Layar Stream UI

Yesterday was a very significant day for the AR world, as Layar released their 3.5 release with a new functionality called Stream. While this can be viewed as a UI change and yet another way of presenting AR information, this is in fact a huge step in the direction of AR as a first class medium.

In that sense this is no less significant than the first consumer version of the web browser was (say Mosaic 1.03 or Netscape 0.9 so you will).

Let me explain why.

Until now, AR content has been served and displayed as yet another domain specific application, in many senses:

• brand specific (for branding and PR purposes)
• region specific (one app or layer per region, e.g. a local hamburger joint)
• application specific (literally: stand alone AR apps are still out there)

Within the Layar platform, a single AR browser for multiple platforms and targeted at the global market was already a fact. But each AR content item (the Point of Interest, POI in short) was still confined to it’s defining layer, which is of course the under control of one publisher per individual layer. So even if a publisher would want to publish the richest possible AR content for a domain, they would be limited by the availability of accurate AR content to them.

For a example (and this is real): there might be several branches of banks who publish their own, branded version of a “ATM finder” layer. They might not have accurate data about all available ATM’s or leave the competing branches out because of better brand recognition. Which is inevitable or even fine as a business decision. For the end user, who just wants to find the nearest ATM, this is very awkward; they have to first find all available ATM finder layers ad then open them, one by one. In Stream everything is combined and accessible by just the single search term “ATM”.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do recognize the importance of having the Single Layer concept for branding, ownership and even paid business models. Even more, this is one of the enablers four our business model behind TAB worldmedia. Even more, it benefits the end user as well, as this is a way to communicate the source and thus trustworthyness for specific content. I do trust the branch owner of a certain ATM brand more than just a generic publisher regarding location and availability.

So this is where Layar steps in and created a really smart compromise. Stream combines the best of two worlds in a very elegant way: it makes the most relevant AR content available to the end user, while still providing context and branding when a user “dives in” and opens the POI, as this is still displayed in its own context and branded layer.

The whole stream approach is exciting for yet another reason: it means that we have a significant and diverse offering of AR content in many regions already, which justifies a unified and categorized or searchable, well, stream of AR data. In other words, there’s so much content out there that a simple Layer catalog approach is not sufficient any more for discovery. And thus, it signifies the emancipation of AR as a first class content medium, as stated above.

I’m really excited to see this happen within a year after the launch of the first open AR browsers, yet another signal about the high pace at which AR is evolving right now!

Read the original announcement here: Layar revolutionizes Mobile Content Discovery with new Stream Technology powered browser.

Note: Layar Stream is available for Android right now from the Android Market, iPhone users have to wait a little as the approval process needs to be completed before they can update their version through the AppStore.

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How cool would it be if Second Life was not constrained to its own virtual world, but existed right here, as an overlay on the real world around you?

I tried it at least twice, but never really “got into” Second Life. Maybe because it is too “virtual” for me, too much disconnected from real people and real places. But what if the existing environment could be enhanced with – well… anything goes! Some examples:

• A virtual tour through an ancient Roman settlement which existed once around the 3rd age
• A virtual guide telling you about the history of a building (with audio and video)
• Time travel: see this place how it evolved over time
• Architectural development: project 3D renderings of a future building on a construction site
• Yourself with a virtual “skin”, symbolizing some character you play in a role playing game
• …and then: options to connect in the real world, connect the real you with the game character somehow
• Education: labeling items such as buildings, trees, traffic signs and attach quizzes about their meaning
• Remember the crazy Japanese gadget called Lovegetty? Oh well…
• See? really, the sky is the limit!

That was one of the dreams I had when thinking about the future possibilities of Augmented Reality applications, such as Layar, but then equipped with a real 3D rendering engine and real-time update possibilities.

It looks like this future is actually right around the corner with the announcement of Layar 3D, yesterday. Not all of this will be readily available – let alone work smooth enough on today’s mobile devices, but the start is definitely here and soon available on a handset near you.

Some videos from the announcement embedded below, be sure to check out the Layar 3D site as well!

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Alexander van Elsas compiled an excellent list of 10 reasons why Google just reinvented online communication. You should read that blog post now, if you haven’t already!

I do agree that Google does Wave the right way – it’s all about openness, Alexander’s points 2 and 3 should make most critical users and developers happy.

But then Google still has the business advantage of having all aggregated data in their silo’s – they will be the exclusive owner of virtually all communication data in the world. This gives them enormous business advantages in terms of finding out what people are discussing, right now. All this can be put in perspective with data mining of all previous communication. The logical exploitation is ever more targeted advertising (adding location, local time, mood, communication partners and such to the expression). But being able to watch real time trends in high resolution, fine grained up to the user level in the context of their social network will likely enable entirely new business models, which we can not even imagine right now.

Does this matter for the individual user?
Maybe, privacy is potentially at risk even more than it is now. Whatever will happen, great power comes with great responsibility and the slogan “do not evil” applies more than ever before.

At the same time I’m really excited to see this happen and will most likely join Wave as soon as it becomes available.

What did Scott McNealy say again? “You have zero privacy anyway, get over it” . And that was ten yars ago.

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So you want to peek under the hood of all those mysterious Firefox 3.x databases? Easy does it: just install SQLite Manager in… Firefox itself (for easy installation visit SQLite Manager on the AMO site).

This add-on can be activated from the Tool menu and opens in a separate window. By default, a shortcut to your profile directory is provided, but there is nothing preventing you from opening other sqlite3 databases when you’re done staring at the places.sqlite database.

On Mac OSX there is lots to explore about your Mail.app settings in your ~/Library/Mail directory, e.g to optimize mail performance. Just be careful that you don’t make any changes on the live database (you work on a back-up copy, right?).

