Best of 2007

Another year is about to end where everything got faster, smaller (except for Airbus A380) and more connected.

In my opinion, the best technology to come out of 2007 -at least, in the context of Australia- is the 3G mobile network. This has the potential to really provide the "any time, any where" connectivity.

I know 3G has been around for a while. But thanks to Telstra pouring in millions to promote their Next G network, everyone now knows the real advantage of 3G. Also, due to all network operators getting in to the the 3G game the cost for the consumer has come down to a more affordable level.

Overall, the technology which got me excited is the "Multi-touch screen". Before you all frown at me for not saying iPhone, remember, the touch-screen used in iPhone is actually a multi-touch screen. iPhone is simply a smart phone with a better and user friendly interface. The most radical thing about it is, the touch screen, which a multi-touch screen.

Read more about multi-touch screen here and watch this video. In my opinion, this technology has the potential to radically revolutionise computing. This can move the computer from a device which sits in our study to technology which is integrated in to every aspect of our life.

Moving up a notch in the world of digital cameras

I bought a Canon EOS400D camera with twin-lens kit (18-55mm and 75-300mm lenses) yesterday. Digital cameras are a godsend for novices like me. You just take as many photos as your memory card can handle, select the ones you like and discard the rest of them. Also, you don't even have to print the photos, just organise them digitally. This goes really well with my interest (read, borderline obsession) in organising my life digitally and aversion to anything paper :). I can't imagine myself ever getting into photography if not for digital cameras.

Talking about photos, if anyone is interested, have a look at my flikr account. I really have to upload rest of my photos. You may notice I hardly take photos of people. I am more interested in animals, objects and sceneries.

My first digital camera was a Fuji FinePix 2800ZOOM which broke down on 2005/08/19 during a trip to Mt.Buller. Learnt a I valuable lesson, which I should have known from the day one, never pack a camera in your luggage. I moved a step up and bought Panasonic DMC-FZ7 in August 2006. This is a pretty handy camera for someone who is not a professional but also not a complete novice. I think this is the camera which sparked an interest in photography for me. After using it for a while and getting the basics of point and click I wanted a camera which will give me more control, also I wanted a greater macro shots-which FZ7 lacked.

I have been reading up DP review (BTW, this a must visit website for anyone who is thinking about buying a camera) and narrowed my choice to Canon D400D and Nikon D40 considering my budget and the features I am really going to use. Pointless spending over $2000 on D80, when I am still an amature.

The feature which made me select Canon is cost vs feature ratio. But, I really wish Canon has added an Image Stabiliser to 400D. One of the reasons I started looking at DSLRs is they will allow me to attach a telephoto lens to it for long range photography. IS becomes very important during long range photography (further the subject is away from you the more blurring). Now, I have to buy a tripod and/or Image Stabiliser lenses.

Anyone interested in buying me a Christmas present?

Would you pay AU$899 for an eBook Reader?

Dymocks Book Store (Australia) recently started offering digital downloads. Now they have started selling an eReader called iliad for AU$899.

I am not sure if anybody would really buy this device, I certainly won't pay $899 for a device which will just allow me to read books. Am I the only one who thinks the eReaders fail to take off again and aging because they are actually a misconceived device category altogether (at least in the present time).

Don't get me wrong, I do like the concept of eBooks (but, I am yet to download and read one). I just don't think there is really a market for dedicated eReader in present form.

In my opinion young tech savy people are the ones who are going to be interested in eBooks to begin with. This demography already own either a laptop or a high-end mobile phone or both. These devices already have the capability to display PDFs. So why would you pay $899 for yet another device which is going to allow you only to read books when you already have a device(s) which will allow you to do more than that? Also, these days portable Media Players and becoming more prevalent, may be eBooks can be released for these devices.

Luckily, Dymocks is offering the eBooks for Microsoft Reader, Mobipocket Reader and Adobe Reader as well.

While on the subject of eBooks, Sweden's Dagens Nyheter has launched the world's first "newspaper" telephone. Now, this is a good idea.

GPS in mobile phone

I have mentioned before, I am a big fan of convergence. Another tool which creeping in to the mobile phone is GPS.

The best way to predict the future is to invent it

In 1971 Alan Kay said "The best way to predict the future is to invent it". I think this (sorry...Windows Media format only) video is a classic example of this process.

The bits and pieces of the technology is already available. It's a matter of putting everything together and streamlining it.

One device to rule them all...will it be the iPhone?

I AM a big fan of convergence. I don't like carrying a belt full of gadgets like batman. I want one device to handle my calls, play music, play movies (not exactly movies but episodes of Simpsons) and have good PIM functionalities.

This is why I got my self an O2 Atom Exec. In retrospect it's a bad decision. It's

• bulky
• clunky
• Windows Mobile 5 crashes every second day (feel like using Windows 95)
• the phone interface is really bad and freezes regularly
• has a really poor battery performance

If you are wondering why didn't I just buy a mobile phone, I am asking the same question myself :). I was seduced by the large touch screen -I have a love affair with touch screens, I strongly believe touch screen will be the next step in user input evolution- and the handwriting recognition. But sadly, my experience with the latter has made me feel a mobile phone keypad and predictive text is far better than the handwriting recognition. I was also attracted by the fact the device will allow me to check emails and work on Word and Excel -the features I have never used. My inner geek over powered the inner pragmatist.

To be fair, I find it so easy to manage the PIM functionalities in the Windows powered devices and I use the "Notes" extensively. Considering, the last "real" mobile phone I used was a Nokia 6210, I don't think I am in a informed position to compare these functionalities with what is available in the latest smart phones.

This where I like iPhone. I know it's a good MP3 Player (that is an understatement), has a wide screen for movies and has the next gen touch screen (the inner gadget geek is playing up again) and it is sleek and will definitely have more user friendly interface than anything powered by Microsoft. I assume, it has a decent phone too.

But.... I will still not buy an iPhone in it's current state. The deal breaker for me is, lack of connectivity for the hi-speed mobile network (HSDPA). If I am going to buy a device of the future, I want it to use the technologies of the future, not past. Apple's decision makes sense in US -where the wi-fi hotspots are widely available and HSDPA is not- but in Australia it's other way around. Also, I have following concerns:

• I don't know anything about the PIM functionalities of iPhone
• I don't have a Mac and I am in the verge of switching completely to Linux, and I don't like the fact Apple doesn't support Linux (iTunes) even though OS X is built-upon Linux
• I can't sync it with a PC
  

Taking tech advice

My girl friend calls me "gadget master" ("master" is bit of an over statement) and -surprisingly- finds my obsession with gadgets amusing. I think it may have something to do with the fact I am obsessed with them, but, never goes out and buy them all.

She recently sent me this link. I found the following quote at http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/Style/CoolStuff/details.asp?cat=Multimedia&group=coolstuff&id=852
"The Blackberry Curve now features GSM and sat-nav, so getting lost is a thing of the past.".

I am not sure I want to take any advice from an author who doesn't know the difference between GPS and GSM.