PushingJelly

In the morning we normally have the BBC news on while we are getting ready. At about 08:20 this morning they did a piece about the iPad, well I say ‘a piece’, it was a hatchet job.

Technology reporter Rory Cellan-Jones, who looked quite flustered and confused for some reason, had a bunch of pad devices in his hands (obviously to show that the iPad wasn’t the only game in town) but only talked about the Apple device and the Kindle.

Firstly he angled the device so that the screen reflected the studio lights (and all the finger prints – it looked like he had been using after eating KFC) into the camera.

He then showed an iBook on the device but slagged it off for being £15 and it not being shareable (“you can’t loan it to your friends can you?”).

Then he tried to demo the new Times app (launched today – this should be good I thought)  but after moaning that it cost a tenner a month, it crashed on launch and he ended up showing a kids book instead – oh how embarrassing, way to go guys, that was your 15 minutes and you failed. Cellan-Jones commented “well I’m sure it will get better” in reference to the Times app.

No mention of iWork, nothing on the thousands of other fantastic apps on the store.

He finally summed up by calling it an expensive useless toy trapped in Apple’s ecosystem.

Tosser.

****Update****

I was speaking to a chap in the studio earlier who is closely involved in the Times App project (he was demoing it on camera for the site) and he knew about the “crash” of the  app. Apparently it didn’t crash at all. It has been rock solid for all the time he has been using it including early betas and watching him demo the thing today it certainly looked like the onscreen graphics that I saw on the spot this morning were actually it’s splash screen with the Times masthead and then the choose and edition page – there’s only one edition in the middle of the screen because the thing only launched today!

Thinking back to the BBC footage, there wasn’t an unexpected close which the iPhone/iPod Touch does to misbehaving applications, they cut away to a wide shot before the app had started and he angled the thing away from camera. There were no blue dialog message boxes popping up or any other indications that is had fallen over.

The plot thickens – was Cellan-Jones deliberately pouring scorn on the Times App at the same time as dissing the iPad to really show it in a bad light?

As I said – Tosser

With the ready availability of relatively inexpensive cloud storage, isn’t it about time some one (COUGHapple) had a small server for the home (COUGHtimecapsule) that had some intelligence to store just enough of your files that were regularly used to make them quick to retrieve (lets call it a cache for want of a better term) but off loaded all your files to the ‘cloud’ (COUGHidisk) automatically so you could have ‘unlimited’ safe storage that was accessible anywhere?

You know the sort of thing, the device would manage what it had on it’s local storage. Of course the online storage would cost a little bit extra on the services you already rented (COUGHwwwmecom) but a small price to pay for ubiqutous access to a robust storage solution surely.

At the same time, why not make the other devices you own (COUGHiphonepadpod) also access the data, hey it’s your data, your playlists, your music, your pictures, why shouldn’t you have (almost) instant access to it right? Would be good, wouldn’t it?

Hey by the way did you see the pictures of that huge data centre that Apple were just building and recruiting for?
Amazing. I wonder what they are putting in there, I bet that’s something to do with mobile advertising or distributing films or something don’t you?

Now where did I put the cough medicine, I have a really nasty tickle.

Thirty years after a bunch of far eastern companies (and other) got together to develop a common application platform, a bunch of far eastern (and other) companies have got together to develop a common application platform.

The snappily named Wholesale Application Community is a consortium of mobile phone manufacturers and service providers that are banding together to (supposedly) challenge Apple’s App Store control over the mobile application market.

The WAC’s current member list: América Móvil, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, China Mobile, China Unicom,Deutsche Telekom, KT, Mobilkom Austria Group, MTN Group, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, Orascom Telecom,Softbank Mobile, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telenor Group, Telia Sonera, SingTel, SK Telecom, Sprint,Verizon Wireless, VimpelCom, Vodafone, and Wind, as well as device manufacturers Samsung, LG, andSony Ericsson.

The idea is that they will promote a common set of APIs that all manufacturers can implement and allow a common set of applications to run cross platform on OS’ like Symbian, Android, Windows Mobile.

