Un laptop à un euro pour bientôt?

Un modèle initié par les opérateurs téléphoniques

Mon premier téléphone portable (un sorte de grosse brique grise signée Bouygues Telecom) était onéreux à l'achat et s'accompagnait d'un forfait non moins onéreux.

Puis les opérateurs téléphoniques, sans doute soumis à un marché de plus en plus compétitif, firent progressivement évoluer leur modèle vers une approche où le coût du périphérique était absorbé par le prix de l'accès au service. On vit alors surgir des offres où, sous réserve d'engagement longue durée, on offrait un mobile d'entrée de gamme pour un euro symbolique.

La déclinaison sur les smartphones

Le marché des smart phones semble connaître aujourd'hui le même type de mutation avec des périphériques "low-cost" toujours plus puissants associés à des offres longue durée (24 mois en règle générale).

Le "cloud", nouveau champ de bataille

Bref, ce n'est plus le plus le matériel que l'on vent, mais le service et l'accès à celui-ci. Les grands acteurs - Apple, Google, Microsoft et bien d'autres - l'ont bien compris et ont déjà déplacé la ligne de front vers le "cloud".

Google et même allé plus loin, en proposant le ChromeBook, laptop "low-cost" nativement connecté et entièrement conçu autour de son offre de service.

Alors, à quand un laptop à 1€?

The era of cloud computing

The era of cloud computing

Via NY Times : The era of cloud computing

Countries visited by my 10 years old daughter

Map can not be displayed

It has been a long time since last post... I had recently a discussion with my ten y.o. daughter and we imagined to colorized on a map every country she already visited. We could do it of course on a classical map with pencils, but this was also a good opportunity to use google chart API. And here we are...

Grams, le frère jumeau obscur de Google

Pour toutes les personnes à la recherche d'un produit licite, il y a Google. Et pour les autres, il y'a Grams...

Avec un look & feel en tout point ressemblant à Google, Grams propose de manière à l'utilisateur l'accès à des produits illicites (drogues, armes, faux papiers... - ça y est je suis repéré par la NSA) en toute discrétion.

Là ou l'affaire prend toute sa saveur, c'est que la condition sine qua non pour acceder à Grams est de passer par le réseau TOR (The Onion Ring) dont l'objectif est de transmettre de façon anonyme les flux internet.

Or ce réseau alternatif est financé pour 3/5ème par le gouvernement américain, pour 1/5ème par des bénévoles et pour le reste par des fondations et donateurs divers dont... Google.

Je me fais alors la reflexion suivante : en creant Internet, l'homme a donné vie à un monde parallèle, virtuel mais néanmoins en interaction avec son réel. Avait-il alors conscience que l'Abel ainsi engendré aurait un jour son Caïn? Que nous réserve ce "Shadow Internet" dont les buts libertaires éminemment louables permettent d'engendrer de tels dérives?

Google Patents Tiny Cameras Embedded In Contact Lenses from TechCrunch

http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/14/google-patents-tiny-cameras-embedded-in-contact-lenses/?ncid=rss

This is the natural next step after Google glass : contact lenses. When you see how violent may be the reactions of some people in front of Google glass wearer, you may imagine that this would be obviously a more discrete way to capture videos.

Such a thing also confirm Google's interest for health stuff by the way.

Google Glass : elles seront mises en vente le 15 avril aux Etats-Unis

http://www.fredzone.org/ventes-google-glass-112

C'est une nouvelle façon de gérer la pénurie permettant également au consommateur final de toucher du doigt le produit de demain... Et donc d'obtenir un retour d'expérience pertinent.

Reste une question : quelles sont les applications disponibles sur ces Google glass pour le tout un chacun? Si elles s'avèrent limitées, le retour pourrait en être défavorable.

Vers une tablette tactile sous Chrome OS pour la fin du mois ?

http://www.fredzone.org/vers-une-tablette-tactile-sous-chrome-os-pour-la-fin-du-mois-039

www.synapteek.fr

Et Google ré-inventa l'intelligence artificielle

Just what do you think you're doing, Dave... Via FrAndroid : La fonction "OK Google" se répand sur les terminaux français et allemands

'Powered by Androïd' on new Androïd phones

Via Venture Beat : Google forces 'Powered by Androïd' branding on new android phones
A new step to empower Androïd as a brand on phone market.

Apple lance iOS in the Car avec Ferrari, Mercedes et Volvo

Ca y est, c'est officiel, Apple lance "iOS in the car". Pas de chance pour les marques françaises qui ratent le coche. Tout comme les marques américaines d'ailleurs, ce qui est plus étonnant.

Google, lui, s'est associé à Audi, Honda, General Motors et d'autres pour former l'Open Automotive Alliance.

De son côté, Microsoft vient de présenter un pré-version de "Windows in the car" dont les fonctionnalités semblent équivalentes mais qui nécessite encore de petits coups de tournevis pour être fiable...

