Jakob Wästberg's shampoodle blog
This is my personal link list and blog where I try things out and save links to thinks I don't know where else to put. It usually centers around mobile technology, new media, advertising and sometimes fashion, baby wear and just about anything.Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Made byTrans|alpin, a german italian design team, Wood.e is essentially electrified wood, pressed with two integrated conducting layers which allow to add electrical conduct. 12V power is fed to the metal layers via one connector, and elements (lamps, spotlights, fans etc.) can be connected via another. NO cable needed.
Via Blaine Brownell. Picture from Archinect.
(Via we make money not art.)
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
CeBIT: Mobile TV Technology Is Ready, But Are Users?: "
By Carlo Longino, Fri Mar 11 16:00:00 GMT 2005
Operators and manufacturers are showing off plenty of Mobile TV products at CeBIT. With a number of operators running live services and manufacturers already showing working next-generation systems, the technology is here. But will users care enough to pay?
(Via TheFeature.com.)
Magnet painting: "Magnetude, by French designer Nicolas Triboulot, is a paint containing fine metal particles making all surfaces sensitive to magnetism: magnets adhere directly to the surface.
The paint may also replace a sheet of iron pasted on wooden panels, which makes subsequent cutting or piercing easier. Thus, depending on the user’s artistic skills, Magnetude will turn the walls into a playground or a nomadic decoration area.
Triboulot even designed a full nomadic house called Modul’air which features multiple combinations of Magnetude, magnetized furnitures and various elements of decoration.
"
(Via we make money not art.)
La Petite Maison de Weekend: "La Petite Maison de Weekend by Canadian studio Patkau Architects, is a very compact sustainable cottage for two. It provide the basics for everyday life: sleeping loft, deep storage wall, kitchen, shower, and composting toilet.
Built from recyclable materials, the dwelling generates its own electricity (photovoltaic cells on the roof convert solar energy into electricity9, collects and distributes rainwater, and composts human waste using only the natural dynamics of the site.
"(Via we make money not art.)
Monday, March 21, 2005
iPods fuel Guinness decline
: "THE IRISH ARE drinking less Guinness - official."
Press day at CeBIT saw a number of announcements of handsets boasting cutting-edge technical features. While people fawn over a 7-megapixel cameraphone, is manufacturers' obsession with ever-better technical features making carriers miss the point?
[The full article at the feature]
Sunday, March 13, 2005
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Yeah, we know that getting a standalone WiFi phone is achieving pointless since some cellphones already come with
built-in 802.11b, but dammit, we can’t help but be seduced by the WIP-6050M, Samsung’s sleek new WiFi phone. This
slickster’s got 802.11g (which is a rarity in WiFi phones, mainly since VoIP doesn’t require the extra bandwidth
802.11g gives you), a 65,000 color LCD screen, and user interface that’s similar to what Samsung puts in their
cellphones (which may not be a good thing).
[Via Engadget]
the end of the iPod
There's only one real significant remaining difference between iPods and music phones, and it's significant, but certainly not insurmountable.
Today was supposed to bring Motorola's announcement of its attempt to meld the iPod and the mobile phone into a handset running a special version of iTunes, the supposed "iPod killer" using ammo supplied by Apple. But alas, it was not to be -- evidently the idea that users could buy music and download it to their devices without operators taking a cut didn't sit well with some carriers, and some last-minute phone calls kept the device from being officially announced.
While Moto wasn't able to deliver its music phone, plenty of other companies are showing off both music-centric handsets and devices with music features. But what made the iTunes phone so tasty was it promised to bring the familiar usability of iTunes and the iPod to the mobile phone, a place where it's badly needed.
I've been using an iPod Shuffle recently, and it's been pretty fantastic. It easily syncs with iTunes, and playing randomly chosen songs in random order has been more entertaining (and less annoying) than I imagined. The physical technology in the Shuffle isn't anything that couldn't be added to nearly any mobile handset right now. The last remaining difference, however, is usability in general and the user interface in specific. It's a significant difference, but one that can't be changed. The iPod Shuffle proves this in an interesting way: by essentially not having a user interface.
