We’ve all assisted Google launching the Premiere web applications package a few days ago. Some of us considered switching, some of us are still holding the grounds, but one thing is certain. There will be debates. Google is obviously trying to conquer Microsoft’s office suite market and they’re playing it rough. Let see a few reasons in favor or against the migration to the new service.

In favor:
* The price - Instead of paying ~$500 for the full Microsoft Office suite, you might as well pay $50/year to Google. I am not referring to the price per quality ratio right now. It’s strictly about the price. It’s cheaper, even on a long term basis.
* Remote accessibility - With Google, your documents will be accessible from almost everywhere. And you’ll see why I’m phrasing it like that a bit later. However, your data is accessible with every computer with an internet connection.
* Minimum computing power - Since everything is browser-based and you will not run any third-parties on your own machine, the computing power is reduced significantly, transforming even those old computers into something useful.

I am not going to discuss the so-called security advantages, since it’s all relative, but I am going to mention the fact that with Google office apps, you will get rid of those updating procedures you got used to with Microsoft, you won’t have to worry about license restrictions, and you won’t have to spend time and resources installing the suite when you feel like adding a few computers to the network.
Read the rest of this entry »

The other day I stumbled upon midomi, a website that’s based on a brilliant idea. You know the times when you know a song by it’s rhythm, but not by its name? The website allows you to search through tunes by humming a part of the song, or directly by typing its name. I’ve tried out midomi and, honestly, I found no replies that matched the song I was singing. Well, to be entirely honest, I have no singing voice whatsoever, so that must be the reason for my bad search. But the website has its vulnerabilities, which I’m going to point out next:

1. The human factor
As it is the case in every project that relies on people, this website is no exception, and is exposed to human error. I’ve encountered several renditions that were far from perfect. Songs that are interpreted awful, or that are interpreted good but the background noise is too loud that it will disrupt any search. Plus, I’ve found songs by Eminem sung by girls, songs by Madonna and Fergie sung by men, and so on.

2. The machine factor
As it is the case with mobile phones, where, in order to access a Voice Tag, you have to repeat yourself several times, this type of search isn’t a hundred percent perfect. Even if you have tried your best to make the song sound as close as possible to the real thing, chances are that, even if the right search is displayed, it might be behind a dozen other bad results.

3. The spam factor
This is a constant threat to every person that runs a website nowadays. YouTube has plenty of spam (may it be in its videos, or in the users’ mailboxes, as I’ve come to know when I received a couple these past few weeks), and it is a much larger company. I haven’t found any spam messages, but I’m sure that, as the website will gain in popularity, they will appear. I’ve also run a small “experiment”, I’ve recorded a piece of a song (with my bad voice and all), and submitted it. No moderation, it went directly into the archives, waiting to be found by the next person. With this in mind, it would be fairly easy for somebody to add a piece of recording that can be described as spam.

With this in mind, I think that midomi.com will spend some time in Beta, as they have plenty to work on.

Converting files from one format to another is a necessity and you don’t need me to tell you that. A few years ago, software programs that were converting WAVs to MP3s, AVIs to MPEGs,were pretty much popular, although their abilities were limited to just a few features and not to mention the low format support.

Today, they do have some serious competition, and I am going to present you the most reliable options. The main advantage of what I’m going to present is that you do not need to download nor buy any software. They’re mostly free and accessible via your web browser. Some projects may be still in the beta stage of development, but I can assure you that everything goes safe and sound. Try them out yourself, and feel free to share opinions.
Read the rest of this entry »

They’re powerful, they’re cool and they are the smallest printers ever made. The perfect choice for traveling, these little gadgets are not expensive as it may seem. In fact, they’re quite affordable, and they will definitely match your portable notebook. They’re all developed by PrintDreams along with their patented technologies, RMPT lite and RMPT full.
Feel free to check them out. I can fully guarantee they’ll make great presents.

