January 05, 2010

New Tech for 2010 - iSlate

The other major technology of the future or at least 2010 seems to be the Tablet PC.

Didn’t we already try this in the year 2000? Didn’t the largest technology company in the history of technology companies at that time try pushing this? Didn’t we decide that they were terrible?

Enter the iSlate or iPod Bigger. Steve Jobs will probably try and sell this thing as something new something different, something but it’ll just be an iPod with a bigger screen. And like why 3D is bound to fail, this is going to die because it doesn’t really solve any new problems, and it will be awkard to use.

The iPhone has been an undoubtable success. This is because it is a portable device that let you take data and connectivity everywhere with you. You put it in your pocket and you can use it almost anywhere, work, train, lecture etc.

Do you know why Bluetooth headsets failed? It’s because it never became socially acceptable to wear or even carry around. Not only were the damn things annoyingly easy to lose and forget, they immediately made you look like a douche. While they afforded some convenience and functionality, there wasn’t enough it could do that you couldn’t do buy simply holding your phone to your ear.

The iBig is going to sport a screen that is between 10-11 inches. Unless half the population suddenly decides to go “European” and carry around a purse, you’re not going to take this thing around with you. So if you’re only using this thing at home, why not use that other device that has a keyboard, better screen, better processor, better everything?

Ok, so you bought your purse and you do end up carrying this thing around, don’t forget your charger, because with a screen at 10-11 inches, this thing is going to require a constant tether. Also don’t forget to pay Verizon an extra 30 bucks for the data plan that its going to require. Oh and you’ll want to be sitting down to use it. Why sitting down? Pick up a notepad and try “typing” on it with two hands. Next pick up the notepad you just dropped on the floor. Good thing your notepad didn’t have a 10” piece of glass on it.

But Steve will say you’ll be able to do much more with the new device, like watch TV shows anywhere. Grab your fully charged iBig out of your satchel and sit down because you’re going to spend the next 30 minutes of your life watching a tv show in your lap. If people wanted to carry around an extra device to watch TV on, Sony would still be making watchmen.

“But Sports Illustrated and Time magazine will have stunning new readers to read content.” I can only see this as working if the iSlate doesn’t have a web browser. Why would you virtually leaf through a periodical when you can go check news.google.com or espn.com or even reader.google.com? Also this really requires that the same content is not going to be available on your laptop that’s sitting 10 feet away.

They might demo video calling. This is going to fail the same way video calling has failed since the 80’s. In order for video calling to work, you’re going to need to have your celestial bodies aligned just right so that you can make your once a year call that lets you emulate what you saw Steve do on stage.
- You and your calling friend are going to have to purchase the device
- You and your friend are going to have to be both online in an area with significant bandwidth
- You and your friend are both going to have to be wearing clothes
- You and your friend will both want the other person to know where they are
- You and your friend both live in a world where cell phones don’t exist

This last bullet point is probably the most critical bullet point for the entire device itself. People already own smartphones. While sometimes you wished the screen could stretch so you and your buddy could watch a youtube clip at the same time or you could share photos, you don’t actually care enough to want to carry around a larger device. Otherwise you’d be carrying around your laptop with you everywhere.

Regardless, Apple will probably put on a pretty good show. Many of the features which I made fun of in this article will probably make for a pretty good show on stage. But unfortunately this device is probably doomed for failure.

Nerd Alert | Posted by Bryant at 06:07 PM | Comments (1)

New Tech for 2010 - 3D

I can't believe its already 2010, and we have CES again. Normally I'm quite excited about CES and all the new tech, but I have a feeling that I'm going to be underwhelmed by tech this year.

This is the first post in a series

3D

The latest thing to hit cinema and TV seems to be 3D. This is a technology where it seems that the industry has created an artificial need for. While, 3D nowadays is a lot better than the red and blue glasses, it’s still far from being seamless or even comfortable. Regardless the industry keeps pushing content and we’re forced to watch it.

My problems with 3D TV and movies come from my little experience as a developer in the 3D visualization CAVE at Brown. The CAVE is basically a room where the walls, floor, ceiling etc are essentially projected computer monitors. Individuals then wear shutter glasses which allow them to see 3D while seeing their own bodies, other people and other real life accessories. There was 1 critical piece to this experience. Head tracking. Unless the computer knows where you are, the perspective is all messed up and the resulting view is a bit disorienting. The second piece was a configuration variable our programs had to set: IOD. Intra-Ocular Distance. This measurement let the computer know what the distance between your pupils was. This again helped the computer to draw the correct perspective for you.