The temptation for many manufacturers seems to be to put a relatively full-featured media player on a handset, when simplicity would be best, and hide the music functions behind a number of clicks and menus. But the best solution will offer one-touch access to music and external controls for basic features like pause and skip. Vendors should take advantage of the increasing power of mobile platforms and offer users full-featured media players where users can manipulate files and playlists and do other functions, but the primary interface should be a simple play button that quickly fires up the tunes. In the same way that the iPod Shuffle offers a great UI by not having one, mobile phones' music functions should be exceedingly simply and easy to use.
But there are other usability concerns apart from just the user interface. One high-level concern is the compatibility of phones with existing download shops and players. One selling point of the Motorola iTunes phone was that it would be the only phone that could play music from the iTunes Music Store. Plenty of handsets can play AAC files; none yet can handle Apple's DRM. Some devices support WMA files, but not AAC, while some only play MP3s. Some can handle Windows Media DRM, some only support OMA DRM standards. This creates a mess for mobile users, and it can also create problems for handset manufacturers. If a user's got a hard drive full of music using one DRM flavor, why would they buy a phone that can't play it? By picking and choosing what formats to support, vendors are limiting their potential pool of buyers. It's good to see some companies taking this into account, such as Sony Ericsson, which isn't even supporting the much-maligned ATRAC format favored by its Japanese parent in favor of the more widely used MP3 and AAC in its Walkman phone.
There are other places where these closed approaches rear their head too: headphones and memory card formats. There seems to be a fascination with using non-standard headphone jacks, forcing users to ditch their favorite earphones in favor of whatever few choices are available to fit vendors' proprietary connectors. Memory card formats are perhaps even more frustrating. While it's unrealistic to think that manufacturers will all converge on a single format, it's hard to see how embracing so many different formats benefits end users, who are increasingly forced to buy relatively expensive cards that often aren't available in large sizes. Maybe there's some financial benefit to using something unpopular like RS-MMC or Transflash, but in the end, it just annoys users. If manufacturers want to push phones as music players, and they're using removable media, they've got to choose a format that's got cheap, big cards.
The iPod Shuffle isn't any great technological shakes, really. But Apple's laser-like focus on delivering a good user experience based on a solid user interface gives it a leg up on music phones. If manufacturers can manage to crack this, the iPod's days will be numbered.
By Carlo Longino, Thu Mar 10 18:00:00 GMT 2005
[Via TheFeature.com]
Thursday, March 10, 2005
TheFeature :: Mobile Gaming Is For The Casual Gamer -- But Not The Casual Game Company
The good news: mobile games are targeting a wide audience of casual gamers. The bad news: carriers are still a major bottleneck.
[read the full article at the feature]
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
“Denim and Diamonds” Cellphone - Luxist - www.luxist.com
“Denim and Diamonds” Cellphone
Posted Oct 16, 2004, 9:45 PM ET by Deidre Woollard
Related entries: Gadgets
denimanddiamondsIn the same vein as the ridiculous Kimora Lee Simmons pink Baby Phat phone is this “Denim and Diamonds” phone which comes from a partnership between fashion design house Escada and Siemens.
[Via luxist]
Is Luxury Headed for a Fall?
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Just as a flood of new luxury magazines hit the market,
CNN/Money tries to be a buzzkill suggesting that the rise in luxury spending has reached its peak. The article
cites a Deloitte & Touche research study that states that increased tax burdens and a less statospheric real estate
market will keep luxury spending in check. They also predict that the improved wages will benefit the low and
middle-income shoppers. The rise may taper off but luxury isn’t going anywhere.
[Via Luxist]
Cargotecture
Seattle-based firm Team HyBrid is transforming shipping containers into long-term-use health clinics in Sri Lanka.
The Team hopes that after the tsunami crisis, these stations could have another life: as facilities serving the long-term health needs of Sri Lankans.