The Xyron Design Runner is probably world’s coolest creative tool. The first printer from the series, running their RMPT lite technology, the little printer is is a cordless, battery operated, handheld device that allows creative users to print a large variety of letters, shapes, icons, WordArt, borders and phrases directly into their projects. Creative users appreciate the fact that it is possible to print directly in media types that would never fit into a conventional printer device, thus allowing exceptional flexibility. There’s no need of a computer, wires or complicated download processes. The Xyron Design Runner retails somewhere around $160.

The Whooosh is scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2007 and it’s expected to be the coolest printer device. Using PrintDreams’ RMPT full technology, this will be the ideal tool to complement common drawing activities and make them even more fun and creative than ever. Users will be able to print out their favorite movie characters, figures, animals and much more directly in drawing books or other surfaces no matter format or size. Kids can also create their own art and uploaded to empty memory cards through an optional USB memory card burner accessory. The expected price will be around $150.

The PrintBrush is the smallest printer ever made that can print full size format (A4 or letter size). Featuring the RMPT full technology, this gadget is expected to launch within one year from now. It will retail around $200 and in many ways, it will be even better than stationary printers or other so called “mobile” printers. For example, it will be possible to print directly in notebooks or other media that would never fit into a conventional printer device. It will also be completely silent allowing you to print during ongoing meetings, etc. On top of all that, no wires, no cables, no mess.

I’m looking forward to try and closely review at least one of these little gadgets.

Yes, it is cool, despite the fact that it doesn’t rely on gadgets, and stuff that we seem to rely on nowadays. The only bad thing is that it’s not real, yet. It is the product of an ingenious designer called Rune Larsen. If the name rings a bell, he is the same person that designed the Tiny phone - the one not much larger than a toothpick. But, despite the earlier version, this is much more realistic when it comes to building it. There’s much more room for the battery, microphone, antenna, and the other essential stuff you can find inside a phone.

According to the inventor, the phone is equipped like a 1996 one (I wish I had one of these back in 1996). It is 5.5 centimeters tall closed, and 9 centimeters open.

In a world dominated by the arrival of the iPhone, I must say that, given the choice, I’d buy one of these in a heartbeat, just for the fun of having it. Here are some other photos of the older phone (Tiny Phone), and the Eclipse Phone. (click to enlarge).

Writing important text in a browser window can be an awful experience, especially if the written text exceeds a few rows. Supposing you have a Wordpress blog out there, you would normally connect to the admin interface and type the text into an online form, editing and formatting it by hand. If your browser crashes, or if your Internet connection drops, you know as well as I do that some of the text you typed *might* be lost. And if you compare the editing form with a traditional word processor such as Word, you find a big difference between the available features.

Like I said, a big reason for the difference mentioned above is that Word can take advantage of the processing power that you have at home, while your browser needs to stay lightweight to transfer data quickly over the network. These applications function more like traditional word-processing applications and offer some extended features that your browser doesn’t offer. To get started, you simply need time to experiment. I am going to present a desktop blogging client that might change the way you post to your blog.
Read the rest of this entry »

Now here’s a little gadget that aims directly to those that really have money to spend. However, that doesn’t keep us, mortals, to have a look. What you can see in the picture is the world’s most expensive mouse, that costs ~$25,000. The retail price is set at 18,600 Euro.

The product is called the Diamond Flower and is being produced by Pat Says Now. You might be wondering why a simple concept as a computer mouse can be so expensive. Well, 59 brilliants are scattered all over the mouse’s surface. Also the main surface is made out of 18-K white gold. Out of the 59 stones I mentioned, one is about 4mm in diameter, practically doubling the others.

After reading a few details on the producer’s website, I noticed that technically speaking, the gadget is just a plain old computer mouse. Has 3 buttons, a scrolling wheel, PS/2-USB connectivity PC or MAC. What I’m showing you in the picture is the scattered version of the mouse, but its name (Diamond Flower) comes from another designed version of the product, one whose brilliants are arranged to form a flower silhouette.

Personally, even if I’d have that much money to practically throw away, I wouldn’t spend them on this kind of a gadget. What about you?