Is it just me that thinks this utopian ideal sounds a little like the ill fated MSX initiative but with a modern, connected spin?

It is a chicken and egg situation, the only reason the App store has been successful is that there was a large user community of early adopters – rich pickings for eager developers. If the APIs ever ship (lets not underestimate the technical challenge in doing this) and it delivers on it’s promises, will there be the demand for the applications? How will the payment for the apps work, who manages the cash?

Well it’s the morning after the night before and I have awoken on my sofa. The day is bright and there’s a sprinkling of snow on our cars that looks like icing sugar sprinkled from a giant sieve in the same way as mince pies have.
The start of a new year and a new decade.

In the UK we are looking forward to a change of government this year and although not a Tory voter by any means, the Labour party have been in charge for far too long, they are if not overtly corrupt then criminally complacent and need to go. It’s just a shame there’s no alternative to the Conservatives who let’s face it are potentially as bad as the incumbent bunch of tossers. Don’t start with the LibDems either, as they have no recognisable presence in the political race. I have no idea what they stand for and I am not even sure who leads them any more.

Technology wise it looks quite promising, the tablet finally looks like it is due for release (we have been waiting YEARS Steve, what took so long?), Apple may finally take the AppleTV project seriously and who knows what iPhone v4 will be like (Well Steve and Jonny Ive do obviously, it was a rhetorical question really). 40 Million 5MP camera modules have been ordered – apparently.

So as it has become traditional at this part of the year here are my predictions for 2010 (excluding the tablet which is a given)

• Tomorrows World will come back to the BBC (Oh please Aunty, serious tech reporting again – Click’s good but it’s not TW)
• O2 will turn on Apple for the bandwidth issue and drop the iPhone
• Free WiFi Mesh installations will increase in the UK (First one is always free)
• ADSL will reach “Up to” 100Mb/s (actually delivering 5Mb/s for anyone further than 10 feet from the exchange – Lies, Damn Lies and ADSL speeds)
• “iPod Game” will be launched with game controller built in (this is of course a joke entry)
• App Store will come to the Mac platform bringing unlimited secure application delivery to the Mac reducing piracy and in turn application prices and increasing Apple’s profits (30% cut remember).
• Apple will continue to alter the memory market with their bulk purchases of Flash chips causing the cost of solid state storage to remain too high for the rest of us
• The hepatic interface pioneered (read UAT tested) on the iSlate will come to the new iPhone v4 to applause and frustration in equal measure.
• The Apple Tablet will have a cell phone built in and be offered for cheap (£200) on contract

Happy new year everyone.

B

A recent gallery of pictures on CNET show’s the similarities of the Microsoft store ‘idea’ to the Apple Stores (I put that word in quotes because I don’t think Microsoft have had an original idea since Gates thought it would be a good ‘idea’ to charge for software).

One difference that strikes me however is the lack of customers in the store. I have never been to an Apple store that is this empty. Perhaps it was just taken at a bit of a slow period but it doesn’t look good.

I guess the real difference between being a blogger and writing professionally is that when you are paid to write, you have to write to get paid.

This simple truth might explain why I am so crap at updating the blog – I don’t have to so I am therefore not compelled to unless there is something outstanding that I want to share or get off my chest.

Being a mild mannered person (most of the time) and having a busy working life means that Pushing Jelly gets less attention than it should and for that dear reader, I apologise.

In the run up to the holiday season, I have a large amount of holiday booked. I shall try to pick up my game.

Well not content with attempting to ripoff everything else that Apple does, our friends in Redmond have opened a retail store.

Consider the irony then that first member of staff to meet customers as they came in the door was this person looking the antithesis of an Apple Store staff member:

Now, I am not renowned for being slim, quite the opposite in fact, I have been eating quite a number of pies over the last 20 years which has left me decidedly portly, however this was the opening of Microsoft’s first retail store, an event that would garner attention from all over the world. The PR guys at microsoft would have wanted it to look cool, hip and trendy. Millions have been spent on faux wooden tables and shelved to make it not quite but almost like an Apple store, the good and great of the industry press gathered to usher in a new world retail order.

