Misc

MSR 'Shift'

Thu, 17 May 2007 21:55:00 GMT

Looks like MS Research came up with a cool touch screen interface. Take a look here.

Stop Surfing. Start Zooming.

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 03:41:00 GMT

I wrote about the Zoomable interface from Microsoft Research (MSR) the last time. I felt it was a great innovation and can sometimes be more convenient than iPhone or PocketPC style interface. It turned out Microsoft spun off a new company called ZenZui to pursue this idea and technology further. Make sure to check out their introductory video which is pretty cool.

iPhone and User Interface Design

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 07:24:00 GMT

With the introduction of iPhone I believe more people will think consciously about user-interface design on small screens. Rather than to talk about iPhone, I thought I’ll talk about a series of Microsoft Research projects by Daniel Robins. He has many interesting UI-related projects, including ZoneZoom, FaThumb, and TapGlance.

The first project, ZoneZoom, is based on two simple concepts. First, the screen is divided into nine segments and each is assigned to the corresponding number key. Second, the number keys support two actions: press and release, and press and hold. The former is for navigation, and the latter is for glance. That’s all. Simple, isn’t it?

Now let’s look at an example. Suppose you have a map application on your screen. Since the screen is divided into nine regions, pressing #3 allows you to zoom to that location (north-east). The zoomed screen will then be re-divided into nice regions for further navigation. If you press and hold #3, on the other hand, you’ll still zoom to that location, but upon releasing the key you’ll go back to the original screen. You can see a short demo here (58MB).

The second project is called FaThumb which incorporates the principles of ZoneZoom into search. Since typing is hard on a cell phone (especially if you’re in the wrong generation :), it is replaced by spacious navigation introduced by ZoneZoom. Navigation is done by several different aspects, such as category (eg, “restaurant”), distance, location, time, and price range. FaThumb is not meant to be a generic search engine, but rather one that is useful in specific scenarios, such as finding restaurants or shops. To see it in action, take a look at this introductory video.

The third project is called TapGlance, which applies ZoneZoom to the “home screen” of a smartphone. With TapGlance, you see nine applications (3 x 3) in the first screen, and a brief status of each app in each of the segment. For example, the Inbox segment may indicate the number of new messages, or the Windows Media Player segment may indicate the current song being played. You can then use the same navigation technique (press or hold) to navigate to or to glance each app in more detail. I believe this is a big improvement over Windows Mobile, which is essentially based on list (list of recent apps, list of programs, etc). TapGlance on the other hand takes advantage of your spacious memory.

iPhone に負けないインターフェース

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 07:21:00 GMT

長い間噂されていた iPhone の登場によって小さなスクリーン上でのインターフェース・デザインの重要性が改めて認識されるようになるだろうと思う。しかし今回は iPhone について書くよりも Microsoft Research のDaniel Robins 氏による UI プロジェクトを紹介しよう。

彼の基本的なデザインは ZoneZoom と呼ばれ、二つのコンセプトから成る。まず第一に、スクリーンがキーパッドに符合するように 3 x 3 の領域に分かれているという事。そして第二に、キーパッドで、「押す (press)」と「押し続ける (hold)」の二つの動作を行えるという事。押す動作は Navigation で、押し続ける動作は Glance となる。

この二つのコンセプトをアプリのナビゲーションに適用する事によって、シンプルなインターフェースを構築できる。例えば地図上では、スクリーンが 3 x 3 の領域に分かれているため、北に行くには２を押して、南に行くには８を押す、という具合になる。そして例えば北に行ったら、その領域がさらに 3 x 3 の領域に分かれ、細部を見ることができる。もし「押す」代わりに「押し続ける」ならば、キーを押し終えた時に元の画面に戻るという事になる。簡単なデモを見たい方はこちらへ (58MB)。

ZoneZoom を検索に適用したのが FaThumbプロジェクト。携帯上でタイピングを少なくするためのインターフェースだ。FaThumb ではまず最初にカテゴリー、場所、時間、値段等を設定することによってターゲットを絞り、そして検索を行う。検索結果はリアルタイムで表示されるため、全てをタイプしなくても探している情報を見つけ易い。レストランやコーヒーショップ等を探している場合は効率良く検索ができる。デモを見たい方はこちらへ。