Toujours est-il que le créneau de la voiture "intelligente" semble bel et bien devenir un enjeu majeur de la compétition entre les grands noms du secteur.

• iOS in the car sur iGen : iOS in the car
• Windows in the car sur iGen : Windows in the car
• Open Automotive Alliance sur TheVerge : Google open automotive alliance

Microsoft reportedly dropping licensing fees for Windows 8.1 amid competition from Apple and Google

Google and Apple definitely shaked the PC market.

A quick return of experience on Google App Engine

Architecture of the Google App Engine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Offers on cloud computing are growing faster nowadays. In this article, I propose to have a look on Google with its Google App Engine platform (GAE) that I had the opportunity to use recently.

GAE was first released in April 2008 and is based on a Python web-server. The offer consists of
an out-of-the-box application platform including a development kit, an application server, a non-relational data store as well as a huge bunch of web-services that can be used freely or through a pay-per-use scheme.

Provided with the standard GAE plateform is a no-SQL database accessible through either Java or Python API (this last one being apparently the preferred one for the access to the data store)

GAE pricing model follows a pay-per-use scheme with a free start and fees to pay when quotas are reached.
In the same way, used services (search, geolocalization...) are available through a pay-per-use scheme with a free start for non professional use.

I tried Google App Engine with Java recently and was quite satisfied with the whole ecosystem. In order to access to the database, I also add the ORM Objectify that greatly accelerated my development.
I particularly liked the integration with Eclipse, which is the Java IDE that I use. The data store use was a bit weird for me as the beginning and I had to change my relational schemes way-of-thinking.

The only point I may raised would concern the migration of the hosting of the application from the GAE environment to an other one (for instance not submitted to Patriot Act). But this will be another story...

Related articles

• Google App Engine Logo Sharkon Gets A Makeover (vlogg.com)


• Google app engine website hosting using external host domain (stackoverflow.com)


• Why we are moving away from Google App Engine (conceptcodify.com)

A new strategy for Microsoft?

We just heard about Steve Ballmer leaving that Microsoft announces the acquisition of Nokia. What may be considered as a good opportunity for these two companies reveals a strong change in Microsoft strategy for mobile web market.

Taking aside the painful experience of Surface tablet, Microsoft have never been considered (yes "considered" - just have a look at the secret history of Microsoft hardware - to see their hardware realizations beyond mices and keyboards) as a pure player in hardware. But it was at least not a fully vertically integrated one.
On its side, Apple, with a converging OS for Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad proposed a fully integrated (locked) vision to its end-users from years now. One like it or not, but such is the proposal.
Google, which once was its is a full software provider is now selling tablets, smartphones... on an integrated (but open) schema.

So times are changing and Apple vision of a vertically integrated model providing services to end-users through a cloud model seems to be promising.
Google understood some months ago and is clearly in first position. Apple stays on its positions but loses drastically market shares as the time goes by. Microsoft, on its turn, is changing its mind and strategy, acquiring one of the most experienced company in mobile phone devices. Won't it be to late?

Related articles

• Roundup: What's next for Microsoft? Tech executives speak out (techrepublic.com)


• For Steve Ballmer, a lasting touch on Microsoft (tech.fortune.cnn.com)


• Microsoft may be desperate enough to offer Windows Phone and Windows RT for free (pcworld.com)

A watch, a TV set, or new glasses. What would you prefer for Christmas?

This is clearly the point, who will present the most innovative device for next year?

- Samsung with its "Galaxy gear", to be unveiled on the 4th of September,

- Apple with its "iWatch" for fall of 2013, or - why not - the so often promised Apple TV (see What if Apple's iWatch is a TV?)

- Google with its "Glass" - currently under experiment by chosen users - that may be released for end of 2013.

Anyway, whoever will be the great winner of next months, the technological race has never been so interesting, and innovation is at its climax.

On my point of view, connected watch (whatever you call them, SmartWatch, iWatch or Galaxy gear) do not make the "Whaoooo" effect that I had some years before with the iPod touch, but I may be wrong. Especially if manufacturers manage to make them an essential device for end-users as they did it with smartphones (by the way, will we need smartphones in 2 or 3 years if we all have connected watches ?).

Connected TV sets may certainly be improved, but the concept is already there and could then not be such a disruptive innovation (here again, I may be wrong...).

But what about this smart glasses? Here is the best product I can see in the next months. It is mainly presented today as an embedded video device. But what a great potential if you mix Internet information with it !

So, what would be in your own letter to Santa?

Related articles

• Apple iWatch specs, price and release date (thenewstribe.com)


• Samsung Sells Just 50,000 Galaxy Gear Smart Watches, Exec Says Product is Unripe (macrumors.com)


• Smart Watches Will Improve With Time, And Will Help Computers Conquer The Wrist (embargozone.com)