5 Predictions for Athletes on Social Media in 2010
The Colossal Ultimate List of 2010 Social Media Predictions
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Mashable wrote an article on The Future of Gaming: 5 Social Predictions. A must read.
Post by Looming Tech. Find us on Twitter and check out our other blog, Squealing Rat.
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Mashable had this story about the future of Twitter.
Post by Looming Tech. Find us on Twitter and check out our other blog, Squealing Rat.
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Apple acquires maps company. Shocking news indeed. I know I am late to the actual news, but the idea of Apple owning a maps company is a rather intriguing idea. One that deserves attention, 
exploration and a little imagination…
First off, the facts. From Gizmodo:
The Apple/Google divorce continues to come into focus: Apple quietly bought Placebase, a mapping service company, back in July. Apple doesn’t buy companies it’s not going to use. Meaning, Apple’s getting into making their own maps. Peace out, Google.
According to Gizmodo, the main reason for the purchase was the fact that the application had a very good API with great customization abilities.
Many astute commenters in the Gizmodo article point out that if Apple takes Google Maps off of the iPhone, they will encounter many issues, including not having many key Google Map features (streetview, traffic).
My guess is that Apple will use this aquisition for several purposes.
A) Geotagging. The iPhone is becoming one of the most popular cameras on Flickr. I bet that Apple will use this company to expand their photo geo tagging features, implanting the equivalent to an Eye-Fi into the iPhone.
B) For iPhone Apps. When Apple first released the capability to have turn-by-turn apps in the app store, the stated one key limit. You cannot use Google Maps for the apps. While this was most likely done for legal purposes and other apps have taken unique paths to fulfill turn by turn apps, a native turn by turn app would be amazing.
What do you think of the maps company acquisition? Let us know in the comments.
Photo: Chris Blakeley
Post by Looming Tech. Find us on Twitter and check out our other blog, Squealing Rat.
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TechCrunch recently came out with this article on the future of tablets. This part is particularly interesting:
So what can we expect in the next year? Well, first we have the CrunchPad. When all the bugs are worked out, it will be an amazing device – I’ve seen it. And I’m not just saying that because I’ve been intimately involved in the design process, because I wasn’t – that gives me a bit of perspective. Expect the CrunchPad to be a excellent device for blogging – that’s what Mike made it for – and for web apps. Don’t expect much in the way of media.
Then there’s the iPad. This will eclipse the industry and for the rest of the year that’s all you’ll hear about. Trust me. Apple could require you to give this device three drops of blood every morning in order to satisfy the demonic hell-beast soul trapped inside it and we would, gladly. The release will be on par with the iPhone release and they’ll sell a million of them.
Then you have Microsoft’s Courier. It’s impressive, but it’s Microsoft; don’t expect that thing to take shape for two years and don’t expect it to take off until the second generation. Like the Zune, Microsoft will make a product but they won’t make it good until they have a little time to mull it over. I don’t think the Courier will be a player in 2010.
As for the rest of the devices, expect slow uptake by price conscious consumers and folks who don’t think it’s “cool†to own “name brand†technology and are real “hackers†(read: teenagers and European students). Archos,
for example, is doing a lot of good work in the tablet space but they’re an also-ran. They are going the Tablet OS route, which is no good. Creative has some devices planned and it’s also clear that ChromeOS could power a nice device – provided HTC makes it.
As for connectivity most of these will have a 3G option – although I doubt the iPad will have 3G built-in. WiFi is an obvious second-best.
As for size, tablets, at least with capacitive screens, are weighed down by a huge hunk of metal that shields the electronics from the screen. This hunk of metal – and the glass – prevents us from getting a bigger iPod Touch and is what is keeping the iPad from coming out sooner. Once the world’s (i.e. China’s) scientists solve this problem we’ll get what we want. Until then it’s resistive all the way.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
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