ZoneZoom を携帯の「ホーム」スクリーンに適用したのが TapGlance だ。TapGlance ではホームスクリーンに 3 x 3 の九つのアプリが簡易表示される。例えばメールなら新着メールの数を表示したり、カレンダーなら次のアイテムが表示されるという具合だ。そして Pressによってそのアプリケーションをフルスクリーンで起動し、Hold で細部を簡単にチェックできる。

Blink

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 07:17:00 GMT

We've all made quick decisions that took only a split second, whether at work, or at home, or while playing sports. But have you ever wondered what goes on in your mind and brain during that few seconds? Blink is a book by Malcolm Gladwell, the author of The Tipping Point, that attempts to answer that question. The book discusses several theories behind those "blink" moments.

The ability to understand the whole from smaller parts is known as Thin Slicing. For example, when you're walking in downtown looking for a place to eat, you're thin slicing as you walk by different restaurants. Perhaps you look at the people eating inside the restaurant, or perhaps you look at the general cleanness of the place. Whatever you do, conciously or unconciously, you're making a series of quick decisions to decide where to eat. You're thin slicing.

While thin slicing, it's important to understand what to look for, and what information you can or cannot get. Using the same restaurant example, one can probably tell how expensive the restaurant is by observing the way people dress. However, you probably can't get the same information by simply looking at the name of the restaurant. Yet, the name of the restaurant can, for the most part, tell what kind of cuisine the restaurant serves, though the way people dress cannot give you that information (unless it's very unique, of course).

It follows that you can usually make good judgements in your area of expertise since you already know, mostly unconciously, what to look for based on past experience. For example, singers can judge other singers, and basketball players can judge other basketball players. Even software programmers can judge other software programmers, which explains the success of Microsoft and Google in hiring the right talent.

It's important to understand one's weaknesses when making "blink" decisions. Given two singers with equal talent, for example, most of us perceive the one with a better look to be a better singer, at least initially. Sometimes we may even perceive the one with less talent to be a better singer simply because he or she has the right look for a singer. The author calls it the Warren Harding Effect, in which one votes for a handsome but unqualified president. Understanding your own weaknesses allow you to make better "blink" decisions.

There are many other factors and examples that Blink discusses. As with the Tipping Point, it's a very interesting and pleasant reading, and I highly recommend it.

Blink

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 07:14:00 GMT

第一印象は最初の数秒間で決まると言われるが、その数秒間に何が起こっているかを探るのが Blink だ。第一印象は正しい時もあれば間違っている時もある。それではどのような状況で直感に頼るべきで、どのような状況で頼るべきではないと解析できるだろうか。Blink はその答えを探る。

必ずとは言えないが、まず一般的には自分の経験のある分野、または専門的な分野においては瞬間的に正しい判断を下せる確立は高い。これは過去の経験から、その瞬間に得た膨大な情報を瞬時に整理することができるためだと言う。例えばアメリカに住んだ事のない人がアメリカン・フットボールの試合を見ても、最初は何が起こっているのか殆ど分からないだろう。しかし多くの試合を見たりルールを勉強したりすれば、次第に何が重要で何が重要でないか判断できるようになる。その積み重ねが瞬間的な判断力を高める。

面白いのは、「何が重要で何が重要でないか判断する」ということは、つまり決定的な要素さえ含まれていれば情報量は少ない方が良いという事だ。現代の情報化社会において情報量は増える一方だが、その膨大な情報をどのように処理するかが大切であることが分かる。ある研究結果によるとプロセスする情報が増えればそれに基づく判断の正しさへの自信は増えるが、その判断の正確性そのものは殆ど変わらないという。

それではどのような状況では直感に頼れないだろうか。Blink はブロンクスで起きた白人警官によるアフリカ系移民アマドゥ・ディアロの悲劇的な射殺事件を取り上げ、緊迫した状況下では正しい判断を下すことが難しくなると説く。これは動物は危機に面した時、生き残るために有用な情報の処理のみに集中するためだそうだ。

