It really is touching the future.. Industry Pundits worldwide are already calling the iPad a big failure. People have gone on to say that the iPhone was one of the last great things we would ever see from the iconic Steve Jobs. The iPad in many ways is something that is radically new than just trying to innovate an existing market that the iPod and iPhone lines have done.

The iPad is Apple’s Computer for the rest of us. By the rest of us, I mean the people who aren’t in the Technology profession. Tech Enthusiasts world over have been crying foul that the iPad is not open and they cannot install apps of their choice. I’d have loved it if Apple allowed open App Development on the iPad without being dependent on the App Store, but the fact remains in doing so they would be jeopardizing the Experience that Apple has built around its platform.

I’m a student of Computer Science and I appreciate the power that my MacBook Pro or my Dell PC offers me, but everytime my Mom wants to send an email to somebody there are just too many steps involved with both of these platforms. But she understands how the iPhone works, it really is that simple. When I showed her the iPad video the only thing she said was I’d love to have this thing.

And it is then that realization struck me that Apple isn’t making the iPad for us Tech Enthusiasts who live by the night trying to code or to fix a bug but for the proverbial Mom who is looking for simple solutions to her problems.

Does she need Photoshop on her iPad? Does she need something like uTorrent running on her iPad? Heck No. I could easily say that atleast 80% of the Internet Connected Population uses the Internet for just EMail, Chat, Social Networking and Blogs. And the iPad solves the problem of the majority and not that of us minority who live by Technology.

Before I proceed further I want you all to watch the iPad Introduction Video. Watch it till the end, and try to gel everything that I’ve said thus far with what you see.

So why is that Tech Bloggers, the Media is calling the iPad a big failure?

First of all the print industry is scared to deaths that iPad will take over the Publishing industry. I can very well see the day when we will be reading magazines in full color and gloss on an iPad flipping through the pages just like what we do in a real magazine or a book.

And Second us the Tech Bloggers, Coders, Programmers, Computer Mechanics or whatever. We are obviously scared that we will loose our God like status in the society. Have you ever seen the pleasure that a Techie derives when he helps the average guy next door send an email or fix whatever the issue with his PC not booting up.

With the iPad, Apple is giving all these average next door neighbors a device so sexy and so easy that they won’t need us Techies anymore. Everything is so obvious and straightforward on the iPad. There are no crashes, no viruses, no weird phenomena that we have to come to associate with computing in general over the past decade.

And this is why the iPad is quite literally touching the future. No more confusing User Interfaces. Apple has taken a big step forward with the iPad. Having read elsewhere that iPad is what Apple set out to build, and the iPhone is actually is its child I can very well predict an exciting future for Apple’s MultiTouch Computing Platform.

But that does not mean iPad is not without issues. Here are some things I’d like Apple to fix before the iPad enters the market or atleast in the next product revision.

• MultiTasking
  Yes MultiTasking is a must on the iPad. It makes more sense on an iPhone to not have Multi Tasking with its limited screen estate, but the iPad a big no no. Multi Tasking is a must on the iPad.

  However there are already rumors that iPhone/iPad OS 4.0 will bring Multi Tasking to the platform. Here’s to hoping that these rumors are true.

• USB Interface
  A USB Interface is again a big request. I’d love to see an easy way to transfer my Photos from my Camera and upload it to Facebook or Flickr just like iPhoto already does on the Mac.

  I’d love to be able to complete my Spreadsheet on Numbers and plug in a USB Printer when I arrive at the office and take a quick printout to show it to my boss. The Applications are endless, so please Apple throw in a USB Connector.

• Video Camera
  This is more of a novelty though but it would be nice to do Video Chats with my friends while on the move. Ofcourse a Camera on the back is pretty much pointless because I don’t see people taking pictures with the iPad, but a front facing Camera will be welcome.

So does Apple have a Winner with the iPad? I’d say, Yes! The fundamental we compute is about to change. And Will I buy an iPad? Probably not the first revision, but definitely later. The iPad will make for an amazing second computer.

The world of Internet is constantly changing every minute, and the tools that we use currently can not stand up to our requirements in the future. Which means this is the right time to make some drastic changes in the way we interact with the web and prepare ourselves for the future.

Mozilla labs has put forward a call to anyone in the world to share their vision of how they would like to see the browser or the web in general in the future. Called The Concept Series, the project will track down and share future web concepts submitted through a very simple process. What would you like the web to look like in the future?

UI is very Important

For any application the User Interface is of the utmost importance. A poorly designed software however powerful it is, will turn out to be unusable. With today’s standards, there is so much of untapped potential in User Interface design.

Interface is not all about being pretty and good to look at. Case in point is the iPhone Software design. While the iPhone uses dell and subtle colors in its designs and hardly is good to look at, but is tremendous ease of use and fast response is what sets it apart from the others. I wouldn’t put the HTC touch in the same category as the iPhone even though it has a very pretty interface.

