Thursday, May 8, 2003
Mobius Day Four: Last Day in Geek Paradise
Posted by Jason Dunn in "THOUGHT" @ 01:30 PM
Hardy Poppinga presented on the second day of Mobius, and his topic was Media2Go. Media2Go is a software reference platform based on Windows CE .NET. OEM partners like Viewsonic, Samsung, Sanyo, and Creative Labs are making devices based on this platform that Microsoft has created. The focus of Medis2Go is digital media: video, music, and photos. The base reference spec uses a 20 GB hard drive, and battery life is up to six hours – four 90 minute movies or 120 songs. Synchronization is accomplished using USB 2.0, and they’ve used the same cable for re-charging the device, which is superb. It's nice to see the USB camp has learned a few things from the Firewire camp.
Figure 1: An early prototype of a Media2Go device. It was pretty heavy and chunky, but Hardy assured us that final hardware from OEM partners will be much nicer.
When it came to deciding who to target the Media2Go platform at, Microsoft did consumer surveys asking people where they would use the Media2Go device. The top two scenarios were public transit and during periods of relaxation. Other scenarios include using it while shopping, riding a bike, driving, and exercising. I don’t quite grasp why driving would be on that list, because even listening to music with headphones while driving is extremely dangerous, so perhaps they meant "as a passenger in a car". I hope.
Figure 2: The Media2Go interface.
Figure 3: The Media2Go interface with album art displayed
Media playback supported includes MPEG4, Windows Media Video, Windows Media Audio. I asked about MP3 support, or other media support, and he wasn't sure. This was a bit of a shock, because media support would seem to be a key feature. I'm willing to bet that it supports MP3 though, and that they're using a variation of the 9 Series Windows Media Player for the Pocket PC. Of course, going against this point is the fact that Media2Go supports the Plus! Sync 'N Go, which doesn't support MP3 at all (a frustrating limitation). So, really, I'm just guessing because no one seems to know for sure. Speaking of those files, meta data is critical to listing the audio and video files – without the proper meta data, listings won’t be accurate.
The reference design uses a 3.8” touch screen, and both video (composite RCA) and audio (composite RCA stereo). Hardy spoke about Microsoft’s desire to see integrated Bluetooth, and with the platform being based on Windows CE .NET, they’ll have Bluetooth driver support right out of the box. The real question is whether or not the OEMs who are building these devices will include Bluetooth. With a maximum throughput of about 80 KB/s, that's pretty slow to transfer gigs of data. Bluetooth headphones would be a killer scenario though!
They expect to see partners shipping Media2Go products for the Christmas 2003 season.
City Without Wires
Next up we had Steven Berlin Johnson giving us a presentation dubbed "City Without Wires". It’s difficult to summarize what Steven talked about – he's one of those guys who's great to listen to (much like Clay Shirkey). He talked about the importance of filtering being applied to collective intelligence. A good example of this is the system that eBay has in place – their feedback system, by and large, is an effective way of gathering millions of opinions together, and applying filters to those opinions. He also talked about micro-communities connecting in real space (ie: the real world) assisted by online tools like www.meetup.com. This site organizes local interests group. People identify themselves from virtual communities, then geographically, and when enough people with the same interests and in the same location are brought together online, they can connect in the real world.
Figure 4: Steven Berlin Johnson
I had exactly the same idea for Pocket PC User Groups.com almost two years ago – I wanted to create a system whereby people could come, register, and indicate they were interested in starting a user group in certain geographic area. After the system recognized that 'x' users in the same area were in the system, it would contact them all and create an online usergroup for them. So many good ideas, so little time and programming skill. ;-) Steven has a brilliant mind, so I've added a few of his books onto my Amazon wishlist. Great stuff!
Wrap-Up
We had a few more discussions as a group, including some great brain-storming sessions about mobile blogging, then Mobius was over. The conference lasts for a day and a half, which is sort of a pity considering how long some of us travelled to get there. Still, I wouldn't trade it for anything – I always enjoy Mobius events. They're very mind-expanding because I get to talk to other platform enthusiasts like myself, and I can understand why they've chosen their particular devices to champion.
And that's it for Mobius! I've included here a few snapshots of my trip - enjoy!
Figure 1: An early prototype of a Media2Go device. It was pretty heavy and chunky, but Hardy assured us that final hardware from OEM partners will be much nicer.
When it came to deciding who to target the Media2Go platform at, Microsoft did consumer surveys asking people where they would use the Media2Go device. The top two scenarios were public transit and during periods of relaxation. Other scenarios include using it while shopping, riding a bike, driving, and exercising. I don’t quite grasp why driving would be on that list, because even listening to music with headphones while driving is extremely dangerous, so perhaps they meant "as a passenger in a car". I hope.
Figure 2: The Media2Go interface.
Figure 3: The Media2Go interface with album art displayed
Media playback supported includes MPEG4, Windows Media Video, Windows Media Audio. I asked about MP3 support, or other media support, and he wasn't sure. This was a bit of a shock, because media support would seem to be a key feature. I'm willing to bet that it supports MP3 though, and that they're using a variation of the 9 Series Windows Media Player for the Pocket PC. Of course, going against this point is the fact that Media2Go supports the Plus! Sync 'N Go, which doesn't support MP3 at all (a frustrating limitation). So, really, I'm just guessing because no one seems to know for sure. Speaking of those files, meta data is critical to listing the audio and video files – without the proper meta data, listings won’t be accurate.
The reference design uses a 3.8” touch screen, and both video (composite RCA) and audio (composite RCA stereo). Hardy spoke about Microsoft’s desire to see integrated Bluetooth, and with the platform being based on Windows CE .NET, they’ll have Bluetooth driver support right out of the box. The real question is whether or not the OEMs who are building these devices will include Bluetooth. With a maximum throughput of about 80 KB/s, that's pretty slow to transfer gigs of data. Bluetooth headphones would be a killer scenario though!
They expect to see partners shipping Media2Go products for the Christmas 2003 season.
City Without Wires
Next up we had Steven Berlin Johnson giving us a presentation dubbed "City Without Wires". It’s difficult to summarize what Steven talked about – he's one of those guys who's great to listen to (much like Clay Shirkey). He talked about the importance of filtering being applied to collective intelligence. A good example of this is the system that eBay has in place – their feedback system, by and large, is an effective way of gathering millions of opinions together, and applying filters to those opinions. He also talked about micro-communities connecting in real space (ie: the real world) assisted by online tools like www.meetup.com. This site organizes local interests group. People identify themselves from virtual communities, then geographically, and when enough people with the same interests and in the same location are brought together online, they can connect in the real world.
Figure 4: Steven Berlin Johnson
I had exactly the same idea for Pocket PC User Groups.com almost two years ago – I wanted to create a system whereby people could come, register, and indicate they were interested in starting a user group in certain geographic area. After the system recognized that 'x' users in the same area were in the system, it would contact them all and create an online usergroup for them. So many good ideas, so little time and programming skill. ;-) Steven has a brilliant mind, so I've added a few of his books onto my Amazon wishlist. Great stuff!
Wrap-Up
We had a few more discussions as a group, including some great brain-storming sessions about mobile blogging, then Mobius was over. The conference lasts for a day and a half, which is sort of a pity considering how long some of us travelled to get there. Still, I wouldn't trade it for anything – I always enjoy Mobius events. They're very mind-expanding because I get to talk to other platform enthusiasts like myself, and I can understand why they've chosen their particular devices to champion.
And that's it for Mobius! I've included here a few snapshots of my trip - enjoy!