もう一つ「直感の弱点」として Blink は視覚を挙げる。これを Gladwell はウォーレン・ハーディング効果（ハンサムだが無能な大統領に投票してしまう行為）と呼ぶ。例えば同じくらい歌の上手な歌手二人を見た場合、歌手として見栄えの良い方の歌唱力を過大評価してしまうことはよくある。これは歌手だけでなく、スポーツ選手や俳優などにも当てはまる。

Blink ではこの他にも色々な考え方や物語が紹介されている。The Tipping Point と同様、面白くて意外と読みやすい本だ。

Solar Revolution: The Economic Transformation of the Global Energy Industry

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 09:27:00 GMT

I saw an interesting talk by Travis Bradford on the topic of solar energy. Travis is a strong believer in the solar energy. In fact, one of his main arguments was that it is economically, more so than environmentally, inevitable for the use of solar energy to dramatically increase in the future. I’ll briefly summarize his argument.

One important characteristics of solar energy is that it is the only form of renewable energy that can be taken advantage of both centrally (in terms of large centralized plants) and distributed (by deploying solar panels). Consider alternative sources of energy available today, including hydropower, wind, geothermal, ocean, and bio-mass, and they all require large centralized plants. Travis believes that the distributed use of solar energy will become increasingly practical over the next few decades because of two factors:

Cost of fossil fuel will continue to increase due to higher demand and decreasing supply
Cost of solar energy will continue to decrease due to “learning rate” (which he estimates to be 20%/yr)

It is interesting to note that the cost of electricity that will be replaced by solar energy is high. Consider that electricity demand is high during the day than night, and during summer time than winter time. Obviously the cost of electricity during high demand is higher than that during low demand. It so happened that solar energy can most efficiently be obtained during the day and during summer time. According to Travis, solar energy will be economically competitive to fossil energy at peak cost by 2020.

Travis envisions three phases of solar energy development. In phase 1, solar energy replaces expensive power, as mentioned above. This can happen around 2020. In phase 2, some form of storage will be available for unused energy. An example would be charging an electric car using solar energy. This can happen as early as 2030. In phase 3, solar energy will become more viable economically than any other forms of energy, and there will be a disruptive transformation in the entire energy industry.

The Solar Revolution will bring many benefits, aside the environmental ones. First, it will create more employment opportunities in terms of R&D, production, installation, and maintenance. Second, and more importantly, the decentralized nature of the solar energy system allows distribution of cheap electricity to remote locations where electricity was previously unavailable. This contributes to wealth creation, especially in developing nations.

Technically speaking, the Solar Revolution is sure to happen, but the acceptance and the spread of solar energy will not automatically happen without effective policy support. For example, Travis proposes the introduction of “solar mortgage” to encourage existing homeowners to install solar energy system. He also proposes new building codes which enforce the installation of solar panels in new homes and buildings.

The energy industry used to work under the economy of scarcity, ie, there are finite amount of resources available and we needed to work within the constraint. The Solar Revolution transforms the industry into the economy of abundance. It will likely have a lasting impact in shaping the future of the world.

太陽エネルギーの将来を考える

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 09:25:00 GMT

Travis Bradford 氏による太陽エネルギーのプレゼンを見た。Bradford 氏によると、現在開発されている再生可能エネルギーの中で太陽エネルギーが最も将来性があるという。

他の再生可能エネルギー源と違い、太陽エネルギーには中心的な発電所は必要ない。太陽パネルを分散すれば、色々な場所から太陽エネルギーを得ることができる。この「分散性」は水力、風力、原子力等のエネルギー源と比べて太陽エネルギーの大きな特徴で、コストを抑えることができれば広範囲での使用が期待できる。

Bradford 氏によると、将来的な化石燃料の価格上昇と太陽技術の発展による価格低下を考えると、20 年後には太陽エネルギーのコストは化石燃料によるエネルギーのコストと競争できるようになるという。エネルギーのコストは需要が多い時ほど高い。例えば日中には夜より需要が高く、夏には冬より需要が高い。太陽エネルギーはこの需要が高い時のエネルギーを賄うため、それを考えれば太陽エネルギーのコストがピーク時のコストを下回るのは 2020 年頃だろうと Bradford 氏は予測する。

