In-Box 3.0

Google and Yahoo are planning to add Social Networking to the In-Box . But This is adding more spice to InBox 2.0 : Stream Processing and Rich UI elements put in right mix.

Wal-Mart’s $200 PC - sold out

The first batch of 10,000 gOS PCs have been sold out indicating that there is potential sweetspot for these linux devices in the market. Web 2.0 technologies are already changing the desktop space. Ulta-Lightweight and Cheap Internet Access Devices in the PC form factor would become the mainstream computing form factor within next two-three years and Desktop Linux might become the standard OS for that future.

GPhone/Android - Welcoming it with Open Arms

The Android Platform is the first mobile platform that promises to allow 3rd Party Applications a equal footing to bundled applications. The story so far is that Mobile Device Makers have always restricted the capability for 3rd Party to develop innovative applications by restricting the access to hardware features of the phone. For eg. Using Symbian and J2ME as a ploy, Nokia had restricted market all the good applications to itself.

As a frustrated Mobile Developer, I welcome Android with Open Arms.

Here is the feature list from Android :

1. All applications are created equal
2. Breaking down application boundaries
3. Fast & easy application development

These features would cut through Nokia's World Domination Plan of providing content, games and other software services. It also threatens the power of Mobile Network Operators significantly and reduce them to be just Mobile ISPs.

Computing for Second Billion

Asustek's $300 Laptop is making waves already in the market. Everex, the Maker of gPC - the $200 desktop is also jumping into the fray with a $300 laptop. What is in common with the these two is that they are both having a sleek linux desktop as the OS. Forbes has covered the Asustek Laptop in this Jonney Machine article.

GOS screenshot looks great;


Computing for the Next Billion, as put by Asustek CEO, Jonney Shih, is going to be the significant IT trend. Nokia seems to think the same.

There are 1.2 billion people on the Internet. It took 12 years to reach that milestone; it will take only 7 years more to reach the next billion. Most will be in developing markets, and most will be getting online first with a mobile device, very likely a Nokia. With such customers out there Nokia has a historic opportunity to become synonymous with the Web much the way Google, Yahoo and Baidu are for millions now. "We almost have an obligation to create a market here," says Kallasvuo.

Here is the video of the Eee PC user experience :

The Next Big Thing : User Contributed Metadata

Info graphs about people (facebook/social graphs) , twine (topics/memes) etc. would be the basis for the next generation of web. Several Websites are emerging as repositories of these information graphs. When these repositories allow open access, as proposed by Google's OpenSocial initiative, new web apps/sites can emerge to exploit this information , mainly customizing the user experience according to the info graphs that the user provides.

Web 3.0 (third decade of web, according to Nova Spivak) Revolution party has al;ready started. Some of the leading web 3.0 companies would include facebook, twine, metaweb etc.


Another Perspective of this

Prism - XUL next version

Firefox has made the XUL Runner Platform much easier to use for the mainstream user with Prism. Prism allows the users to create websites as web-apps with desktop short-cuts. If Prism provides system level services access also, it would be a great platform, competing head to head with Adobe AIR and Silverlight.

Watchout iPod Touch! here comes UMPC 2.0

Take a look at this video: Great UMPC Concept Device with some love from Intel. Lot of these are powered by Ubuntu's UMPC version..



Here is yet another UMPC device from BenQ :



can Intel's support for Linux for the MID Platform help Linux compete with iPod Touch and MS-Windows.. I hope there is some support for Java in all these platforms.