First Round of Concepts

As you would expect, Mozilla began the Concept series on a high note. Three concepts have been submitted so far. All of the three videos are produced by Mozilla, but that shouldn’t stop you from submitting your own concepts, including mockups, prototypes or ideas expressed in any way you feel is best. If you want to submit your own concept follow the  instructions in the Concept Series announcement or just tag an image "mozconcept" on Flickr.

Here are the first round of concepts :

• Aurora Concept Video

Aurora is a concept video presenting one possible future user experience for the Web, created by Adaptive Path as part of the Mozilla Labs concept browser series. Aurora explores new ways people could interact with the Web in the future based on projected technological trends and real-world scenarios. Here is the concept from Adaptive Path

• Bookmarking and History Concept Video

An investigation into a better way of visualizing and interacting with bookmarks, your history, and the browser in general. Here is the concept from Wei Zhou

• Firefox Mobile Concept Video

Firefox is coming to mobile. The innovation, usability, and extensibility that has propelled Firefox to 200 million users is set to do the same for Firefox in a mobile setting. Here is the concept from Aza Raskin

What Would You Like to See ?

Those were some really interesting concepts right? I am making something complex in my mind as I write this, meanwhile what are your thoughts on this initiative? What do you want to see in the Browser of tomorrow?

Feel free to link to your own mockups or ideas in the comments.

If you’re fed up with your current Mobile Phone’s battery, don’t fret, the future of Battery technology, just got brighter, with Nanotechnology promising upto 10 times more battery life. Which means if your battery previously lasted for 6days, it will now last for 60days. Charging your mobile phone only six times a year – imagine that!

Over at Stanford University researchers have found a revolutionary concept, that could forever change this world. They have found a way to use Silicon nanowires in rechargeable Li-ion batteries that power the current generation of batteries in Laptops, Mobile Phones, Camera’s, iPods etc, thus enhancing the storage capacity to upto 10times the existing levels.

“It’s not a small improvement. It’s a revolutionary development”, said Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, who leads the research for the new battery technology.

Well that means. you now need to recharge your Mobile Phone battery once in a couple of months. The same goes for laptops, iPods and other devices. They’ll be able to provide much more battery life between recharges.

A standard Li-ion battery has an electrical storage capacity limited by the amount of lithium that can be retained in the battery’s anode, usually made of carbon. When made of silicon, the anode can retain much more lithium, but silicon’s disadvantage is that it pulverizes during charging cycles, lowering the battery’s performance and life-cycle.

The Stanford research team found a way to avoid this problem, by leveraging on nanotechnology. To store lithium, they use silicon nanowires, each with a diameter one-thousandth the thickness of a paper sheet. When soaking up lithium, the nanowires grow four times their size and then come back to normality, but due to their extremely small wired shape, they don’t fracture in time. Hence silicon is better than carbon after all, it only has to be used as nanowires.

When the batteries are manufactured commercially in the future, things are going to change forever in mobile electronics arena. Imagine charging up your Mobile Phones six times a year!!

Via Softpedia

Omnigo will not be based on DOS like all other versions of Windows have been till now. It won’t be called as Windows Omnigo but just as Omnigo. Omnigo is being built for future devices like the Surface Computer etc.. Omingo is in fast track development and is scheduled for release as early as 2008. Omnigo is being built by the same team that worked on Windows Vista.

Omnigo will be built to work without Keyboards or Mouse, which means that it will be for Touchscreen computers that we will see in the future. Much of the development of Omnigo is still in dark so we don’t really have much information on this.

Windows Vista hasn’t clicked well for Microsoft, so I am sure this time around they are hoping that either Omnigo or Windows 7 will click.

Via ActiveWin

In connection with this Mozilla foundation has made a 12 Point action plan to increase the usage of Firefox as well as its retentivity.

Here are some key points that have been highlighted in the draft document prepared by Mozilla.

Firefox Retention 12 point plan

• Change Firefox icon name to closer resemble action of getting to web
• Force the Firefox icon to easier to find location
• Alter the default browser settings path for better user choice
• Major outbound brand marketing program driving brand recognition and differentiation
• Improve download page and first run pages
• Launch support.mozilla.com
• Make common plug-ins work out of the box
• Make add-ons and personas more accessible
• Make the web feel more human
• Improve messaging through communication channels
• Stickier start page
• Change Firefox icon to closer resemble action of getting to web

The Firefox team has also made up a chart predicting the growth of Firefox to an eventual 30% Marketshare by June 2008.

I belive that this roadmap will be pretty effective in terms of the visibility that Firefox should be getting in the Browser wars as it will increase it manifold. Right now Firefox is limited to mostly geeks who have been totally let down by IE and are on the look of alternatives, this has to change in the future.

For more info on this roadmap prepared by Mozilla with some Mockups please visit the Mozilla Wiki, and if you have any ideas or suggestions please email the Mozilla team at jt[at]mozilla[dot]com.