Given these two things, you can’t engineer a pleasant 3D experience unless you either position yourself in the 1 optimal seating area or severely limit and screen the kind of content that won’t be as harmful or bothersome to the audience.

Next the hardware. Unfortunately for the time being, 3D technology requires hardware upgrades to the wall as well as your face.

In order to properly show 3D images, the viewing device needs to show a separate image for each eye. This is accomplished mostly through 2 filtering techniques. Shutter glasses or polarized images.

Shutter glasses work by blocking each eye 50% of the time and are synchronized by an infra-red light signal that is synchronized with your image source. Polarized glasses work by blocking out light that is oriented on different planes. Both of these require you to wear glasses on your face while you watch TV. Do you really want to wear special glasses every time to sit down to watch tv? Both technologies also also slightly tint your view.

Next, in order to support 3D, your TV will need to be able to display 2 times the information as it does now. 2 frames, slightly different for each eye. Therefore, source material will need to be broadcast at 120hz instead of 60hz. If you think, “Great, the tv that I bought is 120hz,” sorry but you’re probably out of luck. Because all the signals nowadays are 60hz, TV manufacturers largely only accept 60hz inputs even though they display at 120hz. Therefore, you won’t be able to buy an adapter, you’ll need to buy a new TV.

So after you get your hardware, and you’re ok with wearing your glasses, you’re gonna have to get content. DVD and Blu-ray are cool because you can watch older movies that have been remastered. This is possible because the film used to capture most movies is much higher resolution than our digital and analog signals. For 3D however, there is no remastering. All the old sources are in 2D. So you’re going to have to buy a new TV, buy new disc players, set top boxes, upgrade your cable plan, and buy everyone in your family and their friends 3D glasses so you can watch a little bit of live 3D TV because the only thing that’s available in 3D is being produced right now.

But 3D is popular because it can make a pretty cool 5 minute impression in a CES booth. And sometimes even it can do decently for an hour and a half in a theater. But so far I have seen 3D as a distraction more than something that improved the content, and I feel a little weird after wearing the 3D glasses for more than an hour.

While 3D may dominate the displays of the future, I’m gonna recommend that we pass on this generation until someone figures out how to make 3D truly work seamlessly.

Nerd Alert | Posted by Bryant at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)

August 19, 2009

Umnitza Angel Eyes Orion V2

This is the first in a few review I plan on doing on bmw e46 upgrades.

I ordered the Umnitza Angel Eyes Orion v2 kit for my zhp.

1. the kit comes with little to no documentation, but there are plenty of documented installs for angel eyes all over the interwebs. Many of them come with pictures too. I followed the one from:
http://www.fastm.com/m3/angeleyes_orionv2.html

Note that I would recommend disconnecting the battery. This guide doesn't seem to mention that.

2. The lights are BRIGHT.

3. I thought the AE's would be flush against the headlight housings. They're a little bit of a gap. If you set them right, it looks ok. Maybe there's a technical reason

4. The remote trigger is pretty slick. I wired mine to the passenger footwell light under neath the glovebox.

5. The guides and the cables seem to indicate that you should tap power from an ACC line going into the control box. This concerns me a bit, but fortunately BMW didn't care when I went in to get my DME reflashed under warranty.

6. The cable lengths are perfect. Just get some plastic zip ties.

7. The whole install should take you about 45 minutes.

8. I'll post pictures

Nerd Alert | Posted by Bryant at 01:19 AM | Comments (1)

Kindle Gripes continued

After about a week of using the Kindle DX I've added some more thoughts:

1. This device REALLY needs some folders. This is starting to get really annoying.
2. Subscriptions to magazines and newspapers should really be a lot cheaper than their print counterparts. I need more incentive than just "saving the environment." I'd be willing to see a few ads in exchange.
3. Why the heck doesn't the mp3 player have a UI? It's like a giant ipod shuffle, except there isnt a random playlist, so its like a giant ipod "sequence"
4. I understand the convenience of having 1 cable for syncing and charging, but I'm quite paranoid about battery life. Especially when it comes to non-user replaceable batteries. I hate unplugging and plugging the charge cord in and out to sync files when I'm not actually going to put the battery through a full charge cycle. Could they add a way to let you sync w/o charging the battery?
5. Please release an API. There are so many cool apps that people could make for this thing.
- Unlike a phone/laptop, the battery lasts for DAYS if not WEEKS
- it has a DATA/GPS connection.
- Has a ginormous screen compared to a phone
- Has a qwerty keyboard

Some app ideas:
1. Word processor
2. Email client
3. Pandora
4. google maps / latitude

Nerd Alert | Posted by Bryant at 12:53 AM | Comments (0)