Why then would they place porky here at the beginning of the line of employees to greet (on camera) the first customers. Nothing says Fat Geek like an ill fitting T-Shirt and rolls of fat bouncing up and down.

Good on Microsoft for not caring what their employees look like. I think bonus point should be given to them for being an equal opportunity employer. As a fat geek myself, I salute you (and you porky).

Movie here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9Hk0ZCqRxg

Anyone who knows me well will tell you I am quite a sceptical guy. I don’t believe in any form of mysticism including (but not exclusively) any religion, magic, psy or anything else that cannot be explained by science.

I will entertain the idea that science does not have all the answers. Breakthroughs are being made everyday that previous generations would have said were acts of wizadry or gods. However the things that we don’t understand are just that. I think I have quoted Clark’s “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” before but I think it is very true.

Some time ago, I was visiting the local mall in Romford, Essex called the Brewery to see a fim. Through the windows was a spectacular view of a glorious sunset. I thought I’d take a picture of the sunset with my new iPhone so I snapped a shot. My son, Adam also took a picture with his Nokia 8500 phone.

It was only when I reviewed the picture later I discovered there were some dots on the image which were also on Adams picture.

I don’t think they are lens aberrations or reflections on the window as both my and Adam’s pictures were taken from different positions and heights.

Doing a little research on the net it looks like this is not a unique phenomenon,

Google

Wiki

Islington

Belgium

Texas

It goes on and on.

In my utopian dream world (something along the same lines as the one dreamed by Gene Roddenberry), when an abundant free energy source was found and we no longer driven by commercial concerns, everyone and everything would just work with each other to make the world (and space) a better place.

Standards would be open and adhered to. we would all use the best operating system because that was the one that everyone used and worked hard to make better. It wouldn’t matter if it cost more to produce because everyone would benefit in the long run.

Applications would talk to each-other and devices would too without the encumbrance of competing formats and incompatibilities – there would be one document format, one image format etc. and if a more efficient way was found to store data THE formats would be updated accordingly for the good of all.

It is the reality of microsoft and apple’s control of the marketplace that is forcing us all to look to the open world of the internet for our next paradigm in computing.

The cloud (as it is known) is the next battleground in the format war with Google taking an early lead but Microsoft preparing to exert its will on the net with Office Online. MS have previously had difficulty with their transition to an internet company (with the exception of hotmail of course which was already immense when they purchased it for $400 in 1997) and the industry is waiting to pass judgement on the new product.

Apple too seem to be preparing for an assault with the purchase of a massive new data-centre to host it’s cloud offerings (me.com was just the start) and the (apparently) imminent launch of a web tablet device.

The iPad (or whatever they will call it) will be reminiscent of Mr Roddenberry’s star ship bound devices but once again market forces are restricting the usefulness of the applications to be found there on because unless we all pledge allegiance to the fruit, we are again left with a choice between Apple’s OS, Google Android, MS Windows Mobile, Palm PreOS, Symbian and the many others. None talking to each other, the wealth of applications from one unavailable to others and the underground market of un-sanctioned applications confusing things further.

Even the much lauded Android is still owned by a commercial concern with restrictions on use built into it’s Ts and Cs.

It is the next generation mess caused by the same old companies. It sucks.

So much for capitalism, so much for the free market economy – at the end of the day the user communities suffer and the biggest corporate wallets win.

Well tonight a young lady in internet land said the phrase I have been waiting and dreaming all my life for: “that’s way too big for me”.

Alas, she was referring to the size of my jigsaw puzzle on OMGPOP not any thing else but we can dream can’t we.

OMGPOP.com is a ruthlessly adictive multiplayer game site that hosts a number of flash type games that multiple players. My opponent ducked out of round 9 of the jigsaw game because I had set it to 10×10 pieces and this was obviously a bit too much work.

Also on there is a bomber man clone, Mario cart clone and many others, well worth a visit.