv4 addresses it won’t be able to get them. Many network devices and computers are already IPv6-capable but many are not. The transition will be interesting to watch. I plan to watch this more closely and I will share my findings here.
How exactly does it make sense that this Yahoo! Everything page is not in alphabetical order?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a term used to describe a collection of techniques that can improve a web site’s position in search results generated by search engines like Google’s. The goal of SEO is improving your presence on the web and enhancing your Internet footprint. If you are a web site developer or you have any interest in becoming one this will be an area of vital concern to you.
To understand search engines and how to get the best results from them, it’s best to start with an analysis of the paper written by Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page in 2000 at Standford. “The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Search Engine” has many critical points that are worth considering that I’ve listed below. I’ve inserted my own comments in italics that translate their assertions into practical advice.
Search engines like Google hate it when you try to fool them into giving your pages a higher ranking than they deserve. Consequently, if you don’t want to be blacklisted, you should avoid keyword stuffing, spamdexing, article spinning, and link farms. Avoid hidden text in links, don’t link to unseemly sites or spammers and don’t present different information to search engines than what your user’s see.
Following are some simple guidelines that will improve the performance of your site in terms of search results:
By now you’ve probably heard that Google plans to introduce its own full-blown operating system called Google Chrome OS. This initiative is a shot across the bow of Microsoft and Apple, and represents a sea change in how we think about operating systems.
Most of today’s most popular operating systems, like Windows and the Mac OS, began their lifetimes before the age of the Internet. These are monolithic, top heavy conglomerations of software that have become increasingly complex over the years as more and more features are packed into them. They consume large amounts of resources (disk space, CPU) and have (at least in Microsoft’s case) become a nightmare in terms of security.
Chrome OS represents a clean break with the past for operating systems. It has been designed from the ground up with the idea that the Internet, not the desktop, is where computing will take place in the future. Chrome OS is essentially a windowing system built on top of a Linux kernel. There are no facilities for storing and manipulating files and data on your local computer. Keeping with Google’s web-oriented roots, Chrome OS stores everything in the cloud. It’s sort of like a web browser on steriods. It will be able to boot up on its own in just a few seconds without the aid of any other software and put you immediately on the Internet. The user interface will look virtually the same as the Chrome browser. Your applications will run in tabs inside the browser. The most likely target platforms for Chrome OS will be netbook-type computers that are likely to become increasingly popular next year, but Google also says that Chrome OS will eventually be available for desktops.
For a large subset of today’s computer users a fully web-based desktop operating system may be a good alternative to Windows or Mac OS. These users will be freed from the hassle of configuring their computers, updating their software, managing anti-virus and anti-spyware applications, and organizing and backing up their documents. For a lot of people taking this approach will mean little or no “feature loss”.
Here’s a screenshot from a netbook running Chrome OS:
You can see a full demo here. I am personally looking forward to purchasing a netbook running Chrome OS so I can have it sitting on my coffee table in the living room at an arm’s reach. This will save me from climbing the stairs and having to boot up my clunky Windows XP machine.
Google has a product search feature in beta now. This may be useful with the holidays coming up. I did a search for the Beatles “Love” CD and noticed quite a wide disparity in prices from $12 to $22.50.
The gallery view makes it easy to compare. You can click through the “Reviews” links to see what (hopefully) real people say about the product you are considering. They also have information about local stores where you can buy the product you have searched on. It looks like Bing has developed some nice product search capabilities as well.