Push It My Way

Search is the most common activity when we browse the Internet. The most potent business models are build around search. What will this landscape look like in a couple of years? Will we have even better and more accurate search services? Of course yes... But will they rule the world as they do now? Probably not...

Wherever we go on the Net, we leave traces. And we do more and more on line. Shopping, news, friends, vacation planning... All these activities together define what we like and what we do not like. So when we search... usually chances are we search for something similar to what we already like. And even more. Somebody with a taste similar to ours has probably already searched before for what we want to find now... So? If there are patterns likely matching our future Web activities... Shouldn't the information find us? Instead of us finding it? There are some good services employing this business model now. Take the Pandora, a perfect example. I tell it what I like and there is a very high chance the next song it pushes my way will be the song I like (even if I hear it for the first time...). Take Google Adsense. It picks sponsored links to be presented on a Web page I am reading based on the content of the page and based on my statistical Google profile.

For a long time I have been wondering why Google Reader does not embrace the Pandora model. Why not allow me to rate the posts I keep on reading. And then the next stream of news would be based on my interests and taste. And I really would not mind a tailored "newspaper" landing in my inbox every morning. It would be based on what I like and would contain full articles without the need to click... I would love to have it in paper form to take with me in the morning... And of course it would contain some gentle sponsored links...

And why not match that with the rsstroom reader - the "personal news delivery system"?

Squeezebox Duet

I have mentioned the Duet a number of times here, but it took me longer than expected to get one myself. But it has been worth waiting... I must say my impressions after unpacking, setting up and using the Duet for a few days now are at least equal to the first impressions I had when the first "classic" Squeezebox arrived two years ago.

To those of you who have no idea what I am talking about: Squeezebox is an audio streamer. It takes music in a digital form (like MP3 files on a server or Internet radio) over the Ethernet (wired or wireless) and plays it in an analog form (via an external amplifier). So usually it replaces a CD player in a living room, giving instant access to the entire music library. The server that Squeezebox connects to is a software, running on many platforms - PCs, MACs, Linuxes. Personally I use the ReadyNAS server - it comes with the Squeezecenter (the Squeezebox server software) preinstalled.

The entire revolution in the new Squeezebox Duet is the wireless controller. The "classic" Squeezebox was equipped with a fluorescent display and was controlled the old-fashioned way by an infrared remote. Plus it could have been controlled via Web browser connected to the Squeezecenter. The Duet takes the display out of the player and places it on the remote controller. And this makes the difference. It feels like an iPod - a scroll wheel and a color display. The controller connects to the player and to the server over WiFi, so no more need to point at the receiver and no range problems. It can control many Squeezeboxes by simply switching between them. And there is an option to "synchronize" selected players (by ticking checkboxes on the list of available players), so they play the same content, synchronized - a perfect solution for multiroom audio setup. The enhancement in the latest version of the software lets even synchronize live Internet audio streams (like the Pandora), because the Squeezecenter works now as a proxy / relay. And last but not least I was very pleasantly surprised the new remote can control the old "classic" Squeezebox equally well... So a hint to the "classic" owners - no need to go for the new setup if you envy me - just purchase the controller itself :)

Closer looks at the new controller show Logitech has some more serious plans related to the Squeezebox platform. A few hints of what we may get in not so distant future:

• There clearly is an infrared transmitter. That would mean Logitech would probably introduce a software bringing the features of the Harmony line of programmable universal remote controllers.
  
• There is a 3.5mm audio port. I tried to plug my headphones in, but could not hear anything. Anyway... it is there for a reason.
• There is a hidden Secure Digital socket in the battery compartment. May be to accommodate future software releases. Or may be to download / cache locally some content an be able to play it back on the road?
• The controller has also an accelerometer built-in. At the moment it is nicely being used to "wake up" the display when you pick the controller up. But may be in future it will be used as an universal "gyro" to control the Linux MCE? That would make the Squeezebox the ultimate home multimedia platform...!
  

Music 2.0 To My Ears

Today's gadget is a book. And it is not the packaging (paperback or PDF file) that matters... It is the content of course... My copy of Music 2.0 by Gerd Leonhard has just arrived... I have had no time to properly read even a part of it, but just browsing the pages I can see this is the book of the year. Or even of a decade. The decade when the world changed from 1.0 to 2.0 turning most of the economy and business models upside down. There are a few unusual aspects of this book. First, it is available as a download in PDF form. And you decide the price, pay as much you like by clicking the "Donate" button on the Web page. Or you can order a printed copy. The order system is one click, empowered by PayPal - no need to enter your whereabouts, no extra shipping and handling options... the way every commerce 2.0 site should work. The book is a must read to anybody who has anything in common with the Internet and content. Things are changing...