さらに技術が進めば、2030 年頃には使い切れなかった太陽エネルギーを蓄積するという利用方法が広まるという。例えば電気自動車の充電に使うことができる。

太陽エネルギーの使用が広まれば、環境面以外でも様々な利益をもたらす。例えば開発、製造、設備、そしてメンテナンスなどの分野での雇用促進が期待できる。さらに発展途上国で今まで電気を送ることの出来なかった地域に比較的低コストでエネルギーを提供できるようになる。

今までのエネルギー産業は資源の「希少性」に縛られていた。太陽エネルギーの発展が進めばエネルギー産業は希少性に縛られない「潤沢経済」または「余剰経済」へと移行する。希少経済から余剰経済への根本的な移行は世界を大きく変える原動力となるだろうと Bradford 氏は予測する。

Understanding Group Effectiveness in an Online Community

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 06:47:00 GMT

I saw an interesting Microsoft Research talk on understanding long-term group effectiveness in an online community. Though many different ideas were presented, there were two that I found particularly interesting.

The first is to view group (people) networks in terms of two categories: instrumental and expressive. Instrumental ties are network hierarchies that are enforced. In most workplace, for example, organizational structure forms instrumental ties between employees. Instrumental ties are effective in conveying task-related information and advice. Expressive ties, on the other hand, are social networks in groups that grew organically. They are effective in providing emotional and social support, and are critical to long-term sustainability of the group.

To understand the effectiveness of these two networks in an online environment, the presenter suggested taking these measurements:

Network density: do team members communicate with each other?
Degree of centralization: does the team depend on one person?
Reciprocity: how do team members respond to each other?
Transitivity

One advantage of online environment is that digital form of communication (email, IM, VoIP, etc) can be recorded, measured, and analyzed. These data can also be used, for example, to measure the level of expressive ties within the team, or to understand “core” or “periphery” team members.

The second idea that I found interesting was the five processes that were identified as important in achieving high productivity within a group:

Communication
Cohesion: how united the team is in terms of shared vision and goals
Conflict management: what processes are in place to resolve disagreement
Participation
Learning: how does the team as a whole retain information and knowledge

Cohesion and conflict management are particularly important in online communities due to the lack of face-to-face meetings as a way to develop mutual understanding and resolve differences.

オンライン・コミュニティーを測るには

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 06:45:00 GMT

Microsoft Research のオンライン・コミュニティーに関するプレゼンを見た。色々なアイデアが紹介されたが、その中で面白いと思った二つについて書いてみる。

第一は、人と人のつながりには二種類あるという事。一つ目は会社の組織の様に意図的に作られたネットワーク、二つ目は自然に作られたネットワークだ。前者は短期的な情報・知識の伝達に役立ち、後者は長期的なメンバー間での社会的・社交的役割を果たす。オンラインの世界ではメールや VoIP 等のコミュニケーションを測定できるため、この二つのネットワークの状況がある程度数字で把握できるようになる。例えば：

ネットワークの密度：メンバーはお互いコミュニケーションをとっているか
ネットワークの集中度：コミュニケーションが偏っていないか
ネットワークの相互関係

第二に面白いと感じたのは、以下の五つのプロセスがグループの高い生産性を維持する上で必要であるという事。

コミュニケーション
結束性：メンバーが同じ目標を持っているか
対立の管理：意見や利害の衝突をどのように解決するか
参加
学習：グループとしてどのように学習するか

特に結束性や対立の管理方法はミーティング等による直接的なコミュニケーションをとる機会が無い、または少ないため、グループとして高い生産性を達成する上で不可欠だ。

Getting Closer to Minority Report

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 22:51:00 GMT

Here's a very cool demo by Jeff Han on what he calls "interface-free" computer. Bill Gates also showed a similar system from MSR few months ago. It’s very cool what you can achieve with hardware and software innovations.

