Gadgetoff 2007:
Was invited to attend this very interesting Geekfest last Friday. Got to see and try some really cool stuff. Check out the video captured by the New York Mag team. I am in one of the frames watching the flame-thrower cook a steak. It did not taste bad. :-)

How many Virtual Worlds are out there?
45+ based on this spreadsheet I came across on VirtualWorldsNews.com:
Virtual Worlds Platform Matrix by VirtualWorldsNews.com

This is also the first public use of Google Spreadsheets that I have seen!

Euro think tank recommends unbundling Windows from PCs

Read this article on InforWorld. I fully agree with the suggestion. However, it is the hardware vendors who have to take the lead. Dell and HP should realize that it is in their best interest to take charge of the software on their commodity hardware.

SecondLife Tycoon
I had heard of Anshe Chung as the First SecondLife Millionaire. I visited her web-site today: http://www.anshechung.com/. WOW! I looked at the Chat tool imvu. It looks really cool. Will try it with someone soon.

Photo: The avatar (Anshe Chung) and the real (Ailin Graef).

Secrets of success at Apple
We engineers need to learn from what makes Apple so successful. Interesting article I just saw on InfoWorld.

Apple beating Dell
I just saw this article on Infoworld: Dell takes huge hit as Apple laptop sales soar!

We surely played our part. As our Dell laptop reached 5 years, we bought two Apple laptops over the summer. I think that not owning the OS and software is a huge drawback for PC hardware manufacturers. The future battle for computers will be fought on software and not just on supply-chain efficiency. Microsoft carries too much baggage and has to satisfy too many platforms to create "transformational" innovation. Vista underwhelms!

The strategy to move the Mac to the Intel microprocessor was masterful and extremely well executed. PC users moving to Apple now have their security blanket, just-in-case.

My bets are that Apple will beat Dell in laptop sales in the next 18 - 24 months!

V Cool Site to check Flight Status
I came across this site for tracking airline flights: Flightaware. Check it out!

I wonder when I can get a widget!

:-(
Sorry for the complete silence. Have been focused on things other than technology over most of the summer. Will be back around the end of August.

Future Wireless Data Speeds
Just read this article in Infoworld. I am blown away by the numbers!

• NTT DoCoMo is testing Super 3G technology that is expected to deliver 300Mbps down-link speed. They hope to deploy this in 2009.
• Last December, they also tested 4G technology to deliver nearly 5Gbps on a receiver moving at 10 miles per hour

I will bet that all user interfaces will move to 3D Metaverse and streaming video will become the primary means of communications and entertainment on wireless devices.

Juniper forecast on mobile payments
Juniper forecasts that by 2011, Mobile Payments will generate almost $22bn of transactions and be adopted by 204m mobile phone users (press release). A few highlights:

• SMS based Person2Person (P2P) fund transfers and payments will drive the developing world mPayment market (obopay etc.)
• Adequate supply of contactless chip enabled devices, NFC and FeliCa, to enable over 52m mobile phone users to make physical payments (Nokia, Motorola, Visa, etc.)