Linux Tip: Run Windows and Linux apps side-by-side
10 minutes to run every Windows app on your Ubuntu desktop [Venture Cake]
Friday, July 06, 2007
Here come the FemtoCells
It’s been a long wait, but it seems that Femtocells - miniature cellular base station that sit inside our homes and offices and amplify cellular signals - are making it to the market. Over past few days, an increasing number of companies have started to announce availability of femtocell devices.
2Wire, which makes DSL residential gateways, and is part owned by AT&T, recently announced that it will include femtocell functionality in its devices. The voice calls can be carried over the DSL connections, without needing a WiFi connection.
This makes the technology more acceptable for folks who don’t have WiFi-functionality in their phones. Netgear, recently teamed up with Ubiquisys and will develop a new residential gateway that will have integrated DSL modem, Wi-Fi, VoIP and 3G femtocell technology, and will be available in 2008. NokiaSiemens Networks and Thomson are also working together on similar devices, the two companies announced today. Nokia Siemens will provide the femto cell for Thomson’s DSL gateways.
ABI Research predicts that the femtocell unit shipments for 2008 will increase to a million units from 50,000 in 2007. By 2012 there will be 152 million users of femtocell products on 36 million access points worldwide, they predict.
While those predictions may seem to be too optimistic, one does have to admit that the carriers are going to do their best to push femtocells. Mobile carriers are obviously worried by the impact of WiFi and VoWiFi on their voice revenues. Vodafone, world’s cellular operator has issued an RFP for femtocells, much like France Telecom, the parent company of Orange.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Fixed Mobile Networks Converge, TMobile launches HotSpot@Home
T-Mobile has launched the service with two basic handsets - the Samsung T409 and the Nokia 6086 – for $50 a pop if you sign-up for a two-year contract. If you get one of these two phones, you can add an unlimited nationwide calling (over WiFi) option for $10 a month. The wireless company is also offering especially configured routers with the phone, though your existing WiFi routers should suffice. It also works with 8,500 T-Mobile Hot Spots in the US including Starbucks locations, and doesn’t require extra payments.
We have been using this service for last week or so, and it works as advertised. You turn on the phone, and it automatically scans for networks, and allows you to connect to your home network, and can handle all types of security options.
We did have trouble with Apple Airport network that had WPA2 protection turned on, but when we switched to our new ADSL2plus connection from Covad and a generic (T-mobile provided) WiFi router, things went smoothly. When we took the phone to our office, it found our work WiFi network, connected and stored that information. It is hard to tell which network the call is being routed over, and if there was any quality difference, we couldn’t tell.
The service isn’t exactly cheap – but it does offer convenience of one single number. It also allows you to get the most out of your minute plan. Given that nearly 27% of mobile wireless minutes are used from home, it is not such a bad option.
It also is a good way to over come weak signals in your home. Web workers who spend a lot of time in Starbucks can also cut their wireless minute usage quite a bit, without even paying for the Starbucks Wi-Fi access plan.
The big beneficiaries of this service will be International travelers. You can carry the phone with you, say to Rome. The phone will connect to a WiFi network, and allow you to call home as if you were calling locally. The bad news is that if you have to call someone in Rome, then it becomes an international call.
Top Five Virtual World Business News Items
South Korea to tax virtual world wealth: Starting in July, if you earn more than 6 million won (about USD$6500) from the buying and selling of gold coins and other MMO valuables, you’ll have to pay a value added tax. Make more than $13,000 from that trade, and you’ll have to get a business license. (Hat tip: Raph Koster.)
Coke frees up its trademark in Second Life? According to Reuters’ Second Life correspondent, the most recognized corporate brand in the world is letting SL users “hack” their logo into virtual products, as long as the Coke-infused items don’t contain anything overtly sexual or violent. SL blogger Csven Concord has a very interesting interview with a Coke executive involved in this project. (Disclosure: the Coke presence was co-developed by an advertiser on my SL blog.)
Virtual world advertising forecast to reach $150 million by 2012: That according to Parks Associates, and that’s just the money spent in currently existing worlds. In related news, another analyst expects overall advertising in games to reach $2 billion by 2011.
Hackers more interested in stealing World of Warcraft gold than real cash: Phish for someone’s bank account information? That’s so old school– plus, that’ll get you put in jail. McAffee reports that there is now more malware created to steal WoW account gold, than financial passwords. Logic being, if the cyber thieves get caught trying to hack WoW, the penalties are a lot less steep– plus, they can always sell the gold for cash on the gray market.
Uncle Sam sets virtual world tax policy next month: Speaking of taxes, the US Congress will issue its first report on the issue in August. No one knows what it’ll say, but if they make an income through real money trading or content creation in Second Life, Americans might want to start collecting receipts now.
Second Life Avatar Sued for Copyright Infringement
This would be just one IP dispute in thousands handled by US courts every day, except for two unique features: the contention is over a virtual sex bed which doesn’t exist, and the named defendant also doesn’t exist. As such, the suit will establish an enormous precedent in the new realm of virtual world law, however it shakes out.
I should back up and explain those last three sentences.