Minority Report への一歩

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 22:50:00 GMT

Jeff Han が「インターフェースの不要なコンピューター」のデモを行った。ビル・ゲイツも数ヶ月前の Company Meeting でマイクロソフト・リサーチで開発された似たようなシステムを披露した。ハードウェアとソフトウェアの融合の限りない可能性を見せてくれるプロジェクトで、映画 Minority Report を思い出させる。

Demystifying .NET Framework 3.0

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 19:48:00 GMT

Microsoft recently announced WinFX will be renamed to .NET Framework 3.0. So what is WinFX exactly? It is a collection of rich frameworks built on top of .NET Framework 2.0 that include the following components:

Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), formerly Avalon
Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), formerly Indigo
Windows Workflow Foundation (WF)
Windows CardSpace (CS), formerly InfoCard

This leads to the following equation:

.NET Framework 2.0 + WCF + WPF + WF + WCS = .NET Framework 3.0

This implies that there have been no changes in the core of .NET Framework 2.0 (CLR). In fact, when you install .NET Framework 3.0, you'll also get .NET Framework 2.0 in the Microsoft.NET directory.

Here are the supported platforms for .NET Frameworks:

2.0:	Win9x, Win2k,	XP, W2k3, Vista, LHS (Longhorn Server)
3.0:		XP, W2k3, Vista, LHS

It should be noted that .NET Framework 3.0 will be pre-installed in Vista.

.NET Framework will evolve beyond 3.0, of course. At the moment it appears that LINQ may become a part of the next version of .NET Framework.

.NET Framework 3.0 とは？

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 19:35:00 GMT

マイクロソフトは数ヶ月前 WinFX を.NET Framework 3.0 と改名すると発表した。WinFX とはマイクロソフトが開発中の次世代のライブラリで、以下のコンポーネントを含む：

Windows Presentation Foundation (Avalon)
Windows Communication Foundation (Indigo)
Windows Workflow Foundation
Windows CardSpace (InfoCard)

つまり、簡潔に言えば以下のような足し算の式が成り立つ：

.NET Framework 2.0 + WCF + WPF + WF + WCS = .NET Framework 3.0

注目すべきは .NET Framework 2.0 のコア（CLR）は以前と同じであるという事。これは、プラットフォームである CLR には不必要な変更を加えず、安定した基盤として確立させるためである。実際、.NET Framework 3.0 をインストールすると.NET Framework 2.0 も同時にインストールされる。

サポートされている OS は以下のとおり：

2.0:	Win9x, Win2k,	XP, W2k3, Vista, LHS (Longhorn Server)
3.0:		XP, W2k3, Vista, LHS

.NET Framework 3.0 は Vista に添付される。

.NET Framework はこれからも進化を続け、例えば次のバージョンでは LINQ が取り入れられる予定らしい。

Sun Micro's Project Blackbox

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 07:30:00 GMT

Sun Microsystems recently announced an interesting project called Project Blackbox. Built with the assumption that the biggest data center that can be built is the biggest thing that can be transported (efficiently), which would be a standard shipping container, Project Blackbox is a prototype of a movable and power-efficient virtualized datacenter with 250 servers and water-based cooling system, all inside a shipping container. In addition, it survived an (accidental) drop from the height of 6 inches, which is quite amazing.

サンの Blackbox プロジェクト

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 07:15:00 GMT

サンが Blackbox という面白いプロジェクトを発表した。「最も大きな移動可能なデータセンターはコンテナサイズ」というアイデアからスタートしたプロジェクトで、250 のサーバーをコンテナに収めたそうだ。電力消費を抑えるために水を使って冷却したり、衝撃に強い床にしたり（実際 15cm ほどの高さから誤って落としてしまったそうだ）等の工夫がなされている。

Protecting Your #1 Asset

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:06:00 GMT

I recently read the book "Protecting Your #1 Asset", which talks about intellectual property (IP) protections. Though it was a technical reading with many legal terminologies I wasn’t familiar with, I learned how IP protections apply to the software world. I'll talk, with plenty of examples, about three forms of protections that are most relevant in software; patent, copyright, and trademark.