![AIDSTATION_1[1].jpg](http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/yyy/AIDSTATION_1[1].jpg)
The container's original side wall swings down to provide an outdoor waiting area for patients who are then interviewed in the front section and treated in the back. At the rear end of the containers are also a kitchenette, a bathroom and storage space for a generator.
The units, which cost about $10,000 each to make, will be outfitted with medical supplies and shiped to Sri Lanka, where they should be up and running by April.
Team HyBrid believes that shipping containers are only a first step toward a truly nomadic architecture. "We hope a piece of ‘cargotecture’ starts as a high-end home in an urban development and then it becomes a cabin," says Humble. "Fifty years later, it could be moved to the developing world."
Via Metropolismag.
Related: the nomadic museum, guerilla homes, living in a box.
Sunday, March 06, 2005
TheFeature :: Advertisers Catching On To User-Initiated Advertising
It looks like more advertisers are realizing the value of letting users make the first move in cameraphone-based advertising. Who will take it to the next level?
While there's still some worries that clueless advertisers are looking to turn mobile phones into the latest destination for spam in ever more intrusive ways, there are some encouraging signs that many mainstream advertisers have recognized mobile advertising needs to be pull, rather than push.
[Via the feature]
TheFeature :: Yahoo Moves Into Mobile Games
The Web giant says it's started a mobile games studio, and instantly given it some bulk with an acquisition.
Yahoo, which is already the wired Web's top destination for games, is setting its sights on the mobile gaming world. The company said it has launched the Yahoo Games Studio to make games for handsets, and also bought mobile game developer Stadeon to bolster its efforts and create games where mobile users can play online against Web users.
[Via the feature]
Thursday, March 03, 2005
A Carrier That Might Understand Mobile TV
A patent issued to Vodafone shows it might have an understand of the benefits of mobile television -- which aren't advertising or live broadcasts.
My skepticism of television over mobile networks is pretty well documented, and even analysts can't come to a consensus, with this week's report unconvinced of the true demand for television broadcasts to mobile devices. Announcements about mobile TV were plentiful at 3GSM last week, and Vodafone touted its mobisodes a few months ago around the time of its consumer 3G launch -- though this "made-for-mobile" content is little more than advertising for standard TV shows.
But Vodafone has been awarded a European patent that hints it -- or at least an employee there -- understands the real power of video over high-speed mobile networks lies not in broadcast TV, but in empowering personal media. The patent covers having a content provider send video to a device during off hours, then later send a signal that unlocks the video so it can be viewed, opening up a whole realm of possibilities.
Even with today's relatively fast networks, and forthcoming speed boosts like HSDPA, preloading content still makes a huge amount of sense for mobiles, particularly with big files like videos, but even for simpler content. The Vodafone patent sounds an awful lot like broadcatching applied to mobile, an idea that's going to catch on (no pun intended) in a big way. Users are going to love having the latest episode of a show waiting on their handset according to their schedule, and chances are, they'll pay for it -- if the pricing is right. And as it seems with everything in mobile content, that's a big if.
This is where the DRM mechanism mentioned in the patent is important. While DRM-free possibilities will carry on like they have on the wired Internet, DRM is a fact of life, for now anyway, for content providers to get involved. And while all too many DRM systems enforce onerous restrictions, users have also proven that they'll buy into reasonable systems, like Apple's iTunes Music Store. The system indicated in Vodafone's patent could be applied well, either via a subscription model or a one-off, per-episode fee.
Just as technologies must evolve to support the emerging mobile media landscape, so must the business models. Vodafone's patent shows some promise on both fronts -- but the proof is in the pudding in a mobile environment where operator and content provider track records aren't particularly promising.
Mobile Music Gets Louder
3GSM reinforced the idea that the mobile industry is making music its focus for 2005, and the momentum of announcements keeps building. But are these announcements being mistaken for genuine user interest?
Are We There Yet?
