Bob Browning's blog

There is more data about the Chrome OS in a snappy little video and a presentation.  It very much looks as if the new OS from Google is a stripped-down Linux that boots up quickly into a web browser.  It turns your Netbook into a web browsing appliance.

For a lot of people who are only really interested in email, Twitter and Facebook, this is great.  I can definitely see where Google is coming from on this.  It is simple and pretty foolproof for people who don’t really need a PC.

But I don’t like it.

The downside of this simplicity is that it is so limiting.   It locks users into a limited set of applications and excludes the rich set of paid and free software out there.

I think this will be seen as a brilliant way for mobile networks to give away a web browser appliance to sell their broadband.

And I just don’t like it.

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If you want an Apple tablet you will have to wait until next year.    A wag pointed out in the Inquirer that  “THE SECOND COMING of Apple’s Newton tablet, which has been hyped more than the return of Christ, is now looking equally delayed.”  The interesting news is that the reason for the delay is that they are changing the screen to OLED technology (Organic LED).

This doesn’t mean that the screen is some tree-hugging new age stuff, just that it uses certain organic chemicals in its construction.  The result is a screen that doesn’t need a back light, is much thinner and more flexible that existing screens and has better colours and contrast.   In other words the best thing since LCDs.

These screens are not cheap of course, new technology never is, so they won’t be giving away the new tablets with your box of cornflakes.

Sony is looking at this too and is proposing  a laptop without a keyboard.  Isn’t that the same as a tablet?

So in ten years time will I take my laptop out of my pocket, unfold it to a big screen and keyboard and work away?

Maybe.

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There is a lot of activity on the ebook front.  If you have not been following these developments, drop by your local Waterstones and try out a Sony ebook.  You load up your book(s) and read on a screen, surprising like reading words on paper.

These gadgets use different technology for the screen. These (Electronic paper) screens have two really useful properties.

1. You read them using ambient light rather than being back-lit which is much easier on the eye.
2. They only use power when the screen changes, ideal for reading.  Power consumption is minute.

You can carry a whole library around in a gadget about the size of a paperback.

I really like the reader gadgets, but haven’t bought one because (more…)

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The press have gone wild over the Google operating system announcement.

Google gets set to shatter Windows’ dominance
Google’s operating system escalates Microsoft duel

etc.

I don’t think so.  This is another Linux distribution.  There are hundreds of these including Ubuntu (the hot distro du jour), Moblin from Intel, Google’s own Android and for that matter the Apple Mac Operating system which is built on Linux.

(more…)

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The guys in Googlewho brought you Google maps have been working on something just as revolutionary. A complete rethink of he email concept.  The email is out, the ‘wave’ is in. 

A wave is a bit like a cross between an email, a shared document and a forum post.  Everyone who ‘receives’ the wave looks at the same document.   Anyone on that recipient list can add to it, much as you would add comments to an email and then ‘reply-all’ to update everyone.  The big difference is that there is only one copy of the wave and everyone is looking at the same thing.  So when you update the wave everyone sees your update – in real time to it replaces email and messenger.

When you add to a wave you are clearly identified, and you can add semi-private updates.  You can even replay the wave and see the additions made in the order they were added.

Anyone who sees the presentation at http://wave.google.comis going to see how much better this all works than regular email.  There are other clever things like dragging and dropping images, a smart API, spell checker that seems to be more intelligent than most, real-time translation into other languages, a serious API and so on…  However there are  few issues:

During the presentation their network went down.  No network no wave.  However Google Gears has the possibility of creating local copies of things like this so this may not be such a big issue. 

This is a hosted application and no corporate is going to allow its precious data to be held or even accessed externally.  So email is likely to remain.  Is there going to be a clever way of integrating wave with email?  My brain hurts when I try and figure that out. 

This is an exciting product.   Forget messenger applications because this one is messnger on steroids.  Will it replace email? I doubt it – sadly.

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