Thursday, March 19, 2009
IBM developerWorks offers free e-Kits. E-Kits give you a collection of tutorials, articles, webcasts, podcasts, and demos about a particular product, task, or role.
They have a Web 2.0 e-kit which states, "Organizations want to take advantage of open, flexible Web 2.0 technologies. They want to use social software and mash-ups to add a new dimension of imagination and innovation. IBM's Web 2.0 solutions are already helping businesses apply Web 2.0 technologies across the globe to gain a competitive advantage."
Other e-kits include: IBM Rational Build Forge Demos, Software Developer e-Kit and IBM Business Analyst e-Kit to name a few. Definitely worth checking out for some good resources.
*~*~*
Remember the restaurant I wrote about which had touchscreen tables to order your food and also to play games while you wait?
Microsoft has a touchscreen coffee table concept which is very cool. Microsoft Surface is without a doubt one of the coolest coffee tables I've ever seen. But of course, this isn't your average coffee table, this is a multimedia hub that'll allow you to browse all kinds of multimedia through an incredibly responsive Natural User Interface.
Microsoft is only really looking at commercial sales just now with half an eye on integrating one of these things into a kitchen table or worksurface in a few year's time.
*~*~*
Time Warner's Time Inc. (TWX) invited the press to its midtown headquarters yesterday to show off the latest and greatest at the publishing group's digital portfolio. But while Time is happy to boast about its online audience, it is also acknowledging that Web advertising alone may not be enough these days. So it's going to start charging readers.
PaidContent's Staci Kramer got a Time Inc. official to provide an equally vague take: "There is nothing specific to point to now but you can expect some experiments within six to eight months. We're also looking closely at devices and applications and pricing and business models associated with those."
The upshot: You're going to see more and more publishers at least fiddle with the notion of getting readers to pay for something online. The New York Times (NYT), for instance, has been publicly musing about this for some time now.
*~*~*
The first generation of Chevy Volt extended-range electric cars, at the center of General Motors' financial viability plan, has yet to hit showrooms. But that (along with its financial troubles) hasn't kept GM from working on generations two and three, the company said in a call with reporters this morning. GM said that in fact the parallel projects were a sign of the automaker's long-term commitment to electric vehicles for the mass market.
To be sure, gen-one Volts will be on the expensive side for an average car buyer - in the neighborhood of $40,000, according to former Volt frontman Bob Lutz, or about twice the cost anticipated for the new Honda Insight hybrid. This makes government incentives for fuel-efficient vehicles especially important in GM's plan for the Volt. "First-generation technology is expensive," said Bob Kruse, GM's executive director of global vehicle engineering for hybrids, electric vehicles and batteries. "Incentives help make it viable."
In short, GM is still counting on the government far too much. And $40,000 is definitely too expensive for the average car buyer. Especially considering the cost of maintenance on these gen-one Volts.
They have a Web 2.0 e-kit which states, "Organizations want to take advantage of open, flexible Web 2.0 technologies. They want to use social software and mash-ups to add a new dimension of imagination and innovation. IBM's Web 2.0 solutions are already helping businesses apply Web 2.0 technologies across the globe to gain a competitive advantage."
Other e-kits include: IBM Rational Build Forge Demos, Software Developer e-Kit and IBM Business Analyst e-Kit to name a few. Definitely worth checking out for some good resources.
*~*~*
Remember the restaurant I wrote about which had touchscreen tables to order your food and also to play games while you wait? Microsoft has a touchscreen coffee table concept which is very cool. Microsoft Surface is without a doubt one of the coolest coffee tables I've ever seen. But of course, this isn't your average coffee table, this is a multimedia hub that'll allow you to browse all kinds of multimedia through an incredibly responsive Natural User Interface.
Microsoft is only really looking at commercial sales just now with half an eye on integrating one of these things into a kitchen table or worksurface in a few year's time.
*~*~*
Time Warner's Time Inc. (TWX) invited the press to its midtown headquarters yesterday to show off the latest and greatest at the publishing group's digital portfolio. But while Time is happy to boast about its online audience, it is also acknowledging that Web advertising alone may not be enough these days. So it's going to start charging readers.
PaidContent's Staci Kramer got a Time Inc. official to provide an equally vague take: "There is nothing specific to point to now but you can expect some experiments within six to eight months. We're also looking closely at devices and applications and pricing and business models associated with those."
The upshot: You're going to see more and more publishers at least fiddle with the notion of getting readers to pay for something online. The New York Times (NYT), for instance, has been publicly musing about this for some time now.
*~*~*
The first generation of Chevy Volt extended-range electric cars, at the center of General Motors' financial viability plan, has yet to hit showrooms. But that (along with its financial troubles) hasn't kept GM from working on generations two and three, the company said in a call with reporters this morning. GM said that in fact the parallel projects were a sign of the automaker's long-term commitment to electric vehicles for the mass market.
To be sure, gen-one Volts will be on the expensive side for an average car buyer - in the neighborhood of $40,000, according to former Volt frontman Bob Lutz, or about twice the cost anticipated for the new Honda Insight hybrid. This makes government incentives for fuel-efficient vehicles especially important in GM's plan for the Volt. "First-generation technology is expensive," said Bob Kruse, GM's executive director of global vehicle engineering for hybrids, electric vehicles and batteries. "Incentives help make it viable."
In short, GM is still counting on the government far too much. And $40,000 is definitely too expensive for the average car buyer. Especially considering the cost of maintenance on these gen-one Volts.
Labels: GM, IBM, Microsoft, time inc, touchscreen
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