Apps and Technologies that will rock my world in 2011 (Part 1)

Never before has the technology expanded its outreach as it did in past couple of years. The SMS, Wii, smart connected devices and social networks have fueled technology adaption among the teens putting the American youth "almost" at par with Japan's and Europe's; and ahead in terms of mobile social networking. The government has rightly identified broadband as the key enabler for the applications and services. Broadband is the glue binding the tools which integrate all parts of a users life at one place; where banking, shopping, utilities /home appliance control, entertainment can travel with the person and controlled from a single device, I am not calling a smartphone, because mobility, data and web access are shared domains between smartphones, tablets, netbooks, notebooks, handheld gaming devices, eReaders, UMPCs, EMPCs, MIDs, PDAs etc etc. The phone just happens to be the most endearing of the personal gadgets because of its legacy voice application, but that may change with the almost arrived wireless bandwidths holding the promise to enable IP video and voice telephony on any computing device anywhere. Everything is going mobile, the cloud was yesterdays enabler, today is about the user experience and how to ride the cloud in style.

Here are the technologies that I know will rock my world in 2011.

Mobile Wallet:

The phone first took care of the Rolodex and rid the wallet of the contact book, but this one will take us a step further; no more carrying a fat wallet with an unbalanced gait. America is a laggard in mobile banking to the point where it is behind Eastern Europe in terms of mobile banking subscribers. Part of it is due to easier access to other tech avenues such as PC for banking than say LATM or Eastern blocks (which basically just jumped that phase of tech adaption straight to mobility), but it seems that the connecting technologies such as the NFC, mobile client security, and consumer acceptance along with the understanding between credit issuing, underwriting and clearing agencies have reached a critical mass where the carriers are about to get their wish and their thumbs in the credit value chain pie.

Unified Communication & IP Video Telephony:

Back in the days, about 7 years ago when I was working on the first phone that seamlessly moved a user cell call between WiFi and cellular networks, unified communication was a little known buzz word, but the time for UC has finally arrived and the users will soon have a one place and one ID for their IM, email, short message, voice and video; "unifying" their communication experience; not to overlook the separate components of IP video that is about to make video calling a norm.

Personal shopping Systems:

These have not yet taken off, part because of integration issues with different components and technologies promoted by different stakeholders, and part because of consumer reluctance to its value proposition in saving them time and money. But I believe that the bigger pipes of 3G and now 4G (LTE and WiMax), augmented reality apps along with mobile devices that can scan / download coupons and pay are allowing consumers to run instant checks and checkouts while in the aisle like never before; the increasing user comfort with their personal devices as shopping assistants will also advance the in house loyalty driven department/grocery store PSSs.

Virtual Reality:

Augmented reality, motion sensing, and voice recognition have come to age in Kinect and Wii. Virtual confererences are getting popular, but the day is not far where one instead of dry browsing an item as in touching it with a mouse cursor or a finger tip to expand, shrink, rotate the image; can actually go through an entire mall walk in a store pick an item look at it, move on to another store and so forth all from comfort of their lazy boy. To be honest I don't expect this to rock my world just yet, I mean not in the fullest sphere of my expectations, where I can go to a store and not find a human being but tiny projectors creating holographic humanoids ready to answer all queries and "process" my requests; but then again I don't want to miss cajoling for discounts just yet!

North Korea, an intriguing case study?

I was reading an article with information in it. Useful information because it somewhat satisfied a curiosity. But at the end of a coherent argument the author eventually succumbed to the fear of unknown and brought theology into it, by outlining the arrival of savior to end the east and west feud, resulting in...well head scratching for me.

The question that baffles me is why a starved nation surrounded by influential neighbors tries to rock the boat,..with umm! a missile and basically obliterates.... well, the boat. Strange as North Korean actions are, I don't see satisfaction in resembling them to the commotions of an irrate individual or maybe they are, but not Kim Jong il's!

I am from a country where every few years military coup is fed to the nation in the name of defibrillation of a dying systm, when in reality, it is a life line to the ending or to be ended power of a military leader. There is a similarity in pattern of agitating the world every now and then like a brat, among nations run by dictators, warlords and military leaders. These nations are usually poor, dependent on foreign aid even for necessities like food, high in military might, admant about their nuclear right and the people are usually either too wary, too afraid or fed a steady diet of the "revolutionary" leader, to make a regime change.

After the devastation laid by American bombings in previous war and Russia watching from sidelines, we can hardly assume that the North Korean actions stem from the combined will of it's people, democracy its not.

With a thousand mile border, it is scarcely in interest of China, that North and South go at it again. The refugee problem alone will make China cringe on the thought, but more than that a stronger unified Korea as an aftermath, will probably pose a bigger economic threat. However the pacific is currently controlled by American vessels, and Japan and America just had their biggest ever combined military exercises. This show of power can't just be meant for North Korea. The trade routes now policed by American warships are rather important to China. Neither China nor North Korea are too fond of Japan, and with India also rising to prominence in Asia, China might consider keeping a powerful military ally close by. That doesn't mean that the North's provocations are blessed by China, as an eventual all out Korean war will not be in China's obvious best interests.

The middle east interest in North Korea as an eligible force against Israel, true as it maybe, cannot be larger than the oil producing countries concerns in their biggest oil consuming market, namely USA. And even if the middle eastern nation or nations are arming themselves through North Korea for a possible war against Israel, it is less likely the leverage for North Korea's current military actions, for little assistance can be expected from these countries in case of an all out war.

With powerful military comes, well, powerful generals, which possibly can have designs of starting their own dynasties. After all the only eligibility Kim Il Sung's son Kim Jong Il possessed was a hereditary right, and cunning. As time comes nearer to replace Kim Jong Il, the internal political power struggles are bound to heighten. One might start a war in order to redirect the population's attention from the crowning of the heir, or to create a scenario where a young heir has no play in the action and only a true war hero or military strategist can emerge as the rightful heir; son, son in law or ......

Python in elevator

or vice versa..I'd say they both present a sizable slippery problem. You press a button, the button lights up, whatever happens behind the scenes the curtain rises to an inviting open door to take you places, vertically that is. Never before I had thought about this but an elevator controller presents quiet a twisted problem. Just imagine people who are standing by the elevators, who, like me, believe that if you press a lit elevator button again, and again, and harder, would somehow translate to porting their urgent travel needs to the elevator controller. And off course sometimes just at the instance of your pressing the already lit button, the door opens to a ding, like ta da!... it's the magic touch of that divine individual that summoned the powers of calculations to just lay humble in his honor and drive the shaft to quickly meet his need...

Data structures and algorithms are complicated and life needs to be simple and simple is beautiful. Efficiency in life is aesthetically pleasing and closer to purity, but difficult and inefficiency is ugly and results ultimately, in a complete breakdown of system and ...sadly is easier to attain. The simplicity in complexity is the art of making life aesthetically pleasing and beautiful, that's why the most complicated of algorithms are just beautifully implemented and the most evolved minds are capable of expressing the intricate ideas in simplest of ways - the art of knowledge to make rest of us mere mortals observe in awe and bask in; hey at least I am one of the species, where that intelligent specimen came from.