Linden Lab, the company which provides Second Life’s virtual land (i.e. server grid) and means to explore it (i.e. interface software and currency) has since late 2003 allowed its users to retain the underlying intellectual property rights to all objects and programs created in the world with its internal building and scripting tools.
This policy unleashed enormous user-created innovation, and enabled thousands of users to make a living with their virtual content creation. Alderman, known in Second Life as Stroker Serpentine (pictured) is one of SL’s leading entrepreneurs; his SL-based adult entertainment industry has become so successful, he recently sold his X-rated Amsterdam island in Second Life to a real world Dutch media firm for $50,000 very real dollars.
For the last fours years, this IP rights policy has been working more less as designed, but those who follow the virtual world business have been waiting for the other shoe to drop: what happens when one avatar tries to sue another avatar for copyright infringement in an actual court?
It finally has: Alderman/Serpentine believes Catteno is selling unauthorized copies of his SexGen bed, a piece of furniture with special embedded animations that enable players to more or less recreate an adult film with their avatars. Alderman sells his version for the L$ equivalent of USD$45, and they’ve helped make his fortune. Catteno is selling his alleged knockoff for a third that price, undercutting him.
But who does Kevin Alderman sue? Since SL users have no obligation to reveal their real life identity to other players, all the relevant data exists only on Linden’s servers and files. This is why Alderman is threatening to subpoena Linden Lab for this data, so he can bring the real person behind Catteno to trial.
I contacted Stroker Serpentine in Second Life and asked why he chose going to trial. Volkov Catteneo’s account was created in February 2007, while Stroker is a longtime and well-loved player. Why not just voice his complaint about Catteno to the SL community, so they can ostracize him and his allegedly infringing beds?
Stroker tells me he did try that method in another case, but ironically, it backfired. “[T]he last time this happened I confronted the individual about it and requested that they cease and desist…,” he says, “I was made out to be a bully and dragged through the [SL community] forums.” Linden Lab has a system for letting users file DMCA suits against each other; Stroker tried that twice, but wasn’t happy with how Linden responded. So he found a law firm specializing in copyright/trademark disputes. “We weighed all alternatives and listened to a lot of advice. So here we are.”
Trouble is, Catteno tells Reuters he doesn’t have any real world data on file with Linden Lab. (A plausible claim; since ‘06, it’s no longer necessary to register a credit card or other identifying data with Linden Lab.) I imagine the company could supply Alderman and his lawyer’s with Catteno’s IP address, and let them deal with it from there. Or if it goes forward in court, perhaps the judge will review the case, decide it’s fundamentally nuts, and toss it. Then again, the court might let it go to trial, as it did with another user lawsuit against Linden Lab, and what happens then is anyone’s guess. Numerous companies which depend on user-created content are waiting to see. In any case, may the best avatar win.
Update, 9:00am: For the legally minded, Reuters’ SL reporters (who broke this story) have put the actual legal form in .pdf at this link.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
MIT TechTV - YouTube Like Portal for Science and Tech Videos
MIT School of Engineering have launched a video sharing website called "MIT Tech TV" for showcasing lecture recordings, student presentations and other video content particularly about science, engineering and technology.
While the MIT TechTV videos can be viewed by anyone on the web, only members with an @mit.edu email address - students, faculty, MIT staff or even the alumni - can upload videos on the MIT TechTV portal.
MIT TechTV website, which looks the same as Blip.TV with a new skin, has no connection with the TechTV channel (now G4TV).
This is MIT's second attempt to share knowledge with the outside world. Earlier, MIT had launched the very popular MIT OpenCourseware project to make the course materials used in the teaching of virtually all of MIT's courses available on the Web, free of charge.
techtv.mit.edu/ [MIT Tech TV] ocw.mit.edu [OpenCourseware]
Get the feel of Photoshop in GIMP with GIMPshop
Windows/Linux/Mac: Open-source app GIMPshop is a modified version of GIMP designed to give the feel of Photoshop.
GIMPshop modifies the menu structure to closely match Photoshop's, adjusts the program's terminology to match Adobe's, and, in the Windows version, uses a plugin called 'Deweirdifier' to combine the application's numerous windows in a similar manner to the MDI system used by most Windows graphics packages.As any Photoshopper will attest, GIMP is generally not as easy to work with as Photoshop out of the box. The premise behind GIMPshop is that Photoshop users will be able to dive right into GIMP while facing only a minimal learning curve. GIMPshop is a free download for Windows, Linux, and Mac.
TWISTER: goggle-free 3D rotating panoramic display
In a device eerily akin to teleportation machines seen in major motion pictures (seriously, check it after the break), the Telexistence Wide-angle Immersive STEReoscope aims to "immerse viewers in a 3D video environment" sans those pesky goggles. Developed by a team at the University of Toyko, TWISTER is being hailed as the "world's first full-color 360-degree 3D display that does not require viewers to wear special glasses," and it's finally coming together after a decade of work. Within the cylindrical, rotating device, you'll find some 50,000 LEDs that give off the illusion of a three-dimensional object without any ocular aids. Moreover, the team is already looking into the possibility of adding 3D videophone technology to spruce up video telephony, but we'd be totally content with a couple rounds of Halo in this thing.[Via PinkTentacle]
Continue reading TWISTER: goggle-free 3D rotating panoramic display
FreshBooks Launches Open API
Freshbooks sees the new API allowing application designers, businesses, services companies, and users to integrate FreshBooks’ billing platform into a new category of products, features, and solutions for enhancing and streamlining productivity, workflow, sales, CRM, project management, and invoicing.