Patent
Patents can protect certain functional aspects of software, though historically software used to be considered mathematical algorithm and hence was not protected under patent laws. For a patent to be granted, the invention in question has to be novel and non-obvious.

There are many software-related patents. Perhaps Amazon.com's "One Click" patent and Eolas' "browser plugin patent" are two of the most infamous ones, while the RSA patent for public key encryption is probably the most famous example.

Speaking of patents and inventions, Intellectual Ventures, a private company founded in 2000 by Nathan Myhrvold, is an interesting company whose business is pure invention and licensing. It aims to develop a large patent portfolio through invention and purchase of existing patents.

Copyright
Copyright, unlike patents, is granted automatically and protects non-functional aspects of software. Copying of source code without a license constitutes copyright infringement.

The Apple vs Microsoft legal dispute of the late 80s was a copyright infringement lawsuit in which Apple claimed that the "look and feel" of MacOS was protected under copyright law. In accordance to the copyright law, however, analysis was made on specific GUI elements as opposed to the overall look and feel itself, and it was found that most elements were already properly licensed to Microsoft. If Apple were successful in obtaining a software patent to protect the "look and feel" as an invention (which it wasn’t), Apple would have pursued Microsoft under patent law.

One aspect of copyright protection that is relevant to software (and the Internet in particular) is that knowingly facilitating copying of unauthorized materials contributes to copyright infringement. This explains why Napster was sued by major recording companies, and why there is a similar lawsuit against YouTube.

It is interesting to note that "fair use" of copyright material is allowed. For example, the use of partial text by major search engines is considered fair use.

Trademark
Trademark aims to protect reputation and goodwill of businesses that provides products and services to consumers. A recent article about the use of the term "Google" is an interesting example that illustrates how trademark works. Under the trademark law, arbitrary or fanciful term(s) receive the highest level of protection while generic terms receive the lowest. Hence, it is in Google's interest to not let the term "Google" become generic. In fact, they published guidelines for the use of the term.

Another aspect of trademark protection relevant to software is that distribution of unauthorized software may constitute trademark infringement, as it damages the reputation of the maker of the software. Obviously Microsoft is the main victim of software piracy.

With the rise of the Internet, trademark law has been extended to protect domain names. Businesses are protected from the so-called cybersquatting though some critics claim that it unfairly favors large corporations.

ソフトウェアの知的財産について

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:01:00 GMT

最近「Protecting Your #1 Asset」という知的財産に関する本を読んだ。法律の専門知識はないが、特にソフトウェアの知的財産について色々学ぶことができた。例を挙げながら特許権、著作権、商標権という、ソフトウェアの知的財産を保護する上で重要な三つの権利について簡単に書いてみた。

特許権（Patent）
特許の保護の対象は「高度な発明」（ソフトウェアでは機能面においての発明）である。その定義については詳しくは書かないが、一つ間違えやすい点は「発明」は創作である為「発見」の場合は特許を取得することはできないという点だ。

ソフトウェアの特許で特に知られているのは、RSA 暗号のアルゴリズムだろう。また Amazon.com の One Click や Eola のブラウザのプラグインに関する特許も、（悪い意味で）知られている。

特許のテーマで注目に値するのは、Intellectual Ventures (IV) という会社がNathan Myhrvold によって創立された事だ。IV は特許権のポートフォリオを築いて、ライセンスによる知的財産のみのビジネスを展開する面白い会社である。

著作権（Copyright）
特許権が発明に対する保護を与えるのに対して、著作権は「表現」そして「著作物」に対する保護を与える。例えばソフトウェアでは、ソースコードそのものは著作権によって保護されている。

覚えている方は多いと思うが、アップル社とマイクロソフト社の８０年代の訴訟は、マックOS の「Look and Feel」の著作権をマイクロソフトが侵害したとする訴訟だ。結果的に著作権は Look and Feel を全体的には保護しないという判断が下され、個々の具体的な表現（例えばゴミ箱のアイコンなど）についてはすでにマイクロソフトにライセンスされているため、著作権の侵害には当たらないという結論となった。