Just a few random thoughts from Music 2.0 to get you started:

• multi-point access to music will be the default environment,
  allowing consumers to fill up their music devices at airports, train stations, and in coffee shops and bars, using all kinds of wireless connections as well as other on-demand and ad-hoc networking technologies.
• mobile mania: Cell phones and other wireless devices will eventually utilize and suck up more “content” than any Internet service or P2P client ever has. Real-music ringtone offerings, Multi-Media SMS (MMS), Java-based games, wireless streaming audio and video, i-Mode type applications, and other cell-phone based offerings will proliferate very quickly, at first in Europe and Asia, followed by the U.S.
• forget the Internet – think digital content networks
• access will replace ownership - In three to five years, consumers will have access to “their” music anytime, anywhere, and the physical possession of it will in fact be more of a handicap, or a pastime for collectors. Music will feel (and act) more like water, and music providers will become utilities.
• radio must be personal
• forget about hits. build successes. exploit the niches.
• the business of just selling copies is over
• even in music, the power is moving to the edges of the network
• endless choice is creating limitless demand
• let’s face it: 75,000 different devices that play mp3 files, approximately 75 devices that play drm’ed files
• Media of the future is not just from “me the producer” to “you the consumer.” It’s also an interactive process, an ongoing, two-way conversation, not a stale and linear product.

Now back to the book... till next week :)

Windows Mobile 6 on the Samsung SGH-i600

It has been a good while I have been using my SGH-i600. A full year. A year is a long time for a high - tech gadget in the hands of a gadget lover. And guess what... recently I have even tried to find a better phone... and I have found none... I the Samsung perfect? Not at all, but it has one of the best set of features that suit my needs. It is slim, fits nicely in my pocket. It has all the 3G goodies - HSDPA data and video calls. And it has a number one must - to - have feature - the Activesync, letting me stay fully synchronized with our company Exchange server - email (including "push"), contacts and calendar fully synchronized both ways. All that running Windows Mobile 5.

Two weeks ago Asia went through the Mobile 5 -> Mobile 6 upgrade process with the SGH-i600. The entire process is precisely documented here (in Polish, if there is a need for a translation, let me know, I think I can handle that:). And finally having a little spare time yesterday, I dived in too. All in all it took me almost three hours to have it all done (including re-syncing with the company servers and putting back all the ringtones and other local settings). And I have really been amazed how virtually all the annoyances of the "5" version went away with the upgrade. Definitely seems like Windows Mobile has not yet got to the rotten level of its bigger Vista sister...

So what exactly is better? Here is my top list:

• The email application finally fully handles HTML messages. I should not be bringing this to the top, as it is really a shame it took Microsoft 6 major releases to put in what should have been there since the beginning... but anyway... HTML mail is here finally :)
• The system can finally import and install PFX certificates containing private keys. This is essential for reading encrypted messages. Before - it was possible to install personal certificates only with some third party software and for some reason I could not make the Personal Certificate Import Utility do the job. I succeeded with it only once, but on a different hardware (HTC TyTN). PFX import in Mobile 6 is native. Just click on the *.pfx file, enter a password and it is done, finally :)
• Bluetooth rocks. Finally :). Mobile 5 introduced A2DP profile (stereo Bluetooth) with one of its service releases. And it worked most of the time. But there was a noticeable lag when Media Player was operated via AVRCP (the protocol for controlling the media player remotely from a Bluetooth headset). In Mobile 6 the actions are immediate. Play / pause works instantly. The SGH-i600 running Mobile 5 also had one very annoying bug. When paired with more than one handsfree devices (like a headphone and car handsfree) it failed to connect automatically to the active one. I was using a headphone this fantastic retro one at work and then driving back home I had to manually enter the wireless manager application and in second level submenu had to select the car's handsfree as the active one. Too complicated to use on every occasion... Now it just works without a touch. Start the ignition and the car is coupled with the phone. Little things that make people happy. But wait - there is more :) With Mobile 5, when the phone's keyboard was locked (as it usually was when the phone was in my pocket) I could not use the otherwise fantastic IHF-1000 with all its voice recognition gadgetry. It was simply failing to dial the spoken numbers or contact names, requiring unlocking the keyboard which was not that easy provided the phone was usually sitting in my trouser's pocket. Now it works even with the keyboard locked (as it should...).
  

And that is about it for now (a two - day perspective). Just three little things that make a big difference. I feel like I have just had a big upgrade. And all that without a need of learning new operating system, and new pitfalls to avoid. That is what software generally is (or should be) about. Delivering new functionality and better user experience without having to replace the hardware platform. Wish all upgrades ended up like this one :)