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Please note, this blog post is in Dutch (translate).

Mijn eerste indrukken na een paar dagen spelen met de Android powered HTC G1 (door T-Mobile ook wel “Googlephone” genoemd). Voornamelijk vanuit de mogelijkheden op internet gebied, en vergeleken met mijn oude Sony Ericsson 810i (SE).

Direct bij het eerste opstarten krijg je een melding dat de telefoon het best (of alleen maar?) met een google account gebruikt kan worden. Ik heb niet geprobeerd wat er wel/niet mogelijk is zonder google account, maar ben meteen ingelogd met mijn Google Apps account.

Adresboek en agenda
Het blijkt meteen waarom dat google account zo belangrijk is: dit is namelijk de enige manier om adressen en agenda’s te synchroniseren met de G1. Via Bluetooth wordt geen enkele uitwisselings-functie ondersteund, via de USB kabel blijk je alleen bij de externe flash kaart te kunnen en niet bij het telefoon geheugen zelf. Dat betekent vanzelf ook geen iSync vanuit Mac OSX en geen uitwisseling met Addressbook en iCal.

Die synchronisatie zal dus via google moeten lopen, om dat te configureren is niet helemaal triviaal:

• Configuratie van iCal om agenda’s met Google Calendar te synchroniseren gaat het best met programma Calaboration.
• Addressbook kan zelf met Google Contacts synchroniseren, mits je een iPhone of iPod touch aangesloten hebt (waarom?) maar er is een ingewikkelde work around voor synchronisatie met Google zonder iPhone.

Op de SE werkte iSync juist vlekkeloos, alleen groepen van adressen en agenda’s werden niet ondersteund.

E-mail
Op de G1 zijn er twee ingebouwde opties voor email: een gmail client die onberispelijk werk in alle opzichten, en een meer traditionele email client die je simpel kan configureren met je mail account gegevens. Het gebruik van IMAP over SSL is hier geen probleem, je kan de betreffende instellingen en poort nummers makkelijk invoeren. Er is alleen een groot gebrek aan deze mail client: er wordt geen IMAP IDLE ofwel push email ondersteund. De SE mail applicatie deed dat wel, al ruim twee jaar geleden (alleen was het daar nodig om voor de mailserver van XS4ALL een apart SSL certificaat te installeren).

Web browser
De ingebouwde webbrowser is niets bijzonders, werkt zoals het hoort en zelfs de javascript ondersteuning is acceptabel. Alleen de user interface is te beperkt, navigatie gaat alleen redelijk via obscure toetsenbord commando’s.

Op de SE was een oudere versie van Opera Mobile meegeleverd, maar met wat kunst en vliegwerk bleek het goed mogelijk om de actuele 4.x versie te installeren. Die browser heeft zelfs zonder touch screen een prettigere user interface.

Verder is er ook slecht nieuws voor wat betreft de mobiele versie van Firefox, Fennec, die juist als eerste alpha release beschikbaar is. Het ziet er niet naar uit dat die ooit voor Android beschikbaar komt doordat Android alleen Java applicaties ondersteunt (en Fennec is in C/C++ ontwikkeld).

Muziek speler
De ingebouwde Walkman software van de SE was – na mijn iPod – een belediging, ik heb die nooit gebruikt. Sony heeft destijds een leuk apparaat voor cassettebandjes gemaakt, daar hadden ze het bij moeten laten.

De ingebouwde music player voor Android is een hele verademing. Prettig dat er niet te veel opties zijn, dat houdt het wel overzichtelijk. Alleen kan ik me geen uitgebreide bibliotheek in het ding voorstellen (maar dat gaat ook niet op 8G Flash, max. 16G).

Camera
De 2M pixel camera van de SE is niet veel bijzonders. Maar wel beter dan de 3M pixel camera van de G1! Het beeld is vaag, met vale kleuren en de lichtgevoeligheid is zeer beperkt. Verder kan de G1 met de huidige Android versie geen filmpjes maken (de SE wel, al zijn die het aanzien niet waard). Waar de SE het met een simpele witte LED moets doen als verlichting, heeft de G1 helemaal niets. Donker is gewoon pech gehad.

Android Market: applicaties
Dit is het grote verschil tussen de G1 (ok, en de iPhone) en de rest van de smart phones die momenteel beschikbaar zijn: de open toegang tot het platform voor  ontwikkelaars om applicaties te ontwikkelen en aan de man te brengen. De tegenghaner van de Apple’s App Store is de Android Market.

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Just like with the downturn around year 2001, many formerly free web apps start charging for their services, and sometimes quite significant amounts. For instance, the first payed tier of Getsatisfaction costs now $49 per month, still significant for a start-up. Not to criticize GSFN, we love the service as we use it for Twones, but this is clearly becoming a trend.

In times of economic downturn it is either getting paid or getting bust.

More surprising is a silent change in the options for Google Apps when you sign up for a new account (new domain).

A year ago, the free product allowed you to add 100 users (or emails), now 50.

And the webmail product was almost like the free gmail product. Specifically, you should specify that connections always use SSL (secure https rather than standard http). This is now gone, you have to pay $50,- per user per year now to use secure connections.

This surprises me, considered that there are urgent reports warning that you should use the https option for gmail, which attracts more and more black hat hackers due to its high popularity.

Oh, and $50 is a bit much of a price tag for members of my family who just want to check their email every so often…

Update: a bit of googling learns that I’m not the only one who noticed…

• Your Google Docs May Be Open to Hijacking
• Google Puts The Squeeze On Free Apps
• The End of Free? (hey, even the same title)

Popularity: 18%

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