著作権に関して特にインターネット上で重要なのは、著作物の複製を促進するサービスは著作権を侵害しているとみなされるという事だ。例えば Napster は音楽ファイルの違法コピーを助長したためメジャーのレコード会社に訴訟された。YouTube も似た理由から最近訴訟されている。

著作物の使用においては、認められている範囲がある。例えば「引用」は、正当な範囲内であれば認められる。検索エンジンが検索結果の一部を表示できるのはこのためである。

商標権（Trademark）
商標法は商品やサービスを他のものと区別するために用いられる名称や図形などを保護することによって、商品やサービスを提供する側の世評またはグッドウィルを保護することを目的としている。商標権には効力が及ばない範囲があり、例えば普通名詞などがそれである。最近のニュースでは、グーグル社が「グーグルする」という動詞の使用を認めないという事がニュースになったが、それは商標が一般化されて普通名詞として扱われればブランドとして商標権を失う可能性があるからだ。事実、「エスカレーター」や「ホッチキス（Stapler）」の様に一般化された商標は存在する。

ソフトウェアの商標権に関しては、海賊版ソフトウェアの販売は商標権の侵害とみなされる。これはそのソフトウェアを提供する会社のグッドウィルを損害する為だ。ちなみに海賊版ソフトの無断製作・製造は著作権の侵害に値する。

Watching TV anytime, anywhere

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 00:19:00 GMT

In Japan a new digital audio/video/data broadcasting service called 1seg started in April. This revolutionary service allows the user to watch TV anywhere using 1seg-enabled mobile devices, such as cell phones, MP3 players, handheld game consoles, and even laptops. I've heard that the picture quality is clear, and, unlike cell phones, it works in tall buildings.

In addition to its broadcasting capability, what is significant about 1seg is its potential to unify broadcasting and communication. It is possible to, for instance, display ads of items that are shown on TV. It blurs the line between TV (broadcasting) and the Internet (communication).

Here's a screenshot of Vodafone 905SH, which is popular in Japan.

In US, the mobile landscape is many years behind, unfortunately. We are only beginning to talk about the recent popularity of Smart Phones. Yes, there are services like MobiTV but they haven't been accepted widely by consumers yet.

The next generation of computing

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 01:50:00 GMT

I read a Gartner report "A Road Map to the Next Era of Personal Computing". It describes the fundamental shift in personal computing that we are likely to experience between now until 2012. Here are some of the highlights:

2007-08: Platform Changes

The PC infrastructure is likely to undergo significant upgrades due to Windows Vista, Multi Core system, and hardware-based virtualization. There will be trend toward power efficiency and enhanced security. Vista will have corporate impact in 2008.

On the mobility side, we're likely to experience growth of notebook usage due to improved performance and longer battery life. In 2008, corporate spending on notebooks will begin to approach the level of spending for desktop. In addition, there will be a growing number of wireless devices with the introduction of the wireless USB.

2009-10: Virtualization

There will be a growing trend toward virtualizing all aspects of client environment, including software deployment, environment management and device interactions. In addition to the improvement in the virtualization technology itself, there will be two factors that drive the adoption of virtualization. The first is the acceptance of four- and eight-core chips in client system. Virtualization, along with natural language processing and search technology, is one of the applications that benefit the most from multi core systems. Second, an increasing number of users will use personally owned equipments as their day-to-day systems for work. Virtualization will be useful in establishing and managing work environment.

On the mobility side, continuing effort to extend battery life and improve form factor will provide all-day mobile computing. There will be a trend toward smaller, lighter notebook, including the "ultramobile" form factor.

2011-12: The User-Centric Era

In the next decade, the ability of users to carry their digital persona and preference between operating environments and devices will become commonplace. This trend will be facilitated through online centralized repositories and portable storage devices.

It is likely that users will increasingly communicate with verbal, visual and gesture-based forms of interactions with their computing devices.

While technology development in the last five years delivered only marginal benefits, those that will be implemented in the next five years (mainly through hardware developments) have the potential to provide substantial benefits.