By Mark Frauenfelder, Wed Mar 02 08:30:00 GMT 2005
How mobile technology can help unglue kids' eyes from the screen.
Are We There Yet? It's the name of a popular movie playing in theaters right now, but for most parents, it's the second least favorite phrase to hear while driving with their kids. (The very least favorite is, of course: "I really have to go to the bathroom," when you're stuck in traffic with no exit in sight). While there's not much you can do about making calls of nature go away by magic, many parents (myself included) have come to treasure the portable DVD player to take care of the "Are we there yet?" problem. On any road trip in excess of 20 miles, I hand a player and a stack of DVDs to my seven-year-old, and I never have to hear "Are we there yet?" again.
But I know, deep down in my heart, that what I'm doing is wrong. I'm teaching my daughter to become dependent on a form of entertainment that requires nothing from her. She just sits there, silently and passively, absorbing a Disney cartoon. I wonder if I'm destroying her capacity for self-entertainment.
That's why I was intrigued when John Paul Bichard, a digital artist at The Interactive Institute in Stockholm, contacted me about a research project called Backseat Playground that he's developing with two other researchers, Liselott Brunnberg and Oskar Juhlin. As he describes it, "Backseat Playground is a mobile gaming research project that will enable kids to play with the world outside their window from the back seat of a car."
The seeds for the project were sown by Brunnberg at the mobility studio of the Interactive Institute. She developed two games called Road Rager, which pits kids in other cars against each other using ad-hoc peer-to-peer networking, and Backseat Gaming, a "mixed reality game" that uses GPS and digital compasses to let kids point mobile devices at objects on the roadside and use them in the game.
"Last autumn we met up and decided to work together on Backseat Playground," says Bichard. "This collaboration brings together Liselott's earlier Backseat Gaming research, Oskar's background as a professor of sociology and project director at the Institute and my experience in art, games and mobile technology. I bring to the project my exploration of the relationship between forensic and games spaces, my ideas about episodic narrative and a desire to turn the whole world into a video game."
Bichard described a scenario from Backseat Playground by asking me to imagine myself as a child, "sitting in the back seat of a car staring out of the window -- imagine that the world moving past you is a vast game engine -- the objects, places and people around you are all part of an intertwining series of episodes that make up an ongoing game plot.
"You have been driving the same way for the past 4 days so you know all about the mean old guy at the petrol station who won't talk to you. Come to think of it, every gas station attendant seems to be hiding something -- what if they are all in league with each other? What are they trying to hide? How do you get any of them to talk? Do they know anything about how Mrs Lundberg disappeared? You know that someone was seen near the railway bridge. What if you searched the bottom of the riverbed beneath the bridge, using the aqualung you picked up from the last village? Not today, as the car turns before the bridge, you're going a different way into town. You see a phone box coming up on the right... the phone rings!!! Pointing your device at the phone, you answer it. A woman's voice tells you quietly and deliberately that the person sitting in the back seat of the car in front is the detective searching for you. Time to put on the sunglasses you found last week at the bus stop, and what about changing into in the clothes that are sitting in a pile on the floor of the phone box."
In this way, reality is mixed with the fantasy story delivered over the mobile phone.
Last week Bichard and his colleagues received news that Microsoft Research will fund the first iteration of the project. "We will be developing a working prototype at the end of 2005 to test ideas around interaction and episodic narrative. The scope of what we have defined so far should see us through the next couple of years."
Is the technology needed to make Backseat Playground work available today, or is this something that will have to wait? Bichard says the "raw materials" already exist: handheld game players, accelerometers, digital map data and wireless networks.
"But as ever," he says, "what is needed is a shift in thinking. One of the challenges is how to move from the existing models such as running arcade games on a phone or 'projecting' game structures and narratives onto a real space via a mobile device, to imbedding a game 'within' the real space. This will require not only new game models but also radically different business models for developers, mapping agencies, phone operators and publishers."
All I can say is go guys, go. My DVD player guilt is eating me alive.
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