Possible uses of the API including adding to existing products to extend functionality, including timers, project planners, and desktop widgets. Sites with an existing sales infrastructure can use the API to add a billing component.
There are a lot of possibilities here and Freshbooks really has nothing to lose by offering an open API service. The API is an open invitation to innovation and should keep Freshbooks in could stead against competition including BillMyClients and Blinksale.
Previous Freshbooks coverage on TechCrunch coverage here.
HotorNot Founder James Hong Talks About Past, Future
A lot of this I wrote about last month after interviewing Hong, but there’s lot of additional information that people will find fascinating. The company naver raised venture capital, and was throwing off a signficiant amount of cash early on. As free dating competitors emerged, however, the popularity of the site declined. They responded by going free as well (killing a $500,000/month revenue stream), and traffic has doubled to around 20 million daily page views.
HotorNot is now looking more like a a traditional startup - they’ve converted to a C corporation and are giving stock options to employees. That suggests a sale or venture financing might be coming up in the near future. Of course, the amount of fun that Hong and cofounder Jim Young are having.
My favorite stat about HotorNot: Up to ten marriages per day can be tracked to couples who originally met at the site.
Earthmine's photo-truck totally tries to one-up Google, Microsoft
Street level mapping services like Google's Street View and Microsoft's Live Local have gotten a lot of attention lately, but while the notion of pervasive map-linked photography is pretty impressive, the actual execution leaves something to be desired -- the images are occasionally of low quality, have stitching errors, and there are some lingering privacy concerns. A new company called Earthmine is out to solve all those problems, though, by providing high-quality, survey-accurate panoramic photography -- and has a truck or two with cameras towering tall to prove it. Unlike Google's video system, Earthmine plans to use laser range finders and high dynamic range still cameras mounted higher than usual to provide perspective-accurate images that preserve detail and resolution -- but automatically blur out faces and other identifying information, like license plates. Earthmine is planning on selling the service to businesses and governmental agencies, but a consumer version should launch at the end of the summer. We think they should watch out though, we hear the Street View and Live Local drivers have crazy road rage; we really wouldn't want to see anybody from Earthmine get caught up in some kind of weird, street level photography turf war.
[Thanks, eggman]
A Beautiful Photo from our friends at LuckyOliver
purchased for use on blogs. This is an example of a 400x400 px image.
search for LuckyOliver images through the PictureSandbox interface - when you find an image you like, click the blue arrow to go to the LuckyOliver page
or go directly to LuckyOliver.com to search and buy there.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Full Screen Web Photo Browsing With PicLens
To use PicLens, a user clicks a small translucent icon that appears atop the image of interest once the plugin is installed. The PicLens slideshow interface appears and the user can move from one photo to the next or press play and enjoy the show. A user can intuitively browse images within search results, photo albums, and Media RSS enabled websites.
Support is currently provided for Flickr, Facebook, Friendster, Picasa Web Album and image search results from Google and Yahoo. Site owners can add support to any site with photos by including Media RSS support.
The best way to describe PicLens is that it’s a like the slideshow feature in Picasa or a similar photo viewing tool, but applied to web pages. The full screen rendering does require a decent internet speed when displaying large photographs, but visually the results are stunning. This Firefox plugin is going to find a lot of fans very, very quickly.
(thanks to Ouriel Ohayon for the tip)
Slapvid: Peer to Peer Video in Your Browser
Slapvid runs as a Java applet coupled with a Flash video player. Unfortunately this means users have to authorize the 300Kb applet to run the first time, but that still requires less initiative on the users behalf than a full blown browser plugin. The applet runs in the background, managing the delivery of video chunks to be displayed in the player.
To demonstrate the peering technology, they’ve developed their own flash player that shows the top Youtube videos in 5 minutes. The player mashes together short clips of each video. You can see the whole video by clicking the hand. However, because of bandwidth concerns on their central server, the peering technology is only turned on for a small sample of users. All other users will just see videos streamed from Youtube. To guarantee you get the peering applet, you can apply for one of 100 beta accounts for Techcrunch readers. You can see the video player after the jump.
Slapvid is a Y Combinator startup from 4 Carnegie Mellon grads.
Samsung's 64GB SSDs: ready to roll
For all the 64GB SSDs announced, only one manufacturer has the skillz to bring them to market: Samsung. Starting today, Sammy is mass producing the world's first 64GB, 1.8-inch SSD. Right, the ideal size for UMPCs and super slim ultra-portables. No word on price but it's not like you'll find these up for retail anyway. We expect 'em to go OEM-only baby as $1,000 (at least) premiums inside your latest VAIO, Latitude, Lifebook, and Sammy's own Q40 and Q1 Ultra machines to name a few. Apple too, if there's any life to that ultra-portable rumor.
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